Chapter 3
Okay, whoever said Memphis was a 'kid' was clearly mistaken. I mean, he's not even a child and there I was, searching the kiddie table in hope to find a little Memphis amongst the rest of the trouble makers in disguise. In front of me didn't stand a child, but instead, stood a man. A very, very handsome young man.
Refined jaw line and fluffy hair, hypnotizing brown eyes that masked off all emotion but still kept you intrigued. The dude was a God to say the least and I guess the things I've heard about him are clearly shown in his posture. Looking at him, these are the few things I was able to take in.
One, him staring down at his drink and keeping his eyes glued there shows that he doesn't want to be spoken to, so won't make eye contact with anyone to avoid giving them false hope of him wanting to start a conversation.
Two, although he is dressed in a slick tuxedo and his hair looked a little gelled back, before his hands decided to take a trip along his scalp, you can tell he has a certain edge to him, almost like an aura screaming at people to back away.
Three, he has a permanent frown set on his face. No hint of a smile, no cheeky smirk to compliment his bad ass looks, no nothing; just a shell, holding so much emotion but confining it all beneath his hard exterior.
God he is sexy. I'm not even going to be shy about it; I'll lay it straight out.
As the night went on, my eyes never left Memphis. I'm not sure if he ever noticed me staring at him, but I figured, if he didn't like to be looked at then I may as well get a good months worth of taking in his sex God features.
If he was going to hide from me for a month, I may as well lap it up now right?
Okay, maybe I'm a little perverted, but HEY! If you saw Memphis with your own eyes you'd think the same thing. As he stood from his permanent seat at the bar I got a good glimpse of the man at full height. His hair was a little messy now, has jaw tight and clenched, making his cheeks look hollow. His skin was flawless, bones refined, nose slanted into a perfect point, ending with a cute button lump.
He walked with grace, although there was a little stiffness in his step, it was almost as if he was a robot, step by step, his fists balling everytime someone's eyes darted to his retreating figure. He was so mysterious and unreadable it was strangely intriguing.
It was just passed midnight when we decided to leave and I was trailing behind Mom and Dad's car, following them to their home. I was literally on the edge of my seat just waiting to sit down and talk about Memphis moving in.
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Once we all arrived at their home, we piled into the living room alongside a reluctant Memphis.
"Uh, Memphis... My name is Ryan. I'm Jeff's Son." I smiled. I thought about offering my hand for him to shake, but I didn't want to push it too far. I was already breaking his no looking and no talking rule and I didn't want to break the no touching one as well. I didn't get a verbal response, but he did nod his head, which I am grateful for. I smiled a warm smile once again and was about to carry on until he stared straight into my eyes, not only making my heart thump, but making the hairs on the back of my neck stand straight.
I held his gaze as did he. He stared so deep into my eyes I thought just by one look he knew everything about me, just one look and he knew my deep and darkest secrets, just one look and he could see deep into the depths of my soul.
"Actually, Mom, Dad, do you think I could talk to him alone?" I asked, without breaking eye contact with Memphis. I don't know what it was, but his stare was so cold, almost as if he knew I was going to hurt him or something. Little did he know, I'd never dream of doing so, not only that, but he also had me wrapped around his damn finger.
With a curt nod, Mom and Dad left the room, leaving Memphis and myself alone.
"So, Mom and Dad are leaving tomorrow for their honey moon and I got told that you'd be here on your own." I began, slowly he nodded his head, in acknowledgement, "So I was wondering if you'd want to come live with me while they're away."
As soon as those words left my mouth I was on edge. I didn't know how he was going to react, I mean, it's not like I want to overrule his life or anything, I just want to be there for him. I feel really protective of him and in all honesty, I just want to take care of him and let him know that I'll always be there if he needed me to be.
Waiting and waiting but still no reply.
If this was a normal situation, I'd so be screaming at the person by now. I'd go all ghetto and get up in his grill and be like 'YO! Can't you see I'm talkin' to you homes!' but I'd probably get my ass beat for being a try hard gangster. Yeah, I definitely watch too many movies.
I don't know how long passes without Memphis making a sound or even acknowledging what I said, but once again, his eyes never leave mine. His gaze is so cold, that I can feel goose bumps springing their way up onto my skin.
"Okay." He said quietly.
OKAY? HE SAID OKAY? HOLY SHIT! HE ACTUALLY SPOKE! OH MY GOD! YES!!!!
Whoa! What the hell, I thought he doesn't speak? Well it's not like you're going to confront him about that are you Ryan?
Fuck no!
Act cool. Don't explode. Breathe. Speak.
"That's great. You can pack you a few bags, I'll pick you up tomorrow around noon." He nodded silently and then left the room.
Inside my head I was doing the biggest happy dance, BOOM BOOM! NEW YORK TO CALI! Oh yeah, Oh yeah, Go Ryan! Go Ryan! It's ya' birthday! It's ya' birthday! It's not really ya' birthday, but dance anyway! Woop Woop!
He said YES! And he actually spoke to me aaaaaah! This is so amazing, my heart feels strong and full and I don't have that god-awful ache anymore because it's finally happening. Memphis is coming to stay with me.
"I guess that smile means he said yes." A voice suggests, snapping me out of my inner one-man party! Boo, you whore!
"He spoke to me Dad. He actually said words." I whispered, not wanting to make Memphis feel as if we were talking about him. Even though we totally were.
"HE WHAT?!"
"Shh. He said, 'okay'. Like, he actually said the word okay." I explained while Dad looked at me like I was some freakazoid alien with three heads and one eye. Seconds later Liz walks through the door and hands me a hot chocolate, bless her!
"Who did what?" She asks, genuinely curious and I roll my eyes.
"Memphis spoke to me."
Silence.
Well, that wasn't what I was expecting. I thought I'd get another anger-outburst, but instead I get nothing. No 'huh?' or 'what?', just plain old silence. That doesn't last too long though.
"He hasn't spoken to me... ever." Liz says quietly and I swear, If I didn't see the lone tear fall down her cheek, I totally would've been all dramatic about it and claim that he loves me more than her but I just couldn't. I could never understand how she's feeling, but I do have the slightest clue.
Think about it, you can't have children, so you go to adopt a child. You chose a son named Memphis who doesn't speak, hates being touched looked at or spoken to and after four years of the same behaviour, he says one simple word to a complete stranger. Yeah, that'd suck big time. So instead of rubbing it in, I hug her close to me and tell her that everything is going to be okay.
She also tells me that usually if he wants to speak, he'll just write it down on a notepad and pass it to her to read or if it's simple stuff he'll just nod yes and shake no. She tells me he likes to be alone and he doesn't have any friends, but he's okay with that. I also learnt that even Liz doesn't know about Memphis' past so I'd have to find it out on my own, if I wanted to know about it that is.
I asked Liz not to tell me any details about him because I wanted him to tell me himself. So instead I settled for the basics, he was adopted in 2007 and he was 14 years old. Obviously I can do maths and count how old he is, but I refuse to do the math and let him tell me himself. Even though my brain already worked it out and ruined the surprise for me, but hopefully he'll still tell me how old he is anyway.
Liz continued to tell me small things about his behavioural pattern, but by the end of the night, I only had one thing in mind.
Getting Memphis to speak again.
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