Life as a kid on city bus 101.
Rule 1: Don't make eye contact with anyone who looks homeless or unwell (you know, in the emotional or physical sense). The last thing you want is to be caught up in a scenario you didn't sign up for.
Jason and I sat near the middle-near the exit, ready to dip if needed. Our spot had us far enough away to avoid... the characters.
The bus hissed as it pulled away from the curb. The engine growled as if it could smell the inside of this city bus.
The back of the bus had the homeless squad that smelled like weed and was definitely musty. They're the type to have weed and ask anybody (and I mean anybody) for a lighter. They make everybody miserable.
Then you've got the old-timers and the single mothers and fathers with their children. I honestly feel bad for these people. They shouldn't have to suffer or even be exposed to the horrendous smells and scenes on the city bus.
Finally, you've got us, high schoolers. Just trying to make it to school and back home each day alive. Or in my case, over to the hospital then home.
I sat on the inside seat, staring out the window. I'd been trying to silence the crazy events of last Friday again and again. School got my mind off of things for a quick minute. I needed that. Lately, it's been all I think about, like a looping movie at the theater, except it lives there rent-free.
"Bro, you good?" Jason said as he elbowed my arm.
I blinked. "Yeah, I'm straight, just recapping, you know."
"Where are your AirPods? You always have them with you."
I waved my hand dismissively. "In my bag. I'll take 'em out later."
Jason yawned. "Alright, wake me when we get there."
Jason pulled up his headphones that were resting on his neck and fell asleep in what felt like seconds. I always envied that skill of his; it felt like he could do it on command. Whatever genetics bro has, he's blessed.
I'd been so down these last few days I forgot I still had my mom's MP3 player that she gifted me on my last birthday along with the AirPods. I dug through my bag and grabbed them both. The MP3 player was red with blue buttons on the side for the power and volume up or down. The backside had the date I got them from my mom: May 18, 2014. My fourteenth birthday, good times. Even though we still had the same financial problems with tuition for private school, rent, and the electricity bills, Ma always tried to be the sunshine in this world full of hardships. It's why it annoys me that my father isn't in the picture. I don't even remember his face (literally drawing a blank here), and whenever I bring it up to Mom, she sidesteps it every single time.
A tap on my shoulder brought me back to the present. I turned back to see a huge light-skinned man in a tank top and ripped jeans with Jordans on.
"You got a lighter, young blood?" His voice sounded like a fork scraping a chalkboard.
I threw on my fake smile. "Sorry, I don't got one, man."
"You ain't lying to me, bro?"
I stopped myself from rolling my eyes. "I'm not your 'bro,' and I'm not lying. I'm in high school; I'm a freshman."
The man started laughing, his laugh sounding like a car engine starting up. "Ughhh, alright, stay cool, youngblood, I'm just messing with you." He moved to the back of the bus.
"Good riddance," I sighed and took out my AirPods. I hit play on the touchscreen MP3: "Beat It" by Michael Jackson. I couldn't help but smile. It was my mom's favorite song; we'd sing it together on car rides, and it became our little running gag.
I saw the hospital come into view as the song neared its end. I pushed the red stop button on the armrest. An automated voice announced, "Stop Requested."
I shook Jason, "We're here, get up."
He sat up, stretched, and stood as the bus screeched to a stop. We thanked the bus driver and hopped off. There stood the UCH, also known as Urgent Care Hospital. It has seven different floors. Floor one being the ER, where Mom started off. After evaluation, she was moved to Floor five, for cardiac-related patients. Since Friday, they had worked with Mom to build her strength and to make sure there were no hiccups in her recovery.
We walked into the Urgent Care Hospital. We took off our headphones as we neared the visitor desk.
A brunette with light blue eyes that matched her blue shirt, which said "Urgent Care Health System," had an ID tag that read "Taylor."
She smiled, "Good afternoon."
"Good afternoon," we replied simultaneously.
"How may I help you two young men today?"
I breathed in, "We are here to see Lisa Veyron."
Taylor nodded, "She did mention her son and his friend would be coming to pick her up. She's in room 517. Take the elevator up to the fifth floor, and she should be down the hallway to the right corridor, can't miss it."
"Thanks," I said.
"We appreciate it," Jason followed up.
As we headed towards the elevator, Jason said, "Your mom's only been here for three days, and she's besties with the front desk lady."
I hit the up button on the elevator, "I'm not surprised; she's bright like the sun to most people."
Jason chuckled, "No doubt, remember the first day I met her?"
The random callback brought a smirk to my face. Jason and I were having a water mini-gun tag battle back at the end of April. It was a hot, sunny day at Lyons Academy, and it was part of a prank war (for our school, April Fools' was a month-long series of pranks). Jason and I decided that the last person who got shot owed the other fifteen dollars. Long story short, he won by shooting me through my mom's car's passenger side, through the window (I still have no idea how he did that).
I shook my head. "Lucky shot. I should've won that day."
Jason got into a boxer stance, "You win some, you lose some. Some would argue the loser learns more than the winner."
I smirked, "Not you sneaking a chess reference while doing a Friday reference."
Jason shrugged, "What can I say, I'm a cultured man."
The elevator dinged open in front of us.
The lighting inside was dull, the flooring was gray diamond plating. As we stepped on, the lighting brightened up like the system had hit a power surge, or the motion-sensing lighting awoke when we stepped on. I pressed button "5" and the elevator doors slowly slid closed and lurched upwards.
Time seemed to slow as the elevator climbed. It felt as though we were going back in time as each floor level we ascended, the longer the beep. It was driving me crazy. At this rate, we should have taken the damn stairs.
We finally made it to the fifth floor. The doors shuddered open like it was a horror movie. As I stepped off, a heatwave damn near blasted me off my feet. I wiped my forehead, and sweat had already begun to form.
I groaned, "What type of hospital can't afford an AC for all its floors?"
"It's probably better in the rooms," Jason said as he stepped off the elevator, "Remember, we're high up now, not on ground level."
I nodded, "Good point, bro, let's get to that room."
"Excuse me, young men."
I looked up the corridor to see a light-skinned man with jet-black hair in dark green scrubs.
"Are you here for Mrs. Veyron?"
"Yes, sir, we are."
He turned back around and beckoned us to follow him. I felt a lump in my throat. All my worst fears and nightmares hit me at once. The image of my mother lifeless in my hands played relentlessly.
"Is she all right, sir?" I blurted out.
He turned back to me and smiled, "She's doing way better than 'all right.' I've never seen a recovery like hers ever in my ten years as a nurse."
I glanced back at Jason, who released a sigh of relief. He shot me a thumbs up.
"Here we are," the nurse said as he pushed open the patio doors that led to the mini garden on the fifth floor.
Sitting in the center of the garden, in her usual meditation stance (she calls it lotus flower at the crib) with her straight black hair flowing in the wind, was my mother, Lisa S. Veyron. Her back was facing us.
The sun did my ma justice in her emerald dress. Her light brown skin popped and shined with the sun's rays' touch. She turned around, her brown eyes glowed in the sunlight.
She smirked, "What took y'all so long?"
I felt myself trying not to laugh, "You see what had happened was-"
She raised her hand to stop me, "Ya know what, how about y'all tell me all about it inside?" She stood up and stretched, "Been out here all day."