“Cameron can you answer this question please”?
As the question related to a question is asked, I snap out of my state of day dreaming and read the board, “What is the basis of religion”. My personal opinion would make an atheist mad so I keep that to myself.
“Religion originally was made to unify people and explain the reason for things” I said.
The text book garbage means nothing to me if they want to live in the dark I’ll let them, but that doesn’t mean I have to live with them. What you find out when you are like me is that people don’t want to know the truth unless they ask in particular for the truth or your opinion. I enter my day dream again and continue my own learning based of known knowledge. If life is to be lived based off rules a man heard come from the sky is it false to assume the message came from aliens, or that he may have been crazy or high?
The bell rings its annoying but pleasant buzz and I’m out of school. I start walking home and continue my thoughts until they are interrupted again by a car honk. I turn to the car and walk towards the window of my friend Matts car.
“What are you up to today, bud,” he asks with his cheek to cheek smile, “You want to come over and work on that project?”
All honesty I should have said no because we wouldn’t get anything done but I shake my head with a smirk and hop in the car. He throws on some music and we are off, but before we get too far I grab my phone to text my mom where I’m going and for how long so she doesn’t have a heart attack if I’m not home at 4. We cruise and jam until we make it to his place and like I knew would happen we start playing pool and ping pong instead of our work. About an hour and a half later I’m on my way home. This time in the car I play the music and rap and sing with the songs until we reach my drive way.
“Are you sure you don’t want to stay at my place? You are welcome anytime” Matt says with the purest intention,
“I can’t stay over on a school night Matt; Ma wouldn’t have allowed that” I say with a bit of a frown but still keep my face neutral.
I hop out of the car and head to the house, and as I hit the steps I grab my keys and unlock the door. No one’s home so I link my phone to the speaker and begin on last night’s dishes. It is only one plate and a cup so it doesn’t take long. I walk to the living room and sit in my step dads chair and look at the ground. Its clean. For once the whole house was clean for more than a few hours. I smirk at my own dumbness and head to the kid’s room to see what it looks like. It’s still a mess as usual but I can’t fault them I was the same way. I head downstairs to my room and start to clean the dirty laundry off the floor and the random garbage.
I go upstairs again and turn on the TV to chill out till I have to go to work the graveyard shift at the gas station. As I sit in the chair and watch TV I get a call from my grandma.
“You should probably come live with me now Cam”, She said in a mellow soothing voice, “You can’t live alone like this at your age”.
I was shocked by the phone call and replied, “I’ll be fine gram, this is my home. I just need awhile longer” I said almost in tears from the idea of leaving my parents’ house. I hang up the phone and get dressed for work, but before I head through the door I know what I have to do. I hop in the car and head out of town to go see my family. I drive in silence until I reach the cemetery and I sit quietly for a while. I undo my seat belt and lumber out of the car and make my way.
I know where to go. The destination is locked in my brain. I walk then slow to a moseying speed then I stop at the feet of the six graves I came to see. My family. I fall to my knees in front of them and cry because I don’t know what to do, don’t know what to say. I collect myself and start talking to the wind,
“The house is clean” I said knowing under other circumstances mom would have laughed in disbelief, “The kids room is still a mess, I can’t bring myself to clean it”. I sit in my own silence and begin again,
“I made that sea food alfredo you like Mom. I wish you could have been there”. Without warning my sobs return and my stomach begins to hurt from the gasping.
I look at the graves and remember the night it happened. I wasn’t feeling good that Sunday I stayed home and they all went out of town to get groceries. I stayed home and cleaned and napped through my illness. I woke the next morning and no one was home so I called my grandma so she could call me in sick, and that is when I learned about what happened.
They were driving down the highway and a drunk driver pushed them off the road at eighty miles per hour. They flew into the ditch grill first and flipped three times before they came to a stop. Everyone was dead on impact is what the EMT’s told me. I couldn’t bear to come to the hospital so I stayed home again until the funeral. Here I am the only surviving child because I was feeling sick. I talk to the wind some more,
“I’ve been texting you Mom, but I don’t expect you to answer, it’s just comforting” I say as the wind picks up “you too Corey, and I’ve been writing about the kid a lot and their mischief” I say with a smile of pain. “I have to go guys; groceries don’t buy themselves”. I leave my goodbyes and take off. I worked until twelve that night, and I went home and slept. I dreamt of my questions I asked this morning. What is life?