A Lost Boy: Leader of the Pack

He was four years younger than her, a close friend’s cousin. They always had that sisterly-brotherly bond. She would smile and shake her head whenever she caught him leaning back to get a better look at a girls’ rump. He would smirk at her, widening his eyes with sly embarrassment. The last time she met him was last Christmas at the chalet. Though the surroundings remained familiar, he looked different; his adolescent skin gleamed in the lamp posts’ dim light, his once squeaky voice became gruff with the help of cigarettes, and his murmured quips were saturated with subliminal, sexual connotations. She spotted him towering above his gang, looking seemingly bored with the monotonous scene encircling him. She walked towards him and inquired about his school, his plans, his everything. The two slowly strode together, side by side, as he filled her in about his past adventures. She squatted on a brick bench, observing him inquisitively as he recounted his last visit to Dubai with his older friends and how he entered his so-called manhood during that licentious, four-day trip. Looking down at the dusty grains of earth below her feet, she asked him whether he was considering applying for colleges in the U.S. He stood before her, lit a cigarette, and after taking a long drag, cocked his head toward her and replied, “Why should I? Life is so easy here. My parents don’t know what I’m up to. I’m free to do what I want here.” She pressed her lips together, looked up at him, the boy who was famed for his cunning comebacks and social intelligence. “You’re the eldest person between your siblings. And you’ve had quite a superior secondary education. Don’t you feel that you need to give a little bit back to your parents who’ve put you in a good school?” He chuckled mockingly, “I told you, I have all I want here; girls, cars, disposable money.” She closed her eyes somberly, took a deep breath, and looked at him squarely as she stood up, “I think you’re wasting what you have in here,” she tapped the side of her head, “I know there’s so much more to you.” He snorted and snapped back, “What! You think I’m a disappointment!” She looked back at him with a knowing, mournful gaze before taking a brisk walk back to her home in contemplative silence.

Easy Living

at 6:38 AM