Chapter Twenty One [Flashback]

We arrived at the trampoline park around noon with Josiah's family and a bunch of our cousins that lived in the city. I didn't know most of them. Josiah and I are related on my father's side, which was why Mom wasn't there. I wasn't worried about my father showing up.

They claimed he moved to Mexico with some woman named Esmeralda before I was born and never looked back. I doubted that story a lot less back then, but there was no denying that his family disowned him or how they pitied me for not having a father. I suspected that was why I was invited to Josiah's hotel thing. It sort of felt like I was imposing, but after that night with Jerome, I regretted nothing.

The trampoline park was massive, as far as gyms went and the floor was covered in blue springboard wherever there weren't trampolines. There were dozens of pits filled with foam blocks, roughly half the size of the newest Xbox. There were ramps set up all over the place to jump from different heights with some overlooking pits as part of a park-wide obstacle course. Along the perimeter, there were rock climbing joints that dropped directly down into pits, making harnesses unnecessary.

The most popular spot was a pit near the center with a climbing bar overlooking it where jumpers could chicken fight until someone fell in. The best part: we had the whole place to ourselves for the next few hours. Though, I doubted my legs would last half as long. For the first half hour, we bounced around to warm up while the boys from soccer started trickling in. I had a mean cartwheel.

Once everyone was there, we had a chicken fighting tournament that didn't go so well for me, but I didn't mind. The highlight for me was Jerome scissoring my body with his toned legs until I fell in. I always saved my strength for him, so I could hold out longer. He entertained me in about five rematches. I never won, but we tied on our last go of it.

That time, I jumped on him, locked my arms around his waist and desperately clung on until we both fell in. Neither of us were in a hurry to get out of the pit. I don't think anyone noticed, but after that, I was beat and it was a good thing that I took a breather. Had I followed him around any longer, someone might've gotten the right idea about me.

I crawled and scooted around the park to see what everyone was up to. My legs were useless and I felt a migraine coming on. I found a good vantage point on top of a multi-level platform that looked like a fun box from a skate park. I used the last of my legs to climb up to where I could see everyone. Watching people tire themselves out turned out to be a lot more fun than getting tired out myself.

Jerome was still 'king of the pit' in the center of the park. Josiah was constantly getting chased down by our younger cousins. Every time he passed, he'd mimic their voices, "Josie, Josie, wait up! I wanna hug you!" I never called him Josie, but I had half a mind to start.

Jerome climbed up from behind me and gave me a hug, purely to share his sweat with me. It was gross and I didn't know how he managed it. I could've sworn he'd won a round of chicken a couple minutes earlier. I must've spaced out. The migraine was really starting to torture me.

"Everything cool?" he asked.

He was still slightly out of breath, so maybe I hadn't missed all that much. I turned to him and thought about telling him about my headache. There was nothing he could do, but I liked the idea of him worrying about me. I settled on wincing, it was a good compromise between stoic and needy.

He touched my forehead and winced back. "Yo, you're sorta burning up."

I kept my eyes on him as he lowered his hand toward the source of its warmth. He stopped when his palm was over my left eye. I peeled his hand away. It was blocking my view of him. With a migraine, it was hard to see the cuteness in anything. He let out a nervous laugh and stood up.

"No, wait!" I yelled, forcing one myself.

I poked at his cheek with my finger when he turned to me. I was in pain, yes, but I didn't want him to leave. He poked back and pain throbbed across the side of my face. I jerked forward and he poked me in the left eye with his thumb. I screamed and fell backward off the platform. He reached out, but it was too late. I landed on my back, four feet below him on springboard.

It hurt since I wasn't expecting it, but I was okay. I was more than okay, the migraine was subsiding. My body shuddered as I felt something—a speck of dust, maybe—swim across my left eye. I sat up and rubbed it vigorously. The feeling was gone after a few seconds.

Jerome stood over me with his hand out, so I took it and he pulled me to my feet. I brushed myself off and peeked over his shoulder to see if I'd made a scene. Between thirty-some jumpers and Gasolina blaring over loudspeakers, too much was going on to pay screaming any mind.

I looked for Josiah to see if his cousins were still chasing him. They'd caught him. He was rolling around on the ground with them in front of a pit flanked by two tall platforms. A rope hung from the ceiling in between them, allowing jumpers to swing across to the other side to feel like Tarzan. A smile crept on my face as I watched my cousins laughing and screaming. Josie was so good with kids. He was having as much fun as they were. I started walking toward them to get a better view. The vision in my left eye was kind of fuzzy though.

Maybe, I was seeing floaters. No, that wasn't it. There's something in my eye. I held it open and tried to scrape whatever it was out with the pad of my forefinger, probably how someone would remove a contact lens. Not that I'd know anything about that. I blinked several times, then tried looking over at Josiah again.

The floaters were still there. Nothing had changed. I wiped my left eye off on the crook of my thumb. It had started watering a bit. I turned to look back at Jerome and gasped. He wasn't there. That wasn't why I'd gasped though. My vision was fine all of a sudden, so I turned back to Josiah. I had spoken too soon.

The floaters were back, but when I turned my head, they stayed put. Of course, this struck me as odd. I closed my right eye and focused on the shapes obstructing my left. I made out a twirling spiral that bowed outward like a spinning top. It was suspended above a blotch of gray that was a few feet farther out than my cousins. I switched to the right eye. Gone. Back to the left. There again. This wasn't odd anymore, it was bizarre.

It had to mean something, but what? I walked toward the shapes and the size of them increased, like everything else in the world. I could see phantom objects with my left eye. I had to find out if they were tangible.

I shuffled my feet across the blue springboard to gain ground. I didn't want to exert effort by jumping. I was on a mission. Someone grabbed my shoulder, Jerome maybe? I didn't know, or care. I shrugged them off, not giving them the time of day. I looked up at the Tarzan platforms and saw our husky goalie trying to build up the nerve to jump across.

Bless his heart. He was big and he had a long wingspan, but jumping wasn't a thing he could do. We gave up our only goals to shots that sailed right over his head. I was tempted to see how this played out. I weighed my options. The phantom objects interested me slightly more. Josiah and our little cousins were rolling toward them. They could disappear as soon as they bumped into them. My mind raced with possibilities. I could always goad Ricky into jumping again.

I sprinted toward my cousins, huffing air, but I wasn't going to reach them in time. Josiah had a toddler in each arm and was about to roll across his shoulders with them.

"Josie! Wait!" I shouted frantically.

He stopped short of the blob and sat up. The kids groaned their disapproval and scampered off. "Oh my God, what?" He seemed genuinely annoyed, not for their sake.

I cracked a smile, beckoning him over. If he watched Ricky botch the Tarzan jump, all would be forgiven. He leaned forward and took my hand, but it was too late.

Ricky went for it.

He caught the thick bottom knot of the rope and held on for dear life. He wasn't headed anywhere near the other platform. His hands slipped as the rope swung to its highest point, then he was airborne. I pulled my cousin up with all my might, nearly ripping his poor arm out of its socket. Ricky tucked his head down and landed shoulder first right on the gray, phantom bullseye in front of us, rolling like a bowling ball across the path I'd snatched Josiah up from.

Josiah's eyes grew wide and he kissed me on the side of my face. "A ha, ha! You saved my life, primo!" he cheered.

I cringed for two reasons. The kiss was wet, gross and I resented him for stealing Jerome's fake laugh. This wasn't the kiss I tried to pass over as legit to Saylor and Faith. That one was from a girl at my bisabuelo's funeral and we weren't related. She was a ten year old funeral crasher. Why not? There are prodigies in everything else.

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Tia dropped me off late in the evening. I was beat and wanted nothing more than to lay in bed and reflect on everything. I'd see Saylor tomorrow. I survived two months without him. What's one more night? I groaned loudly as I stomped up each step of our creaky quarter turn staircase.

With Mom at work, I had the house to myself. I reached the top stair and light shone through the space between the floorboards and my door. Mom taught me better than to leave lights on. Even if I had, she'd turn it off and scold me for it later.

My stomach dropped, not out of fear, well not the 'a murderer is waiting for me' kind. Solon was safe. It could only be Saylor or Faith, but since no one came to greet me, I was walking into a trap. I could've turned around and I thought about it, but here, I had home field advantage.

I took a deep breath and started down the hall. Time to repent. I grabbed the doorknob and took a beat to prepare mentally. Should I be happy or sad? For Saylor, I'd be happy, but with Faith I'd act like I had a terrible time at the party I didn't invite her to.

I opened the door and saw both of them.