Thomas walked past Ethan and then looked at Julia again. He was angry with her for acting like that in front of Ethan, for not saying anything when he was laughing at John and him. Julia looked down sadly. Thomas walked out the front door and the wind blew in his face. "What to do" he thought "how to get John out of there or I'll come tomorrow and get him I think he'll sleep for a long time".Thomas walked to his house and inside he was in a tizzy "Julia was still there with Ethan, I hate them both".It was quite dark outside when he finally got home without incident, he was thinking somewhere far away when he heard a voice:
"Thomas"
He looked around and recognized the voice, Richard was sitting on the porch smoking.
"Sit down next to me" he said and moved over.
"Thank you" Thomas said as the man handed him a bottle of beer.
"How are you doing? "
"I don't know, not very well"
"Why? "
The man smoked, blowing clouds of smoke. Thomas shrugged
"It all seems so unfair, like everyone is conspiring against me".
"It happens." Thomas felt a sense of peace in the man.
He tipped the bottle and wiped his lips with his sleeve.
"Sometimes the people I care about just turn out to be nobodies".
"That's always like that" Richard said in a dry voice. "People are evil, Thomas, haven't you realized that yet? "
"I have, but I just can't understand them".
"What exactly? "
" Why do they act like I mean nothing to them?"
"I don't think so, maybe they're not sure about themselves".
"Not sure about themselves" Thomas repeated "Maybe I'm wrong, maybe she's just doing what she thinks is right" Thomas muttered "maybe she just wants to be with him".
Richard said nothing but lit another cigarette and stared into the night.
"If a person has made a choice, I don't think you can change it" Richard said later.
"That's right" Thomas said as he finished his beer "I shouldn't interfere with them, people need to be let go".
"Yes, I've let go of everyone long ago, I have no one left, I do the same thing every day and I don't get bored, although it may sound absurd to some people. "
Thomas looked at the man and felt a sudden pain in his arm.
"Has something happened? Your wound is bleeding, let me see it."
"No" Thomas said flatly, and suddenly shivers ran down his spine.
The man looked at Thomas in surprise. He didn't understand why he had reacted that way.
"I should go now" he said, thanking him for the beer.
"This man always treats me with something" but Thomas suddenly felt uncomfortable and wanted to go home. "Who is this man?" he thought and couldn't answer. He opened the door and almost entered the house. It was dark, obviously his mother was already asleep, but as soon as he entered the house everything was lit up and his mother was standing with her hands folded and looking at Thomas with a kind of judgmental look.
"Mom, I've reached home this time a little bit.... "
She suddenly walked over to her son and looked at his hand.
"Your wound, it is bleeding".
"Don't worry about it, I'm fine, I just got a little bruised".
Thomas winced when his mother touched the wound.
She took off his shirt and left him standing there until she had unwrapped the wound.
"Oh my God" she put her hands over her mouth and said scared "you were stabbed.
"Mom, I told you it's okay " Thomas took her hand in his "it's healing".
"The wound is fresh and it is bleeding, I'll wash it now and you lie down." Thomas lay down on the couch and closed his eyes as his mother washed his wound, he was uncomfortable but he didn't speak.
Soon he didn't even realize he was asleep.
"Where are you going, Thomas? " A voice suddenly said.
Thomas looked around and saw a man standing there holding something in his hand or someone.
"What is this...
The man suddenly threw the body in front of Thomas and he recognized who it was. It was Carol, lying motionless on the ground.
"She'll never wake up" the man said in a hoarse voice "she's dead".
"Dead, but why? " Thomas suddenly straightened up. "So it was you who killed her" he shouted.
"Who is this girl to you, why are you so upset about her, did she mean something to you"
"What for" Thomas suddenly felt a hot tear running down his cheek. It was dark outside, only street lamps illuminated the street he was on, though he didn't know where he was.
"Calm down, boy, why are you crying, a person has to die sometime, right? "
"Yes, but it's not up to you to decide when it's time for someone to die" Thomas shouted back. The man smiled.
"You can feel it, you can feel that pain".
"I don't know what you mean" Thomas said and wiped his face with his sleeve.
"Once upon a time I felt it too, and I want you all to understand what pain is, I want you to suffer".
"Suffer" Thomas repeated "But Carol was innocent of anything, what she died for? "
"She died for no reason, because I wanted her to die" the man said calmly.
"You had no right to kill her... you didn't, and you will be held accountable for it."
"No one will ever be able to catch me, I will always outsmart everyone, no one will ever be able to kill me".
Suddenly, a gun appeared in Thomas's hand as if from nowhere. He picked it up and examined it, then pointed the gun at the man.
"I'll kill you" he said in a sharp voice.
"Go ahead and try".
Thomas tried to pull the trigger, but it didn't work, and then the man moved closer to him.
"Don't come near me or I'll kill you".
"You can't do that, you don't hate me" the man said, coming even closer, his eyes bulging and his face bony.
Thomas looked at the gun and then at the man, frightened.
"Fuck you" he said, and the man suddenly grabbed the gun with his left hand and snatched it from Thomas's hands.
"You are helpless Thomas, you can't do anything to me".
Thomas stepped back and realized that there was a wall beyond and nowhere to hide.
"Are you going to kill me too?" he asked, swallowing his saliva.
"Probably, but you were kind"
Thomas suddenly straightened up.
"Then do as you wish" he said "I'm not afraid to die".
"Really" the man smiled wryly "You were ready to shoot me with a gun a second ago, weren't you?" The man put the muzzle of the gun to his temple and then grinned, showing Thomas all his yellow teeth. "You thought you could win, and now you have nowhere to run, you can scream, although no one will hear you anyway." Thomas looked over his shoulder at Carol's corpse, which was still lying there.
He clenched his fists in fright "Calm down, don't be a wimp" he said to himself "You have to be able to defend yourself".
"Run away, boy, or you're dead".
Suddenly Thomas felt something. He took it in his hand and pointed it at the man. It was a cue, and he could feel his hand trembling.
"Put it down" the man said as he approached, but Thomas held him back with it, even though he could have just fired his gun at any moment. "You're not going to do anything to me anyway, so just get over it". What do you want from me, just let me go".
"I told you to run away, but you didn't want to, did you? "
Suddenly Thomas felt a sharp pain in his shoulder. He touched it and there was blood on his hand. The cue fell out of his hand and he fell to his knees.
"Just kill me, why else would you watch me suffer" Thomas shouted in a voice that was not his own, and he felt faint. The man grabbed a cue from the ground and hit Thomas over the head with it.
"I like to watch people suffer" he said "I like to watch them suffer, and you can't understand that.
"You're crazy" Thomas wheezed "I promise I'll get revenge for everything.
"You won't, boy, don't you understand, this is your end, there is no way out, you will die here and now. " The man pointed the gun at Thomas again and fired a second time. Suddenly Thomas woke up, he was in a sweat and looked around.He was lying on the couch, it was just a dream.He rubbed his face with his palms and exhaled heavily. Thomas got up and went to get a drink of water.His mother was sleeping in the next room and Thomas carefully took the kettle and poured water into a glass.What kind of dream is this where he was almost killed.Thomas drank the water and sat on the couch thinking about this dream. "How strange is this" he thought.Suddenly someone knocked on the door.Thomas looked up in fright.Who could it be and it was so late.
"Open up, Thomas" said a familiar voice. It was John.
"Oh shit" Thomas said as he stood up. John was banging even louder.Thomas opened the door.
"Why are you so... "
Suddenly John flew into the house and grabbed Thomas by the collar of a shirt which his mother gave him.
"How could you leave me there" he yelled.
"What's wrong with you?" Thomas looked at his friend questioningly and broke away.
John exhaled heavily.
"I woke up at Julia's house and there was that bastard Ethan... how could you... leave me there alone... "
"I'm sorry, John, I couldn't make up anything better".
"Was there no other house? " John asked sternly as he sat down on the couch.
"Calm down, you will wake up my mum" Thomas said "You just fell unconscious and Julia's house was just around the corner".
"And you decided to drag me there".
It was dark in the room, only the moon was shining through the window.
"I'm sorry" Thomas said with a frown.
"I still can't believe that bastard goes to her house" John said, crossing his arms.
"Did he see you?".
"When I left the room, they were both sitting on the couch, he had one arm around her weist, her head was on his chest and they fell asleep in that pose".
John fidgeted nervously.
"I wanted to say something, but I realized I couldn't get anything anyway, she chose him, and now she disgusts me as much as he does.
Thomas didn't say anything, he was angry himself.
"I'm sorry John, it was a bad idea"
"It was a terrible idea".
They were silent for a moment, then John said:
"What happened to me, why was I unconscious? "
Thomas shrugged his shoulders
"I have no idea" he said calmly "those men poured you a drink and you drank it".
"To be honest, I don't remember much of anything".
"No wonder".
"I still have a headache"
"Those men gave you some kind of tincture that made you sick and you passed out, then I had a hard time carrying you, so I decided to carry you to Julia, who was just outside. "
"So you carried me" John looked at Thomas.
"Yes, because you couldn't walk, so I had to help you".
John was silent for a moment, biting his lip strangely.
"You helped me, thank you, Thomas".
Thomas looked at his friend in surprise and then smiled broadly.
"We never leave a friend in need, do we, John? "
"Yes, I shouldn't have drunk so much or shouldn't at all" he said "I've obviously gone a little overboard. "
"Yeah, do you want to eat something? " Thomas asked
John suddenly thought.
"I'd like some cookies if you don't mind, but I think I left the ones I bought on the bench".
"Oh, I forgot, the men have probably already eaten them" Thomas said, and took a plate of cookies from the sideboard.
"Here you are". He handed them to John.
Thomas felt the merriment in his friend.
"You are so kind" he said
Thomas smiled and took some cookies, feeling a little hungry.
"I'm sorry I snapped at you like that"John said "I just got a little carried away".
"Don't worry, it wasn't unreasonable anyway, was it? " Thomas asked sitting down next to his friend.
John nodded, but suddenly Thomas felt the anger in him again.
"This is all very strange" John said suddenly.
"What do you mean? "
"Julia, she seems to be serious about Ethan".
"Yeah, you're right, I think she wants to do this, so I don't think we should interfere".
"And you're talking so calmly about it" John suddenly exclaimed, but then went quiet.
"I've already accepted it and besides, you like her, not me".
John was silent for a moment and then said:
"I don't care about her, I'm going to bed now". He stretched out on the couch and after a while snored, Thomas straightened up too and didn't know what to do.