Loving thy Neigbour

The Shermans were having a quiet dinner at 7:30 P.M.

'I heard you were questioned by the police this morning,' Mrs. Sherman said to Clarissa. She was still wearing her kitchen apron over her long, black dress. The family was having turkey and rice and potato salad. Mr. Sherman was present, still dressed in his black tuxedo. He had attended a business meeting that afternoon and had arrived home to find his wife had already finished preparing dinner. There had been no time to change into something more dinner appropriate. His clean shave, short haircut and slim body made him look like a mafioso beneath the kitchen's fluorescent light. Clarissa was sitting across her mother at the longer sides of the rectangular table and Mr. Sherman was sitting at one of the longer ends at Clarissa's right (Mrs. Sherman's left).

Clarissa stared at her mother. It looked like she was trying to read her mind as she took a mouthful of salad, digesting her question. She shrugged slowly, 'Yeah, so?' she answered her.

'They didn't question you alone,' her mother said. 'It was you and that boy. The black kid.'

'His name is Sineas Murphy,' Clarissa said.

Mrs Sherman replied, 'I also hear you've become very close to this boy. Very close.'

She dropped her fork onto the edge of the plate. 'Is this going somewhere?'

Mrs. Sherman also dropped her fork, but on top of the table. 'I thought I told you to stay away from him, Clarissa. I did strictly tell you to stay away from him but you just won't listen. She won't listen to me, Ivine. She just won't listen to me!' She turned to her husband for support.

Mr. Sherman seemed to be enjoying his meal…very much. It was as if he wanted no part of the argument or the meal was just too good to have him distracted.

Clarissa said, 'Mom, Sineas has no friends in that school. No friends at all besides me. Everyone is always picking on him and I'm supposed to just stand by and watch? Or do you prefer I join in?'

Her mother grabbed her fork. She was now blinking rapidly. 'Clarissa; that boy is trouble. Inspector Charles told me himself. His father shot himself…'

'And his mother is in an asylum, I know mom, he told me.'

She opened her mouth wide in astonishment. 'And yet you still choose to hang around him. To have lunch together and accompany each other to funerals. Very soon you'll be accompanying each other down the isle but I won't stand for it. We won't stand for it!' she said banging her fist twice on the table. She looked at her husband again.

Mr. Sherman continued with his meal.

Clarissa formed a smile at her mother. A crooked smile. 'All this time you've been teaching me about loving my neighbour as myself and now you're telling me to hate this one? Now you tell me which neighbour to abandon?'

Her mother replied, 'He's not a dog that can be abandoned, Claire. He's a person and he has an aunt. She has all the love for him. You, just focus on your studies and become the doctor you've always wanted to be.'

'Teacher, mom. I said I want to be a teacher. I think I've said it like a million times already. Sineas is my friend and I'm…'

'Clarissa, the neighbours are talking!' Her mother desperately wrung her hands. 'Our neighbours are talking, Claire! This boy will be the end of us if you continue to see him. He is bad news!'

Clarissa became quiet. She stared into her plate. 'Mom. I know how strongly you disapprove of this and as much as I honour and respect you as my mother…I'm afraid I cannot obey you on this one.'

Her mother opened her mouth wide in amazement.

Clarissa continued, 'If only you would try to understand what Sineas has been through. A person who's been through so much pain deserves a little peace, not persecution.'

Mrs. Sherman turned to her husband once again, her mouth still wide open.

He was wiping his mouth clean with a napkin.

'Ivine!' she shouted.

His eyes alternated ignorantly between them. He looked at his daughter. 'Claire; listen to your mother,' he told her. He stood up.

'But, dad, if you…'

'I understand what you're trying to do; truly I do. You have a warm heart and good intentions, but this kid, Murphy is where your mother and I draw the line. If you keep seeing him, we'll ground you forever until you die…then ground you for another eternity.' He looked at his wife.

She nodded approvingly.

He sighed and pushed his chair back. 'And now that that's been taken care of, I'll be off to bed now.' He left the kitchen whistling a tune.

Claire shook her head and faced the opposite wall. She was muttering something under her breath.

Her mother gave an intrigued laugh before crossing her arms and leaning back in her chair. 'I don't understand you, Claire. Do you love this boy?'

Clarissa was now stabbing the table with her fork. She turned her eyes towards her mother. 'And if I did…would that be wrong?'

Sineas was tired. He lay in his bed, his eyes up. 'Did you hear about Justin?'

'The kid that beat the Sin out of you? Yeah, what about him?'

'They finally found his body. Chopped up into six pieces.'

' *Whistles* Damn! Was someone planning a cannibal grill or something?'

'It's no secret that I hated Justin but I still don't understand how anyone can be that evil. I'd understand if it was just a shot in the head. Many athletes get shot in the head, but an axe?' He shook his head, 'That's hardcore.'

'I know. Maybe it was a gang thing or something. Maybe the kid borrowed money from the wrong guys, failed to pay and they taught him a lesson. One that will get him graduated in hell when he gets there.'

Sineas sighed heavily. 'No one is safe anymore.'

'What's up with your girlfriend?'

He squinted. 'Girlfriend? What girlfriend?'

'Come on, don't play dumb, Sin. That Clarissa chick you won't stop thinking about. That Clarissa chick you won't stop talking about.'

'Don't be stupid. Clarissa's my friend. In fact, she's the only friend I have. All the other kids are nothing but buttheads. Why bring her up anyway?' Sineas asked.

'I think she's nice.'

Sineas laughed then he yawned. 'Shut up. I need to get some sleep.'