Nothing from Nothing

Janice turned the volume down. A hand was cupped over her mouth. She was speechless.

Sineas looked equally shocked. He cleared his throat after a moment of silence. 'Wow. This is really hard to take in.'

Aunt Janice shook her head slowly for a good six seconds. 'I'm so sorry, Sineas.'

'Sorry for what, Aunt Janice?'

'About that school. That satanic school I put you in. That place has a murderer on the loose and…'

'What are you talking about? This could all be just a coincidence.'

She shook her head again. 'No-o, Sin. Two people in the same school killed in the exact same way in such a short space of time? You call that coincidence?'

Sineas got to his feet and stood in front of her. 'Aunt Janice, come on! You don't seriously believe that, do you?'

She stood up, her arms folded. She looked sombre. 'Go upstairs and pack your bags. We've only got two hours to vacate this place.'

Sineas' expression turned grave. 'Aunt Janice, what are you talking about? This is our home.'

'And it will soon be our grave if we don't leave fast.'

He was adamant. 'Aunt Janice, you can't be serious!'

'As a heart attack I am. Sineas, go pack your bags, now!'

His eyes darted aimlessly at the floor. He was reluctant. 'But…your job…your morning and evening runs- you said it yourself that Malrich has the best roads to run on.'

'Sineas, I can still find another job, and as for my runs; I can run anywhere. Everything is replaceable, my boy, everything except life. I can't imagine what I'd do if I ever found out that you were murdered the same way these two have.'

Sineas shrugged and put his hands in his pockets. 'Aunt Janice, we can't go,' he said still staring at the floor. He was frowning hard.

'Wait,' she raised a hand in front of his chest. Her face looked perplexed. 'Aren't you the one who was begging and pleading…asking me not to send you to school and now all of a sudden you want to stay?'

'I think I'm starting to adjust.'

She fell into the couch and ran her hands up and down her arms. 'Sin, this won't work.'

'Aunt Janice?'

'That rich girl you've been hanging around. She's trying to earn the humanitarian of the year award by acting like she cares about you. You have to forget about her.'

He gave her a curious look. 'Where did you get that from?'

She sighed sympathetically. 'Sin, I didn't want to have to be the one to tell you this.'

'Tell me what?'

'What girl in her right mind would still hang around a guy the entire school hates, whose father committed suicide and whose mother is in a nuthouse?'

He turned his eyes back to the floor. 'Claire's different. She cares about me.'

Aunt Janice laughed. 'Sin, my boy, I think it's time to wake up! I was once her age. Girls in high school only go for guys that can do something for them. Guys that can keep them satisfied, financially. Guys who at least have a little bit of popularity.'

'No,' he shook his head vehemently, 'Clarissa's different,' he whispered.

She stood up and walked towards him. She placed her hands on both his shoulders. 'If you believe that, son then…' she shrugged, 'you really aren't ready for high school. The world is never what it seems. You can't get nothing from nothing.' She gave him a pat on the head then headed for the stairs.

He looked up at her as she ascended the steps. His face was sagging, reaching for the ground. 'Aunt Janice?'

She stopped, her hand on the rail. 'Yes, my boy?'

He dropped his head. 'I don't feel so good.'

She offered him a sympathetic smile. 'Its okay, my boy. I understand. It will heal.' She continued up the stairs. 'We'll continue our relocation conversation tomorrow,' she said.

Sineas' head began to throb. He could feel a massive headache underway. All the words Aunt Janice had spoken were viciously stinging his brain.

He headed straight for the kitchen, poured some water into a tumbler and gulped it down instantly. He placed his hands at the edge of the sink, his eyes looking down the drain. Was she right? Was she right though? Maybe she was. But why Clarissa? Of all the people in school, she was the only one who seemed to care about him. The only one who gave a damn about him. The only one! Why though? Why?!! Nothing for nothing, Aunt Janice had said. It made perfect sense. You can't expect nothing from nothing, only something from something. Was Clarissa trying to look like a saint in the teachers' eyes to earn some sort of prize? Was that all he was to her? An opportunity to school popularity? He had once heard of the phrase, "most likely to succeed." Maybe this was the title she had her sights on. Maybe. Maybe she intended to help people as a career like his mother had when she was still a doctor.

Sineas was dazed. He poured another cup, gulped it down then went for the stairs. He needed to lie down.

When he walked through his bedroom door, the pain in his head had amplified. He sat at the edge of the bed. He took out his phone from his pocket and sat there, staring at the black screen. Should he confront her? Confront her and say what? He swung his legs onto the bed and laid his head back onto the pillow, his eyes turned upwards. Clarissa, you jezebel slut! he thought.

His phone began ringing beside him. He painfully reached for it. It was Clarissa.

'Oh…it's you,' Sineas said coolly in response to her high-pitched "hey."

'Did you get home safely?' she asked.

Her tone sounded a bit lower…softer than usual. It sounded as though she was embarrassed. Probably embarrassed of her egotistic wickedness, Sineas thought. 'Yeah, sure,' he replied.

There was a pause between them.

'I had fun today,' she said finally.

Silence.

'Sin, are you still there?'

'Yeah, sure.'

'Um…did I call at a bad time?'

'What do you want?' he asked her bluntly.

'Sin? Is everything..?'

'Why did you call, Clarissa?'

There was a pause. 'Sin, I just…I just wanted to talk to you.'

He began laughing before she even made it halfway through her sentence. 'You're so full of it, you know that?'

'Why are you talking to me like this? What's wrong?'

He laughed again. 'It's a marvel I'm even talking to you at all. You really think I'm stupid, don't you?'

'What?'

'Why do you hang out with me, Clarissa?'

'Because…Because I want to.'

He placed a hand over his face. 'I should have known. Of all the people in the school, you had to choose the one and only black kid there. The one everybody hates. You show him some kindness in the hopes of getting noticed by the boys and girls upstairs so you can be hailed a hero. "Hail Clarissa Sherman, her majesty, queen of the rejects! The twenty-first Century Mother Teresa."'

She was silent, for a moment. 'Sineas; I don't know what you heard about me but you got it…'

'All wrong?' he cut her off. 'You actually thought you could make me believe that you sincerely care about me?'

'You've got it all wrong..!'

'No, Claire. I had it all wrong but my eyes are wide open now. I won't let you carry out your charity deeds on me any longer.'

'I can't believe you would say that after everything…the park…'

'All a grand setup of yours and I applaud it. Bra-vo, Clarissa. You had me fooled but not anymore.'

There was another pause. She tried to say something.

Sineas' head was swarming with witty comebacks for any statement she might utter.

'So, you really think…' she sighed sharply. Something had choked her words. Something wet.

'Still thinking of another tactic?' he said grinning satisfactorily. He continued, 'My eyes are so wide open they can see through your self-righteous deeds. No one should expect nothing from nothing, Claire. No one.'

She breathed another sharp sigh. 'I…' another sigh, 'I cared.' She hung up.

Sineas threw his phone to the far end of the room then laid his head back onto the pillow. 'Good riddance,' he said.