Chapter 6

Gerome Ryder

Gerome had himself cleaned up the first thing he got home. He could feel his energy already at its maximal-fatigued zone. The SOAR training had been heightened and intensified, and the coaching became even more extreme as the tournament was approaching nearer. Coach Chim had high expectation for him. “You have no reason to fail,” he told Gerome couple of times during the trainings, referring to his eminent speed and uncommonly gifted aptitude of twelve feet high jumping.

All the guys need to be in their best conditions before the game. So sleep early, no junk food, and less hazardous assignments for them at mean time. Gerome was thankful to have a thoughtful commander as his superior, assigning less-hectic assignments for the air force troop, knowing that Gerome is having frenetic weeks of preparation for the upcoming big tournament. Part of it was because his superior happened to be an ardent supporter of SOAR.

The stars look beautiful tonight. He could see them twinkling brightly from his all-glass balcony door. He hung his towel on the top rail of his chair, and moved over to the balcony. Work and SOAR, work and SOAR… I’m turning into a habitual droid creature, he grumbled silently. He decided to have some fresh air before he conks out.

He slid the balcony doors opened leisurely, stepped out and perched his elbows on the railing. It brings the painful memories back for him this time every year, reminding him the very day he became an orphan. But he was glad that the pain had gradually weakened over the years. Rhu and his family had been very nice to him. They showered him with so much love, and helped him to come out of the pain slowly. After so many years, the faces of his parents had become a fugacious part of his memory.

Gerome’s father, Arbone Ryder was Rhu’s colleague. They were good friends and used to work in the same department as sergeants before the Ryders were transferred to Weatherspoon (a state in Velvet), for the lack of armed force. The Ryders had settled in Weatherspoon for about a year and a half there before the unfortunate incident happened.

It happened in a night in Weatherspoon, where every townsfolk had been looking forward to conclude the day with a good night rest. That night, everyone was awakened by the sounds of terrifying shooting and commotion.

That night, Monad’s army changed his fate.

Gerome parents got him into the basement while he was still half asleep. “Stay here, I’ll go get help. Don’t come out,” Arbone said in a hurry, hiding his anxiety under the usual tone of his voice, but showing tense through his creased eyebrows. He hugged his wife and son, shut the door and left.

The ear-splitting sound of shootings and people screaming could be heard more and more vivid, that was when he became clear-headed. This is a war. A real war.

His mother was starting to get restless and worried too. She kept rubbing both hands over and over again. It made him felt uneasy just watching her. Finally, just as his inner qualm had predicted, she finally said something that he dreaded. “Honey, your father has hurt his knee. I’m worried about him. I’m going to look for him.” She held his hands. “Now listen, I want you to stay here until we return. Your father has called Sergeant Onyx, he will be here to help us as fast as he can. So don’t come out until we come back to get you, do you understand me?” Gerome nodded his head. He was only a young lad. His mother hugged him tight, kissed his forehead. She didn’t say goodbye, he was sure she must have forgotten to do so. Little did he know that that was the last time he saw his parents.

That interim moment in the basement was gruesomely horrible, like having insidious viruses that carry all sorts of negative and dreadful feeling into his little heart. He shifted himself to the corner, and sat under the dim light, there was no window to look out. The tumult of screaming and wailing from outside tormented his ears. He loathed it. Wrapping his shivering arms around his knees, waiting in the dark with almost despair wasn’t what he intended to do. He had never experienced war before, and had no slightest foreseeable depiction how bad it could get. But he kept his hope. He kept telling himself his parents promised to come back. His mother’s last words kept repeating until they whirled around his mind. The long waiting made him dozed off unwittingly.

Weatherspoon was an agrarian society and rich with many natural resources. They supplied food for most part of the country. The place was beautiful with placid scenes of country houses landscapes. Gerome could still recall to this day the lovely lavender garden adjacent to the river not far from his house, owned by a friendly old lady who always had her big yellow sun hat on her head. The lavenders garden, stretched and rippling in the wind like a purple sea was a perfect classic picturesque view of Weatherspoon. It was an area of pristine, intact scenic beauty that he regretted he wasn’t able to capture it into his Eli (a device), remained solely in his memory. He sometimes wonders if the old woman survived the attack, for he knew that the lavender garden had turned into a derelict piece of land. The enemies sent ten fleets of ships to invade Weatherspoon. Mainly because it was one of the cities that was built by the river, and they were trying to destroy the crops and animals in order to cut the food supply for the war, which was happening simultaneously in the neighbouring city called Pearl Gate.

The creaks of the floor were heard, and woke Gerome up with a repercussion of heavy beating of his heart. His heart was throbbing like a juddering batter head provoked by his fear. It could be either a rescuer, or a destroyer. The basement door was opened. A familiar figure moved closer, but it was neither his mom nor his dad. That gave him a jittery. For a child of his age, Gerome had held up pretty well. He tried his best not to get panicked, just like his dad had always reminded him.

The light was dim but he could see the face as the man of that familiar uniform approached closer. It was Sergeant Rhu Onyx. Gerome let his guard down when he saw the face of a family friend. “Son, are you alright? Come with me.” The large man took hold of Gerome’s hand and carried him off to a chopper.

Gerome was stumped to put into words of what he was seeing.

The once so lovely and quaint semi-countryside Weatherspoon had turned into raging inferno. Sergeant Rhu Onyx was sitting next to him in the chopper, not saying a word. Sensing something was not right, he made a valiant attempt to ask the question. “Uncle Rhu… wh… where are my mom and dad?” His tiny voice was barely heard against the loud noises from the chopper. Rhu Onyx looked at him, his eyes prickled with water. He knew it has to be something bad.

“I’m sorry, son.”

That was all Rhu said, trying hard to stay calm in front of Abone’s only son. The child had lost his parents in such young age, and so sudden. Rhu wasn’t good in comforting people. He just wrapped his arm around Gerome’s tiny shoulders, holding him with his big palm. Gerome understood the meaning of sorry, and let his tears rained down his cheeks.

That was how Gerome was taken to live with the Onyx family.

A chain of bittersweet memory. Bitter has never been an amiable fellow. But would one appreciate sweet before tasting bitter? Gerome remembered clearly he was about to turn eight in less than a month’s time when he officially moved into the two-storey house. It wasn’t as big as a mansion, but it was impressively well-designed in a contemporary way. A large part of the lower storey of the house was walled with glass, veiled by curtains and blinds. They had a master bedroom, and three en-suite bedrooms at the second floor. Marteena had one of the rooms tidied up for Gerome to stay, and she did bits of decor, changed the curtains, and had some furniture replaced with new ones. “Just in case we are missing out on anything, be sure to let us know,” she said to him.

Two endearing Onyx siblings with the names of Judah and Jade were excited about having a new family member. “A new brother!” Jade exclaimed in delight upon Gerome’s arrival. Judah was twelve years old, and Jade was four at that time.

Outside, the house was surrounded by established garden and green lawn, and a really nice partially-roofed alfresco. A portion of the garden was fenced up for Marteena’s land of verdant vegetables. Not forgetting to leave a portion for the kids, Rhu had set up a small play zone, inputting a simple tree house with slide and swings and a sandy area. That was where they idled away the afternoon time.

It was very different from the country house he used to live in Weatherspoon, but it was place that emanated an unseen fragrance of love. Although Rhu was procured to move to a bigger house when he got promoted to commander years ago, Marteena turned down the offer. She said bigger house doesn’t make life any fancier. So 501 Fanning Street had become the Velvet’s First Land Commander’s official residence ever since.

The Onyx family was very nice to Gerome, doing everything they could at their best to make him feel like a part of the family. Bless them. They celebrated his eight birthday that year at their backyard, with typical party decoration with streamers, balloons and a banner with his name on. It was an unforgettable charming little party. He remembered Rhu hung two dozens of lanterns at the backyard, transforming the place with lights, looking amazingly warm and lovely at night. Marteena prepared mouthwatering party dishes for the evening. It was truly a heartfelt effort. Gerome tasted the sweetness that overwhelmed the bitterness in life.

They invited a few neighbour kids over, including Lukah, Aisha and Aamali. He couldn’t remember some of the other kids though, because they moved in and out in between the years. Little Jade was being really friendly to him, holding his hand and leading him everywhere, introducing new friends to him. Judah took almost all of his action figures and some remote control vehicles to entertain the boys. To be honest, he had plenty of them.

Gerome soon found out that Jade didn’t have many girly toys. She spent most of her play time with the boys, sometimes Aisha. Having two boys in the house, Jade was susceptible into becoming a little less girly than other girls. Gamine would be perfect to paint a word picture for Jade. She used to be quite skinny, short hair and with peculiar boyish charm. Lukah tagged Jade as tough girl – girl with weapon that he would never consider dating, which was a relief for both her brothers. Jade does have soft sides, Gerome was certain. Years of living under the same roof was sufficient to discover her gentleness within.

The reminiscences broke off when he caught something moving in the garden.

It was Jade, lying on the bench looking at the sky, or the stars. The sassy boyish lass had somehow undergone a stealthy metamorphosis from an awkward schoolgirl to a bloomed young woman. She was now beautiful, with elegant visage, and lovely in form. Gerome had always thought she looks beautiful, even during her awkward times. He liked her because she was always chummy, thoughtful and sincere, not a single proportion of pretentious-girl mien in her.

In some ways, Jade was very much like Marteena, forever caring and loving, putting other people’s needs before hers. Some of the things Jade did were very heartwarming. Once he had a fever, and went to bed earlier than usual that night. Jade came into his bedroom quietly in the middle of the night, and touched lightly on his forehead. She knelt down on her knees beside his bed, said a quick prayer for him in a tiny voice, and tiptoed back to her own room. She was only five or six, he couldn’t remember the exact age, but it still melts his heart every time he thinks of it. And every time when they have outdoor activities, Jade would be the one rubbing sunblock, lotion or mosquito repellent on her brothers. She would have dry or wet tissues, balms, sanitiser, even spare recycle bags stuffed in her bag whenever they go out. Judah called her the Ministry of Hygiene Department. She actually liked it.

The garden lights allowed Gerome to see Jade clearly in the night. She was wearing a white laced dress. It was alluring. The low scoop made her collar bones looked stunningly attractive. The StarGaze telescope was reflected from her Eli (a device), and she was drawing some lines with her index finger in it. She must have been so enthralled by the stars that she had hardly felt the nippy weather. Silly girl, using her imaginations again, he thought. Unaware, his lips stretched into a mild smile and his eyes lingered on her.

Come on, what are you thinking? He shook his head to clear his mind. The game is only a few days to go, he had to keep himself focus. This is important business, like Lukah just said earlier.

“Stay focus. That’s right,” he said to himself, making a serious pout. Surreptitiously, he went back to his room and slid the balcony door closed quietly.