In pursuit of thrill - Daniel Davis
"Aah!” the boy got up from his bed, sweating, but it was November. The reason for the perspiration was probably his dream. It was a dream in which he had died as a baby. Wiping the streams of sweat from his sharp jaw line, he went out of his room as he again thought about the dream in which he was a baby, or rather, a baby djinn.
***
“Daniel?” the boy who was concentrated in painting the lush lawn of the school suddenly stopped his brush and said: ‘’He’s the best there is. The dude is our best painter and you know what? He is excellent in each subject too. A genius, he’s a genius!”
-
“Yes, I know Daniel Davis.” the girl sitting before a huge book in the library frowned at the stupid question. She took off her big, round glasses and started playing around with her ponytail, then continued: “He is… so cool! You know the things he can do? He plays basketball, and he’s very good at it. Last year, he won a bet with the captain. Oh! And did you know that he’s the best at chess!! He is…” she kept on saying a hundred inaudible words.
-
“That Daniel from the freshman class? Yeah, I heard he’s good at boxing.” The man explained: “I wonder when he’ll formally join the boxing club so I can get to teach him a few things.”
-
“Hey you! You’re asking around for Daniel Davis, right?” a skinny boy with freckles all over his face came up. “See this! The reality of The Daniel Davis.” he held out his phone on which a video was being played. The video showed a muscular boy punching a weak, skinny boy with freckles. He was shouting and swearing loudly. Then, someone kicked the muscular boy out of nowhere. The camera frame showed another boy crashing the scene. He was roughly 15 years old and was wearing a baggy hoodie over his face. Throwing a jab at the bully, he knocked him out cold. Holding out a hand for the skinny boy, he helped him stand up, and as he did so, he also jerked his head backwards in order to let the hood fall back, revealing his sharp jaw line and silver eyes.
As the slim boy put his phone back in his pocket, he jumped with enthusiasm and said: “And that… is Daniel Davis of Suntown High School and he… has everything!”
-
“You know what I don’t have, Sean?” the boy asked his best friend nonchalantly as they both sat on their knees hiding in the bushes, occasionally looking at the open door of the old-fashioned house at the corner of 4th Avenue.
“What?” Sean asked as he shifted from one foot to the other.
“Thrill! I don’t have any action in my life, and that is exactly why we should break into this house today.”
“Hush! She’s out!” Sean put a finger to his lips as a brown woman with shoulder-length brown hair, wearing a grey sari got out of the door, locked it from outside and went about to find a taxi in the 3rd Avenue which was usually very busy.
“Let’s do something good for once!” He got up, motioning for the door.
***
“…and that my students, is how a Djinn is born.” The brown woman with long eyelashes and black sari was giving a lecture to her captivated class as two boys, both in baggy hoodies and jeans entered the room while several of the girls paused to take in the boy with silver eyes.
“Late again, are you, Daniel?” the woman said without looking at him, eyes fixed on a thick and old book. “Well, not actually late. You see, Ms. Amrita.” She frowned as he continued: “Since Sean and I always come at half-time in your class, I’d say we’re right on time.” He smirked as the whole class broke into a fit of laughter.
“It looks like I will have to speak with Mr. Davis and Mr. Smith for you both. You may have your seats for now.” She said, now looking at them already sitting in their corner seats beside the window.
Unconcerned, she continued with her lecture: “Now a djinn –whether he is a Marid or an Ifrit – grows so fast that in 12 human years, he develops a body comparable to that of a 25-30 year old human and that is when-“
“Excuse me, Ms. Amrita.” It was Daniel who had raised his hand and did not wait for his teacher to speak before continuing: “But what page number is this?” She frowned before replying: “It’s not in your book, Mr. Davis. If you’d come in early, you’d know that we are studying Arabian myths and folklore today.” Her frown kept getting harder as she continued: “And I was giving additional information on djinns. Now, if you would stop asking useless questions, then maybe we could carry on with our lesson earnestly.”
“But, Madam. What is your source for this information, might I ask?” he kept on pestering her as she lost her calm and shut her thick book hard with anger. The book’s cover looked old and a fire emblem was barely visible on it. Miss Amrita grabbed it hastily as she opened the door and stood by it: “The Principal’s office, Mr. Daniel Davis.”
-
“Why are you always late from class?” A man with a cleanly shaved beard scolded his son who had his silver eyes down. They were standing in a spacious living room which was not exactly humble. If it wasn’t for his clenched jaw line, one would have thought that he was ashamed. “And you argued with Miss Amrita again? Why are you always like this with her?” He snapped at him as he looked up, showing his unfazed eyes, he said carelessly: “Dad, you know I can’t stand her. The woman’s a witch!”
“Dan!” Claude barely restrained himself from hitting his son after which he softened up: “You will have to stop all of this. Your history teacher and I… We are dating…”
It was like a bomb had been thrown towards him. The person he hated the most was on her way to usurp his mother’s place. For the first time in his life after the death of his mother, Daniel felt tears welling up in his eyes. It was an unknown feeling but he welcomed it, thinking that he would feel better if he cried. Without saying anything to his father, he ran up to his room and shut it from inside.
*Sniff…sniff*
He was wrong, crying did not make him feel better. If anything, it made him worse than he already was, so he stopped. Wiping his tears, he made a plan. Getting his phone out of his pocket, he called Sean.
“Listen, Sean. Meet me at the corner of 4th Avenue. I’ll explain everything once we get there. Oh! And bring an empty bag with you. We are going to steal something today.”