Page 17 of The Reaper
I gasped as one of them lashed out to hit Devon, but he had reflexes like a cat, and he slashed the boy on the hand with the Stanley knife. The boy hissed and pulled away, cursing and swearing. Another boy tried his luck, but Devon turned on him, using the sharpened stick and jabbing it into the boy’s side. It was like watching a Marvel movie; only the hero didn’t look like your regular hero. He was dark, mysterious, a dangerous opponent with deadly weapons he’d crafted himself.
Two of the boys were cowering and panting, and I heard Devon turn to the third and say, “Do you want to try your luck?”
He shook his head and backed away, but still tried to get a verbal punch in. “You’re a weirdo. No one likes you. The sooner you get expelled from our school, the better.”
Devon just ignored them, no recognition of their existence flickered on his face, all of his focus remained on the arrow stick he was carefully whittling.
The three boys skulked away to lick their wounds, but I stood still, watching in fascination. Devon never saw me, and I was glad, because I’d seen him, and that was enough. I’d got to see him in all his unedited, raw honesty.
Devon didn’t need a friend. He didn’t need me disturbing his peace. He wanted to be alone. But something still drew me to him. I liked looking at him, studying him. He wasn’t like anyone I’d ever met before. He was real. Unapologetically so.
I must’ve gone into a trance, watching Devon in his world, because when my mum came up behind me and put her hand on my shoulder, I jumped out of my skin. She smiled down at me, but I looked over to where Devon stood, praying he hadn’t been disturbed. He hadn’t, but he was walking away towards the bottom of the garden, leaving me behind. It made me feel a sense of sadness and longing.
“He’s a troubled soul, that one.” Mum sighed as she put her arms around me to hug me from behind. “He could do with a friend. Someone to watch over him. Kay said he’s been getting into a lot of trouble at school. Maybe you could talk to him?”
“He doesn’t go to my school, Mum,” I said, wishing that he did.
“I know that, but there’s always weekends and events like this. Brinton Manor is a small place.” She let me go and came to stand in front of me. “You could invite him to your church club.”
“I don’t think he’s the church club kind.” I knew he wasn’t, and I wasn’t about to embarrass myself by suggesting something like that to a boy like him.
“Okay, well, what about your guitar lessons? Or violin? Maybe he’d like to learn to play an instrument?” Again, she was barking up the wrong tree, but she had good intentions, so I nodded in agreement.
“Maybe.”
“Thank you.” Mum gave me one last hug. “Kay worries about him, and I worry about them both. If I know someone’s looking out for him, it’ll make me feel a little better.”
That someone being me.
I took one last look at the boy who seemed to live like a ghost. He appeared to like it that way too. I never thought I’d see him again. I didn’t realise the impact that first encounter would have on my life. But two days later, my mum was knocked down at a zebra crossing by a drunk driver. She was killed on impact as he ploughed her into a wall. At her funeral, I saw Kay Brady. I didn’t see her kids, but I remembered what my mum had said.
He needed a friend.
She’d feel better knowing someone was watching out for him.
And so, I made a pledge to my mum that day, under the drizzly, grey skies of Brinton Manor. Right in front of her coffin at the altar of my dad’s church, I vowed I’d do what my mum had asked of me.
I’d be a good person, just like her.
I’d watch him like she’d wanted me to.
My mum wanted Devon Brady to have a friend.
Devon Brady didn’t want to make any friends.
So, I’d be his shadow friend. A secret friend that even he didn’t know about. A friend in the dark.
One day, I’d do more to help him, but I was only twelve, and there wasn’t a lot I could do right now. One day, I’d find a way to be what he needed me to be, even though he didn’t know I existed. Even though he never even knew my name.
Back then, I’d wanted to be a friend.
A guardian angel.
Some years, I only checked in on what was happening in his life sporadically. I knew he’d been permanently excluded from school. I watched as he made new friends with boys that were like him. Boys that understood him, like I did.
But as the years went on, my interest in him changed. I thought about him way more than I should have. I fantasised about him too.
I became obsessed.
