Chase and Find

   This isn’t where I wanted to be. Especially on my eighteenth birthday but then again, there was no place I would rather be at. A cool, autumn breeze blew gently, crackling the orange and red leaves. I sighed and a puff of a misty air floated up to the dull, cloudy sky. A crow cried somewhere in the distance, far away from the gravestone I was standing in front of.

   ‘Hello Kevin,’ I muttered, feeling slightly stupid for talking to a slab of rock. The slate grey stone had the name “Kevin Hampton. 1994-2011” engraved into it. An entire year passed since my twin brother’s death. It was a car crash and strangely, Kevin always hated cars. I smiled at the thought of that.

   I got on my knees and then placed a yellow sunflower on the dirt. I knew that Kevin loved sunflowers. I felt a sudden sadness take over my body. To lose the one person who you could talk to about anything, who you connected with the best and to wake up to know that he was gone forever, that was a pain I couldn’t deal with.

   A tear drop fell from my eyes and I furiously stood up, feeling angry that I let my guard down and cry in public.

   When I turned, there was a girl in a black t-shirt and dark blue jeans, standing by a gravestone. Her flame colored hair fell to her back as she began running. She reminded me of my best friend, Mary Jane but it couldn’t have been her. She didn’t have anyone to visit.

   I sighed, ignoring the girl and continued walking but my eye caught onto a neon yellow coat on the gravestone the girl was standing at before. I looked around, hoping she would be there and there she was, behind a tree.

   ‘Hey!’ I yelled, picking up the coat. ‘You left your coat!’ The girl laughed, covering her face with her hair and jogged away. I stood dumbfounded for a moment and moved only when a loud buzzing of a phone started. It was coming from the coat. I took it and answered it.

   ‘I’m sorry –’ I spoke but my voice was cut off by a gentle, feminine voice.

   ‘Brown Street, 24^th Avenue. I’d love my coat back,’ the voice said and before I could answer, she hung up.

   Again, I stood dumbfounded. Was I really going to go after this girl and give her the coat? Was I really willing to play chase and find with a girl I didn’t even know? A total stranger she was to me and yet, I was actually considering it. A part of me was furious about my behavior but I ignored it, completely shutting it off and began walking.

   I was going to find the girl, just for the thrill of it. I knew where Brown Street 24^th Avenue was at; it was somewhere I went quite frequently. I kicked a small pebble out of my path, cracking a smile.

   Looking down at the yellow coat I had in hand, I grinned. This was going to be fun; I thought and exited the graveyard.

   Brown Street 24^th Avenue was only a block away from the graveyard. I walked slowly, taking my time in it. The phone was a burner phone, making it hopeless for me to trace the number and the other number was an unknown number. I shook my head, realizing that this girl had planned this out from a very long time but it surprised me of how she knew where I would be at what time.

    Then I finally reached the street. I looked around for a moment before crossing the street to my favorite book store, where I went to almost every afternoon. The girl was standing at the very end of the pavement, her back facing me but I was sure this was the girl.

   I was about to go over to her when the phone rang again. I cursed when I couldn’t reach it at first but answered as soon as possible when I had it.

   ‘Hello?’ I said quietly and looked forward. The girl was gone.

   ‘You were too late but that doesn’t mean I don’t want my coat,’ said the girl, giggling slightly at the end of her sentence.

   ‘Who are you?’ I asked, letting the curiosity get the best of me.

   ‘Now now Mr. Gordon Hampton, you must be patient. Take fourteen steps forward and then make a right turn, then take four more steps and you’ll find me,’ said the girl and hung up again.

   She knew my name. I felt a little annoyed this time when she hung up on me but somewhere in between that annoyance, I even felt a little excited. I hadn’t felt excited or happy like this in a while. My brother’s death had an impact on me that changed nearly everything in my life, especially this, all the fun I used to have disappeared and this was the first I was doing something because I liked it.

   I continued walking and after making my way halfway to the end of the street, I realized that I had to take only fourteen steps. I went all the way back, standing in position and counted the steps I took.

   By the time I reached fourteen, I was in front of a restaurant. I looked up at the sign, realizing that I’d been there with Kevin nearly everyday after school.

   My memories flashed back to the last time Kevin and I were at the restaurant.

***

   It was a Sunday. Kevin was racing me to the restaurant. We were there to meet Mary Jane, our best friend.

  ‘Well, well little brother. It seems you’ve lost this and also,’ said Kevin and he then turned to Mary Jane, took her hand, kissing the top of her knuckles. Mary Jane pulled her hand back and that made Kevin laugh. ‘The heart to the fair maiden of the valley!’

   ‘Don’t be boastful now Kevin, who knows what could happening right under your nose,’ replied Mary Jane edgily, winking at me.

  I chuckled and Kevin fake gasped. We sat in our usual booth. Kevin ordered a grill cheese sandwich and a hot chocolate. Mary Jane ordered a green salad and sparkling water. I ordered fish and chips and ice tea. We discussed on how we were going to go to homecoming. The second last one before we were done for school. Then our conversation drifted into different patterns, all the while, we were laughing and enjoying the moment we had.

***

   I shook my head, trying my hardest to forget the memory. When something that intense happens to you, like someone who you love significantly dies, everything, every moment of that day just burns in your mind, never letting you forget about it.

   My eyes dropped to the yellow coat in my hand. I’d already wasted enough time but I wondered did I really want to meet this girl? A girl who I knew nothing about but a girl who knew something’s about me.

  I’ve gotten this far, I couldn’t back out of it now. It wasn’t right. I had to stay on track.

  Slowly, I took four steps forward, stopping at the little brown rug in front of the door. I took in a deep breath and pushed the door open, surprised when I entered the restaurant.

  ‘Happy Birthday, Gordon!’ A number of voices yelled at the same time, leaving my body in absolute shock.

   Everyone I knew was there. My mom and dad were at the front, holding a rectangular, blue frosted cake. All my friends were on one side, holding balloons, a couple of streamers, wearing goofy party hats and holding presents. On the other side was Gary, my friend from the bookstore and my family, all my aunts, uncles and cousins.

   After a moment, my body revived from the shock and I grinned but it lasted for only a fraction of a second. The phone in the yellow coat began buzzing.

  Without wasting my time, I picked it up and listened to the voice carefully, now knowing that the girl who owned the yellow coat was somewhere in the crowd.

   ‘Turn,’ it was the only word I heard and I did instantly.

  ‘Mary Jane?’ I murmured, utterly confused. Mary Jane laughed, so did the rest of the people.

   ‘Surprise, surprise Gordon. I’d like my coat back, thank you,’ she chuckled, taking the coat from me. ‘Happy birthday.’

    I smiled, looking back at the crowd, standing next to my best friend and looked back once more, thinking about Kevin.

  I couldn’t keep holding onto the past. It kept me from moving forward in my future. Everyone dies at one point in their life. I couldn’t keep holding onto my brother’s death.

   When I turned back to the crowd, I grinned, moving forward and a bucket of fake snakes fell onto my head. I laughed, hysterically. For the first time in a long time, I felt happy.