Chapter 5

Students could be seen departing for their various destinations.

The whole gist was centered on Joe's attitude, for he had gone out of hand to acting weird.

The news of his illness spread slowly, making many anxious to know more about his predicament.

Among the students who were happy about such news was Denis,. He was one of the kids bullied by peter, so it gave the reason he was excited.

This is a chance for him to finally destroy Peter's life, he taught as he watched how Eric supported Joe into Lucy's car.

The couple were fond of sharing such duties.

When the father takes them to school, their mother returns them home.

Lucy discovered the sad looks on her kids and questioned in concert.

Without response, she drove to an ice cream shop to get them ice creams in order to cheer them up.

“ I don't take ice cream” Joe regretted the ice cream and headed back for the car.

“ Is something wrong with him of course he loves ice creams” Lucy became more concerned about the fact that something was wrong with Joe, “Did he get into a fight again? She made the question to Eric, who scooped his ice cream with less concern.

Joe ran suddenly towards the road, Lucy and Eric followed suit thinking he had lost his mind again but no.

Joe someone familiar, he paused at first to get a clear glimpse of the being.

He was convinced at the second look that it was Imelda.

“Imelda! He called out to her as he ran with force.

On reaching her, a car ran her over, splashing her blood on him.

“Imelda!!! This time the call was different, for he had pain in his eyes.

People rushed to the scene to assist the victim.

Joe lifted Imelda's head to his chest. He kept begging her to wake up but to no avail, her injury was severe that the ambulance that came to take her to the hospital, assured that she was dead, and therefore they were no need for a first aid treatment due to excess

 blood she had lost.

“ Who's Imelda? Lucy interrupted Joe's thought, she had stopped the car to hear Joe's reply.

Joe was short of words. He never knew the excuse to give, what does he say?

“She's Helen's new dog” Eric defended.

“ Why is he then screaming as though she's dead”

“Well, I saw a dog that looks like her” 

Lucy wasn't convinced at all, she continued driving and tuned on the music to keep the car lively.

***

Eric stopped by Joe's room that night, he was dressed as a gangster and had sunglasses on.

“Coming? He asked Joe

“Where?”

“Our usual spot… Oh! You don't remember, do you? “Just come along, am sure you will get your memories with just a glimpse of the place. “It's your favorite place, after all”.

Eric searched earnestly for something, he took something from the wardrobe and tossed it into his little bag that hung across his shoulders and beckoned on Joe to accompany him.

Over the window they jumped, Eric made saw they avoided the light, they walked in a squat like movement aiming for a little door that hid at the fence of the garden that led outside.

Mere eyes could not notice the door, for it had the same paintings as the walls.

There stood a car outside waiting for them.

They both went in and it drove off.

Joe never stopped asking if their destination, he was more concerned now that the faces he saw in the car were suspicious, 'was he being kidnapped or something…,

At that time it was much more late for people of their age to be seen outside but here they are outside.

Although the driver was more matured, it never pleased Joe.

“ I hope it's not what I am thinking that it is?” Joe said to himself as he sighted the nightclub signboard that stood ahead.

They stopped at a parking lot which situated at a corner closed to the club and were ushered to get down by the driver.

“A club? Joe exclaimed loudly, the club was the last place he could ever think of going, he wasn't the party type and hated anything noisy, so how could this be a favorite place of a person?

They stood a woman at the door asking for people's tickets to issue them in.

Eric brought out four condoms from his bag and handed one over to Joe.

Joe refused it, claiming it was wrong and a boy of his age shouldn't be doing that.

“ I am your age too, and besides you taught me this so stop pretending to be changed”Eric confessed, he showed the woman the condoms which she examined and asked them to go in.

Joe wasn't willing to go in. He never wanted to spoil his eyes for he heard plenty of terrible things that happen in a nightclub and seeing the way people who went in there were dressed, he was assured of the rumors.

Eric wasn't in with Jake and didn't bother to plead with Joe, he made sure he gave Joe a condom in case he changed his mind.

 Joe paced through the road, he watched how night shift workers rushed to their various places of work, he hoped to become like them someday, but he was already getting fed up with the teenage body.

Joe turned back, heading towards the club since he couldn't figure his way back home.

He showed the woman the password and dashed in with eyes half closed to avoid nonterminating his eyes, for he was as religious as his mother Vera.

As soon as Joe widened his eyes open, he gulped saliva at the crowd in the building.

The disco like had a color of blue, red, and green that made it almost difficult to recognize a person.

The occupants of the building danced to the rhythm of a hip-hop.

At another corner was a bar where others drank and situated at the right corner was a gambling area, that was where Eric had gone.

The club had many rooms also, been a story building and for that purpose, only, well, it's sure big.

Joe walked straight to Eric and sat beside him as he gambled.

“I don't believe you do these things? Joe spoke in disgust.

The people they haled Joe as their voices hailed with their pull,

“I'll pay double the amount you earn if you play for me” A man offered.

“I'll pay triple” another proposed.

“You have always played for me, remember? An old lady spoke, twisting her lips to Ryan with her bent body.

Joe never seemed to understand any of them, 'what was he to play, “Gambling! There's no way he was going to play that, besides, he wasn't a gamer.

The argument got worse until the club's caretaker came as the mediator.

He asked Joe to choose who he gets to play from between the conflicted.

Joe looked at all, Eric was also among them, his eyes gave the sign that he wanted to be picked, but Joe nodded to him negatively that he never wanted to be a part of them.

Eric begged silently, with persisting signs he pleaded and finally Joe picked someone else to annoy him.

Many resigned from playing that very game for they all feared the boy called peter, so sudden, how he had never loosed a gamble before.

Women gathered round Joe back and praised, they were waiting for him to be done, so they could have fun.

Joe grew annoyed, had he known he would have stayed outside along with those that hung outside and waited for Eric to there.

The card was shared and the gamble began.

Joe never understood the game, he was told all the time when to play.

This rose concerns and many were forced to ask what was wrong with him.

Eric bowed his head in disgrace also,” how can his whole memory be wiped out that bad” he wondered, the same person who taught him gambling tricks played like a learner.