A Rainbow in Your Eyes

Chapter 5

In the weeks following, Brian went to the big house every single day, even though he knew she wouldn’t be there. He sat with her swans, talking to them, telling them their friend would be back soon. But the days passed slowly, and July had come to an end, still with no sign of her returning. And with each passing day, his heart broke a little bit more, certain that he had lost the beautiful girl with the rainbow eyes, just like he had lost his mum.

In those days, as he watched the big house and the cars, his mind took flight on different ideas, and it was those ideas that he would list each night on whatever scrounged pieces of paper he could find. Some days when everything became too much, he would walk through different building stores, looking at prices, doing math in his head and working out the cost of how to build bigger and better things.

Finally, his heart could take it no longer, he had to know what had happened. Where, that day with Jeremy, he had ended up in front of the house by accident, today, he walked to it by choice.

Again, it was Jeremy that popped out of the guardhouse, but this time he had expected it, had listened for the buzz of the radio and the voice reporting someone at the gate. So, when Jeremy came out, he was ready; scared, uncertain, but ready.

Not giving Jeremy a moment to speak or act, he rushed on. “I need to see her. I need to see the girl that lives here!”

“Hey! I KNOW you!” Jeremy peered at the flustered boy in surprise. “Yes, it IS you! The one that was here the day the Missy got sick! What are you doing here?”

“Please, I need to see her!”

“Who’s ‘her’?”

“The girl, Irielle. Is she back? She told me she was going to the hospital. I haven’t seen her, and I just want to say hey. Give her something?”

For the longest time, the guard looked Brian up and down, and then seemed to make a choice. “You really like the Missy, don’t yah?”

Nodding, Brian pointed down the gate towards the spot he usually sat, then explained to Jeremy. “I used to come, sit and look at the swans. One day, she came, and we talked, and she gave me food, and, well, she’s my friend. I just wanted to say hi…” Suddenly, self-conscious, he looked at his feet, drilling his big toe into the dried ground beneath.

A long silence ensued, then a hand rested on his shoulder. He was almost the same length as the guard, being almost 16 years of age now. A sympathetic voice sounded. “The Missy is very ill, son. She likely won’t come back.”

“But… But she said, they needed to give her some blood, and then she could come back!” Brian was distraught, tears threatened to fall, and he couldn’t get it, couldn’t understand. Why his friend? Why his mum? Why him? He turned, wanting to run away, but Jeremy’s hand held him back.

“She’s in the Sunninghill hospital, Son. They couldn’t find the blood, and she’s to sick, and it’s too cold for her to come out.” The old man’s voice was filled with sympathy and sadness.

The entire household loved the little girl, they liked her enthusiasm for life and the way she had made them search for her so many times before. The silence in the house had become too much and many of the employees were worried about their jobs should she not return. It was no mystery to those that stayed here, that the master and his wife had only stayed together for the sake of the girl.

Suddenly, pulling his shoulders straight, Brian made a choice. “I’m going to her! I’m going to save her!” And with that he was off, sprinting down the street to the hide-out. He wasn’t worried about Justin anymore, he had grown in size, both length and build, in the last few months and, anyway, nothing his brother did or could do could compare to the fact that his friend needed him.

Reaching the place he and Gus had been sleeping, he quickly went through their stuff. The two of them had lately taken to dancing with other boys their age, at traffic lights in the area, with motorists giving them money as p*****t. He had been saving it, not sure for what, but today the money will come in handy.

When he had all his stuff together, he scribbled a note with chauke from their firewood or some piece of paper he picked up among the trash on the ground. Happy that he had done all he could, he set off to catch a taxi, asking for directions from travelers in the taxi with him, to reach the hospital. Explaining his situation, some of the drivers even let him go along for free. It wasn’t long before the last driver dropped him at the gate of a monstrously huge building.