Searching Through Brick Eden

It was a late afternoon, in the city. The streets were burning like brimstone and the sky was dark blue. People were going on about their business, talking trash out f the alleyways and not trying to take too long so their boss wouldn’t get angry. Other were walking and listening to mp3 players or talking on their cell phones. Cars were passing by and honking horns in a rush. I was standing on a corner under a bridge waiting for Johnny. Johnny’s a friend of mine. He’s what average society would call an un average man or a nuisance. I didn’t think so. He’s just hyper and loud. Johnny would’ve been an been at home at an old medieval feast, posing as a lord for sleeping with servant maids. Enough about him though. He called me, last night. It was three am and he was saying he had to pick up an “item for me”. The damn thing was he had to track it down. “It’s not drugs? I asked” “No, It’s a surprise” he replied “Money” “No!! Just meet me tomorrow” “Ok what time? I asked” “Noon” “Yeah sure and I hung up.” I suddenly heard a voice yell out to me. “Jack, Jack!!!” I turned to see and it was Johnny’s outline from the sun. He had a blue shirt on with holes and a black pair of jeans. “What’s up Beanstalk?” He yelled at me. There was a girl following him. She looked different in a way, well kinda out of place like out of place with him I mean. She was skinny with long blonde hair. Well blonde bangs and a ponytail, but hazel highlights next to the blonde steaks. She reached in her army green pouch and pulled out a cigarette. She lit it with a silver lighter that said “Lyla” on the side. “So you’re Jack?” she said. “Yeah” I said. My voice was muffling like a twelve year old boy going through puberty. “Okay Jack are you ready man!!!!” Johnny yelled. I kept focus on the girl when he said that and I hinted my face in her direction for introduction. “Oh yeah! Right! This is Tyler.” He said. “Tyler” I asked “Yeah she knows where to get what were looking for.” Johnny said. We walked down the street to a live animal butcher shop. The place was only lit by the sunlight coming from the outside. There was a shinny Asian man at the front, behind the counter. Tyler walked up to the man. “They’re here about the piece.” She said to him. “Ok! Ok!” He said. The man walked in to the back. He was taking a long time. I didn’t care thought I was just curious. During all of this an old Hispanic woman with frizzy gray hair came out from behind the counter. She was next to Johnny holding a duck. “Quieres el pato!!” she said. “Huh what?” Johnny said. “El pato quieres el pato?” She said while raising a large knife. “No!!!” Johnny yelled. “Si!” she said rising the knife. “No” Johnny yelled while putting his hand in the way. “Leave the bird alone!!” Johnny yelled The Asian man came out from the back and handed Tyler a paper. Tyler took it from him and walked over to us. Johnny kept arguing until he paid for the duck and walked out with it alive in a cage. I gave him a straight faced look. “What!! I couldn’t just leave it there with those crazy people!!” He yelled out. “Enough! We have to take the train downtown!” Tyler said. On the walk down to the train station on that noisy hot street, we ran up across the street and over an open manhole to the stairway up to the subway bridge. The train was coming in a hurry and we ran in like Olympic track runners who had one last chance for the gold. The train we were on was moving on a bridge over the city. For some reason I couldn’t keep my eyes off Tyler. She had edged over by window. She was reflecting light off of her hair. Thought it was great because the sight of her killed the stench of vomit and pee, in the train car. That and Johnny’s duck was quacking louder than a kiss concert. I decided to go and make simple conversation. After all she’s leading us today. “Hello” I said “Hey what’s up?” She responded (A typical response) “Nothing I just noticed that your lighter has Lyla….” “Ugh! Every body asks me about that!!!” She said cutting me off. (My face dropped) “Oh, Sorry” I said turning in to a child. “I’M JUST PLAYING!!!” She said. “It’s my sisters she passed” she said. “Oh, her name was Lyla?” I asked “Yeah” she said looking outside of the window. “My brother died a little while ago. My sister tried to keep him warm with a jacket while he was in the casket.” I said. “Oh, I’m sorry she said how old was he?” she asked. “Um he was a little younger than me sixteen years old.” I said. “How old was your sister?” I asked “She was twenty six years old yesterday.” She said smiling. That smile killed me. I think it’s because she was looking at the looking at the floor and not at me. I was getting ready to apologize but the train stopped like a bullet entering cement and we nearly fell on the floor. Johnny’s duck went flying about half way down the car. The latch on the cage opened and it flew away. “Shit!!” Johnny yelled. “It cost me a hundred bucks” “Sucks for you man” Tyler said. “Come on Beanstalk help me catch it!!!” He yelled “Let the god damn thing go! What the Hell are you gonna do with a duck anyway?” I yelled out to him. The duck walked wadding it’s head down the stairs of the bridge. I saw it but the people coming up stopped me. (Too many people) Johnny however entered his brute form and rushed the group of people like a defensive football player. Then he jumped like a puma towards the duck. Unfortunately he missed. The duck flew away and Johnny fell down the stairs like a slinky toy bouncing up and down. Johnny watched the duck fly away while he rubbed his arm. “Stupid duck” he muttered to himself. “Hey boy you hurt yourself something fierce.” An old man came out from the bottom of the subway stairs. Johnny, Tyler, and I hadn’t noticed our surroundings. There was a park to he left and a mini mall to the right of us. Under the stairs the bush old man had come out from was filled with cardboard and Styrofoam. It smelled like old newspapers and hamburger meat. Tyler grabbed a hold of my shoulders and sighed from exhaustion. “Where’s the stupid duck” she asked. The old man was holding, Johnny’s arm. “You’re lucky kid” he said. “Why’s that?” Johnny asked. “From personal experience you could’ve hurt yourself worse than that. Trust me I know.” He said. Johnny pulled his arm away in fear. Then the old man began to laugh. We began to move away like three desperate gamblers to closing church. We ran up the stairs in to the train. It was full now. It smelled like pee and Axe lotion now. Tyler was staring out the window again. She looked pretty now. She was standing over an old couple. They (Old couple) were a black woman and a white man. I personally am half Hispanic, well tanning brown. I edged over to her. “I never apologized to you with your sister.” I said “Oh, its ok and look were almost there” she said. “Where?” I asked “ You’ll see” she said. The train stopped and we were pushed out by the three waves of people inside. We got off at a slum in the city. Tyler immediately grabbed my arm and pulled me down a street full of street vendors. I must’ve passed a like twenty people trying to sell me watches. We stopped at a botanic store to catch up with us. Johnny was straggling and was pushing people out of his way. “Wait up!!!” He said to us. “Get of my god damn way!!” he said to the Hispanic man next to him. Tyler kept pulling my arm through the store. The store had a white marble like floor with gold spots. The walls were brown and white with paint and brown shelves with statues of saints and potions underneath them. Tyler was standing in front of a large domed arch next to a statue of Saint Michael. She was looking down at her lighter. Johnny entered out of breath almost dying. ( He looked like his skin was painted red) “What the fuck!! You two can’t wait a second!!” Johnny said “Huh what?” I said snapping out of a trance. “You bastard!” Johnny said. “Don’t blame him it’s not his fault” Tyler said trying to gain her voice. “Forget it – were all here now” I said. A dark skinned man came out from a beaded door toward Johnny. He was a bald man and had a white shirt on. “Are you the ones looking for it?” He said in a pepped up tone. “Yeah” Johnny and Tyler said together. “Password” he asked “Miguel” Tyler said. “Good” he said while going back in to the door. The man came out with a box and a candle. He opened it and golden glow came out and shined all over Tyler’s face. Tyler nodded and then Johnny nodded. I saw it and it was ring. It was my brother’s ring. He used to wear it all the time before it was stolen from him. It was a gift from his old girlfriend. My legs were quivering like snakes escaping a net. My brother’s ring was in a box here in a shop in a slum. Johnny pulled out his wallet to pay for it. “How did you get it?” I asked. “Tyler tracked it here for me. Look man I know it’s not exactly the greatest thing but better here with you than with some spoiled preppy kid.” Johnny said. “Yeah” I said holding back my tears. I grabbed it and ran out of the shop. I didn’t notice which way I went. I just kept running. I finally stopped at an empty park bench. I sat on it looking at my brother’s ring. Memories of him passed through my mind. When we were little and I was teaching him Soccer and he out played his friends with what I taught him. When his girlfriend agreed to date him he asked me what he should wear. He died naturally at least. He’s what ran through my mind. Then Tyler found me on the bench. “Jack!” She said. I was lifeless. I didn’t say anything at all like a mute television. “Hey are you mad” she asked. “No I’m just, I’m a bit depressed.” I said. “Is that why you don’t talk much?” she asked. “I guess so” I said. “I understand when my sister died I didn’t like to talk much either. I’d just in front of my window looking at the glass for hours” she said. “I just didn’t want him to die you know. I remember he was playing soccer when he fell and I was with him.” I said. We talked in that green field for hours until Johnny’s duck came down and took my brother’s ring out of my hands. Tyler and I chased it but no luck. The damn duck still got away.