The car pulled into the driveway, the gravel
crunching as the weight of the car slowed to a halt. James didn’t look up; he
knew both his parents were looking at him. The teenager turned his head to the
side in an attempt escape their looks of sympathy.
“…son, we know this is hard for you…” His father started, his own eyes relaying
the sadness in his words. James undid his seatbelt and started to open the
door, but stopped and slumped back in his seat.
“Why does it have to be me? His parents should be the ones to tell him. I mean,
it would sound better from them… it would…” James said as he looked down to his
knees. He didn’t want to show his parents his tears. He was almost seventeen
and recently he had been crying enough for a lifetime.
This time it was his mother that spoke. “He’ll
want to hear it from you; he is your best friend, James.”
He looked up and saw the tears running freely down his mother’s cheeks, her
reassuring smile trying to warm his tired heart.
Shutting his eyes, he tried not to look at the house… it would only make it
harder for him. “His parents think you’re the best one to tell him, James, life
hasn’t been perfect for him over the years, but you’ve made him smile more than
any other person…” His father said with a slight smile, “You do have your mother’s
sense of humour after all.”
James smiled bitterly as he opened his eyes. His mother looked as though she
was going to break down again, but instead she just said, “Your father is
right, I know Gerard will want to be with you for the next few days… you’re the
only friend he knows.”
As children, James was quick to make friends.
He always played sports, read books and talked with anyone that would listen.
Gerard wasn’t as lucky; he sat to himself as he couldn’t play with the others.
He talked to himself because nobody would talk to him… nobody except James.
It was ten years ago, on a sunny day that James looked over to see a young
Gerard sitting in the shade, looking up at the shelter roof, his crutches lying
motionless to the side. James ran over and asked him if he wanted to play with
them, but Gerard declined, thinking it was just another boy that wished to make
fun of his legs. James asked why, but before he got his answer he noticed the
crutches.
All the other boys had called out to James, asking him to come back and play
football. Gerard smiled at James and told him to go and play. James thought for
a moment before he turned around and left.
Gerard would never forget what happened next.
Closing his eyes, the crippled boy went back
to thinking of magical adventures of himself as a knight, until he was
interrupted by the sound of loud laughing coming from the schoolyard.
Gerard opened his eyes, only to see James standing awkwardly with his school
jumper tied in intricate knots around his legs. The young boy smiled from the
shelter and wondered what he was doing.
James struggled to stand and all the boys stopped playing football to see what
he was doing. James tried to stand again, only to fall back down. Eventually,
everyone in the class was trying it.
But it was only when James landed on the ground for what seemed like the
hundredth time that people stopped trying to stand. They sat around, wondering
what had caused this new trend, when James spoke, “I couldn’t last twenty
minutes, how the hell have you done this for so long?”
Gerard stopped smiling when he realised that James was looking at him. It was
the first time the class had really noticed him. Feeling his face go red,
Gerard closed his eyes and hoped that they would just go back to ignoring him
again.
A thud to his side showed otherwise. Opening his eyes and looking to the left
of the bench, he noticed James grinning like an idiot. “I’m James…”
Gerard looked down to see that the boy’s legs were still knotted and found himself
smiling.
“I’m Gerard…”
…
As years went on, the boys became closer and
closer, James carried Gerard’s bag home from school and visited him on the
weekends. James found someone that could appreciate his sense of humour and had
most of the same interests as him. Gerard found someone that liked him for him,
and was able to look past his disability. They rang each other most nights and
talked well into the night, each day finding out something new about each
other. However it wasn’t long before James realised that Gerard’s legs weren’t
the only things that stopped Gerard from leading a normal life.
James remembered the crutches and stood by
his friend as his legs got worse, until the point where he had to use a walker
to stand…which was later replaced by a wheelchair. That was until he became too
weak to use his arms and started relying on an electric wheelchair. Health
issues started arising and Gerard stopped eating properly. He suffered from
depression and James was often the only person he would talk to.
Gerard shared all his problems with his
friend and James listened to them all.
When Gerard developed insomnia, James learned how to sleep during the day so he
could keep his friend company when he was alone. The years went on and the boys
only got closer. James tried to be optimistic for Gerard and always made him
smile, but there were times that he knew it would take more than a few jokes to
get the old side of Gerard and this was one of those times.
James opened the door of the car, and
stumbled on the gravel. He closed the door behind him and leaned against the
car, trying to figure out in his head how he should tell Gerard the news.
Both of Gerard’s parents agreed that it would be best if James told him about
the tumour. James didn’t want to tell him at all, and he felt that it would be
easier if his parents told him, that way he wouldn’t have to break down in
front of his friend.
A part of him knew he was being selfish and that Gerard especially had a right
to know about the illness, since he was going to be one most affected by it.
James knew that the next few days would be hard for Gerard… so he tried to keep
a brave face.
The teenager started walking towards the door, only to see both of Gerard’s
parents standing in the doorway, their smiles forced through the sadness of the
situation. James knew how hard it must be for them, the news was a shock to the
few that were told about it. James hadn’t told anyone since he had heard about
it. After all, it wasn’t something that just came up in a conversation.
“He’s upstairs in his room, he’ll be glad to
see you…” Gerard’s mother said before she hugged him, “I know how much of a
friend you’ve been to Gerard all these years…”
James smiled weakly and realised he couldn’t shed any more tears, he was past his
limit.
Gerard’s father clapped him on the back and just gave a reassuring smile. James
stood there in the doorway for a few moments before making his way to the base
of the stairs. He turned slightly to see Gerard’s parents walking out to talk
to his own. James would never understand how hard it was for them.
“Might as well get this over with…” James said with a weak laugh as he started
running up the steps, taking three of them at a time. “Gerard, are you up
there?” James shouted as he reached the landing. “Yeah, I’m in the games room!”
Came the answer.
Hearing the voice stopped James from coming in, it suddenly became more
realistic…this could be one of the last days he would ever hear that familiar
voice. The teenager dropped to one knee and pretended to tie his shoelace,
realising that nobody could see him…it was pointless, he wasn’t strong enough
for this.
“Are you coming in or not? I got a new wrestling game… you might like this
one!” Gerard shouted from the nearby room.
Smiling faintly, James shouted back, “…why do
you think I’m not coming in? You know that I hate wrestling, I’ll be in when
you turn that crap off!”
James could hear Gerard laughing in the room, followed shortly by a fit of
coughing. This caused James to wince, wondering how he could possibly give
Gerard the news.
Taking a breath, James got to his feet and opened the door, only to see Gerard
grinning at him. “I knew you would come around to wrestling, it only took you
ten years!”
James smiled faintly before he walked over to his friend and embraced him. “Hey
what was that for? Just because I like wrestling, doesn’t mean I like you in
that way.” He said sarcastically as he
shrugged off James.
“Gerard, there’s something I have to tell you…”
“…can it wait? Mysterio is being a pain, argh!” Gerard said as he mashed the
controller in front of him.
“…it can wait a week, depending on how you look at it…” James said with a
humourless smile. Throwing down the controller, Gerard turned to look at his
best friend, “Shoot!”
.....
The funeral was beautiful, most of the town
turned up to it. Many cried, and the service was heart-felt. The part of the
funeral that stuck out in everyone’s mind was the speaker at the end. He spoke
about how the doctors had told him about the tumour, and he spoke about the
moment the two boys had first met.
A large picture hung from the altar, a
picture of two children standing side by side, one supported by crutches, the
other standing tall. Everyone in the church cried at the delivery and at the
choked up words of the young man.
But it was only when he was being wheeled off
the altar, that Gerard looked at the long coffin and wondered when was the last
time he had listened to James’ problems.
Brian J.
Nordon
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