His Name Is Kirby Jones

“So what happened?” Elena asked brightly that next day. Zoey shushed her, and dragged her over to her locker.
“We went to Spike’s old place, and hung out, he took me for a milkshake and we just talked.
He’s a nice guy, funny…” Zoey listed, and Elena’s smirk widened.

“So….” She urged, and Zoey shook her head.

“Don’t go meddling El, just leave it. We hung out, as friends and that’s what we are…” Zoey insisted, and Elena shook her head.

“No, friends don’t have that type of chemistry, I’ve seen him looking at you,” Elena argued and Zoey scoffed.

“You can talk, have you seen Zack? You should just face your emotions El, and just go out,”
Zoey snapped, frustrated. Elena rolled her eyes.

“That’s different.” She said stiffly and Zoey shook her head as she got her books out.

“Morning best friends, how are we?” Zack’s chirpy voice called, grinning at them. Elena gave a weak smile. Zoey shrugged and closed her locker door, only to jump. Kirby had stood behind the door without her noticing.

“Jesus!” Zoey snapped, placing her hand where her heart used to be. Kirby chuckled.

“Do I look that bad?” he teased, and Zoey bit her tongue from blurting out her thoughts that he was, in fact, a beautiful man.

“Hey,” Zoey muttered, looking away so not to blush so obviously in front of him.

“Zack, walk me to Bio?” Elena offered, and Zack’s eyes lit up as he nodded eagerly and the two walked off talking animatedly.

“What’s up?” Kirby asked, noticing how quiet Zoey was. She shrugged.

“Nothing, just Jonah and I still aren’t talking,” she mumbled sadly. Kirby gave a sympathetic look.

“He still hasn't apologized?” he asked, and Zoey shook her head.

“Well don’t be too down about it, I’m sure he’ll get the guts soon,” Kirby tried and Zoey sighed.

“Does somebody need a hug?” Kirby teased, and Zoey looked at him surprised, but found she was nodding. She did need a hug. Kirby stepped closer, and wrapped his arms around her. Zoey wrapped her arms around his torso, and seeing as Kirby was much taller than her, her head came to his chest.

“Don’t be sad Zoey, it doesn’t suit you.” Kirby murmured. She felt him squeeze her gently.

“Thanks Kirby,” she replied and he gave an easy smile.

“On a scale of 1-10, how much does your brother hate me right now?” Kirby asked, joking slightly. Confused, Zoey turned let go, turned around and saw Jonah was looking at her.

“Want me to wait for you?” Kirby asked, and Zoey sighed. She desperately wanted him too, but shook her head.

“Nah, I need to face the music…I’ll see you in English,” she said. Kirby nodded and slowly stepped away, giving her one last smile before spinning on his heels, and sauntered away, only to be flirted with further down the hall, unnoticed by Zoey.

“Hey,” Jonah greeted softly, as he stepped closer, hands in his pockets. He’d just been out for a smoke, as the intense smell wafted over to Zoey.

“Hey,” she replied in the same tone, and crossed her arms, to protect herself.

“I wanted to talk to you, about what happened last week…” Jonah began and Zoey sighed, as she saw people looking at her, whispering slightly.

“Yeah?” Zoey urged, and Jonah looked down nervously before looking back at Zoey.

“Look Zoe, I’m really sorry about what I said, I never meant it. It’s just after the party, I realized that maybe I was being too lenient on you. I mean, Drew and Tommy are the super-protective ones, as is Dad and I felt like I was keeping up with them. The night of the party,
Drew told me to keep an eye on you…and Tommy was pissed at me for helping you. Then I found you with Ronnie, and I know what’s he like Zoe, he uses so many girls and I just flipped, and then everything seemed okay, but then I thought you guys were dating and I didn’t want you to get hurt, because I would feel responsible somehow. I never meant to call you a whore, Zoey, you’re not and you know you’re not….but I really am sorry,” Jonah said, breathing heavily as he said it all at once and quickly.

Zoey looked at the floor, then back to Jonah’s apologetic face. “You mean it?” Zoey asked, teasing slightly, but Jonah didn’t detect the tone.

“I swear to you…” he urged, and Zoey rolled her eyes.

“Fine, I forgive you,” she sighed, and Jonah gave a relaxed smile.

“Thanks,” he breathed, and Zoey nodded.

“Yeah well, I can’t stay mad at you forever,” she murmured.

“So are we okay?” Jonah asked shyly, and Zoey nodded.

“I suppose, we're okay Jonah but what you said really hurt my feeling,” Zoey said, and Jonah nodded.

“I promise!” he vowed enthusiastically. Zoey gave half a smile, and it gave Jonah the sign that things were good again.

“Hug?” Jonah offered, and Zoey gave a real smile and hugged her brother, and there was peace between them.

“I’ve missed talking to you.” Jonah admitted, and Zoey chuckled.

“Have anything to tell me?” she asked, and on the way to Zoey’s class, Jonah filled her in on what she missed. It takes more than a mere argument to split up the Titian siblings.
--
The day dragged for Kirby, but it helped seeing Zoey happier, now that she’d made up with her brother.

Zoey Titian: Kirby couldn’t really understand why that name made him smile so much. But it did, her name just made him smile and feel generally lighter, which is what he needed because when he went home, reality hit him again.

Ever since he moved here, almost three weeks ago, Kirby wasn’t sure what to do. He’d been taken from his childhood home, his old friends, his old town, to a place he didn’t know. Thinking about it all it that didn’t seem important when Kirby thought of Pops and his degenerative disease.

It literally killed Kirby when he thought about it. His Pops, his Grandfather that he completely adored and worshiped ever since he was a little boy. The very man that taught him how to ride a bike, how to swim, how to be a better person and how to be a man.

The man that taught Kirby the motto of: Strength, Courage, Love. The motto he now lived by.

This man was slowly losing his mind.

Michael Jones suffered with Alzheimer’s, and he was currently in the moderate stage. Kirby was told this disastrous news when he was fourteen, when Michael had gone to the doctor’s for his continuous headaches that he had been getting.

They did some tests, and found the worst possible. That he was showing signs of dementia, and it would soon turn into the proper form of Alzheimer’s by the time he would turn seventy years old. True to their facts, Michael slowly began to forget things.

At first, it wasn’t important: where he put his shoes, or where his car keys were, or when he’d last had a haircut. Kirby actually fooled himself to believe he would be alright, that nothing would get to his old Pops.

But it did, and it soon sank into Kirby that his Grandpa was slowly going away. Replacing him was just the body; the fiery soul of Michael Jones would soon diminish. Kirby was sixteen when Michael had first forgotten him. It tore him apart; made Kirby cry, privately, in his room.

Michael had become aggressive, shouting that Kirby was a stranger and he was trying to steal their things. Michael shouted for Dora, and begged her to call the police, mistaking Kirby’s bad-boy look, of skinny jeans and hooded sweatshirt, to be a thug. It took Dora almost two hours to calm Michael down. When he did, and he was slowly told that Kirby was their grandson and he had lived with them for almost ten full years.

Michael accepted this, and within a literal blink, everything went back to normal. It was terrifying. It gave Kirby goose bumps as he watched Michael suddenly turn back to normal. It was a terrible day to say the least.

Dora tried to convince Kirby that his Pops never meant it, and he if knew what he saying, he’d apologize. Kirby just accepted his, and told his Grandmother that it was okay. The truth was, it was never okay.

His role model, his idol was slowly fading away, and there was nothing Kirby could do to stop it.
--

“Pops, I’m home!” Kirby called that Tuesday afternoon, and did the usual routine of throwing his bag on the sofa, and petting Peaches who had come to greet him, tail wagging happily.

“Hey girl,” Kirby murmured, and scratched her ears, and she seemed to show appreciation.

“In here Kirby!” Pops called, and Kirby smiled as he heard his Pops sound fairly happy. Walking into the kitchen, he saw his grandfather was doing a jigsaw puzzle at the table, pieces spread out everywhere.

“Aw cool Pops, what’s the picture?” Kirby asked and Michael looked up and gave a smile.

“Alaska,” he replied, and continued trying to find another piece. Smiling at him, Kirby made his way into the actual kitchen area, and hunted around for food.

“Where’s Dora?” he asked, as he helped himself to some chips and heard Michael get up and shuffle into the kitchen.

“Your Grandma has gone shopping I believe, so what do you say me and you go and work on the bike?” Michael asked, and Kirby looked at his grandfather under close inspection.

Pops’ hair was white, like snow but his head was still covered it, guaranteed it was thinning out. His glasses were thin, and perched on the end of his nose. He had aging spots on his skin, but overall he looked healthy. He was slightly overweight from indulging in Dora’s cooking over the years and he did hunch over slightly nowadays, but he was still standing, and moving around freely.

He didn’t look sick. It puzzled Kirby.

“Sure Pops,” Kirby replied and followed Michael as they went outside to the garage, where they kept the tools, lawnmower and Michael’s old motorcycle, a classic Harley Davidson.

“You get the tools then, my boy.” Kirby almost glowed with pride as he and Michael began work. It seemed like the old days, where Michael and Kirby would spend hours in the garage, working on the bike, listening to the radio and talking about life.

“How’s school then?” Michael asked as he sat and watched Kirby work under the bike. Kirby had told Michael that he wasn’t allowed to do all the lying down type of work; instead he should sit and supervise. Michael gladly took the position, as his back was playing up today.

“Good, made some great friends,” Kirby told him, and Michael smiled as he listened to the happiness in Kirby’s voice.

“Oh that’s good. What are they like?” Michael asked, stretching his legs in front of him, as he made himself comfortable in the deck chair he had been assigned too.

“There’s Zack, he’s a cool dude, he likes the Beatles like you Pops.” Kirby knew Michael loved the Beatles.

“Don’t mock me boy, The Beatles are, as you say nowadays: ‘epic’,” Michael said, laughing and did air quotes at the foreign word. Kirby watched, and chuckled to himself. He loved his Grandfather, he really did.

“Then there’s Elena, she’s cool, she has crazy red hair…” Kirby said and Michael scoffed.

“Says you and those tattoos,” he grumbled, and Kirby rolled his eyes. Michael had never been fond of the tattoos; he did however like the motto one on his wrist.

“And then there’s Zoey…” Kirby said, pausing as he smiled as he said her name. He quickly stopped as he remembered Pops could see him.

Pops looked at Kirby and smirked. “Who’s this Zoey then?” he asked interestedly.

“This girl. She’s so nice Pops, you’d love her. She’s gorgeous too, and she’s obsessed with peanut butter. She has five older brothers though, and they don’t like her dating,” Kirby told him passionately. He stopped suddenly and sat up, bringing his knees upwards and leaned forward against them.

Michael was looking at Kirby fondly. “You like this girl huh?” he guessed, and without hesitating, Kirby nodded.

“I don’t know why though. I’ve just known her a couple of weeks, but I can’t get her off my mind Pops…” Kirby confessed, and Michael smiled. He patted Kirby's knee and chuckled.

“You know something Kirby, I met your Grandma when I was 20 years old. We met at track, horse racing mind you. She was with her friends and I was with mine and I could hear her cheering for this one horse, and after the races, her friends joined with mine and I met her, we talked all night, we laughed all night and by the end of the month, I asked her to marry me,” Michael began, smiling to himself of the memory.

Kirby was impressed, and couldn’t help but feel his heart being lifted seeing his grandpa so happy.

“What was the horse called?” Kirby asked, intrigued.

“Dandelion,” two voices answered, and Michael turned his head to see Dora was loitering by the door that led into the garage.

“Hey Grandma,” Kirby greeted, and Dora was smiling widely and slowly shuffled over to Michael and placed her hand on his shoulder. Michael covered her hand with his, and squeezed it gently.

“I loved your Grandpa the very first moment I saw him. His beautiful smile caught me,” Dora gushed, and kissed her husband’s head. Michael chuckled and patted her hand again.

“Ah Dora, my darling…it was you that caught me,” he said softly, and Kirby smiled widely at them both. Dora stole another glance at Michael, then back at her grandson.
“Kirby, if you like this girl, then don’t be afraid to show your feelings,” Dora advised, and Kirby nodded.

“And, when you’re in love my boy, you just know,” Michael added, and Kirby grinned. His grandparents had to be the best people on the planet. Well, Kirby thought so.