Gaijin No More
Stories and memories
Aiden's POV
When Cody's father suggested we go and have a cup of coffee, I instantly assumed that we were going to have an awkward conversation about weather. But that was not the case. Instead Mr. Adams, or Bruce like he preferred to be called, asked me how I've met Cody, what I liked to do in my free time, how was my family life and other stuff like that.
He also complimented my car, which led us into an interesting conversation about vehicles. I never thought that hanging out with one of my friend's parent would be this much fun.
Time flew as we sat at the kitchen table, talking and playing cards. Both of us had drunk several cups of coffee, the last ones were spiked up with a few drops of alcohol. It had surprised me when Bruce had offered the bottle to me, but I had no objections. After all it was just a few drops and we had no intention of getting completely wasted.
Although I couldn't help but wonder if Bruce let his son drink alcohol freely too. And as if reading my mind Bruce said that Cody had never been into anything stronger than water.
It made sense since I had never thought Cody as someone who would enjoy drinking. In fact, just a mere thought of Cody with a bottle was ridiculous.
Anyway, as we were playing cards, Bruce told me stories about Cody's childhood. Most of them made me laugh like crazy but there were also parts that made me almost choke on my coffee.
Apparently Cody's favorite play as a kid had been bee hunt. Bruce told me that when Cody had turned six, his aunt had given him this stuffed dog which she had made herself. This dog soon became Cody's best friend and every afternoon Cody played in the garden, smacking the bees with the stuffed dog. And when the bees would be all dozy and stuff, Cody would carefully place the small insect on the back of his dog and drag them around the yard, letting the bee recover.
Bruce also told me about the day when his wife left.
Flashback
It had been just like any other afternoon, Bruce coming back from work, waiting to see his wife in the kitchen preparing dinner and Cody playing on the floor. To his surprise, the kitchen had been empty and the cup he had used in the morning was still on the top of the sink. Usually his wife would've washed it already.
Assuming that his wife had just forgotten the cup and gone shopping with their son, Bruce had walked into the living room to watch the news.
Soon his peace was interrupted by a small voice on the doorway.
“Daddy can we go to play outside?” Bruce turned his head to see Cody standing there with a soccer ball in his hands. He thought he hadn't heard his wife returning but just shrugged it off.
“I'll come soon, let me just watch the news first. Why don't you go help mom prepare the dinner meanwhile?” Bruce had suggested smiling, but his smile soon turned into a frown.
“Mom's not here.”
“What do you mean?”
“I haven't seen mommy all day.” This worried Bruce.
“She didn't take you to school like usually?”
Cody shook his head.
“No, I went alone.” Bruce quickly got up from the couch and rushed to grab the phone. He tried to call his wife but she didn't pick up. Bruce headed towards their bedroom, only to find it empty of all of his wife's possessions.
“What on Earth?” Now Bruce was more confused than ever. He looked around the room until he spotted a letter on his nightstand.
There were only a few lines, Allison telling Bruce to take care of Cody and move on their lives. There had been no explanation or reason why she had left.
End of flashback
“And after that day I've never heard from her again,” Bruce finished, gulping down the rest of his coffee.
“Wow.” I really didn't know what else to say. How could she just take off like that and leave her husband and son? “How did Cody take it?”
Bruce was quiet for a moment, thinking back at those times.
“He never asked me why his mom left,” he answered and stared at the cards in his calloused hands. “He just kinda... accepted it. Sure for the first few weeks he clearly waited for his mom to walk through the door and everything would be normal again, but of course that never happened. After a while he just stopped waiting. I concentrated all my attention to him, not wanting him to feel like both of us had abandoned him.”
“That must have been difficult for you.”
“At first yeah, but with time we learned to live without Allison. And now we are doing fine, just the two of us.”
Just as we had finished our latest game of poker, we heard footsteps from the stairs and soon Cody emerged into the kitchen.
“What are you doing up boy? Get back to bed and sleep yourself back to health,” Bruce scolded Cody gently with a smile on his face.
“I just wanted to get something to eat,” Cody whined, his voice hoarse from the sickness.
“Aiden, could you take Cody back to bed? I'll fix him some food.”
“Yeah, sure,” I said and turned Cody around, pushing him back towards the stairs.
“What are you doing here?” Cody asked, as if just now realizing I was still at his house, although the clock was almost nine in the evening.
“I'm just making sure you're not doing something that might prevent you from getting better,” I said and placed my hand over Cody's forehead. He was still pretty warm.
“You don't have to,” Cody said and yawned, lying back on his bed.
“I know, but I want to.”
Bruce soon walked into the room with two sandwiches on a plate and a cup of tea on his hand. I decided it was time for me to leave and said I'd come back tomorrow after school. Bruce walked me to the door.
“Thanks for your help Aiden.”
“It was my pleasure,” I said smiling. “See you tomorrow.” Bruce waved and I walked to my car, thinking about all the new stuff that Bruce told me about Cody's past.
When Cody's father suggested we go and have a cup of coffee, I instantly assumed that we were going to have an awkward conversation about weather. But that was not the case. Instead Mr. Adams, or Bruce like he preferred to be called, asked me how I've met Cody, what I liked to do in my free time, how was my family life and other stuff like that.
He also complimented my car, which led us into an interesting conversation about vehicles. I never thought that hanging out with one of my friend's parent would be this much fun.
Time flew as we sat at the kitchen table, talking and playing cards. Both of us had drunk several cups of coffee, the last ones were spiked up with a few drops of alcohol. It had surprised me when Bruce had offered the bottle to me, but I had no objections. After all it was just a few drops and we had no intention of getting completely wasted.
Although I couldn't help but wonder if Bruce let his son drink alcohol freely too. And as if reading my mind Bruce said that Cody had never been into anything stronger than water.
It made sense since I had never thought Cody as someone who would enjoy drinking. In fact, just a mere thought of Cody with a bottle was ridiculous.
Anyway, as we were playing cards, Bruce told me stories about Cody's childhood. Most of them made me laugh like crazy but there were also parts that made me almost choke on my coffee.
Apparently Cody's favorite play as a kid had been bee hunt. Bruce told me that when Cody had turned six, his aunt had given him this stuffed dog which she had made herself. This dog soon became Cody's best friend and every afternoon Cody played in the garden, smacking the bees with the stuffed dog. And when the bees would be all dozy and stuff, Cody would carefully place the small insect on the back of his dog and drag them around the yard, letting the bee recover.
Bruce also told me about the day when his wife left.
Flashback
It had been just like any other afternoon, Bruce coming back from work, waiting to see his wife in the kitchen preparing dinner and Cody playing on the floor. To his surprise, the kitchen had been empty and the cup he had used in the morning was still on the top of the sink. Usually his wife would've washed it already.
Assuming that his wife had just forgotten the cup and gone shopping with their son, Bruce had walked into the living room to watch the news.
Soon his peace was interrupted by a small voice on the doorway.
“Daddy can we go to play outside?” Bruce turned his head to see Cody standing there with a soccer ball in his hands. He thought he hadn't heard his wife returning but just shrugged it off.
“I'll come soon, let me just watch the news first. Why don't you go help mom prepare the dinner meanwhile?” Bruce had suggested smiling, but his smile soon turned into a frown.
“Mom's not here.”
“What do you mean?”
“I haven't seen mommy all day.” This worried Bruce.
“She didn't take you to school like usually?”
Cody shook his head.
“No, I went alone.” Bruce quickly got up from the couch and rushed to grab the phone. He tried to call his wife but she didn't pick up. Bruce headed towards their bedroom, only to find it empty of all of his wife's possessions.
“What on Earth?” Now Bruce was more confused than ever. He looked around the room until he spotted a letter on his nightstand.
There were only a few lines, Allison telling Bruce to take care of Cody and move on their lives. There had been no explanation or reason why she had left.
End of flashback
“And after that day I've never heard from her again,” Bruce finished, gulping down the rest of his coffee.
“Wow.” I really didn't know what else to say. How could she just take off like that and leave her husband and son? “How did Cody take it?”
Bruce was quiet for a moment, thinking back at those times.
“He never asked me why his mom left,” he answered and stared at the cards in his calloused hands. “He just kinda... accepted it. Sure for the first few weeks he clearly waited for his mom to walk through the door and everything would be normal again, but of course that never happened. After a while he just stopped waiting. I concentrated all my attention to him, not wanting him to feel like both of us had abandoned him.”
“That must have been difficult for you.”
“At first yeah, but with time we learned to live without Allison. And now we are doing fine, just the two of us.”
Just as we had finished our latest game of poker, we heard footsteps from the stairs and soon Cody emerged into the kitchen.
“What are you doing up boy? Get back to bed and sleep yourself back to health,” Bruce scolded Cody gently with a smile on his face.
“I just wanted to get something to eat,” Cody whined, his voice hoarse from the sickness.
“Aiden, could you take Cody back to bed? I'll fix him some food.”
“Yeah, sure,” I said and turned Cody around, pushing him back towards the stairs.
“What are you doing here?” Cody asked, as if just now realizing I was still at his house, although the clock was almost nine in the evening.
“I'm just making sure you're not doing something that might prevent you from getting better,” I said and placed my hand over Cody's forehead. He was still pretty warm.
“You don't have to,” Cody said and yawned, lying back on his bed.
“I know, but I want to.”
Bruce soon walked into the room with two sandwiches on a plate and a cup of tea on his hand. I decided it was time for me to leave and said I'd come back tomorrow after school. Bruce walked me to the door.
“Thanks for your help Aiden.”
“It was my pleasure,” I said smiling. “See you tomorrow.” Bruce waved and I walked to my car, thinking about all the new stuff that Bruce told me about Cody's past.