Chapter 4

Majiru sat leaning over a bucket filled with water, scrubbing Maria’s little doll, trying to whiten its dirtied face.  He scrubbed vigorously, growling inwardly at the tiring work that had to be done on a stupid doll.  But, he thought to himself, it will make Maria happy.  He would do his best to clean the doll.  Majiru sighed and continued without another negative thought.

            Nathaniel had spent the rest of the day in his room, expecting one of his parents to come up.  Neither showed.  Normally he would be lectured and then forgiven, but it seemed that they had had enough. He sat in the middle of his room, his legs folded beneath him, his hands at his sides.  He would wait.  He was not going to allow them to break him.

            The rich boy huffed softly, his brows furrowing in thought.  They were really going to make him wait it out. Nathaniel’s hands went up in frustration, “Damn it!”

            “Nathan?”

            “Maria!” Nathaniel jumped to his feet and opened the door.  Maria stood with her hands behind her back, doll-less, her posture straight.

            “I wanted to keep you company.” Maria whispered, looking shyly at the floor. 

            Nathaniel looked at her quizzically.  “So…mother did not say anything?”

            “About what?”

            “I cannot leave the room then.  Damn it.”  Nathaniel shut the door in Maria’s face and went back to sitting on the floor, ignoring the small creaking of Maria’s departing steps.  “Well…Damn her for getting my hopes up.”

            “Hopes up for what?”  Majiru’s head was peeking from the now opened door.

            Nathaniel jerked, “What the hell? Close the door! Why are you being so bloody nosy?”  He stood up and tried to close the door.  Majiru pushed the door open, causing Nathaniel to trip over his own foot and fall on his bottom.  The brat growled but stayed put on the floor.

            “Why did you do that to Maria?” Majiru closed the door and sat in front of Nathaniel.  He combed back his loose hair with his slim fingers and looked at the other boy with a serious countenance.  “She wanted to talk to you, and you shut the door.”

            “Talk to me? About what? What the hell would the both of us have to talk about?”  Nathaniel growled and straightened himself out.

            “That is not the point.  She wanted to talk to you. To keep her brother company.” 

            “Why the hell would she want to do that?”

            Majiru glared and shook his head.  “You wonder why you are treated that way…you are such a brat.  You take everything that is given to you for granted.  What I would have given to have lived this way as a child…as a young boy.”

            Nathaniel rolled his eyes and spoke, “Please, do not give me that garbage.  You make yourself look so pitiful in front of them so they will treat you politely.  As if your life had been deathly and horrendous.  Oh goodness, you had to work so hard on a damned steamboat! Oh Lord, the work! Big de-!” He was not given the chance to finish as Majiru’s fist connected with his jaw.  He fell back and hit his head on the corner of the dresser, feeling a burst of pain surge through his skull, seeing bright lights in the back of his head.  Everything went black; his last visual image of Majiru’s shocked expression making him smirk inwardly.

            “Is he dead?” Maria’s soft innocent voice broke into Nathaniel’s scattered thoughts.  He tried to open his eyes, but felt pinches of fire at every squint he made. 

            “No. He is fine.” Nathaniel could almost swear that he heard an “unfortunately” at the end of that statement.  

            “He is moving.  Look.” More like twitching, Nathaniel thought.  “Nathan.  Wake up.”

            “He will when he feels better.  Just let him lie down a little longer. He will be fine.”  The pained boy felt a warm hand on his forehead. 

            Nathaniel used all the will power and strength he had to make himself roll over and mumble, “Fuck you.”

            “Nathaniel.”  Majiru pulled away and sat silently.  Nathaniel slowly opened his eyes, the fire burning in the back of his head fading, and looked at Maria, who stood behind the Indian boy.

            “Nathan…go back to sleep.” Maria’s hands clenched Majiru’s shoulders.  She suddenly looked worried.

            “That bastard fucking knocked me out!” Nathaniel clumsily sat up, glaring and trying his best to look scary, and held his head.  “I…I think I…oh Lord.” He doubled over and hurled all over Majiru’s legs and the floor.

            “Ew!” Maria shrieked and backed away, her hand over her nose and mouth.

            Majiru looked sick himself, pulling back and holding Nathaniel up with one hand.  He shook his head, hoping to keep his own stomach in control.  “Come on, we must clean up.”

            “Nooo…I need…to lie down…I do…not…” Nathaniel slumped over and closed his eyes.  Majiru left him there, not wanting any new colors on his pants.  He stood up slowly and went to the small restroom, grabbing a wet towel and cleaned himself off.  He gagged at the smell but kept calm.

            Maria was standing in the corner with her hands up to her face, her eyes squinting.  “It stinks.”

            “You should go.  But, Maria, do not tell your parents anything. Please.”  Majiru looked at her with a sad smile.  The young girl nodded and smiled back, quickly leaving the room in hopes that the smell would not seep through the door.

            “You…are in so…trouble…much….for…my brain….hurts.”  Nathaniel mumbled incoherently.  Majiru knelt down beside the drowsy boy, sighing loudly. 

            “I did not mean for this to happen.” Majiru looked down miserably.

            “But…meant to…hurt me. Same…fing.”

            “No…well…you deserved it.  But I did not mean for you to be hurt this badly.  You should not have provoked me.  This would not have happened.”

            “Go…away.”

            “I…please…do not tell them.  Please.”  Majiru pleaded, his eyes filling with tears.

            “I bloody…will.”

            “They will send me away.  Nathaniel! I cannot go back!”

            “You…deserve it.”

            Majiru gasped and closed his eyes tightly.  The tears fell furiously down his cheeks, his breath haggard and strained.  “Why do you hate me so?  What did I do to you to make you hate me so much?  I have only been here for a week, and you hate me even more than the white people on the damned steamboats that I worked with every fucking day!” 

            Nathaniel’s eyes widened as he took in the dejected form in front of him.  He felt his stomach lurch; fluids enter his esophagus and exit via his mouth, all over the floor.  “Ohmmaagah…” Nathaniel turned over, away from the smell and Majiru’s wretched face.

            “I will go.  You may tell them what ever you like.  To be sent back may be better than staying here and having to put up with you.  You are disgusting.”  Nathaniel heard Majiru open the door and slam it closed.  He was suddenly left alone in the room with an aching head and an empty, though active stomach.  He moaned softly at newly rising pains in his skull.   

            Annabelle brushed her hair back as she sat in front of the mirror in her bedroom.  She hummed quietly to herself, smiling at the image in the mirror.  Jacob appeared in the room and her smile quickly faded into a serious line.  “Jacob, we must speak to that boy.  We have let this go on for much too long.  He is a grown man.  We cannot allow him to do as he pleases! He should know better, yet we have not enforced anything on him to make it so.  We have been too soft.”

            “Yes, I know.”  Jacob pulled off his vest and hung it up in the closet.  He undressed, ignoring his wife’s solemn look.

            “And we shall do something about it I hope.”  She stood up and tied her hair back.  “I hope.”

            “Yes, you shall.” 

            “We shall.”

            “Annabelle.  What will you do to change his ways?  Keeping him in his room will not help.  It will only infuriate him.  Yelling at him makes things worse as well.  What do you plan?”  Jacob stood erect, giving Annabelle an equally stern look.

            “I cannot believe this.” Annabelle huffed, her hands going up. “It is because of your lack of authority as a father that has made that boy so disrespectful!”

            “Oh, and the mother has no part? What then is the point of having a motherly figure? So if Nathaniel grew up without a mother, then-“

            “Jacob! How could you say such a thing? You bastard! I cannot believe this! You bloody know that I have tried my best to keep that boy from straying, but it was you that made all my hard work in vain!”  Annabelle shrieked in anger.

            “Hah! What work? Yelling like an old hag?”

            Annabelle gasped, picking up her brush from her dresser and throwing it at Jacob, only to miss by a few inches.  “You take that back!”

            “Like bloody hell I will!”

            “Damn you to hell Jacob!”

            Maria sat outside of her parent’s room, her knees up to her face.  Her eyes grew moist as the yelling continued, her loving mother and father screaming furiously at one another.  She sniffled lightly as tears escaped her little eyes. 

            The sun rose, almost tauntingly, and Majiru set out to the stables.  He held a bag of horse feed in one hand, and the other was tightly clenched at his side.  He heard birds chirping loudly, sometimes in rhythm with each other.  Opening one of the stalls, Majiru pet Series slowly, and began murmuring to himself. 

            A voice jerked him away from the horse.  Nathaniel stood a few feet away with his hands folded over his chest.  “Everyone is mad at me.”

            Majiru looked away, focusing his eyes on Series.  His body began to tremble, and his breathe grew louder.

            “Maria hates me.  She came to me last night crying.  Saying I ruined everything.  Mother and father are in bad terms at the moment.  They were arguing about me last night.”  Nathaniel’s voice was hollow.  “Maria spent the night crying in my room till she finally fell asleep on my bed.  She kept whispering her hatred for me in her sleep.” Nathaniel laughed bitterly, “In her sleep.”

            The Indian boy kept his back turned towards the dead voiced boy, his eyes blurring at the mental image of Maria’s tearful face.

            “A few months ago, mother said she wanted to send me away to some private school.  It was while my father was busy in Florida.  Of course, she sent a note notifying him about her decision.  He refused.  Now, I have a feeling that it will happen.  They will send me away.”  Nathaniel’s voiced hitched, and he fell to his knees.  His skin was pale and clammy. 

            Majiru shook his head and turned to look at the white boy.  “You seem shocked.  I thought you would have expected it.  It was as if it was something you wanted, seeing how you acted so rebellious.  You were asking for it.”

            “I was not asking for it!  I did not…I…” 

            Heavy foot falls broke their conversation, and soon a face appeared.  Emmett looked down at Nathaniel with a look of confusion.  “What tha’ bloody hell you doing, Nate?  Whas’ goin’ on?”  Emmett looked at Majiru with disgust.

            “They want to send me away!” Nathaniel gasped, clutching his head in pain.

            “Send you away? Where?” Emmett knelt beside his friend.

            “Bloody fuckin’ hell! I do not know! Away!”

            “What the hell happened to you? You look like horse shit!”

            Nathaniel growled and pushed Emmett away.  “All because of you!” He pointed at Majiru, who stood stunned and paralyzed.  “Ever since he brought you here!”  Nathaniel lunged forward, grabbing Majiru by the hair and pulling him down.  “You fucking savage!”   Majiru tried to pull away, but soon another body fell on top of him, forcing him down in the hay.  “Damn you!”

            Majiru felt as if a million fists of fire were pummeling him in the chest and face.  He cried out in pain, screaming as his hair was pulled and his neck was grasped tightly in someone’s sweaty hand.  Tears flooded his eyes, falling freely, mingling with his sweat and blood.  He could hear Nathaniel’s distant voice, cursing him and his existence.  Majiru choked, coughing, spattering blood all over his own face.  Minutes, though what felt like hours later, he felt the body sitting over his chest rise off, and then the one holding his arms let go.  The stables were silent, only the harsh breathing and hacking of Majiru’s pain was heard. 

A/N: Oh what a rush of emotions. Blah.

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