Not made for each other - 19. Damaged

Chapter 19: Damaged

Zune hadn’t slept since the day he had been discharged from the hospital and came to Matt’s house. He was constantly gazing at some non-existent thing in front of him. Carol and I were sitting on either side of his bed, staring at him intently but he didn’t even notice us; we were invisible to him. It was breaking our hearts into millions of pieces to see him like that and not be able to do anything for him. I gave him a sleeping pill prescribed by his doctor and within ten minutes he was fast asleep.

Last week the police came by again to take Zune’s statement and this time Zune divulged some information in bits and pieces in the most emotionless voice possible, as if nothing was affecting him. When we learned what actually happened to him in these past few months we all were aghast. It was hard to imagine that Zune had gone through so much all by himself. He was alone in that hell with those predators.

When the police inquired about the place where Daryl supposedly traded him to, Zune had no answer. He had a blank expression on his face. He said he didn’t remember. After further interrogation, the police found out that Zune had no idea where he was kept. He didn’t know anything about that place except for a few names like Ma’am, Monster, Mitch, Angie, and Nine. Zune also mentioned the names of some hotels. The police arrested Daryl after that and started tracing the clues Zune gave them.

They couldn’t find anything against Daryl that would hold up in a court of law, or anything about the place where Zune was kept or any information about the hotels he had mentioned. The police were not even able to get ahold of anyone Zune mentioned in his statement. Now, even the police had started questioning Zune’s sanity. In the absence of any solid evidence, Daryl got out on bail. The police were still working on the case but they didn’t seem very hopeful about getting any leads.

Kev was on Daryl’s side the whole time, he never visited Zune. Matt and Ron helped Kev come up with the bail money. Matt, Ron, and Kev had blind trust in Daryl; they were of the opinion that Zune’s mind was messed up at the moment and he shouldn’t be believed. On the other hand, Jenny, Ed, and I had full faith in Zune. Whatever he had gone through in these last months was because of Daryl, and Daryl needed to pay for that.

Carol was the only one who wasn’t on anyone’s side. She was confused and found herself trapped into this complex situation.

“What are you thinking?” I asked hesitantly, lifting my eyes to look at her.

“Is there anything else to think about right now except Daryl and…and Zune?” she answered softly, ducking her head down.

“Don’t you believe Zune? He’s your brother. You love him.”

She huffed out a breath. “Daryl is my boyfriend and I love him too.”

“In the present scenario, one of them is not right. You can’t trust both of them,” I remarked.

Carol started to fidget with the hem of her shirt. “I’m scared to find out who’s right and who’s wrong. You are right, I can’t trust both of them but the bigger problem is that I can’t distrust them.”

I could see her dilemma, her frustration, and her helplessness. On one side was her boyfriend who was with her whenever she needed him, and on the other side was her brother, her best friend. She was torn between them and to choose one of them was next to impossible for her. No one could blame her. This particular situation was taking its toll on everyone.

High-pitched voices and shouting made Carol and me to come back to reality. We glanced at each other and rushed towards the living room, gently shutting Zune’s room door behind us.

Matt and Jenny were arguing over the same topic again, Zune and Daryl.

“How can you not trust your own son?” Jenny accused Matt.

“It’s not like I don’t want to trust him, it’s just that I can’t distrust Daryl. I’ve known him since his childhood. He can’t betray Zune or any of us like that.” Matt tried to make her understand.

Jenny narrowed her eyes at Matt. “And you not knowing your son as he was growing up is completely your fault and I won’t let Zune suffer because of that.”

“Do you really believe after everything Daryl did to help all of us, he would trade Zune for money?”Matt asked incredulously. He paused for a few seconds, inhaled a deep breath to calm himself down and then continued. “He was there with Kev when his mother died. He helped Ron establish a successful business. He was on Carol’s side like a true companion. He was with us whenever we visited the police station, whenever we broke down, whenever we needed him. How can you even think that a guy like Daryl can do such horrible thing to our son?”

Jenny folded her arms in front of her chest. “I just know one thing: I believe my son.”

“He’s not in his right state of mind. He needs proper rest and medicines to recover and as the doctor said, it will take some time for him to heal, so instead of blaming an innocent guy we should concentrate on the betterment of our son’s mental and physical condition.”

“At this moment he just needs to see his culprit get punished for ruining his life, his soul.”

“You are not trying to understand, Jenny.” Matt seemed helpless.

“Daryl is going to get what he deserves and I’ll make sure of that.”

Matt was defending Daryl and Jenny was showing firm belief in her son.

“Daryl won’t get punished for something he never did, not while I’m still breathing,” Matt said gruffly.

Jenny took a few steps towards him and replied, “I wish you would stand up for your son like that.” She swung around to leave for her room.

“I love my son too, Jenny,” he assured her weakly. Jenny stopped and slowly turned around.

“Not enough to believe him,” she responded resentfully. She swallowed hard and blinked away her tears. “I can’t live with the well-wishers of that monster who ruined my son’s life. I’m leaving this house right now with my son.”

“That is not the right way to solve this problem. You’ll regret it,” Matt warned her.

“As long as my son is with me, I won’t regret a thing, Mr. Rilens,” she sassed and left to go to their room leaving Matt behind, helpless, hurt, and defeated. Carol rushed towards him to comfort him. Before I could follow Jenny my phone buzzed. It was a message from Ron.

I’m outside Carol’s house. Meet me ASAP.

I reluctantly walked out of the house. Ron’s car was a few steps away. I headed towards him. As he saw me coming, he climbed out of his vehicle.

“Hey.” He acknowledged me but I noticed he couldn’t look me in the eye.

“Hey,” I replied curtly.

“How’s Zune?”

“Just like before…lost in his own world.”

“Daryl got out on bail.”

“I know.”

“Look Jake, Daryl helped me, helped you when were abandoned by our own families, and right now he needs us.”

“Right now Zune needs us more than anyone.”

“I agree, but it doesn’t mean if he’s out of his mind he gets the right to accuse Daryl of such rubbish.” Ron sputtered, losing his patience.

“Daryl snatched away everything from Zune and you call it rubbish? I don’t believe this.” I shook my head in disbelief.

“How are you so sure that whatever your best friend is saying is true?” he asked in a chiding tone.

We remained there, standing in front of each other, staring into each other’s eyes and then I answered. “I just know. I…I just know.” With that I spun around and began ambling towards the house.

“If this is what you want, to support your friend in his stupidity then…” He left the sentence hanging in the air. I slowly turned around to look at him.

“Then?”

“Then we are through,” he announced with pride on his face. I couldn’t hold back my sardonic chuckle.

“Mr. Ron Sword, we were through the moment I saw you with another guy. We were through the moment you found nothing wrong with cheating on me. We were through the moment I walked out of your house that morning. And don’t worry, I’ll clear out my stuff from your apartment this afternoon; all my things will be out of your way… forever.”

“And where are you going to live then? Your parents disowned you. You have no other place…”

“You don’t need to worry about me anymore,” I cut him off in mid-sentence in annoyance and I briskly headed towards the house to hide my tears. Now it was official; Ron and I weren’t together anymore. An unknown stinging pain in my chest ragged my breaths and quickened my heartbeats.

As I reached the porch of the house, I found Jenny standing there, leaning against the doorframe, folding her hands against her body with a sad face. I hurriedly blinked away my tears and cleared my throat while imposing a fake smile on my face.

“What happened?” she asked in an authoritative voice.

“Nothing.”

She didn’t believe me for a single second. She inhaled audibly and shook her head as if she knew everything that happened out there minutes ago between Ron and me.

“You are coming with Zune and me…to our house.” That’s it. She didn’t say anything else and went to her room to pack her stuff.

Matt tried to stop Jenny but it was futile. Carol had locked herself in her room and Zune, well, he had locked himself in his mind somewhere.

An hour later, Jenny called a cab and she, Zune, and I left Matt’s house. Within twenty minutes we were outside Jenny’s old house. Jenny had rented this place to Rebecca and Ed after Zune went missing. Jenny didn’t want them to leave the house now, so it was decided that we will all share the house.

Jenny had already informed Rebecca and Ed about our arrival. They welcomed us warmly. Rebecca and Ed were continuously staring at Zune with a pained expression on their faces. Rebecca served us some coffee. Zune didn’t even touch his cup.

After sitting in awkward silence for a few minutes we all agreed that Jenny and Rebecca would sleep in Jenny’s bedroom. Zune and I would share another one as it wasn’t a good idea to let Zune stay alone in a room, and the last bedroom belonged to Edward. Jenny and I helped Zune get him to his bedroom, we gave him his meds, and didn’t leave his side until he fell asleep. Later on, we came downstairs and with the help of Ed and Rebecca we began unpacking the luggage.

The next day I went to Ron’s apartment to collect my stuff. Ron was at home when I got there but he didn’t say a word. I also kept quiet and left his apartment with my stuff as soon as I could, ignoring his gaze.

Two Months Later

It’s been two months since Jenny, Zune, and I moved into Jenny’s old house but nothing has changed.

Kev never came to see Zune. Matt tried hard to meet Zune but Jenny didn’t let that happen. Carol showed up a few times but the whole time she was with Zune she was mute. Ron and I haven’t talked since the day I left his apartment with my things.

Zune was physically better now but emotionally he was still damaged. He was quiet all the time and refused to go out with us whenever we asked him. The other thing which freaked us out was that everytime any of us tried to touch him including Jenny, he would jump out of his skin and hurriedly lock himself in his bedroom. After a while we were all careful that we didn’t touch him and we also stopped asking him to go out.

Jenny, Rebecca, Ed, and I did everything we could to make him talk, to make him smile, to at least make him cry, but it was all in vain. It was like Zune was just breathing but there wasn’t any emotion left in him. His eyes, his face was void of any feeling.

Either Jenny, Rebecca, Ed, or I was always with him but our presence hardly affected Zune. It seemed as if he was oblivious of our existence.

During these last two months Zune abruptly woke up every single night because of nightmares. He never cried or screamed in his dreams but he always ended up soaked in sweat because of them. There were a few names he muttered in his nightmares: Angie, Nine, Ma’am, and Jamie, but the one name which made fear flash on his stoic face was Monster. His heavy breaths and awake scared eyes were more than enough to know that something happened and his past was replaying before his eyes.

Several times in during the night, I would suddenly wake up from the sound of the shower running and I usually found Zune under the shower, wet, crying, and scrubbing himself ferociously as if trying to wash away someone’s filthy touch from his body and his memory. He seemed so vulnerable and helpless in those moments that the sudden thought of killing those bastards who did this to Zune, crossed my mind several times.

The only thing Zune was doing nowadays apart from gazing into thin air was silently and tenaciously cleaning each and every thing and surface in the house again and again as if he was finding satisfaction in doing it. No one ever tried to stop him because we had no clue how would he react. Jenny was hardly able to stop herself from crying whenever she stared at her son.

Soon she contacted a psychiatrist. It took us hours of pleadings to make Zune come out of the house to see the doctor but it was of no use as Zune didn’t utter a single word in front of her. Later on, the doctor, Ms. Thompson, called us to meet her. Rebecca decided to stay with Zune at home while Jenny, Ed, and I went to see Ms. Thompson. As per Jenny, she was one of the most remarkable psychiatrists in the hospital where she worked.

Ms. Thompson was in her mid-thirties and very polite. She made us comfortable and asked what we knew about this whole situation, despite the fact that all the information about Zune was already mentioned in his medical file. She listened to us attentively; placing her elbows on her desk. After we each had a turn speaking, she sighed and very carefully told us about Zune’s psychological state.

“I want you guys to listen to everything I’m going to say very cautiously, okay?” She sought for our assurance. We all nodded simultaneously and she continued. “The psychological trauma Zune is going through right now is called Rape Trauma Syndrome. This syndrome is a cluster of psychological and physical signs, symptoms, and reactions common to most rape victims immediately following and for months or years after a rape.”

“What do you mean?” Jenny asked in confusion.

“I mean this syndrome not only influences a person physically but also affects the behavior of the victim for an indefinite period of time. The victim can act strangely and exhibit odd behavior while going through this trauma. Whatever you guys and Zune’s medical file told me, it confirms that Zune is actually experiencing this Rape Trauma Syndrome. For instance, some of the symptoms of this syndrome are like diminished alertness, numbness, dulled senses and memory, disorganized thought content, constant nightmares or flashbacks, a fear of being in crowds or a fear of going out at all or a fear of being touched by anyone, obsession with washing or cleaning himself or anything else, etc. Jenny, you told me that when the police took Zune’s statement it seemed like his memory was not helping him completely. This happened because he was confused and his senses were betraying him. His thought process was not coherent or organized at all.” She paused to rub her eyes under her black-rimmed glasses. “Jake, you told me that he has nightmares approximately every night and you heard him say some names related to his past, and you also find him many nights under the shower trying to ‘wash away’ whatever memory of someone’s touch he may feel is burning him alive. It suggests that flashbacks from his past still torment him every moment. And Ed, you told me that Zune spends his whole day in utter silence, cleaning everything around the house like a neat freak; these are all symptoms of Rape Trauma Syndrome which are evidently visible in Zune’s behavior.”

“Then what are we supposed to do to help him to recover?” Ed asked with his brows knitted.

Ms. Thompson exhaled audibly. “It’s a long process in which every person living with Zune needs unending patience.”

“We are ready to do everything to make him better. You just need to tell us what to do.” Jenny tearfully told her.

“Okay then, first of all you have to make him trust you and for that you guys have to place an unbreakable faith in him. He’s afraid of being around people; he’s scared of being touched because he trusts no one now. Remember Jenny, you told me when he saw you in the hospital after so many months, he hugged you and cried; he let you touch him because he had trust in you but as he saw confusion in everyone’s eyes around him when he accused Daryl, his trust vanished into thin air. He buried his emotions somewhere deep inside of him so they couldn’t hurt him anymore. He didn’t even say a word to me because he doesn’t trust me either. For him, there are two worlds; one in which he lives alone and another one where rest of the world resides. You guys have to slowly and steadily enter into his world to gain his trust. Along with that, you will have to keep trying to make him react; make him smile, make him talk, if possible, even make him cry because he needs to express his feelings in any way. If these conflicting emotions keep burgeoning inside him then this will imminently jeopardize him both physically and psychologically,” she explained in clear words. She swiftly began writing down some prescription for Zune and handed it to Jenny.

Ms. Thompson made us realize and understand Zune’s situation better. We all thanked her and stood up to leave. Before we could turn around to go she gave us a last piece of advice.

“One more thing, rape is not sex, it’s a violent act which not only violates the victim physically but also breaks them from inside; right now Zune is as vulnerable as glass; he’s as scared as a newborn baby. All he needs at the moment is assurance that you guys believe him, that he’s not alone, you all are with him no matter what. It is impossible for any of us to even imagine the gruesome pain he’s going through at the moment. I’m telling you guys again, be patient with him because in the coming days maintaining your calm and composure won’t be easy for any of you.”

We nodded agreeably and left. I knew our discussion with Ms. Thompson was swirling around in each of our heads as the three of us were absolutely silent. Jenny drove us to McDonald’s to have something as we all skipped breakfast because of our early appointment with Ms. Thompson. As we walked in we saw Kev, Ron, and Daryl sitting in the corner end, eating their burgers. Kev was silently eating and ducking his head down while Ron and Daryl were talking in hushed tones. Jenny, Ed, and I stopped abruptly. I could feel my heartbeat accelerate.

“I think we should go somewhere else,” I suggested suppressing my inner feelings. They both agreed instantly, but unfortunately before we could leave Kev spotted us and rushed over. We all hurriedly left the place but Kev caught us in time.

“Jenny,” he called. We all stopped abruptly. In a flash Kev was in front of us and he was not alone; Daryl and Ron were with him. Ron was looking at me while Daryl was glancing here and there to avoid our gaze, the bloody coward.

Jenny gave them a warning glare indicating to them to get the hell out of our way but they didn’t get it.

“How’s…How’s Zune?” Kev asked hesitantly, staring down.

“That’s none of your business,” Ed retorted bitterly, before Jenny could answer.

“I’m not talking to you,” Kev remonstrated while taking a threatening step towards him. Then he shifted his gaze to Jenny and his demeanor softened instantly. “Jenny, I know you are damn angry with Daryl and me right now, but…”

“Angry? Angry?! No, Mr. Ray I’m not just angry with all of you. I’m disappointed in you for not standing up for the boy you claimed to be in love with. I hate you for your lack of trust in Zune. I loathe you for not being with him when he needs you the most. And for your dearest cousin, I have no appropriate word; he nauseates me. Every time I see this gutter-worm, every single nerve in my body screams at me to kill him and it takes every bit of my patience to refrain myself from doing so.” Jenny spat and headed towards her car.

“Jake, we will wait for you in the car. Make it fast.” Ed soon followed Jenny’s lead, clenching his jaw and giving a death glare to Daryl.

“How are you?” Ron asked in barely a whisper.

“Fine,” I answered curtly.

“And how’s Zune?” It was Kev again. Desperation was quite apparent in his voice.

“Why don’t you come and see for yourself?” He kept quiet. “That’s what I thought. First, grow some balls to face Zune because I know somewhere your guilt is killing you and you don’t have the guts to face him,” I chided, raising my left brow.

“Can’t you just tell me how he is instead of…”

“Zune is broken. He’s damaged. He’s scared. He’s lost in his trance. He’s…he’s alone in his own world.” I couldn’t say another word and swallowed the lump formed in my throat. I narrowed my eyes at the three of them, shook my head in disappointment and detestation, and left.

Within half an hour, Jenny, Ed and I were outside our house. Thundering clouds in the sky, and cold invigorating wind around us were indicating that heavy rain would start soon. The weather matched Jenny’s mood right now. She was in a rage with whatever happened outside McDonald’s. She slammed the car door shut and stomped into the house. We immediately went after her since she was in a very bad mood and we didn’t want her to do something reckless.

Rebecca was in the kitchen washing some dishes while Zune was in the living room with a cotton cloth cleaning the already neat and shining red-colored vase.

“Zune, that vase is already clean.” Jenny huffed in annoyance but Zune paid her a deaf ear.

“Zune, I said that bloody vase is already clean!” Zune didn’t pay any attention to his mom’s words. In the meantime, Rebecca wheeled herself out of the kitchen. Rebecca, Ed, and I were staring back and forth between Jenny and Zune. It was clear that the anger and frustration Jenny was carrying around for so long beneath her strong and calm demeanor was going to burst out today. Right now we all were worried about Zune but didn’t dare to say a word. Jenny rushed towards him, grasped that piece of cotton cloth from his hand and threw it on the floor. “I said, that BLOODY STUPID VASE IS ALREADY CLEAN, ZUNE!”

Zune didn’t even raise his eyes to look at Jenny or any of us. He just bent down and picked up the cloth, stood up, and began cleaning the vase again as if nothing had happened. It only aggravated Jenny further. This time she snatched the vase away from Zune and flung it across the room. The vase smashed into the wall and shattered into little pieces on the floor. Zune immediately flinched away. He stared at Jenny in fear and began stepping back. Jenny lunged forward and grabbed him by his shoulders and shook him.

“CAN’T YOU SEE THAT LOCKING YOURSELF IN YOUR ROOM OR CLEANING YOURSELF OR THIS HOUSE THE WHOLE DAY ISN’T GOING TO HELP YOU?! CAN’T YOU SEE THE GUY WHO NEEDS TO GET PUNISHED IS WALKING FREELY AROUND THIS CITY JUST BECAUSE EVERYONE THINKS THAT YOU’RE MESSED UP; THEY THINK YOU’RE…YOU’RE A FREAK! DID YOU HEAR ME?” Jenny was shaking Zune violently, still having the hold on his shoulders. “DID YOU HEAR ME? YOU-ARE-A-FREAK! YOU-ARE-MESSED-UP!”

Zune immediately jerked away. He was breathing hard. His eyes were brimming with tears. He sucked in a deep breath and ran out of the house. It took all of us a few moments to realize what happened. Jenny yelled at Zune. She called him a freak, called him messed-up. An expression of hurt flashed across his face; he had tears in his eyes and then he ran out of the house in the stormy weather, all alone, without any shoes on, in just a t-shirt and loose pajama pants.

As what happened just now registered in our minds, we raced out of the house in search of Zune. We hollered his name numerous times but he was nowhere in sight. How Zune could disappear in a matter of a few minutes was beyond our minds.

Jenny called the cops and informed them of the situation as she hopped in her car to begin searching for her son. We decided Jenny would take her car and search for him first at Carol’s house and then in the area hospitals were while Ed and I would take Ed’s car and look for him in cafes and other places. Ed and I slid into his car. We left Rebecca at the house so in case Zune shows up, she could call us.

It was raining heavily and it had been more than half-an-hour that we were driving around the city but we weren’t able to find Zune. We called Jenny but even she couldn’t find him. She was crying and cursing herself continuously for behaving like a jerk to Zune. Ed and I tried hard to console her but we both knew that until she saw her son safe and sound, she wasn’t going to breathe easy.

We kept looking for Zune. We searched for him everywhere we could, but there wasn’t any sign of him anywhere. Suddenly, Edward braked the car.

“Wh…what…”

Before I could ask anything, he was out of the car. I followed his lead and noticed that we were outside St. Thomas’s Church. Ed was racing towards the entrance. I was right behind him. Both of us got pretty wet because of the rain. As Ed entered the church, he stopped abruptly as his eyes fell on something inside. I followed his gaze. Zune was sitting on the extreme left side of the very first front bench. He was unblinkingly staring at one of the closed books placed on the table before him. He was drenched in water; he probably ran here all the way from home. Water droplets were dripping down from his hair that was matted to his forehead. His lips were trembling. He was shivering with cold and hugging himself.

Ed nervously began stepping towards him. I decided to stay behind. When Ed reached the bench where Zune was seated, he removed his black jacket he’d been wearing to give it to Zune but as Zune felt Ed’s presence, he seemed scared. Zune swallowed hard. Ed raised both his hands, palms up, to show Zune that he was no threat to him. Zune’s heavy breaths subsided a bit. A look of relief appeared in Zune’s frightened eyes. Ed tried to hand him his jacket but Zune ignored again and started gazing at the closed book once more. Ed sat down quietly on the right side of the same bench and put the jacket on his left.

They remained silent for many long moments, sitting on opposite sides of the same bench. Zune’s eyes were still fixed ahead on the closed book while Ed was continuously glancing in Zune’s direction.

“Remember Zune, that time we were at Grey’s Café and Carol called you? You told me to wait there for you and you left to shop with Carol.” Ed attempted to begin a conversation with Zune but Zune was, as usual, silent. He didn’t even blink but Ed kept going. “You completely forgot about me that day. You never replied to my calls or messages as your phone was dead, but I still waited for you the whole day. You know why?” Ed stared at Zune with a slight smile on his lips as if that whole scene was replaying in front of his eyes. Zune blinked twice and shifted his eyes to Ed. Zune was peering into Ed’s eyes like he was trying to find something familiar there.

Ed paused for a few moments and then continued, looking directly into Zune’s eyes. “I waited that whole day for you because I had no doubt that you would come back, because…because I had believed in you. I…I had always trusted you and I always will, no matter what. But this time I…I want you to trust me,” Ed requested, hesitantly offering his hand to Zune.

There was no sound audible except for Ed and Zune’s breaths. They were again conversing in their secretive eye-language. After being lost in each other’s eyes for many long moments, a spark gleamed in Zune’s green orbs as if he had just discovered something in Ed’s eyes that he had been searching for. Zune lifted his shaking right hand and put it over Ed’s hand. A satisfying and happy smile played over Ed’s face. Ed stood up carefully still holding Zune’s hand. Zune drew back his hand as it seemed he was still not comfortable being touched by anyone. But he soon pulled himself to his feet too. Ed grabbed his jacket and draped it around Zune trying his best not to touch him.

Ed turned around to leave but Zune’s feet were still glued to his spot. Ed turned around and walked to over to Zune again and just murmured two words. “Trust me.” It worked like a magical charm. Zune slowly began ambling out of the church with Ed. I went out and hopped into the back seat of the car. It was not raining anymore. I hurriedly called Jenny and Rebecca to let them know that Zune was with us and we were coming home with him. Soon, Ed and Zune came out. Ed quickly opened passenger door for Zune. Zune slid into his seat and Ed closed the door behind him. Ed came around his vehicle, got into his seat, and drove us towards the house.

When we reached home, Jenny crushed Zune with her hug and apologized a hundred times for her outburst but Zune was acting like he didn’t even hear her. Like always, he was staring into invisible air. He never returned her hug or said anything; he just left to go to his room.

In the next few days nothing much changed. Zune was still quiet and uncomfortable around people. He seemed more cautious and jumpy around Jenny and it broke her a little bit more to see how skittish her own son was around her. Zune was, as usual, ignoring Rebecca and me. There wasn’t any improvement in his behavior either, but there was a person who Zune was more relaxed and less scared to be around. It was Ed. Ed was the only one whose voice was audible to Zune. Ed was spending practically every single moment of his day with Zune and Zune was always more relaxed with him. It’s not that Zune was talking to Ed or anything, hell, Zune wasn’t talking to anybody, but I don’t know how those two was able to communicate with their eyes, with their expressions, or with their gestures. Words didn’t seem to be needed when they were together.

When Jenny, Ed, and I next visited Ms. Thompson, we told her everything that had been going on during the last few days. She listened to us intently and then began talking. “Edward, you are entering into his world and it seems he is beginning to trust you. That’s good news. At this point in time, I will suggest that if it’s viable, to take him out of the city for a while; a change of scenery could probably help him recover faster.”

“My maternal grandmother lives in a town about a few hours away from here. I guess we could take him over there for a week or two,” Ed suggested while eying Jenny and I for our approval. I shrugged and looked at Jenny. After musing over it for a few moments, she finally nodded in agreement.

“We could do that.” Ms. Thompson cleared her throat and gazed at Jenny awkwardly.

“Jenny, I think it would be better if you don’t go there with Zune,” Ms. Thompson recommended.

Jenny stared at her in confusion and asked, “But why?”

“Jenny, because of your outburst, right now Zune is scared of you. It will be better for him if only these two accompany him on this trip.” Ms. Thompson tried to explain.

“No way! I’m not leaving my son alone. I can’t send him anywhere without me. I can’t…I just can’t and I won’t.”

“I can understand your concern Jenny, but try to…”

“I said no!” Jenny cut Ms. Thompson off and immediately stood up and left. Ms. Thompson told us to try to convince her not to go. We feebly nodded and came out of her office. Jenny was waiting for us in her car. Ed and I climbed in and Jenny drove us home. She was silent throughout the ride. Ed and I were sharing nervous glances every now and then. We had no idea how to convince her that she needed to stay.

As we got home, Jenny rushed to her bedroom. Rebecca was in the kitchen and Ed went to help her. I followed Jenny into her room. She was sitting on the edge of her bed, ducking down her head when I entered her room.

“Jenny?”

“Zune is not going anywhere without me,” Jenny murmured. She stood up and walked to her closet to pull out a fresh set of bed sheets and pillow cases. She took the bed sheets and pillow cases off the bed and began putting on the clean pillow cases on her pillows, while constantly trying to avoid my gaze.

“Why?” I asked after a few seconds, shoving my hands in the pockets of my jeans.

“Because…because after whatever happened to him, I can’t leave him alone and I won’t,” she clarified while she finished putting the last pillow case on the remaining pillow.

“Zune won’t be alone there. Ed and I will always be there with him,” I gently argued. She kept quiet while working on adjusting the bed sheet on the mattress. “Don’t you trust Ed or me?” I asked.

“It’s not that,” she denied.

“Then, what is it?”

“Jake, I said Zune is not going anywhere without me and that’s final. I don’t want to discuss this matter any further,” she concluded gruffly and stepped towards the closet once again.

“You’re jealous of Ed. Aren’t you?” I asked, though I knew the answer already. She stopped in her tracks and turned around slowly. Her eyes were brimming with tears. She was on verge of crying. I ambled towards her and hesitantly hugged her. She couldn’t hold back her emotions and burst out in tears.

“He’s my son. He’s…supposed to tr…trust me. I’m the one who has the…the right to take care of him,” she got out in between her sobs. She paused for a few moments and then continued, “I know I messed up everything by…by yelling at him, and believe me…believe me, I’m cursing myself since then because…because I treated my own son like that. I wish I can take that back but I…I can’t. I swear…I swear I don’t want to be jealous of Ed, but I…I envy him the way Zune looks at him, the way he is when he’s around Ed, the way he trusts him. It breaks my heart. I’m his mother. I am the one Zune should trust…I…” She couldn’t speak another word. She cried for a good five minutes and I just stood there, hugging her tightly. I could understand what she was going through. All this was as difficult for her as it was for Zune. Jenny’s anger, her frustration, and her jealousy was completely justifiable considering the present circumstances. “I want my son back,” she whispered in the end.

“Jenny, this trip could be the solution to our problems. This trip could get us our Zune back. You should allow him to come with us. This is what Zune needs at the moment, away from this place for a while, away from all this mess.” I stated calmly.

“Away from me?” Jenny asked in her sorrowful voice, raising her brows.

I inhaled a deep breath and pulled back.

“Jenny, Zune is intimidated by you right now, but believe me, it all will be fine soon because deep down inside he loves you the most in this whole world, and you are his everything. He’s broken and damaged at the moment and he needs to heal, but for that we have to do what Ms. Thompson suggested we do. Our emotions need to take a back seat if we want our Zune back. Jenny, please let him go with us because this trip may be the change Zune needs right now,” I pleaded.

Jenny sat down on her bed. “You are right. I got too involved in my own feelings to know what is right for my son. I’m his mother and it’s my duty to do what is good for him.”

“So that’s a yes?” I asked.

A small smile crept over Jenny’s face. She looked up and confirmed her answer. “Yes!”

I hugged her in joy and it made her laugh a bit. I pulled back and made my way towards the door. I stopped abruptly and turned around.

“Jenny?”

“Huh?”

“You are the best mother anyone could have. Zune is damn lucky to have you, and trust me, he will come around soon.” I meant the words more seriously than they sounded, nodding my head. She just smiled in response but it didn’t reach to her teary eyes.

Jenny was the strongest person I had ever met. She had put up with enough shit in her life. I wished the coming days would bring a genuine smile to her face.

The next morning, Ed, Zune and I prepared to leave for his grandmother’s town. It was a long six-hour journey from here. Rebecca decided not to go with us because Jenny was not in good shape right now so she told us to give her love to her mother.

Jenny was freaking out because it was the first time Zune would be out of her sight since he returned from that hell. Ed and I convinced Jenny that we would take very good care of him. We promised that we’d call her every two hours. She was scared for Zune and we assured her in every way possible that Zune would be completely safe with us. Rebecca tried to calm her down.

Jenny hugged Zune to which, as expected, he never responded. Ed slid into driver’s seat. Zune slipped into passenger’s seat and I hopped in the backseat. Jenny reminded us for the umpteenth time to call her every two hours and to take good care of Zune and to never leave him alone. We reassured her again, said our goodbyes, and Ed started driving.

Ed was looking ahead at the road, furrowing his brows in deep thought.

Zune rolled down his window. The wind made his hair messy and the shining rays of the sun made him close his green eyes. He hunched back in his seat, taking a deep breath.

I had no clue what was going to happen next but I guess whatever bad things happened with Zune and Jenny had already damaged them enough, now it was time for something good to mend their damaged lives. Somehow, I had the unmistakable feeling that this little trip would make things better…far better for all of us. I closed my eyes too and pressed my head against the window and whispered to myself, “Everything will be fine…soon.”

TBC.

Author's Note: Please let me know what you guys think of this chapter. It helps me a lot to improve.

A very BIG thanks to Lisa, Lukcian200, Gene63, Jabrown, Henry22, Adamantyne, Gulabjamun, Silentdreamer, Lilansui, TerryP, Jo Ann, Smoothy, Keswickgardens, Gregg and all my readers for reading, reviewing, liking and following my story. It really means a lot. Thanks once again 

And, of course,   LISA.