29/06/1977. Day Two Thousand Five Hundred and Thirteen.
The walk back home was very quiet, Lusanda kept her head down during all of it.
"…uhm…", he started, "I'm sorry"
"I didn't mean to be a nuisance to you"
For the first time since her return, Lusanda produced a concerned expression, "It isn't you I'm mad at"
"Mom doesn't say it but she is also sorry", he continued, "she just doesn't know how to tell you, but she wants you to forgive her"
"I'm…", struggled Lusanda, "I'm not upset at her either, I'm just mad at the situation"
"You know…", she mumbled, "I moved and lost my friends"
"But where did you learn the word nuisance from?", she demanded in her most light hearted tone yet, "I don't recall teaching you that word, are you learning such words in school already?"
"Yeah, I learnt it from my teacher"
"You mean Balinda?"
"Yes. She says it to me often"
29/06/1977. Day Two Thousand Five Hundred and Thirteen.
The two sat eating cereal while listening to an ill frequency radio. When they hear the clattering sound of keys clattering turning in its hole.
"I'm sleeping", Lusanda says, "tell her I'm sleeping", and took her bowl with her, disappearing behind the curtains.
Like a synchronized choreography, Cynthia's entry ensued. First thing she does is peak around the corner to her relief found Gregor looking her way.
"Hello Ma", he greeted.
"Hello", she smiled, "nice to see you're already home", and turned again to lock the door behind her.
Making her way in, her eyes searched for Lusanda, "where is your sister?"
"She's sleeping", young Gregor replied, after hesitating.
"Okay", says Cynthia standing by the curtain, "thank you for bringing him home", she voiced, "if you can hear me, I truly appreciate the help"
Cynthia than wasted no time and sat beside her son, "so, how was school?"
"Tell me everything"
"And remember", she said and paused, eyeing her clueless son down, as if inspecting him, "and remember to be..."
"Oh…right, honest", he answered.
"That's right"
04/06/1977. Day Two Thousand Four Hundred and Eighty Eight.
"It's only been less than a week since you got into school"
"What do you mean you got suspended?", demanded Cynthia of a nonchalant behaving Lusanda.
"Okay, what exactly happened?", Cynthia rectified in lowered tone.
"It's like they told you", she replied, "I didn't like the way that teacher was treating him"
"So, I told her off – I called her a nuisance", she explained and chuckled with herself.
"Gave her a taste of her own medicine"
"Turns out she really was a nuisance. Took me straight to the principal's office, who suspended me without giving me a chance to explain myself"
"Lusanda", said Cynthia almost in defeat, "what will your dad say about this?"
"Nothing", she responded
"Or maybe he will applaud, after all he sent me back to take care of my younger brother, I'm doing exactly that"
"So, thank me for my service", she said and calmly returned to her room.
Young Gregor, stood in the middle of this confrontation, with his trademark clueless facial expression.
05/06/1977. Day Two Thousand Four Hundred and Eighty Nine.
Cynthia, and her close friend, Dorothy Gambelia were seated in the living room when Gregor and Lusanda walked in. Returning from the corner store, she placed the plastic bag on the counter, and nodded at them in acknowledgement.
While Gregor rushed to embrace Dorothy right after closing the door, "how long has it been?", she delightfully asked.
"Forever", replied Gregor, as Dorothy rubbed his head, "is mom still telling the same story of me?", she asked.
"Every time", his immediate reply had them both laughing, "I can recite that story better than any reading book from school"
"Tell me about it", Dorothy agreed, "I hear too often I begin to believe I wasn't there myself"
"Lusanda wait", Cynthia said, effectively interrupting their little catch up.
Lusanda, shrugged her shoulders but came to a stop.
"Greggy", Cynthia says, "you and aunty Dorothy will catch up later, right now though, I'd like to talk to Lusanda, alone", she requested.
"Go to my room for a little bit"
"Okay", the boy said and dismissed himself.
Once out of sight, the video recordings of Cynthia, Dorothy, and Lusanda disappeared from Cretone's pupil. All that the Eye can focus on now is the conversation heard by Gregor heard, when he did not go further into the room than he should have. And instead sat at the door, with his ear an inch away from the woodwork.
"Lusanda", he recognized his mother's voice.
"I know things have been hard for you since you returned", she spoke cautiously, as if stepping on eggshells.
"You've gotten suspended from school already, and I feel guilty for your troubles", she admitted.
"So, I have asked Dorothy to help me out with Gregor, and we can make arrangements for you to return to your school", she announced.
There was a long moment of silence, intense enough to get Gregor to place his ear on the door.
"It's too late for that", Lusanda replied, "I'm already here, and I can't transfer that easily"
"Also, my transfer will reveal I was suspended, so it's too late for this, whatever this is, I'm going back inside"
"Bare with me, what else can I do to help?"
"Do you really want my answer?", Lusanda asked in an increased tone.
"Please"
"How about bringing your friend in sooner?"
"You should go back in time, and ask her for help before ruining my life", she said.
"I…ruined your life?"
"Yes!"
"You ruined it then, and you are ruining it now, by involving strangers in my business!"
"I don't even know her that well, but she already knows I was suspended!?"
"How about you tell the whole town how troublesome I am?"
"Involve everyone in my business"
"Does she also know I'm not your daughter?"
"Does she know, I have no idea where my real mother is?"
"Lusanda", said Cynthia in a soft tone.
"I…I didn't tell her all of that, I just asked for some extra help so you could be excused"
"I don't go around telling anyone anything about you. I do not want to be hated for things I never intended"
"It's hard living with someone that barely looks at you, regardless of how hard you try to pleas them"
"I never brought her here to humiliate you, sorry if it seemed that way…I just want us to talk"
"There's nothing to talk about", said Lusanda, "you can't undo my suspension, you can't undo my transfer"
"So – let me be"
09/03/1979. Day Three Thousand One Hundred and Thirty One.
"You aren't doing anything on the weekend", Chase highlighted.
"No, not that I know of", young Gregor replied as they walked out of class.
"That's awesome", said Chase, "now remind me, why you can't come over to my place?"
"Just ask your mom, for permission", he encouraged, "I'm sure she will agree"
"I will ask", replied Gregor, in an almost exhausted tone, "but I was at your place just this past week, so don't get your hopes up"
"Yeah, yeah, see you tomorrow"
"Or Monday", Gregor rectified, as Chase headed to his older brother waiting for him at the school gate.
After seeing seeing him off, he walked back and around the school in search of his sister. He spotted and recognised some of her classmates at their usual meeting area. And inquired about her whereabouts.
"She already left", one noted.
"Yeah, if she's anywhere she's not in the school grounds", the other second it.
He continued and headed out of the school grounds, to lose himself in rowdy chatter, mostly by seniors that are always hanging around.
Just across the school is a park, which he knew was the only other place Lusanda could have been at. More seniors, and kids from neighbouring schools were scattered around the park, chattering and giggling while he made his way through, scouting every friendship crew.
Cretone does not skip a single detail, unless ordered to.
He eventually came across a group of friends he could recognise at the skating area. They had their backs turned to him so no one noticed his presence.
"Lusanda", he calls in a polite tone. Catching them off guard they agitatedly turned around. And when they did, Gregor caught the sight of Lusanda pulling a cigarette. When their eyes met, she shamefully tossed it aside and coughed.
"Hey, Greggy", says she, "I didn't know you were gonna come all the way here for me", she explained while her group awkwardly stare at him. A few aren't at all bothered by his presence to pause on the smoking.
"Buy guys", Lusanda says scurry out of the circle.
"Let's go"
09/03/1979. Day Three Thousand One Hundred and Thirty One.
"Greg", Lusanda finally said, breaking the silence on their route home, "it was nothing back there"
"What you saw was just me experimenting"
"You are too young to understand but I was just trying something new"
"You weren't supposed to see it, but since you have it has become our secret"
"Don't tell anyone about it"
"Okay?"
10/03/1979. Day Three Thousand One Hundred and Thirty Two.
"I got back home late yesterday", Cynthia said, "by the time I returned you were fast asleep", she pointed out in a delighted manner.
"You were even snoring…I mean you always snore, but that was unusually loud", she remarked.
"I wasn't snoring", he defended, "you were probably mistaken"
"You accuse your own mother of lying…uhm…you are growing I see"
"I assume you had a tiring day, yesterday"
"Well…perhaps all week. I never got to sit down with you like this"
"I've had one of my busiest weeks, so it's the first time that an entire week goes by without us discussing your days at school entirely"
"But, in my defence a week ends on Saturday"
"So we still have time to salvage our consistency"
"Sunday", young Gregor corrected.
"Is it not Saturday? – I'm sure it's Saturday"
"My teacher said weeks end on Sundays, and begin on Mondays"
"Your teacher?"
"My teacher said Sundays are the start of the week, that's why people go to church, to start the week properly"
"Remember you told me your doctor was a fly by night"
"Mom", he continued, "maybe some of your teachers were too"
"Ah…", Cynthia seemed shocked yet pleased by the joke, "the audacity of this child"
"Okay, let's have it. What other incorrect things did you learn this week?"
"Nothing interesting", he replied.
"Perhaps you didn't learn anything interesting", she said, "but did you get up to anything worth telling?"
Young Gregor paused on the porridge for the first time during the conversation, and made it as if he were musing over something, "hmm", he began.
"Chase", he said, "he asked me to go visit him again"
"Can I please go?"