A Little Bit Of Joy | ✔

Chapter Thirty Seven : The Brother's Pretty Little Secret

"Maa, I'm going out for a walk! Do you want me to buy any groceries for dinner?" I called out as mum appeared from the laundry room, wringing one of Gemma's thick jumpers.

"I told Shaun to bring chickpeas and pasta for dinner. He has gone to withdraw money from the bank for the trip. So he'll buy the necessities on his way," she said while adjusting my t-shirt since my bra strap was showing. She then nearly pushed me out of the house. "You go get some fresh air. Don't worry about anything."

I rolled my eyes playfully. "Alright, bye!"

Mum smiled, her face gleaming despite the sweat from doing all the chores as she shut the door. If only she would let me help her. I sighed tiredly and started sauntering towards the obvious destination- the ocean.

The sky was still luminous, a pale yellow colour even though it was already seven in the evening. It was a bit chilly today and the rustling of leaves reminded me of autumn. The lush green trees swayed with the breeze and as I neared the ocean, it became windy.

I could see the lemony lighthouse at a distance, towering proudly in it's usual glory. The birds were already retreating towards their nests- black dots soaring over the clouds on the endless sky and the harsh noise of the seagulls pricked my ears. The waves of the ocean was peacefully crashing on the cool, clean sand. Hurriedly removing my toffee brown strappy sandals, I dipped my feet in the clear water.

The tranquillity of the ocean always drew me to feel the much needed solitude I wanted in my life. Even with the kids playing dodgeball and the sounds of their banter echoing around me, I felt at peace. I realized that the noises around me had nothing to do with what I felt, it was the sight of the ocean itself which made me feel things.

And it always reminded me of Logan.

Logan had lost his night job at the advertisement because of his absence all these days, it was expected that this would happen. He told me that he was trying to apply as a night time delivery boy somewhere and that today he had gone to enquire about it. I had offered to help him financially [not like personally] but my parents or my grandpa could give him a sort of a loan. Logan dismissed that idea immediately, saying that we had helped him enough and that he wasn't in much financial crisis (because of his earlier savings for college and some jewellery pieces that his grandma had left him) He reminded me that he would have to do menial jobs only till he turned twenty one, after that he wouldn't have to do any of that because he would get his inheritance and stuff.

I was happy for him, everything did turn out okay for him.

The ocean water was warm as it gently stroked my feet. I lazily strolled on the shore and watched the sky turn dark as each second passed by. I could hear a familiar voice almost shouting at a distance and I whirled around. A couple were talking- more like the guy was raising his voice and the girl remained quiet. On close inspection, I recognized the guy to be none other than my dear big brother Shaun.

"Hey, Shaun---" I broke off while jogging towards him and stopped abruptly when I noticed the girl. It was Marilyn. I wondered why they were together as all possible thoughts spun in my brain. I was going to turn around and walk away from them because they were obviously in the middle of something [probably an argument] but it was too late. They spotted me. "Oh hey, you two. What's up?"

My voice was ostentatiously casual as if nothing was awkward or amiss. But something was wrong. Definitely. Shaun looked flustered, his eyes wide like a deer caught in headlights. Marilyn too looked a bit startled, but she quickly concealed it with a rueful smile.

"Hey JJ," Shaun said gingerly, his voice wavering like he was racking his brain for the right words. He was still recuperating from the astonishment of seeing me in front of him. I shuffled closer to them and under the blinking street light, I noticed his blue eyes were red rimmed. Shaun cleared his throat and asked, "What are you doing here?"