Episode 4

The hands of the clock that hung above the wide chalkboard

showed to be 15 minutes before four. Fifteen minutes more and the last period

of the day would end. Quincy had her elbow up and rested her head against the

palm of her hand. The math teacher was showing the ways of calculating

logarithms and Quincy copied them down in her notebook. She reminded herself to

go to the bookshop after the period and collect the books she’d already payed

online prior to her transfer. She turned her attention from the teacher to

Zack. Quincy knew the reason why he’d done such a dramatic scene in the first

period. He was the one who told Freya to do something about Sam and Eddie, so

he took himself to be a passive initiator of the conflict. Quincy remembered

when Zack was scolded by Miss Daisuke after he flipped his table. Although she

was hesitant, Miss Daisuke ended up giving Zack the detention that he wanted.

During recess, Zack had walked up to Freya and apologized to her. At that time,

Sam and Eddie were already out in the field playing soccer with their teammates.

“Thanks to you, I have to stay back and clean up the girl’s

toilets as my punishment,” Freya grumbled to Zack and smacked his shoulder,

“and what were you thinking flipping the table over like that and smiling to

Miss Daisuke like an idiot? You’re not sick, are you?”

Freya putted her palm on Zack’s forehead to check his

temperature. Zack laughed as he looked at Freya’s distraught face, “It was my

fault from the beginning. I deserve to go to detention.”

Freya peeked behind Zack to see Quincy pondering outside the

windows. “What’s her name again?” she asked Zack. “I think it’s Quincy” Zack

replied.

“Hey! Quincy!” Freya called out from across the room. Quincy

was startled and turned immediately to see who was calling her name. She

finally met Freya and Zack’s eyes.

“You okay?” Freya asked, “I know Sam and Eddie are quite the

big bullies, but don’t get disheartened by them. They’re just assholes with no

clue of what they’re saying.”

Quincy didn’t want to say her true feelings towards Eddie

and Sam’s comments from before. She especially resented what Sam had said about

her, but she gave in to his remarks like they were true.

Quincy had given an assuring smile to Freya, “I’m okay. I

don’t really mind what they said about me”.

Freya shrugged and continued to talk to Zack. “So, did Miss

Daisuke tell you to clean the boy’s bathroom?” Freya asked.

“Nope. She only told me to pick up trash around Block B’s

hallways” said Zack.

“Are you kidding me!?” Freya bawled and grumbled, “That

would take you less than 30 minutes to complete compared to my punishment”.

Quincy had watched them from afar. Zack and Freya had been

childhood friends since primary school. Their casualness towards each other was

very rare in Quincy’s eyes. Quincy never shared a close bond to other people.

The only people she cared for and was close to were her mum and Aunt Natalie.

Whenever she’d encounter people with intent of making friends, the bond between

her and that person would remain in the ‘acquaintance’ status. Quincy would

also be wary and insecure of the fact that her background would put some people

off.

The school bell rang. The students in the class were packing

up their bags. One by one, each student left the classroom and said goodbye to

the math teacher. The teacher followed a group of students who were still

asking questions about logarithms out of the classroom. Sam and Eddie decided

to go to a PC cafe whilst Freya and Zack headed over to the disciplinary

office. Quincy packed her bag and went to Block D. When she arrived at the

bookstore, she took out a printed receipt and gave it to the woman sitting

behind the cashier. The woman looked over the receipt and grabbed a recycling

bag that contained a pile of seven books. Quincy carried the heavy bag with

both hands as she walked back to her apartment. Throughout the whole day,

Quincy couldn’t get her mind off the thought of her dad’s punching bag in Aunt

Natalie’s basement. Other than jogging, the feeling of punching a bag with a

pair of red boxing gloves would always make her feel alive and kicking. Those

were the only times she wasn’t distracted by her demon whispers and the desire

to feel pain. She clenched her trembling fists at the thought of it.

She entered the elevators of the apartment building and

pressed the button to level 11.  As the

elevator doors were closing, Quincy saw a little girl wearing a school gingham

dress running towards the elevator with her bag jumping up and down on her back.

“Wait!” the little girl yelled.

Quincy pressed and held on to the ‘opening’ button. The

little girl stopped in front of the entrance for a minute to take a deep

breath. The little girl’s hair was tied in a braided ponytail.

“Thank you, Ma’am”, said the little girl. She gave the

cutest smile that Quincy thought looked like someone she had seen before.

As the little girl entered the elevator a young man was running

from the distance. Quincy couldn’t make out the figure because he was too far

away from the building. The little girl gasped and pressed the ‘closing’ button

on the elevator panel repeatedly.

Who is that? Quincy thought.

The young man yelled from the distance just seconds before

the narrow gap between the elevator doors closed, “Esther! Wait up!”.

The elevator finally went up. The little girl whom Quincy

just heard to be Esther was giggling to herself with a mischievous expression

on her face. Quincy looked at her with an eyebrow raised. Esther hadn’t pressed

a button of a building level since she stepped foot in the elevator.

“Umm, what level are you going to?” Quincy asked.

Esther was startled and finally came to realize someone was

watching her giggle from the back of the elevator.

“Oh! Sorry, Ma’am,” Esther said in a small and shy tone,

“I’m going to level 12”.

Quincy pressed button ‘12’ for her. “Thank you”, said Esther

as she gave a petite bow to Quincy.

The elevator arrived at level 11. Quincy lifted the bag of

books from the floor and stepped out of the elevator. Esther watched from

behind as Quincy made a turn to the right before the elevator doors were shut.

Quincy grabbed the keys of her apartment from the side pocket of her backpack

and turned it in the keyhole. She went into her apartment and kicked the door

behind her closed. She looked around the apartment’s one-bedroom interior. It

wasn’t luxurious, but it wasn’t shabby either. The walls were plain white with

a laminated wooden flooring throughout the living room and the bedroom, except

for the kitchen floor which was blue tiled. Most of the windows of the apartment

were double casements that were hard to open due to the rusting of the hinges. Quincy

was still trying to adjust to her new ways of independent living and the fact

that she must live in the apartment for the next two years or more alone

without her mum or Aunt Natalie. Quincy remembered four days before moving to the capital city of Heiden when she and her mum, Joaan Parla, had thanked Aunt Natalie for willing to pay for Quincy’s monthly rent. Joaan had expected it would trouble her, but her

aunt thought that the price of the rent was nothing that she couldn’t handle. Aunt

Natalie’s occupation was a doctor and she admitted that her monthly income was

big. She cared for Quincy and Joaan ever since Joaan got married to Quincy’s

father who was her brother, Carles Greye.

Two boxes were stacked near to the television in the living

room and were left unpacked since the day Quincy had moved in. Quincy grabbed a

knife from a kitchen drawer and cut the sticky tape attached to the outer flaps

of the boxes. One box contained plates, pans, pots and cutlery; the other box

contained knick-knacks to be put for decorations on the walls and shelves.

Amongst the knick-knacks, she found a pair of red boxing gloves. Her dad’s old

boxing gloves.

What are these doing here? I thought I left them back at

Aunt’s house, Quincy thought.

She looked around the living room to see where she could place the gloves. She found a nail in the

wall next to the apartment door and hanged the strings of the gloves on the

nail. She stared at the blood-red colour of the gloves for while before she

heard her phone ringing on the coffee table. Quincy crossed her legs and sat on

the floor as she leaned against the coffee table and picked up the video call

from her mum.

“Hi Ma!” Quincy waved to the front camera of her phone.

“Hi Sweetheart!” said Joaan, “Why do I see a knife on the

floor?”

Quincy had forgotten to put back the knife in the kitchen.

“Please, Quincy. How many times do I have to tell you not to be careless with

knives and sharp objects?” her mum warned.

“I’ll go put it back”, Quincy putted the phone down on the

table and Joaan could only see the ceiling from the screen of her phone. Quincy

decided to also unpack the dinnerware from the box and place them in the washing

machine.

“So… How was school today?” Joaan’s voice blared from the

speakers of Quincy’s phone, “Did you make any new friends?”

“It was okay, I guess,” Quincy replied as she putted the last

plate in the rack of the dishwasher, “I haven’t made any friends yet. I’ll

probably try and talk to others tomorrow”. She couldn’t bring herself to

mention about the fight between Freya and Sam. Quincy knew very well how her

mother would feel distressed if she were to hear about activities of bullying

and fighting. Quincy headed back to the living room and grabbed the phone to

see her mum.

“That’s great, sweetheart!” her mother cheered for Quincy

and gave her a big thumbs-up, “It’s good to gain confidence and experience new

relationships at your age. Go have fun and enjoy your youth”.

“Yes, Ma”, Quincy gave a big smile to her mum.

Quincy asked about her day and they talked for while about Joaan’s

job in a local primary school near to their old home. Joaan worked as a

caretaker for kindergarten students. Her income was low, and she would try to

get promoted in her job, but the school would never give her a promotion because

she was only a high-school graduate. Nevertheless, she loved to work with children,

and it was a joy for her to see children at their happiest.

“Don’t forget to call me every day,” said Joaan, “I love you,

dear”.

“Love you too, Ma” Quincy said before hanging up the phone.

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