"You saw what!" shouted Alec. "Are you sure you are not imagining it? You do imagine things a lot". "I am not ...." Allen is stopped mid-sentence when a loud, long and annoying alarm ringed around the school.
"It says here that that bell's for dinner with the other kids here" said Alec as he rechecked the schedule.
"Oh great! Dinner! Now we have to see other outcasts. More like dinner with other psychos."
The three boys, all wearing their dull blue uniforms, carried their food trays looking for a place to sit. The canteen was very huge, with the walls painted a dull yellow.
Students of all kinds filled the canteen tables.
Alex walked to an empty table and place the tray on the table, taking his seat. His brothers followed suit. Alec looked at the food with delight. "I thought juvie foods are disgusting. This looks tasty".
"I actually agree with you brother." Alex stared at the food. He stared at the food for a long time, as if examining its content to find out which country the ingredients were brought from.
After some minutes they were joined by a muscular, black boy who dumped his tray on the table and turned to them. The boy's nose looked like it had been broken several times as he used a small, lean handkerchief to wipe his nose. His nose jiggled even after the handkerchief had been removed slowly from it.
"Hello fellow blacks, you're new here? Well, if you are, you better watch out for Roy Gregsby, his condition makes him sink his teeth into you till he pulls your flesh out. Bit Yem Dander, a politician in Cuba, and that brought him here. There's also Mandy Frimble, who has devoted her life to exterminating anyone who dares destroys the balance of nature. Almost strangled her brother after he stepped on an amaryllis flower she grew in her garden. Anyway I'm...."
"Shut Up! You talk too much you chatter box!" shouted an irritated Allen.
"Calm down Allen, he's just being nice" Alec shot the boy with a smile.
"What's his deal?".
The boy stared at Alec.
"It's not his fault. Unfortunately, he has to be like this, always, sometimes it can get annoying." Alex said, chewing his food slowly.
"Ah, I have an older brother like that, name's Kobby, he never talks to humans, but he can talk with animals though. He's an animal charmer. So jolly, yet so uhm… quiet. I'm Kweku Baah. Born and bred in Southern Ghana. Have a lot of phobias. My parents think I'll be as tough as Kobby after joining this school, juvie, whatever".
"Hey! We kind of come from Ghana too. Mom's a south African and Dad's a Ghanaian. Cool" commented Alec.
"Wow. You're so big. You don't look like someone with any kind of phobia. Caught me by surprise." Alex marveled.
"What's a phobia?" asked a confused Allen.
"A phobia is basically a fear" explained Kweku. Allen burst out in laughter. "So, you're afraid of everything". He laughed so hard until he fell from his chair, his lunch falling right in his face. Now it was Kweku's turn to burst into laughter. Followed by Alec. Followed by the rest of the school. Alex just stared. The canteen echoed in laughter as Allen excused himself and left with full embarrassment.
Guilt brought Alec and Kweku's laughter to a halt.
"Hey!" Alec shouted so that everyone present could hear. "Alex? Go time" he mumbled. Alex stood up slowly. "Whoever laughs again will regret it. Stop it!" he said in a loud voice. After his outburst, everyone immediately shut up and left the auditorium walking very senselessly, all having the same expression as Alex did. Alec saw a hint of shock on Alex's emotionless face. "Wait what!" he exclaimed. Alec looked around, even Kweku had left the canteen. "What did you do?". Alex just stared ahead.
"I don't know, I'm confused" he said suddenly.
"Alex?" Alec mumbled, "Please be candid with me dude. What did you do?". Alex ignored him and left the table. A slight change in his expression. It seemed as if he was scared, yet he kept his face as straight as always.
Alec opened the room door, ready to lunge at anything he would have counted as a threat . The room was dark, as it was in the evening.
Alec moved around the room in search of the light switch. A snap sound was heard as the room shined with light to reveal Allen fast asleep and Alex quietly reading a book. "How's Allen" Alec asked slightly concerned. "He's fine" was the reply from Alex. "Hurry off to bed, Louis is in the hall watching "Crushed Glass". some irrelevant soap opera he apparently watches at 8pm before bed." he continued.
"Do you think Allen was telling the truth about Louis, that boy does lie sometimes."
"I think he's telling the truth; he did look confused when he saw Louis.", replied Alex, switching the light off.
"Good night, Alex", Alec said falling on his bed, not expecting a reply. None came. Alec snuggled in his extremely comfortable bed, not regretting one bit about leaving South Africa. An adventure was about to begin!