A Friend from the Start, an Enemy to the End: Ch. 2

A Friend from the Start, an Enemy to the End: Ch. 2

Chapter 2

Later on, after Zola and Aislynn ate he accompanied her on the walk home. It was dark and the street lights were on. If the stars were visible it would be the perfect romantic night.

Aislynn was back in her school uniform, a white short skirt and a dark green short sleeved top. Zola once again wore his black hooded sweat shirt, this time over a plain white t-shirt and white pants with black vertical stripe going up the sides.

The two walked in silence with the exception of a sneeze or sniffle here and there.

“Hey, pretty lady… How about you ditch the boy and get the man?” An older man with alcohol on his breath asked as he stumbled between the two. He put an arm around Aislynn’s shoulders.

The man wore a leather vest over a dark shirt. He had tattoos going up and down his arms. On his legs he wore tight fitting jeans for his build. He had a beer-belly that hung a little over the top of his pants. The bottom of his pants reached down to the top of his bright brown boots.

“No, I’m fine. Thanks for the offer though.” Aislynn said politely as she shrugged the man off.

“Look, Missie, I don’t think you understand. No one says no to me.” He said angrily, his face was red with anger, or the booze, it was hard to tell. The two turned to look at him.

“Of course, you’re just so hard to resist with that beer belly of yours, and just look at your flabby arms. How could anyone say no to you?” Aislynn mocked him.

“That’s it, Bitch! This night is going to end with me having fun and you in pain. I won’t have a problem with that.” The drunken man said as he reached for the zipper of his pants.

“Look, Dude. Why don’t you just back off? She said no. Just go home.” Zola said, starting to get annoyed, he stepped between Aislynn and drunk.

“No way, Boy Scout, now get the fuck out of my way.” The drunk said, reaching for a knife in his boot. He stumbled and almost fell over. He held the knife out as if to stab Zola but his vision was so far gone he couldn’t do anything.

Zola stepped forward with his left leg and brought his right around to kick the knife from the drunk’s hand. The knife fell to the ground and Zola brought his left leg around off the ground and kicked the drunk in the jaw and sent him to the ground.

“Wow, Zola, that was awesome. C’mon now, let’s just get to my house.” Aislynn said, reaching for Zola’s arm.

“In a minute…” Zola said as he walked over to the drunk. He put a foot on the side of the drunk’s face. “I don’t rightly appreciate people treating women like property or whores. So don’t do it again, okay?”

The man tried to respond but only muffled sounds could be heard.

“What’s that? I’m afraid I can’t hear you.” Zola said as he pushed harder on the man’s face. The man started crying and screaming. “Whatever, I think that’s good enough.” Zola walked back over to Aislynn and the two started walking again.

“Hey, Zola… Why would you risk that guy knocking you flat even though you just met me?” Aislynn broke the silence they walked in.

“I just can’t stand guys that act like that. They really get under my skin to the point where I have to do something. I feel the same way about racism. Human is always the same race, no matter where you are, where you’re from, or what color your skin is.” Zola explained in an almost apathetic tone.

“Wow, you really feel strongly about this stuff, don’t you?” Aislynn asked in a curious tone.

“Yeah… But enough about that, how much longer until we reach your house?” The young man asked. He looked at the young lady.

“It’s just around this corner. I wonder if my dad’s home yet.” She said.

“What about your mom?” Zola asked then he noticed a sad look overcome the young lady. “Sorry, sorry, I didn’t mean to make you upset.”

“No, it’s fine… My mother died a few years ago… That’s why I wanted my locket back so badly earlier.”

“Got it… Say, Aislynn, do you mind if I stick around your house for awhile, just until your dad gets home, that is?” The young man asked.

“And why would you want to do that?” She asked back.

“It’d be rude of me to leave you in a house all alone. I’ll just stay by the front door.”

“All right… I don’t see any harm being done if you stay over for a little while.”

Then they stood in front of Aislynn’s house, it was three stories tall with a large stain glass window over the front door. The yard wasn’t very big and had a tall fence, at least six foot with a five foot gate.

“Th—this is your house?” Zola’s jaw dropped and his eye started twitching. He pointed slightly with his right hand. He turned his head to look at Aislynn on his left.

“Yeah, it’s pretty nice. I like living in big houses. Except when you’re all alone, then it gets kinda scary.”

“Yeah, I bet it does.” He exhaled.

“Come on, lets’ go inside.” Aislynn opened the gate. Zola reluctantly followed her.

The house looked even bigger on the inside, the front room was large and open and I looked like a banquet hall. The stain glass window was beautiful as it got hit by the moonlight. A set of stairs was on either of the room going up to a balcony on the second floor. There was a couch off to the left of the room.

A while after arriving at the house Aislynn was taking a warm bath up stairs somewhere. Zola just sat on the couch in the front room flipping through a magazine he found laying around on a nearby table.

After a half hour or so the front door started to open. Zola noticed and stood up right away. He put the magazine back on the table. He bowed.

“Good evening, Sir.” Zola said, still holding his bow.

“Huh, who the hell are you?” A man walked in and closed the door behind him. He was a man with a powerful build. He had a grey handlebar mustache that made up for his baldness. He was wearing a sleeveless shirt and blue jeans. He took off his shoes and left them by the door.

“My name is Zola Averiz. I walked your daughter home this evening. She had dinner at my house then I walked her home. Since it would have rude of me to leave her here alone I thought I should stay until you returned.” Zola explained casually.

“Well, I have to respect you for taking care of my daughter but you aren’t leaving until I have a talk with both of you.” Mr. Madosia said, he walked over to the coach and sat down next to Zola.

“Um, Sir?” Zola wanted to speak but couldn’t think of anything.

“Please, just call me Ulysses. I’m not big on formality. Speaking of big, do you like lifting weights?”

“Yes, I do, it’s what I do in my spare time.”

“In that case let me show you my home gym, top notch equipment wall to wall!” The man let out a bellowing laugh and put a rough hand on Zola’s shoulder and picked him up. They went down a flight of stairs that Zola expected to be a basement.

When they reached the bottom of the stairs Ulysses flipped a switch, lights flickered on, al the walls were mirrored. The room was riddled with weights, bench presses, treadmills, extra bars for dead lifts or squats. Every kind of exercise equipment was in this one room. On the far wall was shelf with a stereo on it, and on the shelves beneath the stereo was a massive collection of CD’s.

“Whoa, what an incredible room, this is amazing.”

“It is a sight for sore eyes isn’t it? Any way, hope you like Bach.” He walked over to the stereo and pressed play, An organ started the piece, then the orchestra joined in and finally the choir started it’s singing. He went over to a bench a bench and lay down, he gestured for Zola to spot him. The bar had two forty-five pound weights on each side, in addition to the forty-five of the bar itself.

“Um, don’t you think that’s a little much?” Zola asked hesitantly.

“Nonsense, my boy, this is my warm up, now look sharp!” The older man said in a bellowing tone, as he slapped the bar.

Ulysses took the bar firmly in his hands and easily lifted it off the arms that held it. He started bringing it down ‘till his arms were at ninety degree angles then extended them again. He lifted the weight slowly, making it look like it was difficult but his expression never changed. He inhaled as he brought the bar down and exhaled as he pushed it back up. His muscles tensed as he reached double digit numbers by his count which is one for every three reps.

“So, tell me, Zola. How did you and my daughter meet?” The older man asked, still lifting the weights and without pausing his breathing.

“I met Aislynn on my way home from school. I decided to walk home and I saw a girl in a river, up to her waist in water. She had lost a white locket in the water. I helped her and brought her back to my house to get her some fresh clothes and for some dinner my mom made.” Zola retold the story of how he met Aislynn.

“I see, thanks for being such a gentleman to my daughter. There are far too many boys out there that would never be so kind a young lady unless they wanted something. Do you want something from my daughter?” Ulysses commented, still lifting the weights and keeping his breathing constant.

“Not at all, I’m just looking out for her. Besides, I wouldn’t be surprised if I don’t see her much after tonight because we go to different schools.”

“Too bad, after hearing how kind you were to my daughter I don’t think I’ll have a problem with you dating her.” The older man said. “… And fifty! There, I’m done with my warm up.” The man’s voice exploded as he put the bar back on the arms that held it. He sat up.

“I thought I’d find you two down here. So, Dad, where does Zola stand with you?” Aislynn asked as she came down the stairs.

“He seems like a very fine young man.” Ulysses said as he removed his shirt and wiped the sweat from his brow. “I whole heartedly approve of you dating him. Just as long you can honestly say his story is true about how he met you.”

“It is, he helped me find mom’s locket, and he was so helpful all day, he even stood up for me against a drunken thug!” The young woman replied excitedly.

“Oh-ho! You’re too good, my boy! I look forward to seeing you around here again!” The older man said with a boom of laughter.

“I should probably get home, my mom’s probably worrying. It was very nice meeting you, Mr. Madosia, uh—I mean, Ulysses.” Aislynn showed Zola to the door.

“I’m glad we met, Zola. Maybe we can see each other again tomorrow.”

“Yeah, maybe, I’ll stop by if I have some free time. Have a good night.” The young man walked out the door.

Ulysses walked up the stairs with a serious look on his face. “You felt it too, didn’t you?” He paused. “There’s something about that boy, there’s something that follows him, something inside him… I can’t explain it…”

“Yes, father… I felt it too. And now I’m positive that he’s the Guard we’ve looking for. When the time is right I’ll ask him.” Aislynn said, she turned on her heels and went upstairs. “Good night, dad.”

“Good night.” He replied.