Chapter 4 Kaléo Coleman - Obscure - Part 1

A Few Days Later...

"I couldn't fully enjoy myself with the group. What Carl said keeps replaying in my mind. Ayumi wouldn't just leave with someone else without telling us, let alone betray us. She's not like that! I know her inside out! It's absurd. There's something going on, and I'll get to the bottom of it." After another exhausting day at work, I arrive at my apartment and head straight to my room. I needed a shower, so I took one. Then I put on a pair of pajama pants and head downstairs to the kitchen, where I find a note from Mrs. Havah on the fridge.

"Hi, dear! There's macaroni and cheese in the fridge, salad, and grilled fish fillet. Eat up! I'll know if you don't eat and rest.

Love from Mom... I love you!"

I smile at the note, open the fridge, and take out the macaroni and cheese. I put the dish in the microwave and turn it on. Once it's ready, I grab the dish and place it on the table. I uncover it, and the aroma is delightful! I fetch a clean plate from the cabinet, along with silverware and a glass, and serve myself. "I'll skip the fish; Mom knows I'm not a big fan." I take the salad and the orange juice, put everything on a tray, and head to my home office. I settle into my chair and dial MK's number. I need to find out how the search for Ayumi is going. He picks up on the second ring...

"Hey! Silly goose, how are you?"

"I'm hanging in there, dork-only Mayke can make me laugh in times like these. But I'm worried about Ayumi! Any updates? Please, tell me you've found something."

"No, but I'm doing everything I can to locate her. However, the phone number you gave me doesn't seem to exist-an instant letdown."

"I've called numerous times too, and for a while, I would reach your voicemail, but now it's the same as you mentioned."

"We're retracing her last steps and interviewing people who saw her before she disappeared. We spoke with Carl, and he claimed Ayumi betrayed him and ran off with a coworker. We visited the company where she worked, and they informed us that no male employee has quit or vanished, except Ayumi. She didn't even bother to inform them about her departure. Oh, and here's the kicker-the company is owned by Carl."

"No way!" I exclaim, refusing to believe it.

"I found out because I saw him arriving as I was leaving. Going back to the topic, the list of current and former employees remains unchanged-no terminations, only new hires."

"This is all very strange, MK!"

"When we brought Carl in for questioning, he broke down and professed his enduring love for Ayumi. He even moved out of his apartment because everything there reminded him of her, although she supposedly ran away and betrayed him with someone else."

"MK, this is all very strange! Why didn't Carl appear to be in pain when I saw him? Why was he cozying up to a strange girl who looked like a fledgling parakeet at the club?" Mayke bursts into laughter, and for what reason? I have no idea!

"What's so funny?"

"Never in these nineteen years that I've known you have I heard or seen you speak ill of any woman. What's wrong with you?" I ask.

"Go pick coconuts in the Martian desert, captain," he retorts disrespectfully.

"Watch your disrespect, young man. I can arrest you for contempt," I warn.

"I'd like to see that, especially because if you arrest me, I'll expose all your dirty laundry to the entire department," he challenges.

"That's a low blow, playing dirty," I respond.

"And did I ever say I'd play fair?" he smirks.

"This captain is a clever boy!" We exchange smiles before continuing.

"But I'm doing everything to find her, Léo, and you'll be the first to know when it happens," I assure him.

"I can't lose her, Mayke. She's my friend, my protégé. She's my brown-eyed angel," I say, gazing at the picture frame on my desk, which captures us as children.

"I know, man. I know you and Ayumi have an incredible and unique bond. You're like siblings! I'll do my best to find her," Mayke assures me.

"Thank you, my friend. And I almost forgot... Mrs. Havah said that if you called me, or I called you, there was a message for you," I informed him.

"Uh-oh! Here comes trouble!" Mayke jokes.

"And if I don't deliver the message, she'll come to the department and drag you by the ear, calling you an ungrateful boy for abandoning her," I explain.

"Oh boy! She's the queen of drama, no doubt. I visited her last week," Mayke recalls.

"But you know that last week for her is like a decade," I remark.

"Yes, true. I remember the day you arrived at her house; she almost set off fireworks," Mayke reminisces.

Havah and John aren't my biological parents. I was sent to an orphanage when I was five. My mother was killed by my stepfather, who spared me only because she hid me in the basement of our house. But I saw everything through the crack in the wooden floor. The police found me and my mother because a neighbor found it strange not to see me playing in the backyard, especially since my mother took me to play in the makeshift playground she had made every day.

My reverie is interrupted by Mayke calling me.

"Kaléo, are you there?" he asks.

"Hey!" I respond.

"I called you several times, but you didn't respond," Mayke says.

"I'm sorry, I was just reminiscing about that day," I lie, as my friends don't know this part, and only my parents and siblings do.

"Ah! Man, I remember my mom saying that yours would end up in the hospital from so much anxiety," Mayke laughs, and we continue talking. Then I hang up, pick up the photo in front of me, and keep looking at it, remembering the day Ayumi arrived at the orphanage.