Unrest: Chapter 6

Rellik woke up feeling less tired than before, but much more weary. He hated thinking about Garlon. He was dead and gone and he wished all the memories of him were too. These dreams were annoying and painful. At least it was over. He rolled over to look at his alarm clock, but it wasn't there. Oh yeah. Oops. He got out of bed and walked into his living room, where the time on his clock read 7:08. Wow, perfect. He only woke up eight minutes after his alarm would have gone off.

He stepped into the living room and sat on his couch after grabbing a beer from the fridge, messing with the remote until he once again flipped on the news. Reporter Rhonda was talking. "--announced that hybrids across Surype will be moved into a single sector in their cities within the month. Each city will announce the designated sector for hybrid relocation on its own."

"What?!" Cayekk had gone off the deep end. Now he was going to segregate them? Sure it had been a part of life before, but now it was going to be governmentally institutionalized? "This is ridiculous!"

Rhonda continued reporting the stories the government made up to inspire nationalism, but Rellik wasn't interested. He was too busy sitting at his couch, dumbfounded and simmering with anger. He knew Slythe was going to call any minute now and complain to him about it. He sighed and rubbed his hand down his face. Sure enough, the phone rang within a few minutes. Rellik walked over to the kitchen and picked it up.
"Hey, Slythe."
"How'd you know it was me?"
"Who else calls me at seven in the morning?"
"Yeah, good point. You watch the news?"
"I always do."
"This is turning to serious shit now. I wish I could leave the country."
"I think everyone does, Slythe. This place is a mess." Rellik let out a yawn after finishing his sentence.
"Do ya think anyone's gonna hafta move in Wahfl?"
"Yeah, probably a few hybrids living in the residential areas who have 'connections.' I doubt anybody else will though. Think about it. They sure as hell aren't going to move us into nice neighborhoods, and we already live in the crappy ones."
"I'm tellin' ya man, this ain't the end. It's just gonna get worse from here."
"And I'm not arguing with you. Next thing you know he's gonna be stringing us up from trees."
"What're we gonna do, man?"
"I dunno, Slythe. I'm getting a little worried where this is headed, though."
"Yeah... Well damn. I have to get ready for work. Where were you yesterday?"
"I was home, taking a day off."
"Jymm ain't happy with you."
"Too bad. I needed a day off."
"I know, I'm just sayin'."
"Yeah. I'm just sayin' I need to get ready for work, too. So I'll talk to you later. Tell the wife I said hello."
"Wait, Rellik!"
"What's up?"
"When're we gonna go do stuff again? We haven't hung out in forever."
"I know man. This weekend. You should come shooting with me."
"I don't have a gun, though. You know that."
"You'll be the target." the malamute  laughed. "But really, I'll figure something out for you."
"Ha ha. Very funny." The weasel hung up the phone.

Rellik smirked. He knew Slythe thought it was funny, deep inside. He really hoped to go shooting with him again. First, though, he had to get through the day ahead of him. Haphazardly, he applied deodorant and changed clothes quickly, spending the rest of his morning preparing a lunch for work. Roast beef sandwich. Nothing special. He swigged the rest of his beer down and looked out the window to see the just-risen sun, of course obscured by clouds. Winter would set in soon. Part of him was excited for the cold weather and the snow, but at the same time, he really disliked the thought of having only a few hours of daylight every day. Rellik walked out the door brooding about the situation Paneh Cayekk had just thrown at his race.


Work droned on, as usual, with the exception of being chastised by Jymm for his failure to show or at least call in sick. At least he had the company of Slythe to alleviate some of the tedium of construction. He arrived home tired and hungry, which was no surprise. He wanted to eat before heading to Gunnuh Park to see what Delilah did there all the time. The malamute cooked some ramen noodles for himself, using the last package he had. Now he didn't have to worry about it going stale. Of course, ramen noodles never went stale. He laughed at the realization.

The early dinner was rather mediocre, but it was food. It helped keep him sane and not wanting to devour inedible objects. After he finished he placed his bowl in the sink, or rather, on top of the stacks of dishes that were in the sink, he applied an extra coat of deodorant and left his house.

Rellik breathed a sigh of nervousness as he sat in his truck. He was not looking forward to being around the kids. It was appealing to think that they were all crazy or whiny and generally little brats. He was convinced that they would end up dead within the end of the year anyway. No, he shouldn't think like that. That was not a nice way to think of other people, especially children. Maybe he did have a problem. The problem being he was downright psychotic.

He cranked the car into life and headed toward Gunnuh Park. It wasn't much farther than Smitty's Tavern, which would have made it easy for Delilah to walk to and from the park, he realized.  The relatively short drive ended at a large, level grass field with a few trees and a small, rather dilapidated playground. Rellik pulled up into a parking space and killed the engine. He stepped out and looked for Delilah. Jamming his hands into his pockets, the malamute walked toward the playground and scanned the small park. There were a few families playing games and trying to enjoy themselves despite all the hardships pressed on them, but no sign of Delilah.

He didn't expect to arrive in the park before Delilah did. He shrugged and found a bench to sit on. The day was rather warm for December. Usually it snowed a little around this time of year. Not enough to enjoy, just enough to make the roads slightly unsafe and to produce plenty of gray slush on the sides of all the roads. Rellik sincerely enjoyed the snow. He just didn't enjoy how ugly it was when it mixed with the grime of urban civilization. This was one thing he loved about Mellek. The community he lived in as a child was a lot more rural. He and most of the hybrids in Mellek lived on communal farms which most of the families worked at. Even Rellik's mother helped out on the farm they lived on from time to time, despite her involvement at the nearby train station, which was a few miles away, in town. They had moved to Mellek after she was divorced from her first husband, Rellik's father. Rellik still missed his dad. The malamute sighed.

An autumn leaf, one of the last of its kind, fell on the malamute, and he shook his head, clearing his mind. He needed to get these nagging thoughts of childhood out of his head. When is Delilah going to be here? He wished he owned a watch, but that was outside his allowance budget. Turning around on the bench, Rellik looked around for a clock tower or someone with a watch, but the only person in the park who wasn't occupied stood far off and Rellik was too lazy to get up and talk to the man.

He turned around again and saw Delilah, a distance off, surrounded by six or seven children a walking across the street and into the park. He stood up, put his hands back in his pockets, and strode over to her. She had a smile on her face, and so did the children. They all seemed happy, for the most part. Two of the smaller ones held onto Delilah's hands and tugged her forward. It was almost a scene from a blissful children's movie, watching the kids run and skip around her.

As he neared the happy children, none of them seemed to shy away from him despite his hulking size. Delilah, a good two feet shorter than Rellik, looked up at him and smiled with her disarming smile. "Hey, Rellik! I'm glad you made it today." She wore a light brown coat and blue jeans with cheap fur boots, and carried an old gray backpack with her.

"Yeah, it's nice to be here. Thanks for inviting me." He looked around at the children, and counted eight. Three boys and five girls. They had widely varying appearances: two scruffy mutts, three little cats, a... bear cub, he believed, a kangaroo, and, of all things, a little lizard boy. He couldn't even remember the last time he had seen a lizard-like hybrid. It made him smile.

"Boys and girls, this is our friend Rellik. He is here to spend time with us and get to know all of us. Can everybody say 'Hi, Rellik?'"
The chorus of voices repeated "Hi Rellik!"
"Hi." Rellik was at a loss for words. He didn't know what to say. It was ironic to him that he was so nervous around something so much smaller than him. At her request, The group sat on the ground, and Delilah continued. "Now, let's each tell Rellik our names and how old we are so he can get to know us. Let's start with you, Mika."
One after another, the children introduced themselves. The little bear Mika, seven; The three cats, two boys and a girl, Robert, five, Geor six, and Liza, fourteen; The lizard, who, by his explanation, was actually an alligator, Viktor, ten; the kangaroo, Ashley, twelve; and the two mutts, Wendy and Wanda, both from the same litter, eight. After each hybrid child introduced himself or herself, Rellik quietly repeated their name to help it stick in his head.
After the introductions, Wendy raised her hand and looked at Rellik as if she had a question. The malamute was slightly unsure of what to say. "Um, yeah, Wendy?"
"Why are you so tall?" Her question sent a wave of small giggles throughout the hybrids. It even put a smile on Delilah's face.
"I don't know. I was just born that way, I guess."
Geor then raised his hand. "How come I'm not tall then?"
Rellik now smiled. "Well, you're only six years old. You'll grow big and tall when you're old like me."
Another asked "How old are you?"
"I'm twenty-five."
They gasped in wonderment. "He is old!" They broke out into another fit of giggling.
Delilah then chimed in and stopped the laughter. "Remember children, let's be polite to others! Remember that Jesus was nice to everybody he met, even if they didn't like Him. Now Rellik likes all of us, very much, so we should be nice to Rellik! Doesn't that sound like a good idea?"
"Yes, Ms. Delilah," all the children replied in unison.
"Now, who came ready to sing songs together?"

All of the children except Ashley excitedly raised their hands. A couple of the younger ones even stood up and jumped around while flailing their hands in the air. Either this was fun for the children or they were just easily excitable. Or both, more likely.

Delilah smiled and let the small group in little happy melodies about people Rellik had never even heard of. Was Delilah trying to convert these kids to that Bible religion? He couldn't tell. The kids, other than Ashley, sure enjoyed singing along with the songs, most of which had cute little hand motions associated with them. More than once Rellik found himself smiling at the audience participation.

The group sang four songs and then ended with a motion that sent them all sprawling on their backs on the grass, giggling profusely. Mika was the first to get up. She walked over to Rellik and sat on his lap, making herself at home rather easily. "So what'd ya think, Rellik? Weren't they cool songs?"
"They sure were... uh... Mickey, was it?"
"My name's not Mickey! It's Mika!" She seemed offended at his failed attempt to recall her name.
Rellik cringed. He knew that would have happened sooner or later. "I'm sorry, Mika. I'm no good at remembering names."
"Oh, it's okay. I remembered your name, though! It's Rellik!"
"Very good, Mika. I'm proud of you." The little children had begun to congregate around Rellik, leaving Delilah sitting by herself and watching the curious little ones surround the stranger with a smile on her face. They questioned him unceasingly, asking him silly questions anywhere from "What is your favorite color?" to "Do you live in a big house?" to "Do you have a crush on Ms. Delilah?" All of these questions Rellk found amusing, and the last one forced him to stifle a laugh. These kids weren't nearly as bad as he thought. He answered them all willingly, surprised at how inquisitive and intelligent most of the kids were. The only child who didn't eagerly participate was Ashley, Rellik noticed.

Eventually Delilah had to interrupt the salvo of questions that the children were asking. "Hey kids, it's time to go play on the playground!" They all cheered. "Be safe and share!" All the children got up and ran to the more-broken-than-not equipment, more than happy to use what they had been given. Delilah stood up and sat next to Rellik so she could watch the children play.

"So what do you think?" It was apparent to Rellik that she sincerely loved spending time with these children.
"Well, um, it's a lot better than I thought it would be."
Delilah playfully pushed Rellik's shoulder with her fist. "I knew you would like it. You just had to give it a chance."
"I never said I liked it." He looked at Delilah, and they made eye contact.
"Oh." Delilah's gaze fell.
Rellik then smiled. "But I do. It's a lot of fun to watch."
"Ha ha. You had me worried for a second."
"I know. I just wanted to see how you would react. What's in the bag?"
"Oh, this?" She took off her backpack. "Here, let me show you." She emptied the contents of the bag onto the grass. Notebooks, pens, fruits, vegetables, and a couple boxes of crackers spilled out. "Daddy let me get some things for the children. It was really nice of him."
"That must have been really expensive. Where did your dad get the extra money?"
"He didn't. We're just going to eat less for the next week."
"Hey, if you want some food, just, you know, call me sometime. I got more than enough."
"I don't have your number. It's okay though. I'll have enough to eat."
"Well let me give you my number anyway." He grabbed one of the notebooks and tore out a small piece, afterward asking "Do you mind?" in a nonchalant, teasing tone. Using a pen she had bought, he wrote 816-70457 on the paper scrap and handed it to her. "If you need anything from me, you can just call. My friend Slythe calls me nearly every morning at seven. Really, it's okay."
Taking the scrap of paper, Delilah said "Alright. I'm not sure if I will need to call you though. Thanks anyway." She began packing all of the supplies back in her backpack.
"Hey, no problem."

The two sat in silence for a while, just watching the kids play. Mika, Viktor, Geor, Robert and Liza were playing tag on the playground equipment. Robert spent most of his time being "it" because he was the smallest and therefore the easiest to catch. Wendy and Wanda were swinging together on an old, rusty swing set, and Ashley sat by herself on a see-saw, her powerful legs bouncing the ancient toy up and down despite being alone. She appeared forlorn and lonely, and it struck a chord with Rellik, who had noticed her somber behavior since meeting her. "What's wrong with Angela?" He pointed to the depressed girl on the see-saw.
"Who? Oh, you mean Ashley?"
"Yeah, her. What's wrong with her?"
"What do you mean?"
"Look at her. She looks like she's gonna kill herself."
"Gosh, Rellik, don't say stuff like that! You mean she's sad?"
"Yeah, that. Why?"
"Why is she sad? I don't know, Rellik. She doesn't like talking about herself very much."
"Is she always like this?"
"No, in fact. This just started a few weeks ago. I asked her why and she turned away, so I figured she didn't trust me enough. When I told her to talk to God about it, she said that it was obvious to her that God didn't exist. So I just do what I can to try to make her feel better. She still comes every week, so that's a good sign at least. I've just come to accept that if she wants to feel better, she'll try feeling better."
"What is it with you and all this God stuff? Why have you never talked about it before? I'm sorry, but it gets pretty annoying after a while."
She took a moment before she responded. "Well, you're just going to have to get used to it if you're going to spend time with me. It's a part of me just like my hands or legs or the butt you stare at sometimes when I'm walking away."
"I've never--"
"And don't try denying it because I've seen you do it. It's okay though. I know you're just a guy and that's how they work. You aren't the only one. Don't worry about it."
Rellik looked away and cursed in his mind. How did she know he did that? It wasn't his fault. He did it to all kinds of girls.
"But anyway, as I was saying, I haven't talked about it with you for very long because we never really have gotten to talk for a while. Remember, Rellik, before you caused that big bar fight you hadn't showed up in a good three months. That was one of the things that happened in those three months, and it's totally changed how I think about life."
"Well, that's good for you Delilah. I think it might end up changing your life in other ways if you aren't careful."
"Hey, Rellik, don't worry about it. I'll be fine. It's really great, Rellik."
"I'm glad."
Silence.
"I think maybe you should try getting to know Ashley better, Rellik. If you decide to keep coming back, and I really hope you do, maybe she will open up to you if she trusts you enough. I think you have an advantage over me because I'm in charge of disciplining them when they're misbehaving."
"Wow, I haven't seen any of them do anything wrong yet."
"I know. They've been a really nice bunch today. I hope it stays that way. Will you do that though? Will you try talking to Ashley for me? She might not be very talkative at first, but she can talk up a storm if you start a conversation."
"I'll try my best."
"Thanks, Rellik. I really appreciate it. And I appreciate you taking the time out of your busy day to come out here. I'm sure the kids enjoyed it too. Now I gotta round them all up for the lesson."

She stood up quickly and walked over to the wood chip pit the playground was contained in. She waved her arms above her head and called out "Okay boys and girls, let's pack it in! It's time for your lesson, and I have a surprise for all of you!"

That last part of the sentence got their attention. They all immediately stopped what they were doing and ran over to her. "What is it?" one asked. "Is it food?" asked another. "Just wait and you'll see!" She proclaimed excitedly as the children jumped around her. "Let's all sit down over by Rellik, okay?" She walked over and took a seat at Rellik's side, and the children sat in a fan around her. As Delilah grabbed the backpack, Rellik leaned and whispered in her ear "I'm going to go sit next to Ashley." Ashley had placed herself at the very rear of all the children, slightly away from everyone else, so Rellik sat to her left. When he did, Ashley scooted over slightly, as if he were diseased.

"What's the surprise, Ms. Delilah?" Viktor asked impatiently. "I wanna know."
"Me too!" another called, and before she knew it, Delilah had a chorus of young voices begging her to show them what she had in store.
"Alright, kids, I'll show you, but only if you settle down."
Silence.
Delilah laughed. "How nice of you. Well, here's a little present to each one of you." She dumped out the backpack again and. The children gasped in delight. "Fruit! Yummy!" Mika cheered. All of the children, even Ashely, showed some form of happiness and excitement from the gifts. "Now each of you, take a notebook and a couple pens, and some fruit and vegetables. There's enough to share, and remember, what should we always do when we have more than enough?"
All the children cried in unison: "SHARE!"
"Very good, boys and girls." She administered the even distribution of food and stationery. The children each opened their books and began scribbling on the first page, which was to be expected. After all, they were young children who had seldom or never been given anything to write with before, and now they had things to write with.
"Now, let's start with our lesson. Please, let's put down our books and pens and talk together, okay?"
The older children put down their materials, but the younger boys, whose attention spans were not as developed, continued scribbling. "Roger, Geor, Viktor, please listen. Would you like me to take your notebooks?"
The two stopped. "No, Ms. Delilah," Geor said.
"Thank you. Please listen. How many of you know how to read? Raise your hand, please."
Only Ashley, Liza, and Viktor raised their hands.
"Very good. You're ahead. Maybe you can help me teach!" She said with a smile. "Now, the rest of you, I'm sure you've seen writing before. It's all over the place, like the signs you see on the road and in front of stores. So I'm going to teach you the letters that make up the words on the signs, and all the words you can see everywhere. Does that sound fun?"
The children cheered.
"I thought so. Now, let's get started." She wrote a lowercase and uppercase "A" on her notebook. "This is the letter 'A.' It makes usually two different sounds, The "eh" sound, called the long 'A' sound, and the "ah" sound, the short 'A' sound. Repeat after me." She said each sound, and the children repeated. "Very good! Now, each of you write the letter 'A's.'" She held up the notebook and the children tried as best they could to copy her writing. Needless to say, the older children had less of a struggle with it than the younger ones. "The big one you write at the beginning of a sentence or when you write someone's name. Ashley, could you write your name for us, please?" Ashley did as she was told and showed her work to the group of students.

"Well done, Ashley. Do you understand, children, what she wrote? We will get to the other letters and what sounds they make soon. Would you copy down Ashley's name, please?" The children obeyed her, and while they did so she wrote the word "apple" on her notebook and showed it to the children. "See, this is when you would use lowercase 'A.' This word is apple." She held up one of the red fruits by Geor's leg. "See? A-shley, a-pple? Say the sound with me."

The teaching continued as such for a good half hour, and the sun began to set. After they had gotten to the letter "C," Delilah stopped the lesson. "We did very well today, didn't we? Now when we go home, I would like you to practice the letters we have learned today. Can you write twenty of each letter? Uppercase and lowercase, and then next week you'll be well on your way to being able to write!" She smiled. "Now, let's talk to God together." Rellik watched in slight annoyance as everyone bowed their heads. She was endangering the lives of these children by making them obey this crazy cult.

"Dear God, thank you for the day You've given us. Please watch over these little ones. They love You very much. Amen." Delilah stood up. "Alright children, let's go home. I bet you're all tired from all that learning. I know I sure am!"

Now was his chance. He stood up at the same time as Ashley, completely dwarfing her. "Hey, Ashley." He crouched down so he was only slightly taller than the twelve year-old.
The young kangaroo turned apprehensively, flatly asking "Yeah?"
"I've noticed you haven't been as happy as the other kids today. I've only just met you, but it seems like there's something really wrong. Is there anything you'd like to talk about?"
"No. I want you to leave me alone. I'm going to go with Delilah now. Bye." She curtly turned and left Rellik crouched. He watched her as she walked toward Delilah. She was right. Ashley would be a tough nut to crack. He called out to her. "Delilah, where are you going now?"
She strode over to him. "Oh, we have a little tradition every Wednesday. The kids stay over at my house for the night, so they can get some food and sleep in a comfy bed... Then I let them go because we can't feed and house all of them all week, or at least, that's what Dad says. Now it's that time again." She paused and gave Rellik a sincere smile. "Listen, Rellik, thank you very much for coming out here and spending time with the children. I know they all enjoyed it, even if they didn't say anything. I hope you decide to come back. Every Wednesday," she said hopefully.
"I'll try my best, Delilah. Thank you for inviting me. It was so much better than I had thought."
"You're welcome, Rellik. I will talk to you later." She turned around. "Come on, children!"
"Wait!" Delilah turned around, and Rellik motioned for her to come closer. When she did, Rellik whispered in her ear "Ashley didn't talk to me. She's pretty upset. I'll keep trying though."
"That's great. Thanks, Rellik. Just try your best. I've gotta get these kids to my place before sundown, though. I will talk to you later, okay?"
"Alright. See ya."

Delilah turned and walked toward the entrance of the park, and Rellik watched her leave. This really had been a great experience, and Rellik knew he was lucky for being able to take part in it. He thought about his day as he walked to his truck and drove home. What a fantastic evening. His week had taken all kinds of turns... The past two mornings had started off poorly, but by the end he was having a great day. How strange. He shrugged as he locked his truck, walked up the stairs by his public housing and entered his room. Working with the children had certainly drained the energy from him, though. Now it was certainly time to get a decent night's sleep. He had to figure out a way to wake up on time without an alarm clock, but he didn't have much choice. The only thing he could think of was the kitchen timer on his stove.

That would have to work. He recorded the time. 8:40. Wow, so early? He was exhausted. It felt more like eleven. Rellik set the timer on his kitchen for ten hours and twenty minutes. Now he could finally rest. He walked into his room, disrobed, leaving on only his dirty tank top and ripped boxers, flopped on the bed, and fell asleep thinking of whatever it was that made Ashley so taciturn and unfriendly. If only there were something he could do...