Matt stared at the large store in awe. It was as if he had died and gone to heaven. There inside were his hopes and dreams. It was not enough to stand outside while the truly beautiful was inside. Matt’s hand reached for the door slowly but suddenly it opened automatically. Matt smiled and pulled up his goggles instead.
Mello had disappeared into the Walmart across the street looking for chocolate covered pokey and wouldn’t be back for a while. Matt smiled as he entered his computer and video game haven. There was even an area to order food. It was a paradise.
“Hello sir,” I voice said, “Can I help you?”
Matt turned to see a short man in a tie. The man asked again, and Matt answered that he was just looking. The man said fine and went off to help someone else. Matt walked slowly through the store admiring everything that could be seen. Suddenly he saw what he truly wanted. The X-box 420 that would be released in twelve months was sitting in a glass case for many a man to admire. Matt sighed and lit a cigarette.
“Sir you can’t smoke in here.” It was the short man again.
Matt sighed and put the cigarette away. Why did I start smoking in the first place? Matt wondered. Time did a semi-circle backwards as Matt tried to remember. Yes it had been back before the Wammy House…..before he had met Mello and Near. A childhood most would want to forget forever existed, but Matt could not forget.
Matt had a mother and a father, but in the true sense of the word mother and father, he had neither. They were indeed his parents, but they were too busy in their own lives to take care of a child. They were the Jeevases a rather rich family with its members taught to work towards becoming even richer and therefore never to let anything hold them back….not even a child.
It was as if from the moment of his birth, Matt’s parents had divorced him. A name was given but later would be replaced by Matt, and from then on, Matt was alone in the world. The next day, the second day of Matt’s life, his mother and father went to England to get work done leaving Matt with the house keepers.
From that point in time till about age five, Matt believed that the house keepers were his parents. When he finally posed the question about his birth to the butler and the maid he believed to be his parents, they laughed and explained to him that they were not his parents. It was confusing what they meant when they said “Mr. and Mrs. Jeevas are your parents; you saw them once….when you were born.” It made no sense to a five year old why he only saw his parents once, but once Matt was older, it would come into focus that his parents were far too busy to raise him.
As the years past, Matt learned what he could and couldn’t ask for. It was true that he had every material thing he asked for, but he had nothing he truly wanted. If he asked for a video game, it was given to him, but if he asked to have his parent’s precious time, well….he was refused. It was during the age that Matt was supposed to be creating a permanent bond with his parents that he made a permanent bond with video games instead.
Matt didn’t see his parents but a few times a year. The only time that Matt learned something about his parents occurred when he was nine. That was the year he learned about smoking.
The Jeevas couple had returned from a trip in Ireland and was planning to stay for a few days. Matt had never learned to call his mother ‘Mother’ so he referred to her by her name, Emilia. The same went for his father, Frederick. So it went.
“Hello Emilia. Hello Frederick.”
“Hello Mail.”
“No honey don’t you remember? The butler called and said that he preferred the name Matt?”
“Oh yes….hello Matt.”
“Alright we have to get back to work.”
“Honey where did you put the laptop?”
“It should be in the carry on.”
“Thank you.”
And they went their separate ways. Matt sighed and sat outside his father’s study listening to his father talk about refinances and the like. It made no sense to Matt what so ever. When Frederick finally emerged from the study, Matt stood up.
“Yes Matt?” Frederick asked staring at the red-head staring back at him.
“Um….do you want to play a video game with me?” Matt asked quietly unsure of how to express his excitement that they were home.
“Maybe some other time,” Frederick answered, “I need a little time to myself.”
“That’s ok,” Matt said a little too fast.
Matt walked to his mother’s study and waited for her to finish her work over the phone. Apparently she was yelling at a man named Jonathan who didn’t work hard enough. When he asked her to play, she gave the same response as his father did.
Matt went back to his room and out onto the balcony. He disliked the outdoors, but it was nice on the balcony above garage. There were three balconies each extending out in the same direction and Matt was surprised to see his parents standing on the other two. Emilia and Frederick did not look at each other or at Matt but were both looking out into the horizon far in the distance. They both had a cigar in their hands and breathed into the tubes ever once in a while. Matt had never seen smoke before and wanted to ask about it, but as he yelled out to the other balconies, neither of his parents moved or talked. Matt tried again, but it was no use.
Matt went back into his room and played Playstation until the butler came in.
“Your parents have decided to return to work tomorrow,” the butler said astutely.
Matt stared up.
“Why?”
“Because new business has come up,” the butler replied.
Matt sighed and decided to ask about the smoke. The butler chuckled and said that it helped then relax. When Matt asked to try one, he was not denied. He breathed in the smoke and nearly choked on it. It was foul tasting and made his head hurt, but it fulfilled something inside him. The pit that had been created by his parents’ isolation of him was being filled up a bit. Matt asked for more and more and was soon addicted. It was not until age ten that Matt’s easy life was taken apart.
Matt had been playing a new game when the butler came in and said that he was sorry to say that Matt’s parents had been held up by a thief and were shot to death. Matt with no emotional strings to the parents that had always been too busy for him merely sighed and continued playing his game.
Without his parents to work, the money dried up, and Matt was forced on to the streets for the first time. There was never enough food, and Matt became slimmer and slimmer. He was sure he was going to starve to death there in the streets, and the recoils from no cigarettes were hurting him as much as the lack of food.
After three weeks on the streets, Matt was on the brink of death, and he knew it. He lay in the streets that he used to look down on from his balcony. The sun was hot and all Matt wanted to do was sleep. Suddenly a fist came flying at him. Matt felt the bruise that would later form on his cheek.
“What the heck is wrong with you?” the blond-haired boy asked looking at Matt angrily, “Get up already or you’re going to die there.”
“Go away,” Matt said curling up away from Mello.
“Now look, I don’t care what your sob story is or any of that, but you can’t just sit there like a dog that’s been licked,” Mello answered, “Look I have a bit of money, why don’t you come get a bite with me. I’m Mello.”
The thought of food forced Matt to his feet.
“There now come on,” Mello said grabbing Matt by the arm, “We’ll get some chocolate at the store over there!”
Mello dragged Matt into the convince store. Matt had never been into a convince store before and was astounded by the assortment of food and what not. Suddenly a pack of cigars caught Matt’s attention. He needed to fill the void a bit before his stomach.
“Mello….” Matt said cautiously unsure of how the blond would take to the question, “Can you get me a pack of those?”
“What the heck do I look like? A bank? Those are too expensive. I’ll buy the cigarettes instead,” Mello answered.
Mello walked up to the counter and ordered some chocolate and cigarettes. The man behind the counter looked at Mello funny but handed over the things in exchange for money.
“Here,” Mello said throwing the pack at Matt, “I still have a little money, but now you owe me some, so we’re both going to have to work k?”
Matt was astounded that Mello had said the word work. He had long expected that he would one day inherit his parents’ work whatever they did but not at such a young age.
“Work?” Matt asked.
“You got a problem with that?” Mello asked his hand turning into a fist.
“No,” Matt answered.
After that, Matt was with Mello. They worked getting just enough money to live, and one day a man calling himself Watari asked if they would like to come to his orphanage. The enticement of food brought both Mello and Matt. From then on, they were taken care of and went back to school.
Matt laughed at himself for remembering so much and in such detail. He looked around and wondered how long he had spent just standing there. It must have been pretty long because the short man was eyeing him again. Matt walked through Frys and into the back, grabbed the free play game and sat down to a nice game of Mario Cart. It was a reminder of the past, but this one was a good reminder.
