The Cure To All Disease

Chapter 16: Più Vivo

The deafening sound of the wooden bat in my hand colliding with the ball Nika had thrown echoed against the buildings which surrounded the clearing of the baseball field. I know that I should start running now but my eyes are fixated as the gleaming ball takes flight through the air. "Amby, this is where you're supposed to run!" Melokuhle whispers aggressively at a safe distance behind me. Yes I know that, my brain and legs just aren't connecting.

When we play baseball with just the four of us it's usually everyman for himself plus Troy who helps all of us out with a slight bias for Melokuhle. Now's not the time to think about that though, now is the time to run legs. Finally with a little delay I begin to kick dust up into the air as I run past each base even though in the cloud of dust I can barely see them. It's best to play when the field is slightly wet but we're in the middle of the dry season. Nonetheless I stumble through the dirt knowing I have to run for as long as I can since there's no one to help me till Troy steals the ball from me.

I reach home base and without a break it is time for me to hit the ball again, "Amby." I hear a gentle whisper from a small person behind me.

"Yes? What is it, Mel?" I can barely look back at him as I clutch the bat between palms that can barely keep a steady grip on anything right now, still the adrenaline in my clenched muscles overcame that weakness.

"Are you sure you're happy about going to school now? I know that you had a fight with Mama and when I asked her about it she told me everything." Hearing this brings me to a clear state of shock, however if I can't lose my concentration, not now, not at bat.

" Why can't you mind your own business for once?" I groan for just a moment knowing that when Melokuhle is in the equation no tension can linger for long. How can I ever stay mad at such an adorable face for more than ten seconds? " You know, it doesn't really matter, I guess it's just that's just what you do, who knows maybe it'll come in handy someday." I relax my tense stance to drop the bat to the ground despite knowing the ball is hurtling towards me. Turning around I rustle my finger through his neatly combed hair and the curls fall back into his face.

"Hey! That's sabotage!" He called out to Troy and Nika attempting to smooth his hair out his eyes. Of course Troy and Nika were too caught up in their own conversations to intervene.

Even though we are in a mostly open field that's only partially fenced off, I'm still certain that we are miles away from civilization, I know we aren't but still. Somehow the seasons had begun to change so quickly and now the remnants of what was summer are slowly fading. This cycle was the same as usual yet now as a student the warm colors and among clouds towering above us had so much more meaning "Hey, Ambrose!" Suddenly a voice foreign from my family calls out my name. This startles me and reasonably so as this has also never happened to me before. I lift my eyes to the fenced area, someone is clinging to the gaps in the wire.

"Oh Lennox, you come here too?" I eagerly run up to her, Melokuhle's eyes following me thoroughly confused the entire time. She's not in typical school attire. It's strange to see someone I know from school outside of school.

"Nah, not usually, I just happened to be here at the right time. Is this the legendary family you mentioned the other day?" Lennox picks away at her ash blonde highlights in a sea of waves, seeming to be completely uninterested. I wonder what the reason for that personality switch is, she was so enthusiastic when we met in the library.

"Yep, this is Melokuhle and those are my adoptive parents, Troy and Nika. This is my friend from school, Lennox." As I introduce each of them I point to each of them, even though Melokuhle is still too baffled to actually react. I suppose within his lifespan he's never actually seen me acquainted with someone outside of family.