Season 1, Episode 5 - The Boxtops L - "Someday, A Real Rain Will Come"
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Reed frowned and paced around Audrey’s apartment. When she first left Isaac and his brother to their business, she found Audrey still in the shower (unsurprisingly). Once Reed rebandaged her nose, she then found herself feeling a little antsy, not wanting to sit, so she instead amused herself by taking off her greatcoat then draping it over her shoulders without placing her arms into the sleeves. That felt pretty badass, walking around with the greatcoat trailing behind her.
But then she froze when she heard yelling come through the walls from Isaac’s place. The walls were thick enough to block out what exactly was being said, but thin enough to know that someone was yelling. And Isaac had an exasperated, slightly whiny tone when he yelled (at least in Reed’s opinion). This yelling instead thundered with anger, disappointment, and purpose.
“Audrey,” Reed called out into her friend’s bathroom, struggling to raise her own voice over the rush of water in the shower. “Don’t get the wrong idea, but I’m slightly worried right now.”
“Why’s that?” Audrey answered back, her voice distant and sound half-asleep. Reed wouldn’t be surprised if half of the Pond’s water bill could be found right here in Audrey’s apartment.
“I told you a few minutes ago that Isaac’s brother was here, right?”
“Yessir! A reunion, that’s great!”
“But it doesn’t sound so great,” Reed said, tapping her foot as another round of yelling went off. “It sounds like he’s yelling at Isaac. Like real yelling, not haha funny brother time yelling. Like he’s angry with Isaac, too angry.” She scratched her stomach. “Should we, you know, do something?”
“Hmm.” The water kept running as Audrey presumably pondered that situation at hand. Every second she lacked a clear answer made Reed’s stomach churn. “I’d say, let’s leave it alone for now.”
Reed looked at the bathroom door with a puzzled look. “You sure?”
“I think we should trust Isaac to handle it by himself for now,” Audrey explained through the door. Reed frowned, because her words seemed awfully lackadaisical considering the circumstances.
“So, you’re saying we should do nothing?”
“Not at all!” Audrey exclaimed. “We don’t know the full story of what’s going on in there. We should give Isaac time and space to defend himself. If we burst in there right now and interrupt things, maybe Isaac won’t get the chance to stand up for himself.”
More yelling thundered through the walls. Reed placed her arms back through the sleeves of the greatcoat, still wanting to intervene.
“If you hear physical violence, you should go help!” Audrey concluded. “And, either way, once his brother’s done yelling and leaves, then you should jump the bastard!”
Reed liked the sound of that. “We should let him know Isaac has friends who are far deadlier than he is.”
“...jump him with your words!”
“Oh,” Reed realized. “Well, I’ll give him the verbal beatdown of a lifetime.”
“Sorry I can’t help with that,” Audrey said. “But the shower calls to me! Hot water, Reed, hot water!”
“It’s alright,” Reed answered, ready to confront this Gregory guy and make him regret reuniting with Isaac in such a negative way (and interrupting Reed’s time with him). A thing like that just wasn’t right (the negative reunion part). Audrey was Esther’s older sister, yet when they reunited, nobody yelled at each other, especially not Audrey. There were some apparent bumps in the road, but siblings oughta treat each other with understanding.
If Reed were to reunite with Bramble, then she would certainly treat her younger sister with respect. The thought of yelling at her own sister like that after not seeing her for years made her blood boil. To hear something similar go on just on the other side of a wall made Reed want to punch right through it.
But Audrey had a point. Reed knew she’d do a far better job of standing up for herself if nobody else was around to see it. If Babs had confronted her that morning in the school courtyard and Reed was alone, she was sure she would have handled it much differently. But when she had eyes on her…her stomach did all sorts of tricks and flips and made her hesitate for far too long.
Hesitation. Maybe that's what Reed was doing right now. Because maybe, deep down, she was scared. Not only did the yelling remind her of own household too much, but yelling itself was hard to fight against. You can’t just punch away yelling. If Gregory had simply come to beat up Isaac, that would’ve made things a lot simpler - Reed would’ve had a blank check to wipe the floor with him. But yelling - words occupy a gray area, and Reed wasn’t that good with gray areas.
The sound of Isaac’s door slamming close brought Reed out of her thoughts. Now that the opportunity for action presented itself, Reed immediately burst through Audrey’s door. The evening chill and a patch of gray moonlight immediately greeted her.
She stepped out onto the walkway and saw Gregory halfway down it already, heading for the stairs. “Hey!” she called out, surprised at how loud her own voice could be.
Gregory paused and looked back. “Oh, it’s you,” he said nonchalantly. “The girl from before.”
“Who the hell do you think you are?!” Reed questioned, waving her arms around. “You can’t just walk in here and yell at Isaac. I’m the only person allowed to yell at Isaac, and I never yell at him!”
Sans falling out of the sky during their flight back home from Domino Dojo last month, Reed couldn’t remember the last time she genuinely yelled. Her loudness had a raw quality to it, and her words seemed to bounce around the walkway, rattling around her own head.
“I just came by to remind Isaac why he’s here,” Gregory simply said. His voice sounded detached and oddly calm, like a scholar giving a presentation, a sharp contrast to him going ballistic on Isaac a few minutes ago.
“Isaac knows why he’s here,” Reed countered. “We all do. He’s…kind of preachy about it sometimes. He reminds us about it quite a bit. But better that than having no reason at all.”
Gregory crossed his arms and leaned against a nearby pole. “What’s his reason for being here, then? What does he tell you?”
From the strong tone in her voice, Reed’s conviction in Isaac seemed to match Isaac’s conviction in his purpose. “He’s here to save his friends and protect the people and country. He doesn’t want anything bad to happen to us.”
Gregory wiped his face and looked at Reed dryly - even a motion as simple as that reminded her of Isaac. “A year and a half away from me, a year and a half with you people, and this is how far he falls off the path. We’re going to get nowhere at this rate.”
“You people?” Reed repeated.
“Isaac and I want to change the world together,” Gregory explained. “Saving people is just nonsense. People are nothing more than a product of the world. A rotten world will always produce rotten people. No matter how much you fight for the people, nothing will really get done until you change the world responsible.”
Reed groaned, faced with another wannabe preacher. There seemed to be a lot of those these days. “Me and Isaac just had a conversation about how the ‘world’ might not actually be the world after all. How a change in scenery can open your eyes and all that.”
“Of course I know that,” Gregory answered harshly. “I went to college. I’ve had changes of scenery, too. Suffering is universal. When people go up against real trouble, they work against each other instead of coming together. All of us. We’re inherently selfish, self-serving, nasty pieces of work.”
“All people?” Reed questioned. “Were you dropped on your head or something as a kid? I bet you think you’re above all that.”
Gregory looked past at her, at Isaac’s door. “No. I’m no different than anybody else. What I want is selfish as well. But at least I know it’s selfish. Very few people will actually reflect on how their actions affect other people.”
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
Reed, having been guilty for a long time of not considering the consequences of her actions, kept quiet for a moment. Gregory’s spiel made Reed think of two questions that caused the autumn night to be uncomfortably cold.
Selfish people existed. That was a fact. But question one - did they live in an entire society of Reeds? And question two - does a Reed have no hope of changing for the better?
Gregory clearly answered yes to both. That must’ve been why he gave up on people and why he wanted to change the world that could give rise to such a state of existence instead.
As for Reed - her answer at the start of the semester would’ve been a yes to both questions as well. But now…
“What’s so wrong about trying to save people?” Reed asked. The near break in her voice suggested she was trying to convince herself just as much as Gregory. “Should we just give up on humanity? Should we just give up on people who are close to us? Do you think it’s pointless for Isaac to try and save me?”
Gregory raised an eyebrow. “He’s trying to save you? From what?”
She tapped her temple. “From whatever’s going on up here. He listens to me, he puts up with me, he always gives me suggestions on how to feel better…are you saying that’s all a waste and there’s no chance I can improve? That he should just give up on me?”
Gregory closed his eyes, deep in thought. Reed shifted her weight to either foot while waiting on the walkway. She felt a little foolish, just admitting all that stuff to someone she just met, but she really, really needed to hear his answer.
Gregory opened his eyes back and glanced at her. “Have you repaid any of Isaac’s kindness?”
Reed froze. “Huh?”
“Isaac has been a positive aspect in your life,” Gregory elaborated. “Can you say the same? Has Isaac benefited in any sort of way from you being around him?”
Reed looked off to the side.
Well, the funeral wasn't positive. After the sewer, I had to apologize to him for my behavior and actions. I didn’t really see him a whole lot during the convenience store thing. When we had that microwave adventure, I had to apologize to him again. And after today…I probably gave him a headache about the boxtops and owe him yet another apology.
Reed’s stomach churned violently. She gripped the railing at the edge of the walkway to steady herself.
“Well…he likes being around me, you know,” she suggested weakly. “We have some hobbies in common and stuff. He just told me all about football and seemed really excited about it.”
“So,” Gregory concluded. “My brother has spent countless time and energy on trying to save you, and all you’ve done in return is listen to him talk about collegiate athletics?”
Reed twiddled her thumbs, feeling terribly small at the moment. “...yes?”
Gregory just sighed. “This is exactly why I had to check in on him. Getting caught up in something as pointless as this. I have very little doubt that, if it ever came down to it, you’d sell Isaac out in a heartbeat. At the first sign of trouble, you’d go your separate way from him to serve yourself.”
Reed wanted to say no, she wouldn’t, because that’s how she felt in her heart, but all the logical evidence seemed to point to the contrary. So she just kept quiet and stared at the ground.
“I suggest you leave Isaac alone, for his sake,” Gregory told her. He tugged on his jacket collars and left Reed, heading down the staircase, disappearing from view.
Reed gripped the railing tightly with a trembling hand, then relaxed her grip with a sigh. She tilted her head over to see the distant lights of downtown.
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Audrey found Reed leaning on the walkway’s railing, looking up at the twelve stars and the distant lights of downtown.
“How did it go?” Audrey asked with a yawn, her love and concern for her friends battling the utter feeling of relaxation after her usual marathon shower (hot water, baby!)
Reed just tapped her fingers along the metal railing. “I don’t know,” she said. “He has a way with words.”
Audrey joined in her leaning against the railing, which felt cool against the heat of her body. “Did you figure out why Gregory was yelling at him?”
Reed gave a small shrug. “I guess he wants Isaac to help him save the world, but Isaac wants to save the world in a different way. So, he got mad.” She glanced over at the stairs leading down to the street. “He already left.”
“Did you see Isaac?”
Reed just shook her head.
“We should pay him a visit, then!” Audrey proposed. “It’s kind of late, but maybe we can play Parcheesi! That always cheers me up.”
Reed looked back out toward the lights. “Maybe we should leave him alone.”
For all her lack of book smarts, Audrey understood the human heart in a way Reed could only envy (not that she would ever admit it). “Let’s go visit and test the waters. If he wanted us there, then that’s great. If not, we’ll be able to tell and we can give him space.”
Reed pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to concentrate. “What if he’s better off by not seeing…us?” Reed knew the ending to that sentence should’ve been me. “Are 'we' positives in his life? Or have we brought him nothing but trouble?”
Audrey looked at those lights alongside her. “We’re his friends, Reed. Maybe we could be better friends. But we’re still his friends.” She pushed herself off the railing and did a twirl around the walkway before facing Reed again. “Now, enough philosophizing for one day. Let’s go pay our dear friend a visit!”
Once again, Reed supposed she was a good friend, that Audrey.
The two girls made the long five-foot journey to Isaac’s door. Reed hesitated upon reaching it. “What if…you know, he’s crying or something? I don’t do good with crying, especially when it’s not my own.”
That actually made Audrey hesitate. “I’ll take a quick listen,” she said, placing her ear against the door. “Oh. That’s not good.”
Reed looked at her with worry. “What’s happening?”
“He’s listening to Night Piece for Saxophone and Orchestra,” she said quietly.
Reed rubbed her head. “And that means?”
“It’s the most melancholic jazz song ever made,” Audrey surmised. “It’s the late night jazz song for past regrets and loneliness. He listened to it a lot our first year here. He’s probably laying on his couch right now, staring at the ceiling.”
“Should we…should we interrupt?”
Audrey stepped away and sighed. “I still think we should. But he won’t be in a good mood. Let’s just check in on him and if we have to leave in a minute, that’s just how it is.”
Reed nodded. She reached a hesitant hand toward the door knob, lightly grabbing it after a moment. She slowly twisted and opened the door, but her body didn’t follow.
With the door opened, Reed peeked her head in. She stood off to the side of the doorframe so that only the top of her head and eyes were visible.
“H-hey, Isaac…” she offered. Audrey peeked her head in the same fashion above her.
The kitchen counter blocked their view of Isaac’s couch, but could hear some ruffles and saw Isaac sit upright on it, facing them. “Hey, guys,” he said, his tone neutral. Mournful saxophones and trumpets echoed around the room. All the lights were off.
“You feeling okay?” Audrey asked.
Isaac shrugged slowly. “Yeah. I’m fine. Just a little tired.”
Reed had an innate understanding of Isaac’s lie. “Enough pussyfooting around,” she muttered. As cymbals crashed together, she headed right into his room.
“I mean no offense, except that I do,” Reed declared. “Your brother’s a real piece of work, Isaac. Who’s he to come barging in here and telling you he knows what’s best for you?”
Isaac rubbed the back of his neck. He looked small on that couch. “Well…he went to college.”
“And I’ve gone to school with you every day,” Reed countered. Audrey stepped beside her, looking rather sorry in contrast to Reed’s anger. “All that talk about saving the world or whatever is crap. You’re saving the world every day.”
Isaac looked away. “How?”
“You saved my sister!” Audrey exclaimed. “And you helped her reconnect with me! And you stopped those nasty drug smugglers!”
Isaac let out a small sigh. “All I’ve done is beat up people who are suffering. I haven’t actually stopped the suffering itself, know what I mean? There are thousands of Harriets out there.”
“But there’s only one of you,” Reed said. “You’ve done a lot for just one person.” She moved closer to him; when he turned his head toward her, she knelt so she was at eye level. “You saved me too, Isaac. Just by listening to me. You’ve saved me and Esther - that’s two people.”
“That’s right!” Audrey realized. “You don’t have to do it alone. If you save two people, and me and Reed save two people, then we saved six people between us!”
“And that’s just directly,” Reed continued. “By stopping the gun trade, then maybe you saved four people indirectly. That’s twelve between us.”
She swallowed, then placed a hopefully relaxing hand on his shoulder. “If you inspire even just a few more people, then maybe altogether, we saved like thirty-two people. That’s thirty-two whole lives, Isaac. And if getting saved inspires them to save others, then that’s like two hundred or something. And it keeps going.”
Isaac didn’t look uncomfortable with the personal contact, so against her better judgment, Reed patted that shoulder. “We’re all just cogs in a vast machine. You can only do so much. But you always do.”
Isaac looked at her hand, then back up at her. “You sound optimistic for once.”
Reed slowly withdrew her hand and rose back to her feet. “Well, don’t get the wrong idea, but you get me feeling optimistic sometimes.”
Isaac chuckled, then looked at the ceiling. “But it still feels like I’m not doing enough. I feel like time's slipping away from me.”
Reed felt a sense of deja vu. She gave him a soft smile. “You’re only sixteen, Isaac, there’s plenty of time.”
Isaac recognized saying those same words back at Domino Dojo and chuckled again.
Audrey pressed her hands to her cheeks. “Is this some sort of sweet inside joke between you two? That’s great!”
Isaac couldn’t help but laugh. “Alright, alright. Enough moping around.” He got up and turned off the phonograph, ending his late night sad jazz session. “I can never stay too upset with you guys around.”
He looked alright on the surface, but Reed could tell he would still have a lot to think about that night.
Huh, she realized. Maybe I understand people a little better than I thought.
And based on what he said, maybe he really did like having her around. And if that was the case…Reed didn’t want to take over Isaac’s moment, but she felt something rise within her, something she would have to think about that night, too.