Date: Fri, 6 Nov 2020 18:28:33 -0600 From: Billy Wright Subject: Us, For You (Chapter 5) As always, please remember to donate to Nifty, it's a free service we've all enjoyed and it needs your help to keep being that way. Please, consider donating. Furthermore, this story deals with sex between minors, it is inspired in real events, yet it is still fiction. This story is was written by me, if you want to give suggestions, comments, constructive criticism or just chat, here is my e-mail: billy.alexander.wright@gmail.com or you can look for me in Wattpad (where this story will also be published) under the user @Billy_Alex_Wright Without further ado: Characters: Alexander - Me, a boy of 15 Christopher - My brother, two years older Minakami - Japanese boy of 15 Part 2 Moon over the Sea 1 (Turkey) I tried, okay? It's not my fault it failed. Or maybe it is, I'm not sure. I carried my suitcase all the way to the car as fast as I could and got in. My parents and my brother, Chris, were already inside, waiting. We were all excited, to be honest. This was our second trip, our second plane, our second everything. As soon as we got out of the garage I noticed the look in my brother's face, he was looking at our neighbor's house through the window. It had been a little more than a year since our neighbors moved and a new couple had joined the neighborhood. "That doesn't make it hurt any less," I thought. I had fallen in love with my neighbor, I never did anything about it, I just let that feeling grow in the silence between us, for years and years until they moved and, by then, I couldn't do anything about it. My brother, on the other hand, he dated my neighbor's sister for two years. After Japan, they tried to have a long distance relationship but that was too much for them. Since then, Chris became quieter, not quiet or shy, just quieter and he got mad at me more. I stopped thinking about it. Ignoring Chris was my best survival strategy. I spent the entire flight holding my phone against my chest. "I tried, okay?" That was the last message I had sent before takeoff. "It's not my fault it failed." "Alex, this is not about whose fault it is. This is about life, and sometimes life is like that, sometimes things work out, sometimes they don't and you can't stop trying just because it didn't work out this time. Take a chance, seize Turkey." That was the last message I received as an answer. Minakami had sent it. The words echoed in my mind: "You can't stop trying just because it didn't work out this time." Japan had given me self-confidence. It made sense in my mind: if I was brave enough to talk to a strange Japanese boy, what was stopping me from talking to one at school? It made sense, didn't it? "No, it didn't." I tried to do it, earlier that year, a boy in my school caught my eye. We talked, we became friends. And one day, with Minakami's help, I approached him, told him I liked him. I put my heart on my sleeve and my feelings on the table, I gave them to him. The boy just said "thanks" and, the next day, he stopped talking to me. "Maybe I'm not as brave as I thought." After that, all the confidence I had built in Japan banished in two seconds. "Seize Turkey," those were Minakami's words. If Japan had went that well, then maybe a trip, another strange boy, was all I was missing. "Maybe I'm damned to only date boys during summer." I wasn't sure if that was true or possible but of something else I was sure: I was going to try. After we landed, the first thing I noticed is that the airport wasn't as luxurious as the one in Japan but it was just as big, bigger maybe. It was hot, not too much but enough to be felt. We walked with the rest of the passengers to the main entrance. "Okay, guys, look for someone with a blue flag," announced my father. "Blue flag?" I asked, looking all around me. "The people of the tour said they would be holding a blue flag just outside the airport," my mother clarified. The entire reason why we went to Turkey was because she had a conference so, in order not to leave everything in my father's hands, they hired a tour, that way we would get to know turkey during the days she was be busy. That was the plan but, personally, I didn't love the idea of spending my days with a bunch of strangers all through an even stranger country. "There!" I pointed to the little blue flag sticking out of a bunch of people. "They are our tour?" When I heard the word tour I imagined a ten-people group, but, in total, there seemed to be thirty, maybe even more. "Shit." "Hey, are you part of the tour?" The man next to the flag asked us, my father handed him a bunch of papers. "Perfect, four. I think you were the last ones," he told us before addressing the group. "We are ready! Everyone, follow me!" We walked outside the airport to a big bus. It was huge, silver on the outside and red on the inside, the logo of the tour was printed on every seat. I thought about how there was no way thirty people would fit inside but, after everyone got in, there were even some empty seats. The last ones in were the tour guide who had spoken to us and his crewmate who was holding the flag. "Hello everyone, good day," the guide greeted us, his voice was loud, firm, stern, it denoted the forty years he likely had and, even when it wasn't hard to understand him, his accent was heavy. He checked no one was missing and, a moment later, the bus drove away. "I welcome you to our Magical Turkey!" I was about to roll my eyes when I heard the rest of the tour let out a big "woooo" of emotion, reacting as if they were a bunch of kindergarten kids in a visit to the zoo. Next to me, Chris didn't contain himself and let out a sigh of exasperation. "I'll introduce myself: my name is Evardo, and I'll be your guide during your trip," mentioned the guide, again the entire tour greeted him and, again too, my brother rolled his eyes. "Here with us Sifi, he'll be our driver, everyone, say hello," surprisingly, they did. "And here, holding the flag is Ekrem. Remember, in case something happens, you get lost or something, just look for the blue flag, everyone..." Chris leaned towards me and whispered: "This is not a tour, is a school trip." I had to contain myself not to laugh. "That's what I was thinking. Maybe we took a wrong turn and got in a school bus by mistake." We both leaned into our sits and watched everyone around us. We were a family, two parents and two sons, yet it soon became apparent that the rest wasn't. "Women," I said. "Old women." The tour was, for some reason, almost entirely compressed of third age women. "It's not a school bus," Chris looked back at me. "It's a retirement home bus." "There are no buses for retirement homes, I think. But it makes sense. Not the retirement home, but think about it. We are here because the company is paying our hotel for mom's conference. It's not cheap being here so, the only ones who can afford it are senior people with money." "That doesn't explain why there are only women," Chris replied. I raised my shoulders. While the guide was taking I again looked at the passengers. Many of the women were talking among themselves "they know each other," I told myself. "Maybe they're a club or an association." There were only a few groups that didn't seem to be with them: a family of three sisters, younger than my mother, two pairs of marriages in what most likely was their honeymoon and another family with a... My eyes stopped for an instant when I saw the boy seated two rows behind me. He seemed to be about my age, maybe a year younger. He was with his family too and, if his face was anything to go by, he was just as bored as me. I looked back at the front, now with a smile in my lips. "Seize Turkey." "Welcome to Istanbul! Istambul of the Magical Turkey!" The guide screamed with enthusiasm. On our right, we were able to see the city in all its splendor. It was an old big city, right next to a body of sapphire blue water, raised upon several hills with towers and domes ornamenting the landscape. "What you are seeing are the city's mosques, some of the biggest and most beautiful in the world." The sight was impressive, it was an ancient city. Its horizon was dyed in a light shade brown that brought sand to mind, a brown that could only come from centuries of beating hearts living there, eons of old. It was as if history itself screamed, roaring from eras buried deep within the foundation of every building, every stone, all the way to our present. I couldn't help but think how similar yet different it all looked to home. It was an impactful sight, a real city of wonders. That day we went straight to the hotel; we were still carrying the suitcases from the airport, after all. It was a tall building, not as tall the one in Japan but respectable in its own right, it wasn't far from those mosques we saw. "Welcome to the hotel," the guide announced. "Your own personal palace during your stay in the Magical Turkey." "He loves that phrase," I heard my father murmur. "If he says 'Magical Turkey' again, I swear I'll never take a tour again," my mother replied. They both laughed with their own words; it wasn't funny but it was, in a way, comforting to see them like that. In spite of all the years, children, jobs and hard times, my parents were still together and even though it was sometimes hard to tell why, it was moments like this that gave me the answer. The four of us sat on the lobby to wait with the other 30 people of the tour. I tried not to be weird and tried stop looking at the boy of the tour, the tour boy, but no matter how hard I tried, every few minutes my eyes wandered back to him. "Are you feeling well?" My brother asked when we got to the room. "Yeah," I answered, trying to think of something. "It's just that I was looking up something about the food and, well, I still don't know which to buy to take back home." "You like food that much?" Chris looked at me like I was an alien, surely remembering the bento boxes from Japan. "You should try it at least, you may like it." Chris stayed quiet, he formed a questioning grin and left the conversation there. The next few days we went to the Galata Tower, we visited a wide street with a tram in the middle as well as the two most popular mosques in the city: the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia. All that time I had Minakami's words echoing in my mind: "seize Turkey." My eyes went to the tour boy. Every time I saw him nearby, I tried to stay in his eyesight, to seem distracted but searching his attention. It didn't work, he never seemed to notice and never talked to me. I sighed, disappointed. "It was easier in Japan," I told myself. Yet, another part of me replied: "No, that's not true. Japan was just as hard. Remember: Minakami smiled at you but he never approached you, you had to go get him." My eyes opened completely. "Princes don't just arrive, you have to go get them." How had I forgotten? I turned towards the tour boy, we were between the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia. We were on a break, it was my moment. The fetid feelings of terror, shyness and shame tried to slip into my mind. Was I sure that getting close to the boy was a good idea? It had worked with Minakami, sure, but he had given me a smile before. Besides, even if I succeeded in Japan, back at home I failed. Was I sure I wanted another failure? I pushed those thoughts out of my mind, having them would lead to nothing. It was then that I tried to focus. "No, don't focus. Act, don't think." That was it! That used to be my mantra. Act, don't think. Act, don't think. Act... I started walking through the paved walkway towards the boy. Then I stopped. I couldn't just go there out of nothing, I needed something, a motive. It was then that I turned towards the guides. "Hey, do you need help with something?" The oldest of them asked, enthusiastic and obliging. I could see why he had chosen that job. "Or wanted to ask something?" "Eh..." I doubted. Don't think. "Yes, I just wanted to ask if I could hold the tour's flag, just for a moment, I looks like fun." "It looks like fun?" I thought. "Really?" I punished myself mentally. The guides seemed just as unimpressed since they look at me with weird eyes. The youngest was the one who had the flag, they both looked at each other and, to my surprise, they gave me the flag. "Of course, we are going to get a pair of kebabs, we won't be long. Can you have it until then? Just take it and keep it up high, if you leave the people of the tour can get lost so, also, stay around here, okay?" I nodded, taking the flag as they walked away. I couldn't believe things were working out. I raised the flag, nothing but a blue piece of cloth, and started walking towards the tour boy. "Hey," I said when I got to his side, they boy was on his phone. "Hey," he greeted me, it took him a second to see me but when he did his eyes stopped on the flag I was carrying. "How did you get that?" "Oh, nothing," I said as if it were anything. "The guides gave it to me while they went to eat. I'm the new guide, now. Are you ready for the Magical Turkey?" I said it with the same enthusiasm the guide had but the tour boy didn't laugh. We both stayed there for a moment, in silence. Eventually, I gather the courage to ask him what he was doing on his phone. "I'm playing a game," he answered showing me the screen. "But were are on vacation, in Turkey." I pointed to the immense stone structures that were the mosques besides us. "Wouldn't it be better to enjoy that and play later? Oh, have you tried the kebabs? They are the be..." "I haven't," he interfered without raising his eyes from the screen. "They are weird." "How do you know if you never tasted them?" He raised his shoulders. "I don't know, it all smells weird. I ate at McDonald's." "Mc..." I looked at the place he pointed. Far in the distance I was able to notice the sign of the famous fast food restaurant. Something inside me died, the simple idea of someone visiting another country just to end up eating the same garbage he could try at home was too much to even stand being by his side. He didn't even bother to try the local food! I almost punched him. "Hey," he said then. "You don't happen to have a portable battery, do you? My phone is almost empty." I turned towards him. He hadn't even bother to look away from the screen. "Yes," I answered. "I have one." The tour boy looked at me but by then I had already turned around and left. I didn't care if he was handsome, had a nice voice or face, not even if he was the only boy in the whole tour, I refused to stay with someone with a mind as closed as his. I could imagine the years of torture that being by his said was. "Seize Turkey," I head Minakami's words. "Well," I replied. "Sometimes there's no way to seize something. Sometimes it doesn't matter of princely you are, there are people who don't deserve you." I walked through the paved walkway, I was in no mood for dealing with people so I went back to where my family was but before I could do that I noticed the flagpole was still in my hand. I turned around and went to return it to the guides. "Here you go," I said immediately turning around but, before, I added: "thank you." "To you," said the youngest guide. "I was starving. Really, thanks. Oh and, by the way, don't put on that mad face, you looked more handsome a while ago when you were smiling." I was almost giving him my back when I heard him and stopped. The guide was smiling at me, you could see the confidence in his face, a glimpse of poise, of authority too. I look to his side, the older guide was just a few feet away. He didn't seem to notice what was going on. "Well, you are not ugly either," I replied. As soon as those words came out of my mouth I couldn't believe I had said them; that was the first time I stopped to look at the younger guide. He must've been, how old? Two years older than me, tops, just like my brother, yet his height made him look older. His hair was mahogany brown but his eyes where a pair of sapphires, clear with a touch of hazelnut, his skin was brownish and, like most Turks, I bet he could have a beard if he wanted. "Was that a compliment?" The guide asked. "Depends," I smiled. "Do you want to have a kebab with me?" His face lightened with that. "Of course." "Then it was a compliment." "But there's a condition," he replied. "You have to carry the flag." That made me laugh. "Alex," I gave him my hand. "Ekrem," he took it, shaking it while we walked towards the food stands. Maybe I was able to repeat what had happened in Japan, maybe I wasn't such a coward after all. And, maybe, being stuck in a tour group with Ekrem wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, after all, I had to seize Turkey and, let's remember, that Turkey is Magical. ----------------------------------------------- How does part 2 sound so far? I guess you already how the dynamic is going to be: new country, new trip, new adventures and, above all, new boy. But if you liked Japan, don't worry, we still aren't done with Minakami.