The bright green grasshopper I see everyday

Boom Shikha
Jul 27, 2017 · 8 min read
Photo by Boris Smokrovic on Unsplash

There is this bright green grasshopper that I see everyday on my way to school. He sits there by the window sill, extremely still, as if he were a wizened old man watching the world, and distressed by what he sees.

He sits there every morning, as if he were waiting for me. I see his little body perk up as I zoom down the stairs, late for school, as always. I stop for a second on the landing where he sits, and say a quick hello to him.

“Doing alright, Greeney? Sorry can’t chat. Gotta run. Late for school. Slept through my alarm clock again… Don’t look at me like that. It doesn’t happen every day. Byeeee.”

I think he likes it when I say hello, and he gets upset if sometimes I end up taking the elevator with my siblings because they insist, I come in with them, instead of going down the dark, dank stairwells. On those days, I spend the whole day at school, dreaming and thinking about Greeney.

I wonder if he’s going to hold it against me that he didn’t get to see me today. I hope he’s not going to ignore me tomorrow when I will make sure to take the stairwell.

But as most animals are kind-hearted, unlike humans who are cruel, he always forgets yesterday as if it were just a dream that happened in the far-away past, and today is the only day that truly matters. The only thing matters is to be good and kind right now. It doesn’t matter what you did yesterday. They never hold all of your yesterdays against you. But humans do that. They hold an eternity of yesterdays against you.

For example, my little sister, the pretty one of the family, always remembers that time when I bit her on her elbow when she tripped me on my way to the fridge. I bit her so hard, she tells everyone, that there is a little silver scar ever present on her elbow as a reminder to my cruel nature. She also says that, one day when she’s rich and famous for being beautiful, she’s going to hire someone to bite me on my elbow.

The teacher was droning on and on about some or the other planet no longer being a planet anymore. I stared out of the window at the butterflies, bees, and birds that all got to play during such a beautiful summer day, while I had to wear this horrendous uniform with a tie that choked my neck, and a skirt that was always too tight on my waist.

The teacher knew I was daydreaming. But I had noticed she had stopped caring about me. Not only about me, but about everyone else.

Magie said at lunchtime that it might be because she is heartbroken.

When I asked her what that meant, Magie shook her head, and said, that it was just something her mother had said. Something about being in love and having one’s heartbroken.

We were both sharing my peanut butter and jelly sandwich, as her mother never packed her a lunch, being too busy late into the night with her clients, and this white powder that Magie says tastes like nothing special. I looked at Magie, my best friend in the whole wide world, and I told her, “Let’s never be so heartbroken that we forget that there are little kids in our classes who need help.”

We had both decided a long time ago, that we would both become teachers. But not the kind of teachers we had. Our teachers didn’t care about us. They only cared about the smart students. And the good-looking ones. We wanted to become teachers who would care about everyone equally no matter what they looked like, or how much money they had, or how chubby they were, or even how smart they were.

We were both sitting on a table of our own by the corner. I kept a strong lookout for any bullies who might get bored and start moving our way. They liked to pick on me because I was fat. Or that’s what they said. But I don’t know why they picked on Magie. She was really smart, and one of the most beautiful girls in school. But they kept on picking on her because they said, her mother’s whore. And she’s poor.

Why that mattered a snot to them, I would never figure out?

But I had known ever since I first said hello to Magie on the first day of school, and told her that her hair bow was pretty, that it was my deal to protect her. She didn’t know how to fight. Nor did she have any siblings on whom she could practice. She would never hit me even when I told her to practice on me. So it all came down to me. I had to take care of her. It was the only option.

“Did you see Greeney today?” She asked, as she swallowed. I could see her eyeing the last triangle of sandwich, and I pushed it towards her. I could see her collarbone poking out even through the shirt she was wearing. I had enough food inside of me to last me until I got home. That was one thing about my mother — even if she complained about me being fat, she never ever kept me from eating more.

See, that’s why I liked Magie over all of my stupid siblings. She knew that Greeney was important to me, and asked me about him.

I went into a long rant about how I think Greeney is sick, because he isn’t as perky as he was last week.

Magie nodded at all of the right spots.

She wasn’t paying attention to anyone else but me. But I had my eye on this boy, Patterson, who was getting ready to walk over to our table.

I let Magie finish the last bite, and then, got up, pulling her to stand as well.

Patterson stood there, with me facing him off. I might be small, but everyone in school knew I was a mean fighter. I wasn’t afraid to use my elbows, my foot, and my teeth. Especially my teeth. The people whom I fought always complained about all of the bites they received from my extremely sharp teeth.

“Get out of my way, Jo. I got something to say to Magie.”

Magie’s little boy shivered behind me. I have to remember to grab a sweater from the house and bring it for her. Her mother had forgotten yet again to buy sweaters for her.

“Whatever you got to say to her, you can say to me. She doesn’t want to talk to you.”

I held onto Magie’s hand and squeezed it for a second. I let it go so I would be ready to land some punches when the time arrived. I also kept my peripheral vision open for the sight of some teacher. Any teacher would do. Even the lazy or fat ones. None of them liked seeing a girl being beaten up by a boy.

“Her mother…” His voice broke at that. “Her mother is a whore who doesn’t know how to keep it in her pants and my father is her latest victim.”

Patterson was five years older than me, so he knew words I didn’t.

But I knew that it wasn’t fair that Magie should get beaten up for something that her mother does. It doesn’t make any sense to me.

“Why do you think beating up Magie would help your cause? It isn’t her fault her mother’s an idiot. Sorry Magie.” I whispered to her. I didn’t like insulting her mother in public. But we both knew that her mother was an absolute idiot.

Patterson shook his head. I had confused him a bit, I think. He was seriously considering why he thought beating up Magie would be a good idea.

“I don’t care. It is Magie’s fault somehow. So get out of the way.”

I stood there. I wasn’t moving. He would have to move me. I had already started preparing my jaw and my fists. My foot had my army boots on them, they were the especially thick soled, metallized versions, good for kicking the shit out of stupid boys.

“You are going to have to fight me, if you want Magie.”

He looked me up and down. He saw everyone looking at us. He saw my boots.

He heard the whispers of how I had already beaten up two other much bigger boys than Patterson this last week.

He spit on the ground very close to my boots, and said, “You won’t be able to protect her forever, Jo. One day, she’s going to get what’s coming to her. And her mother as well.”

He turned around and walked away.

The crowd was disappointed. They went back to munching on sandwiches, and apples.

I will protect her forever, I said in my head.

We both sat down again. As if nothing had interrupted my story, I went on telling Magie about Greeney.

The next morning, I found Greeney’s dead body on the stairwell. I guess, he had been moving around and someone had stamped on him. He looked squished.

I mourned for him. I cried and cried on the way to school. The school bus was loud with the cries of kids playing, so I could cry without anyone noticing. Magie wasn’t at school waiting for me at the door, as she always did.

“Children, I have some sad news to share with you. Some boys… some kids found Magie yesterday as she was walking home… Well, I’m sorry to say, Magie’s no more.”

The teacher wasn’t looking at anyone else except me. I could see her eyes boring into me. She was a bit more animated today than yesterday. I guess, the loss of a beautiful person like Magie can bring anyone out of their heartbroken stupor. No one else listened to her speak as intently as I did.

Greeney was gone. As was Magie.

Somehow I had known their lives were interconnected. They were in my mind at least.

No one else seemed to care about Magie, and a few minutes later, the class went on as normal.

I stared out of the window, and I saw Magie fluttering there among the butterflies, bees, and birds, waving goodbye. She showed me what was in her hand, and I saw it was Greeney looking healthier and happier.

They both left me on the same day.


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Boom Shikha

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I am a writer, who writes because she needs to write, like she needs to breathe. For more writing, visit https://themillionairehippie.com/.

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