Not All Loyalty Are Rewarded

I opened up my eyes welcoming the darkness around me, I cannot see

the structure of my palm in the darkness yet, now I know its not the time to
get up yet. However, today is special. Today is the City Hygiene Inspection
day, I need to help my mom to get ready for the inspection. In the Naggabu
village, the population is just over thirty thousand but every business is still
struggling because of limited diversity. There are only a handful of successful
food vendors, one of them being our family friend the Crumsms family. Mr.
and Mrs. Crumsms had run a handful of small business over the past decade.
They owned a chain of food stands, then after getting a decent profit, they
had their only son Travinski Crumsms and switched their business to selling
DVDs. Travinski was born in the winter of 1971, one year and a half before
mine, but despite our age difference, he is my first and last friend.
Synd Murgletown, get out here at this moment, we are going to be
late for inspection! yelled mom. Give me one second, Ill be right there. I
mumbled as I felt the cold ground beneath my feet. Inspection days has
never been easy for us food vendors, a week before we must clean our
stoves, utensils and cooking environment to the maximum condition, then
we would have to sanitize every little spot from the floor to the ceiling. Every
inspection day, my mom would tell me a different story of how the Crumsms
family helped our family during inspection days in the past. When my father
was still alive, our family had a beautiful house, some farm land, a growing
business and a developing economy. After he passed away about 5 years ago
from a rare disease, his relatives and business partners devoured every last
bit of his wealth. This food stand is the symbol of the starting point of his
career and it is one of the only two valuables he left us. The other thing is
the Crumsms family.
I can still clearly remember the first time meeting Travinski, it was one
day when Travinski's parents came over to our house to talk with my father
about their individual business success. After that day every time he came
over, he would always lead me to the pale birch tree in the forest, behind my
backyard to find something interesting to do. However, the most interesting
events were in the summer times. During those clammy nights, when the
blistering sun has finally dived into the horizon, and the nightlife in the city
consisted of boring drunk men with their smell of rotting garbage, we make
our escape. Throughout the entire warmth of May to August, the grain, wheat
and corn fields are where we experience the real nightlife. When school is
out of session for 4 months, Travinskis and I would take all our gear, clothing,
buy some cheap food stand snacks using our savings and camp out during
the 100 humid summer nights. The community in the farm fields have their

own band and through their rehearsals in the spring, they have mastered
their talent to present to us. All night we listened to the nonstop insect
chorus, the cicadas presented a repetitive rhythm that echoes around our
ears, the beetles produced a deep growl, acting as the bass of the band.
Then the crickets come in to complete the orchestra, they have their
amazing singing talent and together they dominate the night. From all those
nights spent in the fields, we grew even closer than any blood relatives.
While all those memories still linger in my mind, there is a specific
memory that is carved into my conscience. The specific memory dates back
to the end of the summer of 1971, Travinski invited me to his house for
another day of helping his dad sell DVDs. We would help out in his family
store before they open and observe every the diversity of the customers
wondering in the store. I always appreciate how the Crumsms family helped
our family in the past when we needed it the most, therefore, every time I
got invited to help out in their store I put in my max effort and worked
voluntarily. I tried to always conceal my effort by appearing sluggish and
inefficient, but really I complete what I am told and prepare for extra work. I
hide my effort because I dont want Travinski to feel the attention of his
parents moving away from him and focusing on me. He always liked the
attention, and I always gave him the attention. In the past, our family would
get together to enjoy a family dinner for some special holidays, while
Tranvinski received positive comment on how well he was doing in school I
exaggerated it and pointed out details like how he always corrected my
sentences and such. My only wish is he stay as my friend, be safe and if hes
content, I will always be jubilant. Although I tried to hide my hard work from
his family, eventually it came to a day at the end of July, Mr. and Mrs.
Crumsms observed what I accomplished and from that moment, my
relationship with Travinski changed.
I never seen you this hard before Synd! claimed Mr. Crumsms, Look
how much he has done for our store, Tranvinski why cant you be like this for
one time? Travinskis mom asked. Travinski turned red immediately, from
previous times there was only one time I have seen his face turning red, it
was when we were in school together when a boy beat him in a game of
chess and stole the show. I knew he cant stand someone getting more
attention than him, especially because its me and the attention are from his
parents. Quickly I added: Travinski was working very hard as well, he gave
me the instruction of what I should do therefore he should be the one who
gets the credit, not me! Him! Give him the attention! Mr. and Mrs. Crumsms
were still complimenting me when we heard a loud bang and Travinski ran up
to his room. I have always thought about and stayed away from any
attention in front of Travinski to avoid this happening, but after it happened I
still do not know what I should do.

Travinski come on, open up the door, and let me in! Do you want to
talk? Or maybe go for a walk? I begged into the door. I cant imagine how
depressed he will be and how furious he will be at me for stealing his
spotlight. Get away, get away from my room! Now! He opened the door
and threw my backpack at me. From past experiences, I can tell he is really
upset, so I left his house hoping to make him feel better and give him
enough space to recover. I was wrong about him recovering. The next day as
I woke up in a series of chatter downstairs, I discovered Mr. and Mrs.
Crumsms has reported me to the police, accusing me as the thief of their lost
valuable. When the police came over to search through my house for Mrs.
Crumsms diamond ring, I showed no guilt by answering relevant questions.
However, when the police were about to leave our house they searched
through the front pocket of my backpack that I had when I went to Travinskis
house yesterday and found Mrs. Crumsms ring. He must have slipped his
moms jewelry into my backpack after I made him angry so I opened up my
mouth ready to explain the entire story to the police but my throat would
refuse to cooperate and left me gagging for air. I was imprisoned because of
his actions.
The walls around me seemed like they were moving closer to me every
day when I wake up, the walls seemed like it will converge and fold the tiny
metal bed with the mattress on it. During those prison days, I lost track of
time. Sometimes, the day seemed very short, but others seemed like a
decade. However, being confined in a little room actually gave an enormous
thinking space I could ever have. On regular days I had no time to develop
thoughts, it was cleaning and selling food, and then reading school work
under the mood light reflected from the window. In this room, I thought about
how Travinski treated me before. I asked myself did he really treat me like
how I treated him and why do I have to do what satisfies him. I was only
imprisoned for 3 days, however without knowing how my mother is doing
and how long I have to stay here felt like an eternity. I was released because,
during further investigation, the police were informed Travinski had left a
note for his parents saying it was him who left the ring in my backpack and
demanded the police to release me. The feeling of being released to me is a
huge relief, but, on the other hand, the thought of not knowing where
Travinski is made both my gut and heart twist. All of a sudden, from my
instinct I know where he is. I know Im not ready to meet him yet, I dont
know what to say to a friend who just betrayed me or should I be sorry for
making his life difficult, but my feet wouldnt stop, the next thing I know Im
sprinting to my house.
Oh thank heavens Synd you are okay! How did you get out? What did
yo mom called out. I only heard part of what she was saying, then I
quickly rushed into the forest to my backyard to find the pale birch tree. I

took occasional swerves to avoid hitting trees but I came to an abrupt stop
when I saw Travinski on his knees, facing the trunk of our tree. As I came
closer something didnt feel right. From what I remember the forest had an
unnatural color to it, the leaves edges seemed crimson from the sunset, the
air seemed extra dense and my body was all sweaty from running but the
moment was bone chilling. I approached behind Travinski planning either to
ask for his apology or to hear his forgiveness, maybe I was the one who
should have helped him to get his attention. However, my steps were heavy
but Travinski didnt seem to notice me, he stood perfectly still in front of the
tree, everything was silent. I pressed my hand onto his shoulder to notify him
my presence, but when he turned around his wrist was cut deep and he
dropped dead onto the ground. The feeling of losing your one and only friend
is peculiar, as I recall I still have the same sick feeling in my gut, followed by
my vision getting blurry, I wasnt sure if tears were forming or my eyes were
popping out for staring so hard. The air felt like sand in my lungs, suffocating
me in sadness, when I looked up again with Travinskis body in my arms, I
see him minutes before I arrived, on his knees whimpering in front of the
pale birch tree and whispering his last words. I wasnt sure if his death was
real or not, when humans dont want to hear, see or feel something they
would wish the 4th dimension, time, to stop. Like a dream, the time froze
around me the leaves stopped rustling, the insect sounds we once loved
faintly died out and only the blood quietly gushing out onto the ground could
be heard. I went there too late.
The funeral only made the situation worse, Mr. and Mrs. Crumsms are
both heartbroken as they discovered the death of their only child, Hes only
11, how could he do such thing to himself? sobbed Mrs. Crumsms. Synd,
come here, let me ask you a question. Mr. Crumsms said weakly, Was
Travinski your true friend, does your loyalty belong to him? I overcame my
tears, swallowed and said: Yes, it belongs to him, sir. Well then, he left you
a letter. Mr. Crumsms whispered as he handed a yellow envelope to me.
Later that day I sat on my bed with the yellow envelope in my hand, thinking
what Travinskis last words might be. Will his words haunt me forever for
being his terrible friend or will he apologize for mistreating me over the past
years? Filled with curiosity I still decided not to open the envelope, its not
because Im scared, its because I have overcome what I was scared of losing
people I love. Losing my dad has already left a grievous wound in my soul,
now with my only friend dead, I feel my once fulfilled heart has visible
bottoms now. Travinski was my only friend, he was my first friend and he is
going to be my last. If only I can stop caring and loving people around me,
then maybe I will stop getting hurt. When I woke up the next morning I did
not raise my wrist to see the structure of my palm, instead, I went back into
the peaceful world of dreams and slept.