After everyone had already left,
Uncle took both David and Nika home.
When they arrived, the house was quiet.
The neighborhood was quiet.
David looked exhausted.
Nika appeared to be tired.
Uncle noticed that.
No one said anything or made any sound.
Just pure silence. The only thing that could be heard was the sound of the car and the wind as the car moved forward.
All three went inside.
The door opened and closed.
Neither spoke or commented about anything.
Their thoughts lingered on the passing.
David thought about his mother.
Nika's mind on her father.
And Uncle thinks about his brother.
At the dinner table, the room temperature was cold even though the weather was sunny earlier.
Everyone was tired, with no energy to even make a sound.
Just pure silence.
Eventually, someone had to break the silence, and it was Nika.
"I'm going upstairs," her voice sounded tired, maybe a bit too tired.
She pulled her chair away and got up.
The clock just kept ticking.
The sound of the fan spun a bit too loud.
She headed upstairs after finishing her plate. The sound of the clock ticked a bit louder.
Time kept ticking. It didn't stop.
Or would it ever stop?
The silence lingered for a little longer
until a phone rang.
It was Uncle's phone.
He finally picked up the call. It was his boss from work.
"Hey there, Ren, can you still come tomorrow? It is important for the company," the boss asked.
"Sure, I can come tomorrow," Uncle replied immediately with exhaustion in his voice.
"I will be there," he continued.
"Is there something wrong? You didn't tell me anything. Usually, you call in sick for work," the boss asked.
"No, it's nothing," he responded. "I already told the front desk everything."
Then he hung up the phone.
David overheard everything and noticed the exhaustion but stayed silent.
Nika lay down on her bed, still tired.
She stared at the ceiling without anything on her mind.
She turned to the side and stared at a wall covered with paintings.
Nika heard Uncle Ren's phone call despite being upstairs.
She thought about it, and her mind lingered on a memory with her father.
"Hey Dad, why did you call me here?"
"Oh hey, I called you here because I want to ask you something," he responded.
"What is it, Dad?" she asked.
"Did you put something in the sink? Because the water can't seem to flow down here."
"No? I never touched it."
"Be honest, did you do it? Come on, you can tell me," his voice getting a bit higher.
"But I'm being honest, I didn't lie!"
"So who did it? David? Seems unlikely."
"But I'm telling the truth."
"Fine, I believe you for now."
He then continued, "Remember, Nika, you should be more honest with people. No one is going to hurt you for speaking the truth."
"That's not true. I got made fun of at school."
"Why? It's because you always lie, and that's the problem."
"How is it my fault?"
"Sorry, I shouldn't have said that."
He continued,
"Sorry. But remember, you need to take care of your brother."
He paused.
"That's why you have to be more honest, not just with other people but with yourself as well."
Her father's words slowly faded into silence before she opened her eyes to the alarm clock ringing.
She turned off the alarm clock.
"That's... five years ago..." she muttered.
She got up, feeling tired, though she wasn't sure why.
The house was quiet. Maybe a little too quiet.
Eventually, the silence was broken by a door opening.
David opened the door, yawning softly.
Nika glanced at him briefly before turning away. "Morning," she said.
David responded while being half asleep, "Morning…" Nika noticed the empty wallet on the table, probably something Uncle had forgotten.
"So… Ren already left?" she asked.
"Yes, he left for work," he replied with a tired look.
"Today's Sunday. He should rest," she said before getting lost in her own thoughts.
David then broke her from her thoughts.
"You didn't hear the phone call from yesterday?"
"Yes, I did hear it," she responded.
Silence.
The conversation seemed to pause.
The sound of cars outside could be heard.
The outside world continued even if their conversation paused.
The clock kept ticking. Time kept moving.
Finally, someone had to speak,
to break the silence that kept going on.
"I decided that… I will take a part-time job," Nika said.
"Why?" David asked.
"You don't need to ask. You already know."
"Yeah, I do," he responded.
"Sure, but you should tell Ren about this," he added.
"I plan to," she responded.
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