Let's Just Hear Him Out?

After I finished my talk with Korin, I met up with Connie and Cody. Connie, Cody, Mom, Cody's Mom, and Bob all sat around one table, and I joined in to level with them. Ernesto and Grace were nowhere to be seen, which I thought was good because I had no idea how to talk about their son in front of them.

"So, I've learned a lot about Korin. Dad left me with a task to befriend him... and he had a lot to say. Not in an exaggeration way, but one that made things make a lot of sense, if that makes sense?" I asked around the table, trying to get everybody to hear me out.

"That sentence didn't make a lot of sense but go on. You tried to be friends with him?" Mom asked me. She led the conversation for me, making sure nobody could jump in unnecessarily.

"Yeah, I figured that Korin didn't have a lot of friends... which might be a little rude to say, but because of the way he speaks. He told me about the outside world, Mom. About another man that led one of the units in the neighborhood, from the military? He's dangerous... very scary, very terrifying," I told her. I left her in the dark on purpose. In my stupid kid mind, I thought it would make my explanation more interesting.

"He said his name was Vincent Lillie... and he kills people. Korin explained that Vincent tried to be this Hero guy, one who does everything for 'the good of the group,' and I just thought that was really odd," I told everybody.

Even as an 11-year-old kid, I knew that deep down, something was amiss with that. Korin often repeated the same lines that Vincent did.

"Yeah, he probably mimicked that guy. Maybe he mimicked him because Vincent was good at getting his way?" Cody added. It was a very smart thought and put a lot together. It made a lot of sense, even more so now, why Korin acted like that in the first place.

"So, tell us more about this guy," Mom asked from me. She had a notepad out now, writing down some things that I couldn't see because I was sitting across from her.

"Well, Vincent put Korin's family, Mister Ernesto, and Miss Grace, in solitary confinement for trying to leave a lot. Vincent didn't want them to go anywhere, so he often punished them by restricting their access to food when they were in this solitary confinement. Then, Vincent's daughter offered a way out to Korin. She seemed... confusing when he explained the story," I told everybody.

---

Here, as I write in this notebook, I unknowingly made the biggest mistake of my entire life. I guilted myself for it for years after, but I forgot Vincent's daughter's name. I said it before when Korin was talking to me about her, but it slipped my mind right after.

I realize that I'm getting hung up on the school, talking about when days were good and solidified when all I had to worry about was that greenhouse. If any of my people are seeing this notebook, note that here, I've realized that this is all my fault.

---

I continued my conversation forward, making sure to cover all bases that I could. I mentioned that Vincent's daughter got mad at Korin one day with their weird friendship going on, and told Vincent about it. In retaliation, he lined up Korin's family and killed his sister in a very violent way. I didn't want to recall, so I left it at that and shut up about her death.

"What the hell? Jesus... it's like the world stops functioning, and that means people get to be monsters," Bob said. He shook his head shamefully and then sunk it into the table.

"Is he close by? Do you know if he's a danger to the group?" Mom asked. I could tell she was getting nervous, but doing her best to sound calm.

"I'm not sure. He mentioned something about a High School, but we're far away from that, so I think it's okay, right?" I asked Mom. She seemed to nod her head, which meant that we were okay either way, no matter what happened.

"So, did he actually kill somebody? Or was he lying?" Connie asked. Out of nowhere, she seemed to have a spark of interest in Korin that nobody else had before.

"He did. His family was still shaken up by his sister's death, and he was pushed over the edge. He stabbed somebody in the neck and killed them. They tried to hurt Miss Grace. You know... the world seems really terrible out there, especially away from our school. Is it really like that, do you think?" I asked Mom. She paused for a second, bouncing her pencil on her notepad.

"I can't be certain on anything, but what I can say is that if every place has fallen to this mysterious illness, that means the bad people are allowed to do whatever they want now without the cops intervening. That doesn't mean the world has gone bad, it just means that being good means a lot more now," She said to me. I remembered those words, word for word, emphasis for emphasis, and tone for tone. I wouldn't ever forget that.

"Like the bad people who belong in jail are running free now? Do you think bad people are here? Do you think Korin's a bad person?" I asked her. I largely looked to Mom for most advice on people. When it didn't come to strength or leadership, but compassion and patience, I went to Mom. Otherwise, Dad was the one I searched for.

"I don't think anybody here is bad, and that includes Korin. He did what he thought was right, and the fact that we've spent a day together and we're still fine means that he's a good kid, just misunderstood. You know, you're doing a very nice thing by being his friend. If he was bad, being his friend could make him good," Mom suggested to me. It seemed that Connie was taking this advice just as much as I was by the way she was nodding her head.

"Vincent scares me, he sounds dangerous," Cody added. His Mom came to the rescue, patting him on the head and telling him that there was nothing to worry about. Mom circled some stuff on the notepad and nodded, getting up out of the table, and telling everybody she was going to find Dad.

"I think we should all try to be Korin's friend. It might be nice to have an older kid here, maybe he'll give us hints on how to get stronger faster. Plus, he said he's killed the zombies before, so he can teach us," Connie suggested. Again, I was super surprised... but she was still worried about killing the zombies. I didn't want to worry about them, I would just leave that job to Dad.

"Okay, so we're going to be his friend! Awesome, we can forget about all that fighting and stuff. Let's find out what he's good at, maybe he's a good gardener?" I asked both Connie and Cody. Bob started to chuckle in his seat.

"Or, maybe he could be a good guard for us. You know, he knows what Vincent looks like, and he has seen bad people. I think he would be a great person for the job," Bob said. He made a very good observation. I didn't think about handing out jobs, as I never regarded myself to be a good enough leader to do so. However, I often fantasized about being the leader of this group and taking the reigns from Dad one day.

The lunchroom grew silent as the day progressed, and Dad was caught up with all of the information I shared with Mom. Almost everybody was gathered in the lunchroom near the end of the day, excluding Mary, Cody's Mom, and Mary.

"Thank you, guys, for gathering here today. We've had a little issue with adjusting to our new people, but notice that they're still our new people. I'm here to say that we should be treating everybody with respect, regardless of what they've been through, and allow them to adjust in their own way. I want to make this clear, to everybody, that this does not mean to be pushed around. If there is any conflict, we should solve it in a civil way. Otherwise, both parties will be separated, and eventually sent away, Korin, I want to formally apologize on everybody's behalf for their behavior," Dad stated publicly. Everybody agreed with what he said, and we all befriended Korin from that day forward.

Dad was very good at pulling everybody together. With all I learned about Korin, I was ready to accept him with open arms.

Everybody left the gym after Dad finished his small speech, and I was the last one out with Korin. He closed the door in front of me quickly before anybody noticed, and crouched down to my level.

"I'm glad you listened to me... Leo..." He whispered. He slurred out his speech creepily, smiling while baring all of his teeth, and slowly opened the door again. I didn't know what he meant by that and thought it was a weird inside-joke thing that he was trying to pull off. I lightly laughed, but still went to bed creeped out that night.