Chapter Five: Yu:

I deeply love Yu. He was so handsome. I first met him on my first day of school. Daddy walked me to the bus station that day. He kissed me on the forehead.

“Have a good day, you hear?” he asked. I nodded at him.

“Okay,” I said. The bright yellow school bus pulled up to our stop. I walked up to the opening doors.

“Bye, Daddy,” I said. The doors blew open in front of me. A lady with a cigarette sat behind the wheel.

“Get on the bus, darling,” she said. I shook my head at her.

“Daddy told me not to go with strangers,” I said.

“I’m Rose,” the lady said.

“And I’m Sappoto,” I said. Rose gave me a warm smile.

“Now we’re not strangers anymore,” she said.

“Okay,” I said. I climbed on the bus with my yellow backpack behind me. I looked around at the faces staring at me. For some reason, I don’t think they were happy to see me.

“Seat’s taken!” one boy yelled, using his arm to block it. I walked further ahead.

“Taken!” a girl shouted, blocking her seat. Three more kids did the same.

“You can sit by me,” I heard someone say. I looked up see a boy with a cute face staring back at me. He had the most beautiful brown eyes.

“Sure!” I said. I quickly sat down next to him. I don’t know what it was about him, but I couldn’t help but to stare at him. This boy blinked at me rather funny.

“What?” he asked.

“You have such pretty eyes,” I said. He raised an eyebrow, frowning at me.

“What’s the matter with you?” he asked. “Are you stupid or something?” I gave him a little smile.

“My Daddy always said that stupid is as stupid does,” I said.

“What is your name?” that boy asked.

“Sappoto,” I told him. “Sappoto Delaney.”

“I’m Takahasi Yu,” he said. Yu and I grew really close from the first day. He was a really pretty boy. I felt like I had to be close to me. Everyone else at our small school wouldn’t talk to me, but Yu would. He treated me so nicely. He reminded me of Daddy in a way.

Yu always protected me when we were alone together. I had so many questions to ask him.

“Where is your home?” I asked him one day in the field near my neighborhood.

“Far away,” he replied.

“Where is your family?” I asked.

“Gone,” Yu told me.

“Gone?” I asked. “Gone where?”

“They are just gone,” he said, sharply. I didn’t understand why he wouldn’t tell me anything about his family. He seemed more interested in Daddy and my house. The people that lived with us took to him so kindly. In fact, Yu was always welcomed over to my house for dinner.

“It’s so nice to see more young people at the table with us,” Andy said one summer afternoon. Yu smiled at him.

“I’m happy to be here,” he said back. Later on, I learned that smiled because he was really sad. His parents lived in the city and they didn’t live together. In fact, they pretty much hated each other. Yu broke down one day after he went into the city to see them.

“I hate them both!” he complained. “They don’t care about me! They just want to use me!”

“I’m so sorry,” I said. Yu shook his head.

“The only people who give a damn about me are you and the people in your house,” he said.

“What about your grandma?” I asked. Yu wrinkled his nose at me.

“She’s just an old lady who drinks a lot!” he snapped. Suddenly, Yu tightly hugged me. “Don’t ever leave me Sappoto,” he pleaded.

“Okay,” I said. “I will.” Yu let go of me and lied back on the grass. “One day, we will run away from here and go somewhere far, far away,” he said. Yu grabbed hold of my hand. “Will you come with me?” he asked. I nodded at him, not knowing what he meant.

“Okay,” I said. He held my hand to his cheek.

“Thanks, Sappoto,” Yu whispered.

“But where would we go?” I asked.

“Anywhere!” he said aloud.

“Can Daddy come with us?” I asked. “What about Andy, and Mr. Bill? And everybody? Can they come with us?” Yu laughed at my question.

“What?” I asked. He pulled me down next to him in the tall grass.

“You are so silly, Sappoto,” he said. “But sure, they can come with us too.” I lay down next to him and rested my head on his chest.

He would go to leave my hometown three times without me. The first time was days after he told me about his family. Though, he would come home, but each time he did, he looked tired and really sad. He would hold me and say that he would take me away with him one day. And then, he would leave again.