Caged Bird

A family of four sitting tediously in the back of a bright yellow cab. Beads of perspiration dripped down his forehead and on Cam. Cam lay motionless on his older brother's lap counting the number of seconds that had passed. This must have been the new record for the longest traffic jam in New York City. Cam sat there annoyed that David had won the back seat while he was stuck lying in a pool of sweat. It didn’t take long for the two of them to start bickering. But who could blame them? They were only kids ( at the ages 4 and 7.) The sun was beating down on them and the taxi driver's air conditioner was supposedly broken. The two of them kept arguing but neither of them saw the huge red van that was coming their way. 

“ Thank you Philip,” David murmured, staring out of the window in a completely straight face.The deep wrinkles of concentration made him look much older than he actually was. David lived a quiet but mentally painful life in his parent's 10 million dollar estate that stood on the edge of Mount Marcy, the tallest mountain in New York State. David didn’t really like to communicate. He only ever spoke in short sentences and always liked to be alone. He was the sort of person who seemed gloomy and sorrowful but you couldn’t call him depressed. He still did the things that other men did. He played poker, went to the gym and had the worst memory. He just wasn’t the man he was before the accident that triggered his memory forever. 

“ Your welcome Sir. Anything else?” Philip asked in his usual cheery voice of joy and playfulness. Philip was David's assistant. Due to the fact that he was in a wheelchair David needed a reliable person to assist him with simple tasks. Philip had only been hired because David felt that he needed someone way younger than him to assist him with simple tasks. “ No, You may be excused.” David murmured moving his wheelchair tiniest bit to face his 2 million dollar Rolls-Royce that was right outside the double glazed window. David needed all the windows to be double glazed due to his rare medical condition. 

“Sir, can I ask you something?” Philip inquired, turning his head back  towards the back of David's wheelchair. You could easily tell that Philip was being very serious. 

“ Spit it out,” David snapped, not being his usual self. He was 99% sure he knew what he was going to ask. This was the question of everything. The question of his life, his story, his family. The question of everything that he had.

“ Well Sir, I think after working here for 3 years I-l deserve to know how you ended up in a wheelchair.” Philip timidly asked while putting on a bold and gallant face. He couldn’t let David know his fear. 

“ Get out!’ David composedly replied while carefully wheeling his huge wheelchair around to face Philip. There was a countenance of fury. It was fairly obvious due to his clenched fists. Philip stood there like a soldier unmovable from his spot. He was determined to show all the other staff at Christi-Ann Manor how much more liked he was than the others. 

“I SAID GET OUT” David screamed. His face was puffy red like a hot air balloon. His eyes were huge and if you looked closely enough you could see tears of emotion. 

Philip quickly dashed out of the room while keeping his square shaped head down. He could tell that David was exasperated and he did NOT need to get fired. 

“How’d it go?” asked Pongy Peter, biting into an oddly smelling onion while kicking the door of the rusty stable shut. Pongy Peter was the gardener or in other words the person who took care of the whole manor. Everyone called him Pongy Peter because he would not stop eating onions so his breath stank. He came from Australia and had a very Aussie Accent. Although his jobs were no easy task he was the brightest person anyone ever knew. 

“ Not good. I think I might get fired or worse for god knows.” Philp stuttered sitting on the ledge of the stables. The stables smelt worse than dog poop that were left on the side of a street. 

“Ha, You’ll live. Ya know mates in the same generation as you are so easily brought down. Be fierce, Ya know, like big wrestlers!” Peter exclaimed loudly in the clearing. He must have eaten a few extra greens because Philp smelt something somewhat extraordinarily spicy. 

“Well I must be off Peter.” Philip uttered checking the time on his rusty antique watch before marching off into the distance. This wasn’t because he was busy. It was truly because of his bad breath that made it impossible to finish the conversation. 

Philip walked into the manner only to bump into David’s Dad quarrelling with somebody on the phone.

“No Antonio, I need the tickets for 4 by Tuesday. Who are the tickets for? How old are you? There for Janice, David and Philip and me. Janice is David’s Mum. Antonio I know you just started but you have to pick up the pace. It’s David’s Birthday next week and we need to do something. Tell them that I’ll pay whatever the price is. Yeah I understand but hurry- wait a second Philip's here. I’ll call you back and hurry up with those tickets. ” And with that he hung up and pocketed his phone before turning all his attention to Philip. 

“ Sir, I don’t mean to eavesdrop but what was that and where am I going?” asked Philip in a very confused way. He was quite scared to talk to Jose. After all he was David’s dad and had all the right to fire him. 

“Well. Janice and I thought you might like to go to London with David just for a birthday trip. David’s been ever so lonely and uh I feel that he has a special connection with you. Also a raise will be included as long as you just don’t tell David.” Jose whispered to Philip just in case David had suddenly appeared. 

“ Wait. So I’m not getting fired?” questioned Philip in an incredulous voice. He was in disbelief due to the fact that David had kept what happened in the bedroom all to himself.

“HA HA, best joke I’ve ever heard, of course not. Now are you ready to go to London next week?” Jose asked, jumping from foot to foot. He had finally got Philips approval. This was a huge burden lifted off Jose's shoulders.

“Of course!” Philip roared in excitement. He couldn’t wait to see all the amazing sites in London and taste their famous full English breakfast. 

Philip was just about to jump in joy when the person he most feared wheeled around.

“Dad, a word.” David spoke in a completely hollow voice. His face looked absolutely broken and his hair was dishevelled. 

“Yes David.” Jose replied and without containing his happiness he speedily thanked Philip before trotting over to David. 

Philip sat there nervous for what was being conversed. Was he getting fired? Had David been a big tattletale and told him about the conversation. It was a 99% chance that what was being conversed was about him. Soon Jose coughed into his dirty handkerchief before leaving the room and rushing forward. 

“What’s the matter Sir?” inquired Philip in a way that a mouse would approach a lion. His heart was pounding so loudly that he was sure that Jose could hear it. 

“David has requested for a study room on the 3rd floor. I must start calling builders to renovate the place. Anyways it was great meeting you again Philip and see you again tonight for the details. “ Jose announced in a greatly bold voice. Although Jose pretended everything was alright he was definitely lying there was something in his eyes that said it right away. With that he stumbled off and got David in the car before driving off to a mysterious location. 

So it was settled that Philip would be flying to London with the others for David's birthday. The days crept until finally January the 5th came around. “Thank you again for coming Philip!” Janice thanked patting Philip on the shoulder. 

“No problem, mam. Now will Jose be joining us?” questioned Philip in a very low whisper. He didn’t want to wake David up. 

“No, something popped up at work so unfortunately it’s just us and some others. By the way you’ll be sitting next to David if that's fine with you.” Janice explained 

“That’s fine by me, mam.” Philip answered, sliding to his seat next to David. 

As soon as David woke Philip started bombarding him with different questions.

“Are you cold?” Philip asked. He was determined to get David's trust back by being extra friendly and nice. 

“No!” David exclaimed in a way that meant he wanted to be left alone. Unfortunately Philip couldn’t tell due to his optimistic personality. 

“ Are you hungry? I could feed you since we are on a private plane.”Philip asked in a patient way he really wanted to connect with David since they were spending 1 month together in London. 

“No,” David muttered in a low voice while looking out the window of the jet. He was mad that Philip had to sit next to him

“Are you -”

“How about you just leave me alone?Kapeesh.” and with that David pressed the flight attendant button at the top and immediately requested that he had to use the bathroom. He was quickly escorted out of his seat and stayed the whole flight in the bathroom. No one knew why but Philip who felt guilty of everything sat like a tortoise in the middle of the world. 

London was hazy and fog was everywhere. It was a cold day in London. David was bundled in scarves and coats. London seemed so peaceful compared to New York City. There wasn’t as much traffic and buildings that seemed to loom over up like giant monsters. It looked like London was under a spell. A sleeping spell. David and Philip hobbled out and sat down on a bottle green bench in the middle West field Mall. 

“Philip, what does it feel like to be a normal person?” David asked, staring at a young couple walking by. Philip jumped on the spot. He was shocked. In many many ways like how he had said more than one word when he talked to him. Most importantly how he had forgotten everything that happened in the plane. 

“What do you mean?” Philip asked in a way which meant that he understood what the question was but was just being respectful. 

“How does it feel to be able to freely walk through malls without someone with you. How does it feel to play poker with others without them letting you win. How does it feel to not have everyone stare at you all the time?”David questioned looking Philip in the eye. Philip had the greenest eyes with the slight touch of blue and brown. These were deep questions and David wanted an answer. 

“ Well frankly it’s quite boring to walk by yourself in the mall. No one to chat to, no one to do your shopping with. How boring. People don’t let you win when they play poker with you, they just are a fool at poker. I’ve watched you play with those dung heads you’re actually quite skilled.” Philip answered, taking a breath. He had to answer carefully but he knew nothing hurt more than pain so he kept going. 

“People don’t stare at you all the time and if they do it’s because they have sympathy for you and feel sorrow for you.''Philip explained to David while fixing his dirty golden locks of hair under his red and blue baseball cap. David was now staring at Philips hooked nose that was slightly on the left of Philip's face.

“OK, how about this question? How does it feel to not have lost everything you have?” David asked in a way that meant that he didn’t  know whether or not he wanted an answer

“What do you mean? You're as free as a bird. “ Philip whispered to David as the gleeful couple of girls suddenly began to be very solemn while staring at David. 

“I never was. You want to know why, why I’m stuck in this wheelchair like you asked the other day. It's because of a car crash that changed me and my brother's life.” David spat out in an angry but therapeutic manner.

Philip sat there silently but inside he was frantic. He never asked for this to happen and although he was eager to know that answer to the question he wasn’t this eager to know. Philip was flabbergasted. He never knew that David had a brother and he was just getting used to the point that he said more than a few words. 

“Back when I was 7 it was a hot summer day and we were in New York City because we had to hurry to a movie premiere of my mothers. My brother Cam was bickering about the fact that he had to lie down on my sweaty legs but none of us saw the red van coming for us.” David gasped not only for breath but his mind seemed to be crushed. 

“He was rushed to the hospital and the doctors said that he had a 2% chance of living. Even if he was living he would be mostly in the hospital with critical conditions. I was in the hospital for only 2 weeks before they dismissed me calling my case nothing but a breeze. I just wish I wasn’t that stupid to argue with him. I should have given him what he wanted and nothing would have ended like that. Every month me, mum and dad secretly visited him. He always says not to worry but he’s dying. The world ended for me. There was nothing I could do but wish I just had some more time. I never was free and I never can be.” David explained in a way that showed his pain. He wasn’t physically trapped, he was mentally not free. 

“David let it go. Forget about everything that ever happened. You have the time and potential to start a new life. Forget about everything, the accident, this conversation. Forget your every lived and start again because I know in there the pain is stuck. You just have to let it out and breathe.

They sat there in silence. The silence wrapped them like a warm blanket. It was a secret that would rest with Philip until he was dead. After an hour of sitting there and watching bundles of people pass David for the first time in 30 years smiled and said “I’m free.”

10 years later…

“David, you have officially created one of the most successful companies, Tax Max. How do you feel about that?” asked Rob the interviewer. “I’ve never felt more amazing,” David answered, sitting in the huge wheelchair while staring at Rob. David was smiling from ear to ear.  

“I know that you’ve been through a big car crash which made you feel very lost. What helped you get past your injury and your brother's big incident?What helped you feel free again?” Rob inquired while brushing his hand over his knee. He himself was quite excited to interview the one and only David.

“It was really hard but one day somebody told me to forget about everything that happened and move on. He told me to breathe and he is the whole reason I am successful so thank you Philip for setting me free.”