Finding Mayumi

Chapter 4

“Mayumi,” Peter mumbled in disbelief. He suddenly felt his heart beating faster, so fast like there’s a race going on inside his chest giving him unexplainable feeling.

He couldn’t take his eyes off the painting. His sight just kept shifting in all of its angles, examining every inch of the canvas, looking for flaws, for anything that will tell him that the woman he’s seeing wasn’t her, but he couldn’t find anything to tell so.

She seemed so alive that gave him the feeling he could only felt whenever they were together. The sensation that she was the only one who can give.

“H-how?” He asked himself, so confused about what was just happening. It was the first time he ever tried holding a brush and mixing paints. Not even experienced stroking paint once in his life.

All he knew he was just visualizing Mayumi’s face and suddenly, his hand grabbed the paintbrush. He opened bottles of paints and started blending color by color on a wooden board he saw lying on the table.

He checked his hands, but it wasn’t the hands he owns, it was Peter’s. He suddenly forgot he wasn’t the same person he was in the past. He’s owning someone else’s body, Peter’s body.

Realizing it at that moment made him conclude maybe it was Peter’s skills he used to produce a kind of masterpiece. He wiped the wet paint on his clothes along with some thoughts inside his head without even realizing how messy he will look after.

There were already different colors of paints all over his body, from face, hands, and clothes that were slowly getting dry. After wiping the paints, his eyes landed on the canvas again.

She’s smiling, but Peter could only see the sadness in her eyes as he stares deeply into it. He felt an urge to touch it but stopped himself because the paint was still wet and touching any surface may ruin it. He also had a thought of hugging her, but how if what he only had was just an image of her face down to her shoulder and her body wasn’t there for him to embrace.

Eyes went down to her lips. Lips that he can tell how soft just by staring at it. She was the only one he knew who can smile like a magnet, a kind that can make him smile so easily even without her saying a word.

“Just like in the past, for countless of times.” He told himself.

Images in the back of his mind flashed. He heard voices, screams, and a baritone voice that gave him creeps and fear.

It was his father. The man he hates.

He tried to erase the thoughts of him by shaking his head and focused on the moments he had with her and then; he heard another voice. A calm sweet voice that he wanted to hear every time she speaks, her laughter and her unending questions about things she didn’t know exist. Her curious eyes, like an innocent child ready to learn about new things and twinkles when she discovered something she found unusual. She loved making fun of him, bullying, teasing him in the sweetest way he can describe.

Their memories kept playing like a movie in a fast-forward motion that gives his head a slight twitching pain. His eyes were automatically closed as the pain increases. Memories continued flashing like it won’t stop till it’s done, showing him every bit of his memory.

Every detail was vividly clear. Including the sound of their laughter, the sound of the splashing waves, the quacking of ducks at the pond. He could hear everything like it only happened right there in front. He could feel and even taste the foods he put in his mouth, could count the times and on how he sneaked out every night happily just to see her.

Peter wanted to smile as he remembers every priceless moment they shared but that smile faded after he saw in his memory her lifeless body at the pit where he patiently dug her by just using a branch of wood he picked on his way to get her. She was covered with mud, with bruises on both of her arms. Her skin was pale, cold, and already turning purple.

“My poor Mayumi!” He cried.

His knees trembled, and he lost his balance. He sat on the floor and covered his face, using both of his hands while his tears pouring. He felt pain. He knew that day she expected him to come, to speak for her, to help her prove her innocence, but how? If he was the reason, she was punished.

He was the one who made mistakes; he was the one who approached her first; he befriended her without telling her who he is.

Guilt and regret were trying to kill Peter inside, making him cry harder.

He continued crying for less than an hour. Crying for missing her, for his stupidity, for what he did to her, for being hopeless, and for being a bad person to the only woman who made him feel he wasn’t different. Peter cried until tears just stopped falling.

He lied on the messy floor and closed his eyes out of exhaustion. Didn’t know he already fell asleep on the cold floor.

The sun was up when he opened his eyes after hearing a loud knock on the front door.

He thought it was just Eddie; he opened it and forgot what his friend told him before he left yesterday. To never open the door for anyone.

He saw two men wearing similar pairs of clothes. He knew some of them who guarded him at the hospital; they were both called police.

The two men looked at him from head to foot. Wondering why he was covered with paints early in the morning, but that wasn’t what they need from him.

“Good day, Mr.Armstrong. Can we get in?” The officer asked him politely.

“Yes, sure.” He answered and opened the door wider and let them in.

“We received a call from someone telling us you are hiding illegal drugs inside your house. We have a search warrant here and all you just need to do is cooperate.” The other one said and showed him a piece of paper. A paper he didn’t see clearly.

With his permission, they started roaming inside. Peter doesn’t know what was happening. He doesn’t even know what was drugs or what about that search warrant.

They started searching; they started messing with his place too. Opening every drawer, removing books from the shelves. They started from the Living room, then the kitchen, his art room, and last was his room.

It took more than an hour and he just followed him, cluelessly of what they were searching for. One of them opened his closet and removed all the clothes and threw it on the bed. There were few bags right on the corner neatly placed and one guy opened every bag one by one.

He saw a pouch inside the bag and opened it. He suddenly called the other guy with him and showed him what he saw. There was a white powder inside the pouch wrapped in plastic. One of them inserted a ballpen to create a hole and inserted his pinky finger. Some powder stuck on his finger and he put the same finger inside his mouth. Tasting it.

“Positive.” The other guy confirmed. He pressed his radio and spoke some codes, and someone immediately responded on the other line.

The next thing he knew they put something on both of his hands and guided him out of the house, still clueless of what was happening and where they will going to take him. They were already outside when Eddie came rushing in their direction.

“Officer! What’s happening!?” He asked, but no one answered.

“Hey! Wait! Peter? What’s happening?” Eddie loudly asked his friend, but he just shrugged.

Peter wanted to answer him, but he doesn’t know what to tell him. He doesn’t know what they saw in his closet. He didn’t even feel scared at all, he just listened to what they say.

As they arrived at the station, Peter saw Eddie again. The officer guiding him asked him to sit where he can see and hear Eddie. He was confronting one officer inside and asking every detail he needed to know.

“Full name Mr.Armstrong?” The officer sitting on the other side of the table asked him.

He looked at her and asked himself to the same question.

“What’s your full name, Mr.Armstrong.” The officer repeated.

“I’m not Armstrong.” He mumbled, and it seemed the officer didn’t hear it.

He doesn’t have a choice but to give her the name he knows. The identity of the person he’s in. Good thing Eddie told him things about Peter after the doctor told them he has amnesia and he memorized all of it because he knew he will need those one day.

They took her fingerprints and mugshot. Eddie was there watching them, and he seemed so upset. They gave them time to talk but for few minutes only.

Eddie knew his friend did nothing. Those drugs weren’t his. He just doesn’t know how and who put those in because that house was locked when he was in a coma.

“We need to find who set you up,” Eddie assured him.

He explained everything to Peter about what’s happening because he knew his friend doesn’t know what was going on but because he already took so much time talking to him the officers already asked him to leave.

Eddie when home and immediately told his mom what happened to Peter and just like him, she went furious.