Max was something different. I could never see anything about him that makes him similar to the other boys. He seemed quiet and almost shy when he talked to a girl. Sometimes he was so soft spoken that I thought he was girly.
Max just moved to my school in March. He was referred to by my classmates as the new boy. I did not know why he moved from a prestigious school to this school, my school, the school for ‘under achievers’. It was a secret he kept for himself.
If I had to use just one word to describe Max, I would use the word beautiful. Because, that was actually the first thing that struck me about him, his beauty. He was fair-skinned; his face was almost feminine, with a straight nose, dreamy eyes and sweet smile. His hair black and a bit messy. I have to admit he was more beautiful than me.
Sometimes I saw guys looked askance at Max. As if they hated him for being beautiful. Some girls fall for Max only for his face and grace. While some called him sissy-boy behind his back and questioned his masculinity, the ones that preferred brawn, I think.
Max may looked like a girl and had graceful air all about him, but that did not make Max less of a boy. Girls were more relaxed around him. They talked about stuff they did not normally talked about boys and to about a ton of stuff they should not do around boys when Max was around. It was like he was one of them. But I knew that Max was uncomfortable with this arrangement. He blushed and stuttered, and then he broke sweats on his forehead and above his upper lips.
I still do not know how but we ended up as best friends after a few months of his moving to my school. Maybe it was because I was a good listener. Maybe it was because there was an undeniable spark between me and Max. Besides he actually wants to listen to my stories. He listened avidly and smiled his special smile at me. Yes, there was definitely a spark between us.
But Max rarely talked about himself. I guess he had a secret to keep… The secret… I am coming to that.
“Max, tell me something about yourself”, I remember asking him once. He was quiet for a long moment then he said, “I have a well-to-do family. Not that I am bragging or anything. I am an only son. My two other siblings are my sisters. My parents are rarely home so, I kind of live by myself at home. That’s all I guess”.
“But doesn’t u have any friends? Maybe from your former school..?”
“You’re my friend.”
“Just me?”
“Yes.”
“Why’d move from your school to here anyway?”
“I have my reasons. It’s not that I don’t want to tell you but I think it will all be revealed in its own good time”, he looked a bit sad when he said that, so I did not pursue that conversation. I stayed quiet. Wondering…
It turned out what he said was correct. I did find out why. Not in any way that could make me reconcile with the facts, though.
One day, when he was walking me home after an extended study session with Mr. Jeffri, a gang of brutal-looking boys blocked our way through an empty alley. It was dusk. But, my first thought was “Oh my god, I’ve got to protect Max!”
“Oy, there!” the leader of the gang called. Then, the others hurriedly surrounded us. I tried not to panic. I wanted to shout “Max! Run!” but somehow nothing came out of my mouth.
The leader was taunting us with “Two pretty gals walking down a dark alley at dusk… Where are you going, huh? Do you need a ride? Heh… heh…”
“No we’re fine.” I said.
“Quite a bravery shown by a petite little thing like you…”
He made a move to grab Max’s collar. I pushed Max behind me and assumed a fighting stance.
“Don’t make me…” I said threateningly.
“Don’t make u what? Cry?”
I went after the leader. But he moved first. I suddenly find myself against a wall. My cheek scraping the rough surface.
“Maxi, Maxi, Maxi... Are you going to let your girlfriend fight for you? What happened to you man? You used to be the best fighter, the Beautiful Chaos. Now you’re just some sissy school boy. Boss is wondering what happened to you after the bust. Come with me, man. Then, I’ll let this chick go, okay?”
“Let her go, Sarip.”
“Not if you’re not coming with me.”
Then the atmosphere turned tense. You could just imagine my puzzled excitement. Because although I was in a promising position ¬right then, I knew. I knew that something big was going to happen.
Max did not immediately go for Sarip. As I watched him, he punched and kicked the rest of the gang. First, the closest to him then he worked from there. He was too fast for them. Their reflexes were nothing against him. Only after about a few minutes the violence subsided. I was left shaken and nauseous. Sarip had left running just before Max threw a last punch at the last guy.
His face was bloody from a cut on his forehead. I was still speechless. I walked towards him and when I reached him, I humbly took out a handkerchief from my pocket. The blood, I wiped off of his face.
A tear ran down my cheek. I sobbed, and then I put the bloody handkerchief in his hand and walked away. Not knowing what to make of him anymore. While he, he stood there motionless, helpless watching me walking out of his sphere.
After that incident, I went to the headmaster. I wanted to know, I needed to know. I told him what I saw and my suspicion. The headmaster was hard to break. But, finally I got out some information from him.
Max was involved in gangsterism. A year before Max got caught in a bust by the police. His friend died in that bust by a gunshot. From his own partner. Max was devastated. He spilled a lot of information to get this guy. But, to no affect. His family shunned him and he got expelled from his school. He was put under witness protection surveillance. Max was not even his real name… I was put under oath not to tell anybody about any of this by the headmaster.
Whatever it was that I thought Max was hiding from me, it was never this. A past of violence. A wild streak from a spoilt rich kid. His soft graceful exterior belied his cunning and killer instinct.
Max was moved to another school in another state a few days after. I did not talk to him till the end. I had no idea where he went or where he is now or what was his real name.
Although, I knew that he was trying to change and maybe he did change, I could not accept it. I could not accept the way he represented himself as someone of innocence while he was anything but. Not now, anyway.
That day taught me not to judge anyone by appearance or anything by its look and a boy by his smile. Because what you see is not always what you get.