I
went to school with Brian for 13 years. We went through the French Immersion
program together, from Kindergarten all the way to grade 12. Even though our
class was small, we weren’t close friends. I was a girl and he was a boy; the
distance between us was established early, and we always managed to be in
slightly different friend groups. Because of this, I have hesitated for three
months before writing my editorial about his disappearance.
Even
though we weren’t friends outside of school, I still have lots of memories of
Brian. In grade six, on the last day of school, we stuck as many pencil crayons
as we could into his hair while listening to Green Day’s “Time of Your Life” on
repeat. The next year, our 12-person class went on a trip to Quebec, and when
we were all in a room together I remember Brian taking off one of his socks and
holding it in front of a fan, blasting us all with foot smell as a prank. In
grade 11, we went to France on an exchange, and the following summer, we made
movies in a film program together.
I
remember him having a clever, persistent sense of humour, and he once auditioned
for the elementary school talent show by chugging a whole bottle of
Pepto-Bismol (refilled with strawberry milk). Brian was a presence during my
entire public school education, and I liked him, but he didn’t cross my mind
very often, particularly after we graduated.
When
he went missing in November I shared the VPD alert on Facebook, like many other
people from my high school. I was concerned, but hopeful that he would find his
way home. When an update alert went around again, I began to actually get scared.
Brian started popping into my thoughts; the idea of him; the fact that I wish I’d
gotten to know him as an adult. I also felt irritated with myself for using his
disappearance as an excuse to think about him, selfish, even. Do I even have a
right to feel scared? He’s not my son, not even my friend anymore. His
disappearance didn’t change my life at all, but I still feel affected.
There
are five unsolved missing persons cases that the Vancouver Police Department
are appealing the public for information regarding, including Brian’s. The
other four are all men under the age of 30, but there are no current links
between the files, nor do any of the cases indicate that foul play was involved
in their disappearances. Now that I recognize one of their faces, though, the
severity has never felt more real.
If
Brian ever reads this, I’m already embarrassed by the sentimentality, but I
still feel like it’s important. I really can’t imagine how Mary Jane Mbaruk
feels, and I am so, so sorry that this has happened to their family. Years of
school together has connected me to Brian in a way I’d never realized.
If
you have any information on the whereabouts of Brian Mbaruk, please contact the
Vancouver Police Missing Person’s Unit at 604-717-2530, or your local police or
Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
//Sarah Vitet, editor-in-chief
//Sarah Vitet, editor-in-chief
|
