Shelter (9 page)

He sighed and groaned, “Fine.”

I went to my room and quickly changed into jeans and a t-shirt. I checked my email, and I had a new message from Kai.

“You should get some sleep. I will see you as soon as I can, I promise.

I love you,

Kai”

I grabbed my phone and headed out to the car to wait for my brother. While he was getting dressed, I tapped out a text message to Kai.

“Coming over. Meet me in the shed?”

I waited for his reply. We were over halfway to his house before he replied.

“Mom passed out. I’ll meet you there.”

I was relieved. At least she was asleep. I didn’t want to have an encounter with her. All I wanted was to see Kai.

I had Will drop me off down the street so I wouldn’t risk waking Kai’s mother. When I got to the shed, he opened the door and let me in before I even had a chance to knock.

I threw my arms around Kai the moment I saw him, and he held me closed and buried his face in my hair. We clung to each other for several moments before Kai finally spoke.

“I wanted to tell you in person, Alice,” he said.

“I know,” I nodded. “It okay.”

“Alice, I do love you,” he said. “I hope you know that. I know it’s weird, because we just met, but I feel this…”

“Connection?” I asked, finishing his sentence. “I feel it, too. And I love you.”

He brushed a stray strand of hair from my face, and I stared into those icy blue eyes. I didn’t know how to bring up the subject I’d come to talk to him about.

“I have something I need to talk to you about,” I said somberly.

His face fell.

“Please tell me you’re not leaving me,” he said, taking a step back.

“No! Oh, God, no!” I gasped, taking his hands in mine. “I love you! I won’t leave you. I swear to you, Kai.”

He breathed an enormous sigh of relief. “Then what is it?”

“Do you know why your mother…” I struggled to find the words. “Do you know why she treats you the way she does?”

Kai shook his head sorrowfully, looking at the floor.

“I think I do,” I told him.

We sat down together on the floor of the shed, and I explained the whole sordid tale. His face remained stolid throughout most of the story – odd considering how emotional he usually was.

“I had no idea,” he said, shaking his head.

“You don’t remember any of it?” I asked.

He shook his head in despair. He couldn’t even remember his father. He’d died in prison, and Kai was too young to remember him.

I put my arm around his shoulder, and he touched his forehead to mine and sighed.

“My mother said your mother never drank before your father died,” I told him.

He nodded in acknowledgement, although he hadn’t known that.

“It
is
my fault,” he finally stated.

“What?” I huffed. “Don’t be absurd! How could it be your fault?”

“Because I wasn’t supposed to be here at all,” he told me.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“I’m adopted,” he revealed.

I gave it a moment to sink in.

“But… how does that make any of this your fault?” I wanted to know.

“If they hadn’t adopted me, none of this would have happened. Your father and my father would be alive,” he responded.

“Oh, Kai, no,” I said, squeezing him tightly. “None of this is your fault.”

“You don’t blame me for your father’s death?” he asked.

“Of course not!” I practically shouted.

“It’s
my
fault,” he lamented.

“None of this is your fault,” I repeated. “None of it.”

He looked like he wanted to believe it, but he couldn’t. Why was he so down on himself? Was it because of the way his mother treated him? She was constantly telling him how worthless he was in the short time I’d known Kai.

I touched his face and pulled him toward me, gently pressing my lips against his. He responded by pulling me closer and placing his hand on the back of my neck to kiss me more passionately. It felt incredible to have his arms around me, and his kisses were so emotional. It was as if I could feel everything he felt through the way he kissed me.

Suddenly, the door to the shed burst open and his mother staggered through the entry. She glared down at us, and her eyes snapped with fury. Her hair was wild and tangled, and her bathrobe hung open, revealing a dirty, tattered nightgown.

“What is the meaning of this?” she shouted.

“Mom!” Kai gasped. “I…”

“I don’t want to hear it!” she shrieked. “You promised me you’d stay with me tonight! You can’t even keep one little promise? I’m so fucking sick of you. I want you out of my house you worthless piece of shit! You’re useless, and I’m fucking sick of it!”

“Mom, please,” he pleaded. “I’m sorry.”

“I don’t know who your little tramp is, but get her and your stuff off my property right now!” she screamed at the top of her lungs.

She reached down and grabbed Kai by the hair, pulling him out of the shed and throwing him to the ground outside. She whirled around and snatched his easel, which still held his most recent painting, and hurled it through the door. He raised his arms to shield himself, but the easel hit him in the head and gashed it open. Blood poured down into his eyes.

Horrified, I watched the scene unfold. I was unable to move or speak. I finally managed to move toward the door, and on the ground, I finally saw Kai’s painting. It was a small boy wrapped in his mother’s arms, and they were both looking at each other and smiling happily. It broke my heart.

In an instant, I grabbed Kai’s painting and tucked it under one arm. Then I took his hand and pulled him to his feet. I shot a warning glance at Kai’s mother, daring her to interfere. She just stood and watched as I pulled Kai toward the garage. We got into his car and drove away.

“What am I going to do?” Kai cried. “I have nowhere to go!”

“Nonsense,” I said. “You’re coming home with me.”

“Won’t your mother mind?” he asked, his eyes wide.

“I don’t think so,” I told him. “I guess we’ll find out.”

Day was breaking when we got to my house, but my mother was still awake. She was lying on the couch in the parlor reading, and she jumped up when she saw us. She eyed Kai up and down, and then she noticed the gash on his head. She gasped aloud in spite of herself.

“His mother threw him out,” I explained.

Without another word of explanation needed, my mother raised her hand to stop me.

“He will stay here, of course,” Mother said.

“Oh, thank you, Mother!” I cried.

“Kai, it’s nice to meet you,” my mother told him. “I’m sorry it’s under such circumstances.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” he said, bowing his head to her a little.

“Come,” my mother said. “Let’s see what we can do about your head.”

My mother and I took Kai to the hall bathroom. She got the first aid kit while I cleaned the wound with a washcloth. He winced when I touched it, and I tried to be as gentle as I could. I couldn’t stand causing him any more pain.

My mother returned with the first aid kit, and we had Kai bandaged up a few minutes later. My mother told him he could sleep in the room across the hall from me if we promised to be good.

“No, Mother,” I said facetiously. “We’re going to make violent love to each other the moment you go to sleep.”

My mother chuckled, noting my reference to the movie
It’s a Wonderful Life
in which Mary yells to her nosy mother,
“He’s making violent love to me, Mother!”

I led Kai upstairs and showed him his room. I found him a pair of my brother’s pajamas that he’d outgrown. Kai was taller than him, but they fit pretty well. My mother insisted I stay home from school to get some rest. I hadn’t had more than a fleeting few moments of sleep in going on three days.

“I’ll be right across the hall if you need me,” I told him.

He grabbed my arm before I could leave and twirled me around. He caught me in his arms and pressed his lips against mine. This time, his kiss was gentler than it ever had been.

He squeezed me tightly, and then he let me go. He climbed into bed, and I walked over to his bedside and pulled the covers up around him and tucked him in. I brushed his hair away from his face and placed a gentle kiss on his forehead.

 “I love you,” I whispered.

“I love you, too,” he said, smiling up at me.

I went to my room and changed into my nightshirt, and then I settled down into my soft, cozy bed and fell into a deep sleep.

A few hours later, I awoke with a start and saw Kai standing over me. His face was pale, he was sweating, and he appeared to be trembling. I sat up and rubbed my eyes.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Alice, I can’t sleep,” he said. “Nightmares.”

I pulled down the covers on the other side of the bed so he could climb in with me. He slid in beside me, and I wrapped my arms around his trembling body. A few moments later, he was asleep. I soon joined him in dreamland.

Around six o’clock, my mother walked in. The sight of the two of us in bed together either did not faze her, or at least she did not let it show.

“Hey, you two,” she said. “It’s time for dinner.”

We all had a pleasant meal together, and I got the idea that Kai was not used to family pleasantries. He hardly said a word all throughout dinner, but he smiled a lot, and he always responded when spoken to. My mother was trying very hard to make him feel welcome.

Kai fell into life with my family pretty smoothly. He still missed his mother terribly, and he drove by her house every night to be sure her car was in the driveway. He was terrified she would get herself killed by driving while intoxicated. Other than that, he seemed to adjust well.

I adjusted surprisingly well, too. I was shocked that none of us had attempted to rip into his jugular. In fact, I hardly ever felt hungry around him at all.

My brother and I had gone to the store with Kai after school on Thursday and helped Kai shop for some clothes and other essentials. He was too afraid to go to his mother’s house to pick up any of his stuff, and truthfully, I didn’t want him around that insufferable bitch, either.

While we were out, we passed by an art supply store, and I asked my brother if we could go. I insisted that Kai let us buy him a new easel and some paint and brushes and other supplies. He tried to refuse. He didn’t like feeling like a charity case. But I wanted him to have something to do when I wasn’t around. So while I was at school, Kai painted.

I still hadn’t told Kai I had plans for Sunday afternoon. I was hoping he would come with me, but something told me he wasn’t going to be receptive to spending time around a bunch of people he didn’t know after everything he’d been through lately. It was Saturday night before I managed to tell him.

“You’re going out tomorrow?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I answered. “Just bowling with some people from school. It’s no big deal. I’d love it if you would come with me.”

“No,” he refused. “I don’t think I could deal with being around people right now.”

“I figured you’d feel that way,” I admitted.

“But you’re still going?” he asked quietly.

“Yes,” I replied. “I told them I would.”

He bowed his head and looked hurt.

“I won’t be gone long,” I said gently. “Maybe three or four hours, tops.”

“That long?” he whined.

I felt horrible. Part of me wanted to just cancel bowling, but I’d told Jamie and Max I would go. I didn’t want to go breaking promises this early in the year. I was trying to fit in as much as possible. I certainly didn’t want to call attention to myself. But I also knew Kai really needed me.

“Are you sure you won’t come with me?” I pleaded.

He refused. He just wasn’t ready to deal with people. It was hard enough being around my mother and my brother every day, and he spent most of his time hiding in his room and painting.

When Sunday rolled around, Kai was a wreck. He kept saying he had a bad feeling about the day, and he was trying everything he could think of to get me to stay home short of actually outright asking me not to go.

He was making me so anxious. He paced back and forth in the hallway outside my room the entire time I was getting ready, and every time he saw me, he threw his arms around me and squeezed tightly. It was as if he thought he would never see me again.

Will dropped me off a Bowl-a-Rama at two o’clock, and Jamie was waiting outside. She was chewing her fingernails when we pulled up, so I think she was worried Max and I wouldn’t show up. She actually smiled a little when I got out of the car.

“Hey, Jamie,” I said.

“Hey,” she replied.

“I guess Max isn’t here, yet?” I commented.