If Not for You (Completed)

Chapter 11: Kale

11 Kale

I couldn't help fidgeting as I knelt beside Kazzi's tub. I had to have lost my mind to open myself up like that, and I didn't know why I was. Maybe it was because she'd opened up to me about her history with Brad, or maybe it was because I was giving her a chance to earn my trust. It wasn't going to happen if I didn't give her opportunities to be trusted. Still, my breath came quickly as I stared down into the water, and felt the steam wafting up into my face.

The way her parents treated her said a lot about Kazzi as a person. More than likely, her habitual bullying was an unconscious outcry for her parents' affection. Even if she wouldn't admit to it being so. It explained a lot and made my heart break to know that, despite having friends and family, she seemed just as alone in the world as I was.

"Hold your breath." Her voice came suddenly, and I did so as she picked up a cup and poured water down the back of my head. "Is it too hot?" She asked.

"No." Rather, the heat sent tingles of unintended pleasure across my scalp, and I closed my eyes as goosebumps raised on my arms.

I hadn't taken more than a sponge bath in eons and had washed my hair in the cold tap of a rusty sink for over a year. The hot water just then, despite its awkward situation, was amazing, and I sighed softly as she poured more water over my head, her fingers massaging my scalp as she did so.

"Your hair is actually really soft." She said, her tone noticeably surprised.

I shrugged. "It's hair, not straw."

"No, you dork." She laughed. "I expected it to be all matted and greasy, but it's not."

"I might be a hobo, but I'm not completely incapable of hygiene." I responded, and for a second, she was quiet.

"I didn't mean it like that."

"I know you didn't."

"I'm not trying to embarrass you or anything." She added.

"It's a bit late for that."

Sighing heavily, she paused, her fingers still in my hair. "You want me to stop?"

"No..." I said softly and glanced up to see her smiling.

A second later, more water was slowly poured over me. A second after that, something smelling like coconuts was being scrubbed into my scalp, making the tingling in me even stronger.

"Why are you homeless, Kale?" Kazzi asked for the second time as she gently scrubbed.

I pursed my lips, content to keep at least some secrets from her until I trusted her more, but found it difficult to hold it in. On a sigh, I relented. "My mom disowned me."

"Because of what happened with your stepdad?" I nodded and glanced to see her frowning. "What did happen? I mean... I can't see you as the type of person who would beat someone into the hospital for no reason. You won't even fight Brad, and he deserves it."

I inhaled deeply, staring deep into the water as though the event would play out like a movie in the steam. "When I was fourteen, I walked in to find my stepdad raping my sister."

Her hands stilled in my hair. "Oh, my God..."

"He was drunk, had obviously been hitting my mom again, because she was sitting on the couch with a black eye and busted lip, just... staring blankly at the floor while it happened right in front of her." I blew out a breath as the memories started turning through my mind with horrifying clarity. "My sister was crying, bleeding, and...I don't know, I just snapped."