Good Days •Rafe Cameron•

Good People

   

"Phoebe, we think you should go to therapy." Anna spoke softly. I stared at my hands as I began to pick at my pink nail polish.
    "So...what? Do you guys think I'm crazy or something?" I asked my aunt and uncle. Mike shook his head. "We're not saying you're crazy. We just think that you should speak to someone who's certified." He said.
    "Is this about the boys?" I asked. Anna and Mike look at each other. "We just think that you should hang out with someone a lot more suitable." Anna takes my hand; stopping me from picking my nail polish any further.
    "Like who?" I asked, my locs fall into my face. "Rafe Cameron." Mike says. My eyes suddenly widen. "I'm not hanging out with him." I immediately shake my head. "Phoebe, please. The Cameron's are good company. Rafe is taking a gap year just like you. In the meantime he's working with his dad at their family business. He's good people." Anna's thumb rubs the back of my hand.
     I look up at Mike. He's been very worried about me. He doesn't really show it but I can tell. He tries to avoid conversations regarding his sister. It's too much for him to think about it.
     I often catch him going through old photos of his sister. I know he misses her dearly. Even Kiara. My mom was Kiara's favorite person in the world. My mom understood Kiara. Their spirits were one and the same.
    Kiara was devastated when she heard the news about her aunt and uncle's death. But instead of crying; she took care of me. I went silent for a month. I barely engaged in any conversation.
    The three of them stayed with me in South Carolina for a few weeks until the house sold. After that, I pack my things and moved with them to the Outer Banks.
    It wasn't until mid June a few weeks ago when I started speaking again. It made Kiara extremely happy. She eventually got back to her summer routine.
   She would leave early mornings. I would watch her from my window as she ran down the driveway and disappeared into the orange van. Sometimes she would be gone for three days. Only texting me a few times that she was safe and with her friends.
    "When do I start therapy?" I asked. "As soon as you want." Mike spoke. "Are there any black female therapist in the Outer Banks?" I asked. "Yeah, why?" Anna asked. "I just think I would feel comfortable speaking about my feelings if I have a therapist who understands the struggles of being a black woman." I explained.
    Mike and Anna nod in agreement. "We can make that happen." They said. I wasn't doing this for me. I was doing this for them. I knew how much this meant for Anna. I know she means well.
    "Hey, and we also expect you to hang out with Rafe Cameron. I spoke with Rose and she thinks it would be a great idea. She says you can come over anytime, today." Anna says.
    "Wait, what?" I asked. "You want me to go over today?" I stand up from the couch. "Phoebe, please." Mike pleaded. "We're not saying that you have to completely drop the Pogues. We just think you should have different choices of friends." He explains.
    I furrow my brows together. "Choices?" I asked. "I'm not picking my favorite flavor of ice cream." I say. "These are actual human being. I like the Pogues. I can tell they really love each other. Being around them makes me feel loved." I spoke.
    "And we love that for you, honey. We just want you to have a great summer, okay. Just please go over to the Cameron's." Anna pulls me into a hug. I sigh. "Fine, I'll go." I say.
      I pull away from the hug and head upstairs into my room. I change out my pajamas and into a pair of Jean shorts with a red halter top. I slip on my white converses. I keep my curls down my back.
      I grab my phone and keys before heading back downstairs. Anna is still sitting in living room. She's reading a book on the couch. 
    "I'm going over now, Anna." I say. She nods. "Have fun." She encourages, with a smile. I return the smile.
    "Is it okay if I take the car?" I asked. "Yeah, of course. We bought it for you. It's yours." Anna says. I nod. "Right." I smile again before leaving into the garage.
    Mike and Anna had bought me a black shiny 2020 Jeep Wrangler. When they present the gift to me, I was overwhelmed and slightly uncomfortable.
    I wasn't used to big, expensive gift. My parents weren't poor but we weren't rich. We were an average suburban family from Columbia, South Carolina. There's no such thing as Kooks or Pogues. Everyone's living situation was the same.
I click the key chain opening the door. My small frames jumps into the Jeep. I position the seat and fix the mirrors, before opening the garage door and pulling out onto the driveway.
     "Here we go." I mumble to myself as I head off into the direction of the Cameron's. The ride was about five minutes. I pull onto their street. The houses are bigger on this side of Figure 8. Big stone walls surrounded the property. I turn my car into the open gated driveway.
    The house almost looks haunting. The Spanish Moss hanging from the trees gives it an old rustic look.
     I pull the Jeep up to the front before shutting off the engine. I hop out and walk up the front steps. My fingers ball up into a fist as I knock on the thick wood door.
    A few moments pass until a blonde woman opens the door. I remember her name is Rose. Her eyes lit up with joy. "Phoebe!" She smiles. "Rose!" I say with the same enthusiasm.
    A small laugh leaves her lips as she steps aside for me to come in. I walk into a huge foyer with spiraling staircase.
     "I'm so happy you agreed to hanging with Rafe this summer." Rose starts. "Rafe can sometimes keep to himself. He's always been like that since he was nine." She explained.
    I nod. "He has to be around somewhere." Rose says. "Is it okay if I look around for him?" I asked, balancing in the balls of my feet.
    "Yeah, of course, honey." She agrees. "Let me know if you need anything." She says, as she walks to the back of the house.
     I decide to check the upstairs first. Each step I took creaked under my weight. I finally make it to the second floor. There's a door that's slightly open. I can hear someone inside moving around.
    "This must be his room." I say to myself. My hands grabs the doorknob, pulling it open. Instead of Rafe I was expecting to see, it's John B.
     "What the hell." I say. John B looks up from his duffel bag full of clothes. "Phoebe, hey." His brows are furrowed with confusion.
     "What are you doing here?" He asked. I walk into the room, closing the door behind me. "I could ask you the same. I thought you were in the hospital. You fell off the tower." I remind him.
     "Yeah, I know. Turns out I only have a mild concussion and a broken wrist." He hold up his left hand; showing me a white cast.
    I didn't say anything. I raised one eyebrow and lean on the wall, crossing my arms as I waited for him to continue. He lets out a dramatic sigh. "Ward Cameron offered me the idea to stay here. Just until I figure out this DCS stuff." He explains.
      "Kiara is going to flip when she hears about this." I say, sitting on the big bedspread. "Yeah, I know." John B said, putting his clothes into the empty dresser's.
    "So why are you here?" He asked. I click my tongue before answer. "Mike and Anna thought it would be a good idea for me to spend sometime with Rafe. They said he's good company." I explain to the Pogue.
     John B let's out a sarcastic laugh. "Are you being serious?" He laughed. I nod. "Yeah, why would I lie about that?" I say, hopping off the bed.
    "And I'm only doing it for them. I know it would make them happy. And maybe they'll change their minds about therapy." I say. "Therapy?" John B asked. "Why would you need therapy?" He says.
      "They think it could help me with the grief of my parents." I say. John B nods. "That's right. Your parents passed away." He says, looking down into his bag avoiding eye contact.
     "They didn't pass away. They were killed!" I corrected him. My voice was sharp and quick. John B snaps his head up, finally meeting my eyes. "Sorry." I apologized. "I didn't mean to be rude." I say that last part quietly.
       "It's okay." He says. It's silent for a moment. I look down at my shoes. "Um...I'm gonna go find Rafe." I say. "I'll see you later." I tell the Pogue. "Bye, Be." John B calls out as I leave the room; heading back downstairs.
     I decide to look for Rafe in the backyard. I step outside onto a huge patio. But my eyes immediately take in the view of the marsh. A long dock follows the water as the sun reflects in the blue hue.
    My brown skin glows from the heat. My locs blow in my face as a gust of wind passes by.
     I look over to my left. Rafe Cameron is leaning over his bike. I slowly walk up behind him. My feet drag against the gravel as I finally come to the conclusion on what's he doing.
    I can see white powder lined up in rows as he snorts the substance up his right nostril.
    "Hi." I greeted the boy. The sound of my voice must have scared him. His body jerks as he quickly turns around to face me.
     He immediately rolls his eyes at the sight of me. "Be, what the hell are you doing here." He asked. His words were slightly slurred as he stood up straight. I winced at the sound of my nickname leaving his mouth "Rose and Anna arranged for us to hang out this summer. I'm sure Rose must have mentioned it to you." I explained.
    He nods, wiping his nose. "Yeah, uh....she did mention it. I just didn't think she was serious." He lets out a soft chuckle.
    "You know that stuff is bad for you." I point to the line of coke lying on his bike seat. "No, no, no." He immediately shuts me down. "None of that." He says.
   I put my hands in my hips. "None of what?" I asked. Rafe moves closer to me. "None of the trying to tell me what's good or bad for me." He says. I narrow my eyes at the boy. "Fine, whatever." I cross my arms over my chest.
    "What do you want to do today?" I asked the Kook, changing the subject. Rafe shrugs his shoulders. I think for a moment as I try to come up with an idea.
   "We can go to my Aunt and Uncle's restaurant. I could cook us something to eat and we can just talk." I suggested.
     "Sure, I guess. I'm not going to say no to free food." He agrees. I laugh at his answer. "Okay, let's go-." I'm cut off by a man with a thick southern accent.
    "You gonna give me a bump, big boy?" The man says, strutting towards Rafe. "Man, check out this place, though, huh." He whistle looking around at the property.
    "Hey, Barry, Barry." Rafe says. The once confident boy who stood tall and towered over me suddenly looked small and scared.
    "This is a nice place to live." Barry smiles. "Listen." Rafe starts. "I don't have the money." Rafe says. I look between the two. "Uh...you shouldn't be here now. What are you doing?" Rafe asked. "I'm right here." Barry says with a smirk. "You wanna know why?" He asked. "Please, just give me till the weekend, okay?" Rafe asked. "All I-all I need you to do is front me more coke." Rafe says.
    I finally understand. This must be the guy Rafe gets his coke from. And to me, it sounds like he's in need of some money.
    "How come you got all this nice shit, though?" Barry shouts. "Can you tell me that? You ain't got my money, but you got all this nice shit." Barry pushes Rafe.
     "Hey, sir. I think you should leave." I step in front of Rafe, blocking Barry. "Girl, you better get out of my way." He spoke, pushing me to the side. He raises his fist to Rafe.
    "Hey, chill, chill! All right." Rafe cowers. Barry grabs Rafe by his shirt pulling him towards the bike. He takes Rafe's wrist laying it on the hot engine.
    "Yo, stop!" I run up to Barry. I ball my fist up hitting him across his back. Barry quickly pushes to the ground as he continues to burn Rafe.
     "Shit! Stop, stop, stop, stop!" Rafe shouts in pain. The sound of his skin sizzles. "That's it, you little bitch!" Barry barks, finally letting go. Rafe falls to the ground. I crawl over to the him taking his wrist in my hands.
    His skins is bleeding with blisters. "That's just the coming attractions, big boy." Barry takes the helmet from Rafe's bike. "Consider this shit right here your down payment." Barry hops onto the bike.
    "Aye, yo, ma!" Barry looks at me. "Don't get in my way again, unless you wanna end up like your friend here." He says, before reving the engine and zooming off.
    "We gotta put some ice on that." I say, leaning over Rafe as he lies on the ground. He catches his breath.
    "Just leave me alone." He breathes. I shake my head. "What! No." I say. "That's gonna get infected if we don't do something right now. "Come on, let's go." I say. I get on my feet as I struggle to help Rafe up.
    "Come on, go inside." I take his hand pulling him into a bathroom. I lock the door behind us before opening the cabinets in search for a first aid.
Once I finally find one, I guide Rafe to sit on the toilet. "Why are you helping me?" Rafe asked. "Shh." I hush him as I dig through the box. I pull out some rubbing alcohol and a bandage.
"This is gonna sting." I warn before pouring the substance on his wrist. Rafe let's out a small growl as he bites his lip trying to muffle the sound.
"So..." I start. "How much money do you owe?"