Unbreakable

Chapter 21: Ironic

Chapter 21: Ironic

I strongly objected to leaving Keene’s apartment the next day.

“I’m not going anywhere.” I say, my fists balled up around his chair.

“Your mom is worried about you.” He says, crossing his arms.

“She could care less about me.” I object.

With an exasperated sigh, he pulled me off my feet, into his arms.

“Hey, put me down! I don’t like it up here!” I shouted, trying to pull out of his arms. He laughed happily.  His muscely arms kept me locked me there.

                     ___________________________

My house wasn’t a home. It was a house… where bad things happened, where girls’ hearts get thrown out of their chests, where mothers verbally abused their daughters, and where awful memories bled rapidly.

I got out of the car first, pulling Keene up to my doorstep by the wrist.

I opened the door, and the smell was unmistakable, it hit me… hard, knocking me backwards into Keene. He propped me upright.

It was rare that this stench was in our house, but when it was… all hell broke loose.

Whiskey.

Oh, crap. Mom’s drunk…again.

Whenever she wasn’t sober, dad took me out of the house… most likely for my own safety.

I cautiously sauntered into the kitchen, towing Keene behind me the entire time.

“Hey.” Mom hiccups.

“Hi.”

She stood up, a bottle of vodka clutched in her fist. I felt Keene tense up next to me, pulling me in tighter to him.

“Where h-ave you been?” She asks me, taking a sip from the bottle.

“I got lost… in the woods.” I took a step forward, Keene trys to pull me back.

“Come give me a h-ug.” She says, bending her finger, gesturing me to come forward. I glance over my shoulder, Keene shook his head slightly. However, I didn’t listen.

I walked forward, mom pulled me into a tight hug.

I stepped backwards, the smell becoming overbearing.

I looked at her. She smiled, but it slowly faded into a glower. She pulled her hand back up into the air, and in one accelerated move, slapped my face with all the force she possibly could.

I placed my hand over the burning place on my cheek, in attemp to cool it down.

I stared at her, unable to do anything but freeze.

She drank from the bottle and hurried over to the dining room table. She propped her feet up on it, and nonchalantley finished the bottle, then cracked open a new one.

I turned towards Keene.

 He begins wrapping his arms around me, “Kam-”

“Just… don’t” I say, walking up the steps, “Wait for me?” I ask over my shoulder.

I see him nod and hurry to my room.

I grab an empty suitcase, and throw a few clothes into it, and then to the bathroom to toss some random toiletries inside it.

As I walk back to the bottom, I’m stopped by a voice.

“You broke her!” Keene shouts, I’m guessing to my mom.

I ran back to him, dragging him out of the house before he got hurt too.

“This isn’t my job.” Mom says. I have no idea what she’s talking about.

“Well, you know what? Being bitchy isn’t an occupation.” I state, shutting the door behind us.

I kept my eyes forward to the car, even though I felt Keene’s eyes on me, like lasers.

“I’m not talking about it.” I utter.

To my dismay, he steps in front of me, body blocking me from going forward.

“I’m fine.” I say, before he said anything.

“No, you’re not.”

“I think I know my own emotions.” I assure him.

“Do you really? Kam, she slapped you.”

“Well, thank you Captain Obvious.”

“I’m just done with her. Okay? Done. Meaning no more talking about her.”

He kisses my forehead, then my nose, then my cheek, then my jaw, my neck, and then my chest. My breathing became uneven. He brushes his fingers lightly across my jaw again, allowing me kiss his lips simultaneously.

He carried me- I guess he thought that was fun- like he did when we kissed for the first time over to the car, he opened the door, his lips still on mine and he sat sideways on the driver’s door. I sat on his lap, and pulled my hair away from my mouth. He kept his hands on my hips; I traced my lips to his neck, and then twirled his hair between my fingers.

Fearing this would go farther than I expected, I pulled away from him, panting extremely heavily.

“I heard that without oxygen after one minute, brain cells die.” I say, catching my breath.

He chuckles slightly.

“What’s with the suitcase?”

“Oh,” I should just come right out and say this, “I’m moving in with you.”

He looks at me for a second.

“Ok.”