Make it Through the Chaos

Chapter 2-As It Was

Chapter 2- As It Was

"Hey, loser open up," I yelled as I banged on the door of a dingy-looking trailer. I heard something crash onto the floor inside the trailer and then heavy footsteps before the door flew open. 

"Wow. You look like shit," were the first words that came out of the black-haired boy's mouth who stood in the doorway. "Aww, I think that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me!" I said flatly as I took off my jacket and threw it Kenji as I did the hem of my green tank top lifted ever so slightly to expose the large blue and purple bruises that littered my side. "God, Lilly, what the hell happened?" Kenji exclaimed as he moved aside giving me room to walk into the trailer. "Really, KJ, I'm fine, it's just some bruised ribs," I said as the boy looked at me in worry.

"I haven't heard from you in almost a month, Lilly, and now you show up looking like you got mauled by a Tyrannosaurus rex!" Kenji yelled as I sat down on his bed. "A Tyrannosaurus rex? Really Kenji that's a bit dramatic," I chuckled tiredly. "Okay, but seriously, are you okay?" he asked again, sitting beside me. I could tell he was really concerned, I knew showing up like this always stressed him out, and when I didn't keep in touch, it made it worse. Most of the time, after a job I wasn't in the best condition. Claw marks from near misses or bruises from dodging an unhappy herbivore littered my skin. But I was good at what I did, tracking dinosaurs and taking them down so they could be relocated; so they couldn't hurt anyone.

"I'm fine," was all I said in response. Kenji looked at me, a softness in his brown eyes, but it wasn't pity, that was what I liked about him; he never looked at me with pity. "You know you always have a place to crash here," he sighed looking at me with a smile. "Thanks, bro," I said bumping his shoulder with my own.

As I said earlier, Kenji was the only one I had seen since Brooklynn's funeral. My first job after her death was rough, I almost died, and part of me kind of wished I had. Afterward, I found myself calling Kenji, just to hear someone's voice. 

Kenji and I had always stayed close, the same way Ben and Yaz did. He was like a brother to me. I think the fact that I was one of the only ones who had his back on Mantha Corp Island, and I was the only one who saw just how bad his dad really treated him, helped bond us in some weird way.  Over the years, we were each other's confidant, when Ben and I were having any issues and I needed to vent, I would call him, and when he and Brooklynn were starting to drift apart I heard all about it. 

 After Brooklynn's death, Kenji was the only one who I knew wouldn't judge me for my self-destructiveness. Not that he liked it, but he also seemed to understand in a way no one else would. Sammy would have babied me, Yaz would have tried to help me work through the process in a "healthy way", Darius, well he was fighting his own guilt, and as much as I wanted to see him, staying away was for the best, and Ben and I weren't exactly on speaking terms. But Kenji had become extremely chill, he never really asked questions, I knew it was a coping mechanism, he stopped being invested in anyone's life, so that way he couldn't get hurt if something happened to them.

So, in between jobs, I found myself crashing at his place. Well, actually my truck had a little camper on the back, which had become my home. My apartment felt unbearably empty after everything, and with my job now, it was easier to be mobile. 

"Hey, I have a rock climbing class to teach today, you wanna come with me?" Kenji asked pulling me out of my thoughts. "Can I shower first?" I asked looking at myself in the mirror; I really did look like I had been mauled by a Tyrannosaurus rex. "Yeah," Kenji chuckled.

***

I watched as Kenji worked with a group of beginner rock climbers, it was crazy to see him like this, he was so different from the boy I had met our first day at Camp Cretaceous, but I guess so was I. "So, this is what you do now," I mused as I helped Kenji pick up his equipment after everyone had left. "Yup," he replied. "I'm sorry, it's just a little trippy sometimes, we've all changed so much," I chuckled. "Yeah, but it's a good change, I think, even with everything that's happened," he replied looking at me with a smile as he began walking the path back to his trailer.