The Sound Of My Voice

Promises Promises

I walked into the house, the smell of a cold mother and 3 brothers who couldn't even say 'hi' to their own sister filled the air. A sister they didn't want or needed.

"And where were you?"

"With Dennis."

"The gay one?"

"Yes, Mom. The gay one."

I went to my room and flopped on my bed. I couldn't be bothered with the day I've had. My mind went to that boy that helped me today. He was cute, I'll give him that. But I don't date, I just don't. I made a promise to myself to never date. And I intend to keep that promise.

I thought about Melody, her face, her voice, the look of fear in her eyes when being in that car. It broke my heart to see such fear in her eyes, I even saw pain. I wanted to hug her and never let her go. I wanted her to cry and I'll be the shoulder for her. I wanted her to tell me that someone hurt her so I'll be the one to hold her hand and tell her she's not alone. I wanted to know everything about this girl, her family, her friends, her school record, her birthday, her age, everything.

I woke up on a Saturday morning to hear talking from downstairs. I brushed my teeth and got dressed to see what was going on. I went downstairs and saw Mom, my 3 brothers, and the boy that helped me the other day on my doorstep.

"What's going on?"

There she was, in all her glory. She had her hair in a ponytail, she had on blue denim shorts with a black varsity jacket. Her shoes were brown boots with plaid laces. With no make-up on, she had natural beauty.

"This is Kyle Jefferson, he's here for you. He wants to get to know you better."

"Oh, uh, I guess we could talk. I'll just grab my phone."

I grabbed my phone and came back downstairs. Kyle took me to Anders Café. My dad owned this café. But his business partner took over after he died.

"Is there a problem?" Kyle asked.

"I haven't been here in almost a year."

"Do you want to go somewhere else?"

"No, this is fine."

We walked in and it felt like 6 years ago. My dad and I, coming here for Christmas.

"What would you like to have?" Kyle asked.

"I'll just have a rainbow brownie and a blueberry iced tea."

Soon the waiter came to our table.

"Welcome to Anders Café, what would you like to have?"

"How about a 'Hello'?" Melody asked.

"Melody, how are you?"

I gave the waiter a hug. He's 18 and has been working here since he was 16.

When Melody hugged the waiter I felt a sting of jealousy. I wanted to pull her away from him and say she's mine, but she wasn't.

"I'm fine, just here to talk to someone."

"Well I'll let you guys talk. So a Rainbow Brownie and a Blueberry Iced Tea?"

"Yep."

"And for you, Sir?"

"Just a coffee."

"Alright, I'll be back with your orders."

I turned to Kyle and faced him.

"So what did you want to talk about?"

"I wanted to get to know you better. My dad is the boss of Jefferson's Record Deal, and he told me about a girl I'll be working with and making a song with. I just realized it's you and I would like to get to know you better, what you like, what you dislike, your favorite places to go, your favorite color."

"Those seem like personal stuff, doesn't seem like what business partners would need to know. I don't really tell people about my life, your father knows enough about me. I assumed he would've told you everything, even about why I agreed to this."

"What do you mean?"

"I want to go to college, I'm graduating this year. But my mom would never pay for my tuition and I don't have the money. Your father wants me to work with you and make a hit song and in return he'll pay for my college tuition. At first I said no, but then he brought up college and knew I wanted to leave this town. So I took it."

"Why do you want to leave this town?"

"I have a lot of bad memories here. Besides, my family doesn't want me around."

"Why wouldn't they want you around? You seem like the perfect daughter and friend."

"Let's just say it involves bad memories."

"What about the car?"

"What about it?"

"Is that also another bad memory?"

"It all involves the first bad memory."

"What's the first memory?"

"I don't think I should tell you. You'll just blame me like they always do."

"No I won't."

"Yes you will."

"I promise you, I won't blame you."

We all make promises but that doesn't mean we intend to keep them. My dad promised he would make it that night. My mom promised me everything would be fine. My brothers promised me that they'll take care of me everyday forever, even when I become an adult.

"Promises promises." Melody said.

I wasn't expecting that to be her answer. People in her life must've made promises to her but never kept them.

"I've made promises to people before, and I've always kept them." Kyle said.

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

"No, it's supposed to be a reminder that I'll always keep my promises."

I guess that was the confident boost I needed for the last 5 years.

"Ok, I'll tell you. It all started when I was 12, just 1 week before Christmas."