Overwhelming Quiet

Chapter Five: Exploring

Anthony's daughter, Alyssa, was squished in between Kenji and Gunn in the back of her dad's van. Leo sat up front with him. Kenji didn't know why Anthony stuck her back there with him, given that his daughter never seemed to like him. They had only seen each other a handful of times since she lived two hours away. But Kenji always got the feeling that everything he did annoyed her. Down to the volume at which he breathed.

Alyssa Jones was a high school Junior from Portland. She had brown, medium-length hair and a pleasantly crooked nose. She was tall for a girl; almost Kenji's height, though a handful of inches could surely be attributed to the high-heeled, black boots she wore. She lived with her mom, one of Anthony's ex girlfriends from college. She loved the big city, and lived a life there that she never could here. She could go to bustling parties with her friends, and attend concerts, and eat from restaurants that actually have land animals on the menu.

There was a framed photo of her making a heart shape with her hands on the front counter at his bookshop. Anthony didn't talk about her much, but occasionally, Kenji would hear her voicemail message play from Anthony's phone as he stood in the back doorway to take a smoke. He wondered how often his daughter answered his calls.

The ride to the beach was intense. Anytime Kenji so much as shifted in his seat, Alyssa would shoot him a vicious glare. He supposed he would rather be squished against her than Leo, who hadn't even glanced his way since Anthony picked him up.

Leo knew about demons. It wasn't a coincidence that he was walking around at night with a machete. Unless he was coming from some kind of really late-night hard core Republican conference. But Kenji knew better.

They had reached their destination and Anthony's van pulled into a parking space. And of course that was when Gunn had to whip out his phone and read the latest local news article.

"Holy shit, there was an attack on the Fourth of July. It was behind Anne's convenient store near the firework show. Fuck, it could've been me."

"What happened?" Alyssa asked.

"A couple was attacked. The woman was killed. Her boyfriend's in a coma."

"Jesus," she muttered.

For the first time that day, Kenji and Leo laid eyes on each other.

The beach was just a backdrop for Gunslinger's Pokemon Go game, apparently. At least he was occupied enough that Kenji could sneak away without feeling like he was totally abandoning his friend.

"I'm gonna go look for crabs," Kenji told the group. But he didn't look at them when he said it. And he didn't wait for a response. He just took off.

Kenji walked towards the giant groupings of black porous rock that stuck out into the ocean. He took off his shoes and socks and hid them in the bushes, hoping he'd remember where to find them when it was time to leave. He hated the feeling of sand in his socks and preferred being barefoot, especially as the sand was growing finer and softer as he neared the rocks.

His fingers were red and the balls of his feet were covered in scrapes by the time he made high ground. The tide pools glimmered in the afternoon sun. The surfaces danced as the wind created thin ripples in the water. He watched as crabs the size of quarters scurried into hidden crevices and tiny green tentacles of sea anemones wriggled wildly.

He loved the smell of saltwater in the morning. Appreciated the way the cool mist kissed his skin. The sun pierced the corners of his eyes, but even in the summer, the central coast never got too hot. He had a simple, gray t-shirt on and blue, washed jeans. He had a dark gray button-up sweater draped over one arm in case it got too chilly. His clothes were always simple and plain. He owned a few pairs of solid-gray shirts, sweaters, and jeans that he circulated through each week. Kenji couldn't remember the last time he had gone to the store for new clothes. The wind tossed the strands of hair next to his cheek bones and they landed over his eyes. His hair was getting too long.