Blind Beauty

Chapter 12

  Standing half-naked with a mysterious boy in front of the general store who’s owner’s son tried to rape me felt awkward.  What if Marco is in there? What if he’s waiting for me to come back? I squeezed Kai’s hand tighter. Kai sensed my fear and kissed the top of my head softly.

“What’s the matter Jezebel?” he asked calmly.
“You know that guy who tried to rape me the night we met, Marco? Well his father owns this general store and I’m just afraid that Marco is in there waiting for me...” I said quietly.

  It was Kai’s turn to squeeze my hand tighter, but not out of fear, out of pure rage.

“If he’s waiting for you Jezebel, then I’m waiting for him. I’ll be waiting for him to even make a small gesture towards you before I snap his neck,” he growled.
I smiled gratefully up at Kai, pressing my body closer to him. “My hero.”

  The familiar ding of the general store’s bell sounded when we walked through the door. My body stiffened, waiting for Marco to pop out and grab me. But this time Kai’s here with me so I’ll be safe... I glanced quickly to my right. A man was sitting at the counter with a magazine in front of his face so I could not tell who he was. I tried to squeeze Kai’s hand again as a sign of my fear, but his hand was no longer laced with mine. Huh? Where did Kai go? The sound of the magazine hitting the counter almost made me jump out of my skin. I closed my eyes. Here we go...

    “May I help you?” asked a much older voice. I opened my eyes. A man who looked to be about in his forties was smiling kindly at me. I stared at his name tag. David King. This must be Marco’s father! I blinked a few times before answering him.
“Oh um sorry I was expecting Marco,” I answered with a sheepish grin on my face.
“Ah! You must be one of Marco’s  friends. Well sorry to disappoint you little lady but Marco’s in the hospital. He went out in the forest a couple nights ago with some friends and got viciously attacked by a wild animal. Eh must be the wolves acting up or something. He’s a good kid. He’s just been hanging out with the wrong crowd is all,” Mr. King informed me.
    Good kid? Wrong crowd? Yeah right. He tried to rape me for god sake! I wanted to tell Mr. King the truth but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. He seemed to think the world of his son...

Mr. King started staring oddly at my feet. “Why aren’t you wearing any shoes ma’m?”

Deja vu?  I also looked down at my feet which were caked with dry mud and dotted with pieces of grass.

“Oh! See my boyfriend and I were hiking in the woods and someone or something stole our shoes,” I lied with a fake smile plastered on my face.
“Hiking huh?” Mr. King pointed at Kai’s over sized shirt on my body with a smirk on his face.
I blushed. “Okay not hiking but whatever.”
Mr. King laughed. “You’re funny little lady. Now what can I do for you?”

I looked both ways to see if Kai was anywhere near me. Thank goodness. He must have wandered off somewhere. But just in case... I stood on my tiptoes and whispered my request in Mr. King’s ear.

Mr. King raised an eyebrow. “Really? You think?” He craned his neck to look behind me. “With that guy?”

I turned around to see what Mr. King was gesturing at. I almost died of embarrassment. Kai was standing over a tank full of lobsters, sniffing at it as though he was a curious dog.

“I think you need to keep your boyfriend on a leash ma’m,” Mr. King chuckled.
“Ha yeah...” Kai! Jeez...

Mr. King gestured at me to follow him to the femine products aisle. We stopped at the beginning of the aisle as Mr. King stooped down to pick up a box from the bottom shelf.

“Here ya go ma’m. The best pregnancy test we sell here. God rest your soul if it comes out positive ha,” Mr. King said with a joking smile as he handed the box to me.
“Th-thanks,” I mumbled with a blush on my face.
“Now let’s go ring that up shall we?”