The Dry Cleaner

Chapter 34

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Her phone vibrated in her pocket as she sat in her balcony early that Sunday morning. She pulled it out and saw that it was Malcolm.

"Morning," he said happily.
" Good morning," she said.
"What's wrong?" He asked hearing her sadness in her voice.
"I'll tell you later," she says playing with her hair.
" What would you like? Cupcakes or donuts?"
"Cupcakes. Why?"she asked curiously.
"I'll be there I a bit," he said hanging up.

She sighed looking at her watch, it was eight in the morning. She stood up and walked in holding a cup half filled with tea. She was dressed in a black jumpsuit, her hair tied neatly in a bun. She put the cup in the sink before sitting down and waiting for him to arrive.

When he did, she opened the door and ushered him in. She got him a cup of coffee and they sat silently while they ate the chocolate fudge cupcakes.

"What's wrong sweetheart?" He asked noticing her sad mood. " Tell me," he said meeting his eyes.

She lowered her head hiding her tearing eyes from him, cleared her throat and spoke."Today is my dad's memorial service. It will mark fifteen years," she said wiping her eyes. She stood up and cleared the table while she remained deep in thought.

She went to the living room after washing the utensils and found him seated silently. "Would you like to come for mass with me?"She asked.

"Yeah. Sure," he said smiling at her. She briefly smiled back before going to her room and getting her bag and her shoes.

"Are you ready?" He asked.

"Yeah. Let's go," she said grabbing the large bouquet of flowers that was on the counter.

They got into his silver Mercedes and she gave him directions to the small church next to the cemetery where he was buried. He parked his car and it was a few minutes before ten. The drive had been long because I was far.

"I'm going to be in a bad and silent mood today and so will the rest of my family so just please bear with it," she said breaking the silence that was in the car." And we'll cry a lot too."

He squeezed her hand as he nodded before they got out and entered the small church where the rest of her family was.

The mass was brief though everyone was emotional, letting tears flow slowly in remembrance of the late man, Nathaniel Bishop. When the mass was over, they wiped their tears and walked out of the church.

"Malcolm, how good of you to join us," said Keyna's mother giving him a hug with a wide smile on her face.

"My pleasure," he said smiling back at her.

"How are the both of you?" She asked widening her smile. "I hope you're not hurting her in any way," she said looking at her daughter sad eyes.

"Mom," she said looking at her mother harshly.

"What is it dear?" She asked innocently.

"Don't," she warned as she walked away to talk to her brothers.

After a while they proceeded to the cemetery with bouquets of flowers in their hands. They arrived after a five minute walk and found the grave that was far from the rest. They said a short prayer to remember him before they laid down the flowers, tears flowing freely as they remembered the great man.

Malcolm drew her close and she sobbed in his chest making his shirt wet. They stayed like that, crying as they talked about him. As they remembered him and how he was, what he used to do, his habits his behaviour, as they talked about him in general.Celebrating the good life he had lived.

Three hours later, when their eyes had run out of tears, they said a short prayer again before one by one they started to depart leaving their mother behind.

The drive back to her apartment was silent and she spent most of the time looking out of the window. They got into the apartment and immediately he volunteered to cook dinner and insisted that she has a bath and relaxes.

She wrapped herself in the purple towel as she got out of the bath filled with rose scented water. She got into her pajamas before walking into her kitchen. She found him setting the table and smiled because he was so keen on doing this he hasn't realised her presence.

"Are you going to stare at me all night or are you going to join me?" He asked after sitting down.

She smiled and lazily walked to the table. They enjoyed their meal which was spaghetti and meatballs one of his favourite dishes. They helped each other wash the dishes and when they were done they sat on the couch, her head on his chest as they cuddled.

"What was your mom talking about?" He asked out of the blues.

She closed her eyes while she pondered whether to tell him or not." Its a long story," she said simply.

"I have time," he said.

She sat up straight. "About four or five years ago, I had a boyfriend. His name was Patrick. We had dated since high school and his mom and my Mon were good friends. We lived in the same neighbourhood and we went to the same school. When he graduated, he went to study abroad and while I remained. I was nineteen when he came back, he was twenty three. We got back together and we moved in together. He got a job while I was still in college. We were happy and we both thought that we would get married because we were so in love with each other. Then .....all of a sudden he changed," she said as her eyes darkened ,"....he came home once drunk and he beat me for no reason. I thought it was just a one time thing but the next night he came home and beat me so much. He whipped me with a metal rod while he called me a good for nothing whore," she said as she wiped a tear that had fallen.

"He left permanent scars on my back and left me bruised and broken. The next morning he apologised whole heartedly blaming it on his drunk state and I was so stupid to believe him and his lies. A week later, after being beaten every day, I decided that I had had enough and so I left him. But that didn't stop his abuse, he would terrorise me. He would come to me after classes when I was son my way home and beat me and insult me after dragging me to an alley. It stopped after a month, he just disappeared and I've never seen him since them. Since then I've never been able to trust people, to let myself fall in live because I'm scared.I don't want to be hurt again."

She finally looked at his sympathetic brown eyes and he stared into her hurt eyes.

"I'm so sorry Keyna,"he said simply pulling her close.

"Its no problem," she said.
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Aren't they adorable.

Drama in the next chapter （＾_＾）
Stay tuned.