Kissing Constellations

Chapter 04- My Lips Won't Work

Kissing Constellations

👄 Chapter Four 👄

My Lips Won't Work

The wet and torn fabric was dabbed gently across the boy's eye. Toby leaned into the warm rag with a gentle smile, and a heavy sigh left his lips, echoing around the barren room. His legs laid underneath him as he sat idly on the hard floor inside the warehouse. The wide room was piled high with auction items of many sorts. Couches, tables, chairs, dining sets, everything someone would need for their first home. The sun was setting by now, casting a light yellow hue over the building's roof, as usual. Toby had come to see Greg halfway through his shift. Despite their last fight, Toby enjoyed his new company.

"How'd you get this black eye again?" Greg asked, handing Toby the washrag and turning around to grab some ointment.

Toby paused for a moment, recalling the events from last night. Kiro was beyond angry with him for hiding a bag of his own. I suppose he felt like I was trying to run away... The first few assaults Toby took were feverish kicks to the rib cage and stomach. Then Kiro had punched him above the cheekbone, leading the teen into his current situation. He didn't know where to go after Kiro told him to leave for a few hours while he calmed down. Greg was really his only option at the moment. 

Toby shrugged nonchalantly, "A stray dog attacked me."

"Weird." Greg mumbled aloud. He spread a string of white creme across his pointer finger. "I don't see any bite marks."

"Yeah..." A timid chuckle left the boy's throat. He pressed the rag farther into his eye, relishing the warmth that came with it. "It was a big dog; headbutted me. I don't think it meant to though, it was just hungry, and I was carrying around canned goods."

"Ah, I see." The man nodded, unknowingly falling deeper and deeper into his lie. Although, most anyone would have. Toby, throughout the years, had trained himself to deceive, manipulate, and steal to get through his hardships. It was a survival mechanism of sorts.

Greg coughed to break the silence around them before speaking again. "So... That bag of yours? What's in it?"

The freckled boy pulled his legs in front of himself and towards his chest, "Some food, a jacket, loose change." He stopped. "Well, that's what used to be in it."

"What happened?

"Kiro..." Toby swallowed thickly, trying to think of a convincing lie. His mind scrambled for something else to say, anything but the truth. How would Greg react if he knew Kiro took nearly everything except for the bag itself? The man was annoying enough after learning about the boy's givers. "Uh, actually, about my punishment..."

"Um," Greg cut the teen off quickly, "Don't... Yeah, don't worry about it. It's not my place to do anything like that. Besides, you didn't even do anything wrong."

Toby slumped his shoulders, heaved a sigh, and let the cloth slip from his fingertips. It landed next to him, smacking against the cemented floor and leaving a wet spot underneath it. His eye swelled beneath his skull and began to pulse. Toby clenched his teeth tightly together as a headache surged through the back of his scalp. He then noticed the strange stare Greg was giving him. The man held ointment in one hand and the fallen rag in the other. The once white cloth was now mottled with brown.

"Are you feeling okay?" Greg asked slowly while placing the rag back into the teen's hand. Toby only looked down at it. He was unable to respond over his pounding headache. "I wouldn't use that rag anymore it's dirty." Toby nodded knowingly as the man leaned forward. "And this ointment should help dull the pain, okay?"