Volume 2
Loneliness
Kami stared blankly out of the library window at the seemingly endless expanse of perfect white sand beach; she touched her arm numbly and felt the soft gauze bandages that covered her many deep cuts and intricate scars. It had been about a week since Brandon had confronted her about her cutting, but so far he was the only one who knew about it. The girl dared not tell another soul about her addiction because she knew that her mother and the rest of her family were just waiting for a reason to send her away, the thought about that night when her father left them alone to run off with his wife’s sister made Kami cringe. The words the man said to her as he ran off with that horrible woman rang endlessly in her head.
“You’re a bad girl Kami, don’t you ever forget that. Tell your mother goodbye and good riddance from me now. That’s a good girl; just run away like the little coward that you are.” The man said as he took a swig of whiskey from his canteen and wiping his beard with disgusting satisfaction. Just as her father left the large house, Jack came up behind the girl and jumped on her back with a maniacal laugh,
“Whee! Piggy- back ride, piggy- back ride!” The little boy said with a giggle. His sister sighed and took him around the room a few times before plopping him down on the couch only to have him get up and wrap his little spindly arms tightly around her legs and squeeze causing the young girl to fall dramatically on her butt.
“Oh, you got me, you are my supreme overlord.” She said just as pitifully before Jack gasped as he looked at her arm and noticed the bandages were nearly saturated in dark crimson blood.
Kami’s eyes widened as she scrambled to cover up her secret. This attempt however, was completely in vain. Her brother had already run out of the room and was now telling her mother about it. Before the young girl could manage to take another apathetic breath, her mother Jane stepped in and stormed over to her daughter and grabbed her by her bleeding wrist which caused her to wince painfully.
“Kamilla Jaeda Williams, what on earth are you doing hacking on your own arm? Do you understand how dangerous that is?” Jane asked, her dark eyes filled with worry and concern as well as detectable amounts of rage. However, her daughter had tuned her out when she started asking the questions and simply shrugged before returning her eyes to the red and black tribal area rug on which she was standing. Jane pulled her daughter’s chin up to her face and her soulless eyes seemed to penetrate the girl’s very core.
“Mom, you couldn’t understand even if you tried.” Kami said bluntly as she managed to pull herself out of her mother’s icy grip. She headed directly into her room, slammed the door, locked the deadbolt and slid down the wall, head buried in her arms. Hot, salty tears began to stream quickly down her face. She sat like this for about twenty minutes before Brandon knocked on her bedroom door softly.
“Come in.” She said, her voice cracking before she managed to hoist herself up with her arms and sit back down on her bed attempting to regather her composure. Her friend poked his head in and frowned slightly. Brandon sighed and took a seat next to Kami, placing an arm around her shoulder and giving a small squeeze. His eyes widened when he saw that the bandages he had put on a few days ago were completely thrashed now but he decided to stay quiet and just let his friend cry for a little bit, knowing that she would be comforted by his presence.
Soon enough, Brandon and Kami were together on the beach simply watching and listening to the wave’s harmonious roaring. Brandon looked at Kami through the corner of his eye before doing something he never really would have thought about, he extended his hand until it was hovering nervously over the hand of the young girl. She noticed this and raised her hand to meet his own, when the two met time seemed to stop dead and the only sound to be heard was the synchronized breathing and heartbeats of Kami and Brandon. Before the girl could reconfigure her fluttering mind, the silver haired boy pulled her into a long, deeply passionate kiss that seemed to last an eternity; or at least Kami dreamt it would.
The couple was so filled with emotion towards each other that getting them out of their sweet embrace was like trying to pull apart two oppositely facing super-magnets. But when the two did break apart, the silver-haired boy saw something on his love’s face that he thought he would never see again, A large ear-to ear grin that seemed impenetrable by any amount of sadness or dread the world and universe themselves could muster.
“Kamilla Jaeda Williams, I love you.” The young boy said happily with a grin the size of the whole state of Texas across his face. By then the two were standing up together, hand in hand and Kami jumped dramatically into her friend’s arms before burying her head softly into his chest, again comforted by his strong heartbeat.
“I love you too Brandon Ryker.” She said quietly, before falling asleep soundly in the young boy’s arms.
