The Real You (BWWM)

4:Murder comes to town

April 16th, 2016

All of this is a little too much to take in. My dad cheating on my mom isn't shocking, in fact it's happened many times before with all our nannies, but he's using these women to get what he wants. I never thought he was capable of this. "Landon." My mom says, snapping me back into reality. 

"Yeah?" 

"Go tell Kyra that breakfast is ready." I try not to laugh in her face. Having a family meal hasn't happened since mom was actually sober enough to cook her own food. It pisses me off that my parents have to put on their stupid facade for other people. But when the doors are close, I have to see the real them. I walk up to the room Kyra is staying at and stop at the door. I see her sitting in front of the mirror and beginning to cry. My heart aches a little seeing her hurt. She suddenly turns to face me. 

"Oh sorry, I should've knocked." Now I really feel like a peeping tom. She reassuringly laughs and wipes away her tears.

"Its okay. Not like I was getting dressed or anything." I awkwardly laugh at her remark, thinking about her stripping down to her underwear. I try to shake the thought away and blurt out.

"My moms making breakfast." She flashed me a half smile and nodded. I look at her for a moment concerned. "Are you okay?"

"Oh, yeah I'm okay. Just thinking about something." She rubbed her forearm nervously. I could tell she was lying, but I decide to just leave it alone. 

"So Kyra, did you enjoy the food?" My dad questioned her. 

"Yes it was amazing. Thank you so much for all of this." My mom holds her palm out casually, rejecting her praise.

"No need to thank us. It was the right thing to do sweetie. Just tell me if you don't like a certain food so I'll know for later."

"Will do." Kyra says cheerfully. The door bell begins to ring and my dad walks to get it. Kyra gets up as well to put her dish in the sink.

"Hey kiddo! What are you doing here?!" I hear bantering in the entrance until my dad and the guest walk into the dinning room, that guest being my older brother- Jacob. My dad scruffs his hair playfully and Jacob looks at me. 

"Long time no see little brother." I give him a tight lipped smile and my mom goes up to hug him. 

"Aw I missed you baby!" 

"Missed you too mom." Kyra comes back into the dinning room and Jacob gazes at her. 

"Hi." He says reaching his hand out to greet her. "I'm Jacob." 

"I'm Kyra. Its nice to meet you." He laughs sadistically. 

"Same here." My blood began to boil. Me and my brother don't have the best relationship, especially since he went to college, leaving me with mom and dad. But why would I want him to stay here anyway ? He's a sadistic, manipulative person who always needs to get his way.  The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. I clear my throat to take his attention off of Kyra. "So, is my room still available?" 

"Sorry honey, Kyra is occupying it right now. But you can stay in Hannah's old room." 

"Ugh, fine. You better be glad you're cute new girl." She smiles uncomfortably at his flirting. I sigh. 

This is going to be a long weekend.

Me and Kyra sit at a busy caff'e going through the information that we gathered up on Google about these women my dad is blackmailing. "So, what I've found out is that Darla Monnet's  elderly mother is in a retirement home, she lives alone in a two bedroom apartment in downtown Seattle, and she is very political."

"Well now we know why dad targeted her, but what does he have on her?" I could see the frustration and determination in her eyes as she flipped through pages and I softly laid my hand on hers. "Lets take a break." She faintly laughed and runs her hands through her short curly hair that I've adored since the moment I first saw her. "Coffee?" 

"Yes please." I get up to order one chocolate tea latte for her and a caramel latte for me. I hand her the coffee and she blows lightly into the lid. I'm memorized at her soft pursed lips. She suddenly looks up and I take a quick sip of my coffee, trying not to seem obvious. "I was wondering," She begins to say, "Who is that girl your mom talked about this morning?" My throat becomes tight at the thought of Hannah and my once warm coffee turns frigid.

"She's uh, she's my sister. She passed a couple years back." Shock and guilt filled Kyra's expression. 

"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't mean to open up any old wounds." I shake my at her apology.

"It's okay, really. She was hit by a car while playing in the park. I was supposed to be watching her, but I guess I wasn't enough attention when she was hit. Its because of me she's gone.The most screwed  up part, is that I didn't even go to her funeral. I'm pathetic I know." 

"Don't say that." Kyra quickly states. She scoots closer to me in the booth, trying to get her point across. "It is not your fault that life happens. You can't blame yourself for something that wasn't your fault. People will come and go in your life, but you shouldn't yourself for them leaving if it wasn't your fault. So don't say you're pathetic because you a much better person than that Landon." I could feel that passion in her words. She's actually cares this much about it. 

"You know, you're the only person that doesn't think it's my fault." She lets a soft laugh out, close enough for me to smell her fruity perfume. 

"I guess that makes us a team then." We both laugh and she checks the time on the new phone my dad bought for her. "Crap, I have to go to therapy." She gathers all her stuff and heads towards the door before turning to say something. "Remember what I said, okay?" I smile at her

"Okay." And with that, she leaves. I ponder over her words. It seems like she's dealt with this kind of situation before. There's something different about her. And I wanna know what.