Kenney: Still Waters Part 2

Chapter 65

"Hey."

"Hey." I opened my eyes when Charity walked in. They had me so drugged up I never really stayed awake more than an hour or two at a time.

I knew she wanted to tell me something as soon as she sat down.

"'Sup witchya?"

She just stared at me and asked "So...how do you feel?"

I tried to sit up, but of course I couldn't.

"I'm good. What's up?" She knew I wasn't for small talk.

"Does it hurt?"

"Can't feel shit." Her eyes grew huge. I nodded. "I know, right?" My eyes were doing the same thing on the inside, but I knew I had to maintain for the women. I didn't want them to freak out any more than they already were. "They still won't let me try to walk."

"How the hell you gone try to walk if you can't feel shit, Kenney?"

I skipped over that. Charity had been looking agitated since she walked through the door.

"What's on your mind, kid?" I decided to just get straight to it.

"I'm...glad...you're...breathing on your own again..."

"Mm-hmm." I stared at her. I could wait all day, but eventually she was going to tell me what she came there to say.

"Kenney..." She took my hand. "They found Tiana. Mama and Wallace...they found her..."

I blinked at her. "What do you mean found?" I willed my face to stay expressionless.

She stared back at me. "You know what I mean."

"Where?"

"Up the way."

"How?"

She looked away from me. "I...don't know..."

"Don't start that block shit with me Charity. How?" She shrugged. I took my hand away and tried to sit up again. She watched my struggle, then stood up to fix my pillows. "How?"

Charity looked down at me, expressionless. "They say...her body just gave out, I guess."

I stared at her some more and then fell back asleep. Fuck reality. If this was life, God could keep it. When I woke up again, Charity was still sitting by the bed, watching at me. I wondered how long she had been looking at me like that.

"What?"

"Do you remember what I told you?"

"Yeah." I let out a deep breath and stared up at the ceiling.

"Fucked up."

"Yeah." I looked over at her. "What else?"

"Jazz won't leave the house."

"What do you mean she won't leave the house?"

"I mean...she won't go outside. She's scared. Kenney..."

"Yeah?"

"We have to help her. She's doing real bad."

Tears dropped from her eyes, but she didn't make a sound. Impatiently, she brushed the tears away from her right eye. I brushed the tears away from her left.