The Missing Pieces Of An All American Girl

Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Our two cabins were located in a quiet and private part of the mountain. I felt comfortable not wearing my hijab because there was nobody there except my close cousin and I. The light breeze blew my hair into a tangled mess as I skipped and hopped to keep up with Marcus' long strides. "It's so beautiful out here!" I gasped as I emerged through the thickets of the woods and caught up with him. The beauty of the Mulberry River was astonishing underneath the brightness of the moonlight. The bluish green water seemed to be clear as I sat on the rocky shore and removed my sandals. "What are you doing?" Marcus asked as he starred down at me in disgust. He had always disgusted by my willingness to take off my shoes and get my feet dirty and rough. "I'm rolling up my pant legs to dangle my feet in the water," I said with a smile. "The water is cold, but the body adjusts quickly if you ease your way into it," I added as my feet dangled in the water. The water was beyond cold, it was freezing. The hairs on my legs stood although they were wet and it felt like my legs were being pricked with needles as I slowly submerged them to my knees. "No thanks if a worm or something get on my feet I will be beyond terrified. Every time you say you are going to dangle your feet in the water, we leave soaked in dirty water and sand! I've studied cases in which people get infested with parasites by hopping into water they thought was clean," he replied. "In most cases these parasites are microscopic, and you can't see them with the naked eye," he added. "To each is his own." I said with a wince as the pin and needle sensation grew stronger. "I've been doing this my entire life and I haven't had a parasite yet. I mean my feet get a bit rough sometimes if I don't put anything on them to keep them soft, but other than that I am absolutely fine," I said stubbornly. Marcus, the person who always had something to say when nobody else did, was unusually quiet. He didn't challenge my opinion and experiences with scientific facts and theories as he normally did. He stood next to me and skipped rocks across the shallow waters in silence. Through the corner of my eyes, I could see him staring at me with a smile that gave me a queasy feeling. "Marie should've came with us. She's missing out on such a wonderful sight." I said. The silence along with Marcus' smirks were killing me and I was desperate to change the mood of the atmosphere. "We can bring them here anytime, we aren't but maybe a mile from the cabin anyways. A mile walk on flat land is nothing considering the six mile hike we did to and from Outlook Mountain," Marcus said as he sat next to me. I watched the calm waters gently rising and retracting on the rocky and sandy shore, leaving squishy sand underneath my feet and in between my toes. When I closed my eyes, I could still see and hear the water in my mind along with my thoughts. I thought about my life had changed and tried to figure out where I could have possibly gone wrong. The more I searched, the more confused I became. I felt happy, I felt sad; I felt angry, I felt glad. I was crying and didn't even realize it until Marcus gave me a hug and gently patted my back. With every "You're okay" my heart grew heavier and I shook each time I tried to control my emotions, for sympathy always made my tears flow quicker. Moments later, I was able to breathe without shaking and sobbing. My eyes were puffy and I felt a headache coming on. Marcus pulled my head towards his shoulder and I rested it there gratefully. "It'll help with the headache," he offered as he passed me a pill he took from his pocket. Marcus knew that everytime I cried, I got a terrible headache. These headaches were so bad that I always felt that my head would split. I mustered the strength to scoop water from the river and into my hands to help swallow the medicine. My eyes were so tired from crying that I could hold them open no longer. Still sniffling and wiping my eyes with my shirt, I drifted into a deep slumber.

As I slept, I had a dream that Maria and I were fast asleep in our room at the cabin. Marcus sat in a rocking chair next to my bed and watched over me as I slept. He played with my hair and gently massaged my face with his thumb. When I opened my eyes, I thought I saw someone standing in our door. I sat up and rubbed the sleep from my eyes, but nobody was there. I hesitantly climbed out of bed and rushed to the door in my tank top and shorts, but nobody was there. I could hear my grandparents snoring loudly from the room next door as I stepped into the hallway. I stepped into the kitchen and peered into the living room which was illuminated by the soft moonlight. I still saw nobody. "I'm seeing things," I said to myself as I walked back to my room and grabbed a through from the bed. I draped it over my shoulders and went into the kitchen to make hot tea. I sat on a stool at the granite counter and starred into space until the kettle began to whistle. I poured hot spice tea into my mug and sweetened it with organic honey. My spoon clinged and clanged as I stirred the hot tea inside of my glass mug. I was half way into the living room when Marcus bumped into me. The impacting jolted my mug and hot tea to spill onto my bear feet. I hissed and cursed, but I was sure not to drop the mug. "I'm so sorry! I didn't even know you were awake," he blurted as he grabbed napkins and blotted my feet dry. "What are you doing awake?" I asked as I stepped away from him. "It's fine," I added as he looked at me quizically. "I couldn't sleep. I heard someone down here so I came from the loft to see who it was. Why?" I shrugged and carried my mug into the living room. I took a seat next to the window so I could have a view of the mountains under the moonlight. Marcus sat next to me and placed his hand on my thigh. At first I thought it was an accident, but he didn't attempt to move away from me. A chill spread throughout my body causing me to hold the through closer to my body. I slowly began to inch away from him until his fingers pressed forcefully into my skin. "Do not move," he said through clenched teeth. "This will be much easier the less you move," he said into my ear before placing a kiss on the crook of my neck. He moved to undo the drawstrings on my shorts. I screamed loud enough to awake to awake the dead from their slumber and everything went dark. Startled by the dream, I tried to awake myself, but I couldn't. I was so sleepy that I had no energy to open my eyes to see what was going on around me. Everything seemed fuzzy and I was desperately trying to figure things out. I heard a voice near me, but I had no idea of who it belonged to. The only thing my mind could register was the smell of smoke. I tried to slowly open my eyes and though I could only crack them open, I could see a man starring down at me. I was so disoriented that I couldn't tell the expression on his face "You're fine, you're okay," he was mumbling to himself. When the man moved, I seemed to move along with him. That's when I realized that I was laying in his arms. I must've drifted off to sleep again because that was the last thing I could remember.