Kenneth and the Queen

Kenneth and the Queen- Chapter 12

Kenneth and the Queen- Chapter 12

                I woke up to my phone vibrating in my pocket. Ashley was texting me. She wanted to know where I was and said that mom was worried. I texted back and looked at the time. It was five fifteen in the morning. Also known as time to leave.

                “Christine.”

                “What?” she asked.

                “It’s morning. I have to leave. I’ll try to come back later. I love you.”

                “I love you, too.” She replied still half asleep.

                I climbed out the window quickly and ran to my car. I drove home at a pretty fast pace. I didn’t want to spend time thinking about how long Christine had before her father woke up.

                When I opened the front door my mother was there. “Kenneth, you had me worried sick! You should have told me you were leaving!” she scolded.

                “I’m sorry. It was late and I didn’t want to wake you.”

                “The least you could do is leave a note.”

                “I will next time. I’m sorry, Mom.” I said apologetically.

                “Now that mad mom is gone tell worried mom how Christine is.”

                I sighed. “She was fine when I left. She seems okay so far. She’s scared though.” I told her.

                “She has every right to be scared. The poor girl gets used like a punching bag.” My mom’s eyes started to water. “It’s is so cruel that she goes through that.”

                My mom spent the better part of an hour crying over Christine. After she had calmed down Reece and Ashley came downstairs. Ashley knew what was going on with Christine and figured out by my mother’s face that everything was not fine. Reece knew that Christine had moved but she knew nothing more and we intended to keep it that way. Reece was too young to have to worry about it.

                I wanted nothing more than to go back to Christine as soon as possible but I knew I needed to wait. It was still early.

                My mom announced that her “friend” was meeting us for lunch. Meaning her boyfriend. She said afterward I was free to check on Christine and stay as long as needed. Talk about Christine or anything else unhappy was strictly prohibited. And this is how I ended up in a nice restaurant in town with my family waiting on my mom’s boyfriend.

                “I’m sure he will be here any minute. He is probably just running late.” Mom explained.

                Turns out he was running late. It’s the first thing he said when he joined us.

                “I am so sorry. I got a little caught up in my work and I noticed I was late.” He sat down and kissed my mother on the cheek. Ashley obviously found it romantic and Reece seemed to find it utterly disgusting. I was indifferent. All of my thoughts were focused on Christine.

                “Kids, this is Michael. Michael these are my kids Kenneth, Ashley, and Reece.” She pointed to each of us.

                “It is very nice to finally meet you all.” Michael said.