beaming | keith kogane

XX | tired

☀

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I SIGHED TIREDLY, slipping my shoes off my feet at the front door. I shut the front door behind me, a bag of groceries hanging on my right wrist. Even though Mom was finally home, she was determined to make me still run errands. The two women in the living room stopped talking to glance at me. 

Perla didn't fail to keep her word as she sat on the couch, a navy blue duffel bag sitting in front of her feet. "Hey, Keith," She waved gently. I waved back, Kosmo going up to me and sniffing the bag of my groceries. I lifted the bag higher, seeing his snout grow closer and closer to the opening. "Not for you, bud," I pet the top of his head, going into the kitchen.

"So," I heard my mom ask as I put a carton eggs in the fridge. "Do you plan to spend Thanksgiving with us, Perla?" I was surprised to learn that Mom was staying until Thanksgiving, but my mood soon dampened as soon as she finished the question. Perla's home life was pretty questionable; it was why she preferred to move in with us.

Her parents had died when she was younger. Her father worked as a traveling businessman and he'd passed in a plane crash. Her mother was diagnosed with cancer that same year and she climbed the stages faster than the doctors could keep up; leading to her quick death just a few months after. Perla was too young to remember any of that though.

Her uncle lived in the rich side of town and was busy with all kinds of girls. According to her, he wasn't a 'pimp', per se. However, he tended to have woman after woman. Once the first girl left him, he'd move onto another one within a few weeks. This cycle had been going on for many years and due to the neglect, Perla was left to fend for herself at a young age.

Perla sighed, "No, I don't think so. I'm sorry that I won't be able to, but I think I'll clear some things up with my uncle. I feel guilty for taking his dirty money," She swallowed harshly as I returned to the living room, Kosmo adamant on licking my hand at least once. I looked over at her, crossing my arms. "We support you either way, Perls."

Mom looked at me fondly, as if proud of the words I was saying. Perla just nodded meekly, the action looking similar to another girl I'd grown fond of recently. "I'm aware, but I just hope things don't turn out to be dirty. I remember the last time I caught him with a girl, he kicked me out and then that girl stole his really expensive car later that week. He blamed it on me."

Mom sighed, shaking her head. "Adults that can't be adults are sad; all children deserve a parent, but not all parents deserve to raise a child." She stood up, ruffling Perla's curls before kissing the top of her head. She wandered into the kitchen to cook something, maybe even a second attempt at her ravioli.

"You want your room back?" I cracked a smile, looking over at Perla. Now that Perla was back, Mom was left on the couch, but she didn't mind. According to her, she had been 'introduced worse places to sleep' while being deployed. Perla grinned back at me as I grabbed her bag, following after her.

I walked behind her as she opened the door, closing it soon after. Her mint colored walls were filled with heavy metal band posters and a few indie artists. In the corner, there was one BTS poster, but it was so hidden that you could barely tell it was there in the first place. Nothing in her room had been touched since she left, so some of her clothes were still on the floor.

Perla was a relatively clean person, so she must've been in a rush to leave in the first place. "Sorry to leave at first," Perla looked down at the pile of clothes before sighing and nonchalantly tossing it into the laundry basket. I shrugged, leaning against the wall as I tossed her bag onto her bed. "It's okay, I deserved it anyways."

She rolled her caramel eyes, "No, you didn't. I was just being dramatic, but the words you used were still pretty ignorant. I'm just glad you're aware of that fact now." I sighed and nodded again in response, brushing her off. "Yeah, yeah. No need to rub it in, Perls." The girl merely gave me an amused grin, starting to unpack.

I looked over her shoulder, about to grab a graphic tee before stopping myself. A smirk shaped my lips as I pulled out a strip of unused condoms, "Classy." I snorted, waving the gold wrapper in front of her face. She didn't turn red, but I could tell that she was embarrassed from the way her eyebrows raised and how her nose scrunched up. 

"Mind your business, Kogane."

"Then, hide your condoms better," I clicked my tongue disapprovingly, actually helping her unpack after that. Perla snatched the strip of condoms from me, but it was even more amusing to see her stow them away instead of throwing them in the trash. A cacophonous chuckle left my lips at her antics, shaking my head as I neatly folded her t-shirt. 

Perla laughed dryly, tucking a teal strip of hair behind her right ear as she took out some sweatpants and shoved them in a drawer. "Ever the planner," I teased, still chuckling under my breath. Perla whacked me across the arm, "Shut up!" I rolled my eyes for the second time that day, going through the rest of her things and organizing it around her room as she wanted.

Occasionally, I was held victim to her scoldings and smacks when I placed a lotion bottle even an inch away from the proper position, but I put up with it. It's not like Perla could actually hit hard anyways. That was my job.