Crossing Paths

Chapter 15

Aliyah

As Kayden and I walked into the bowling alley, the smell of gross pizza, sweaty feet, and oiled lanes instantly hit me. Growing up, whenever my mom needed a break from Jeremiah and I  screaming at each other from opposite sides of the room for no reason other than the fact that his breathing was annoying me, my dad would whisk the two of us away to the bowling alley to give my mom a break. Most of the time, it didn't end very pretty. Jeremiah would constantly make fun of me every time I missed the pins which inevitably ended up with me "accidentally" trying to hit him with my bowling ball. The only time I ever actually succeeded was when I dropped it on his foot and ended up breaking two of his toes.

Needless to say, I had some pretty fond memories of the local bowling alley. Despite the vivid memories of being driven to the edge of my insanity because of my idiotic brother, a nostalgic feeling swept over me as I watched several of the occupied lanes where parents were trying to teach their kids that the ball was not supposed to go in the gutter. 

"You know," I said to Kayden, "I came here all of the time growing up. It was one of the only times I could actually get my dad to focus on me instead of his job." 

When he didn't respond, I glanced over my shoulder to see his eyes darting around uneasily, taking in all of the sights. If I didn't know any better, I would have guessed he had never stepped foot in a bowling alley before. I was about to say something about it when a young boy suddenly came out of nowhere, maliciously cackling as he ran right into Kayden. The kid would have ricocheted right off and fallen on his butt if Kayden hadn't shot a hand out and caught his arm. 

"How about you watch where you're going?" Kayden suggested while he steadied the little boy. The high pitched laughter fell silent as the kid peered up at Kayden, his eyes as wide as saucers. For a second, I thought that Kayden might have been a little too rough. It had been made very clear that he wasn't the gentlest of people, even if it was just a kid. I was in the middle of hoping that the little guy wouldn't freak out and call for help when he suddenly snorted derisively, and brought his leg up to kick Kayden swiftly in the shin. Caught off guard, Kayden let loose a small exclamation of pain before he took a couple steps back, glaring angrily at the kid. I gasped quietly, holding a hand up to my mouth more to cover the smile spreading across my lips more than the sound. 

"What the-" 

"Don't tell me what to do!" The boy yelled shrilly, his face burning bright red in anger as he threw up his middle finger in Kayden's direction. Kayden's eyes sparked in outrage and he immediately tensed up. I was about to jump in and remind him that he was letting some little punk get under his skin when a young woman who looked incredibly exhausted came hobbling in our direction. To say she looked disheveled was a complete understatement. Her long blonde hair looked like she had just rolled out of bed, her shirt was wet and looked like some sort of brown substance had just been spilled all over it, and she was juggling multiple pairs of bowling shoes in her arms. 

"Kayden!" She called in exasperation, her breath coming in short, sharp bursts. My head snapped over in her direction and I watched her in puzzlement before I glanced in Kayden's direction. The confused look on his was face was enough to tell me he had no idea who the lady was. But instead of even sparing a glimpse in Kayden's direction, she walked up to the kid and began to kneel in front of him. 

"Kayd, I told you to-" 

"No!" The little Kayden screamed obnoxiously and stomped his foot in protest before he once again took off like a rocket to avoid the woman who I assumed was his mother. She sighed heavily in resigned defeat, not even bothering to say a word to either of us, before she stood back to her full height and hurried after her son, leaving Kayden and I in stunned silence.