Asterism

19. small mercy

🎵: In My Veins - Andrew Belle

THIS particular chapter...yeah it's a lot. Also, listen to the song if you want to be truly ruined emotionally.

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CALEB Kahn's house looked like Marley's, if her father wasn't in jail, if he was promoted at the factory, and he gambled less money on poker nights.

It had low ceilings and boxy rooms, with dark hardwood and white linoleum that led into a tiny kitchen with 90s yellowed appliances. The dark brown fabric couch, armchair and a nicked, wooden coffee table surrounded a small tv by the window overlooking the front porch and lawn. It was propped on a black stand with magnetic glass cabinets closed around stacks of VHS movies and tapes. The square dining room table had nearly disappeared under boxes, stacks of mail, papers, and tools.

There was a small layer of dust on the floor, and the dishes had been piling up in the kitchen. Laying on his side against the screen door to the backyard, a brown Labrador slept peacefully on a black mat. The only sounds in the house were the drip of the leaking kitchen facet, and the television on low volume, playing reruns of a crime drama. Most of the windows were open, a gentle breeze carrying through the house when Marley left the bathroom that was down the single hallway.

She bundled her dress in the plastic Walmart bag that Caleb had given her, ruffling her hair dry with a thin, green towel. Marley was grateful that she had the chance to shower off the night, and that she and Aiden were apparently staying here, but not grateful enough to resist her nature to take a look around Leo's brothers' house, while the muted hum of Aiden and Caleb's intermingling voices echoed in from the front porch.

Her eyes caught on her reflection in a cracked, faded mirror hung up on a side wall in the living room. Caleb had given her a black satin nightgown to wear, as well as clean feminine undergarments, but nothing else in the house told Marley a woman lived here currently.

There were a few hung frames on the walls that she approached on soft, bare feet, but they were all photos of Caleb surrounded by groups of men in military uniforms. No family. No Leo. That only made her more curious. Marley knew nothing about Leo's family, and he and Aiden had never brought it up. She had questions, but after everything that happened in the last twelve hours, those were stacked to the ceiling by now.

Wandering into the kitchen, Marley was greeted by the sight of a plastic cup of blue liquid next to her empty Gatorade bottle, as well as a bowl of some saltine crackers.

She sighed. Aiden, taking care of her as always. Marley knew she owed him a huge apology for what she put him through tonight, but she wasn't sorry that she was here. Now that she and Leo had become closer over the last six months, Marley wanted to know more about his elusive family life.

Standing in the middle of his brothers' house felt like a decent start, even if it was four in the morning and after she was released from jail.

Forcing herself against touching anything, Marley peeked at the papers on the dining table. A lot of them were unopened bills and cheques from the Government, as well as letters with a military insignia printed on them. That didn't tell her much either. There was a Dell laptop open on the kitchen counter, but Marley wouldn't go that far to snoop. She finished off the Gatorade and the saltines to satisfy her rumbling stomach, staring at the desktop picture of Caleb next to two other men in a crowded bar. He had a beard then, and his eyes were bloodshot. Despite that, there was a wide smile playing on his lips. He looked like Leo in all ways but his smile, which was crooked to the right while Leo's was crooked to the left.

Marley turned away from the table, and, after giving the brown Lab a nice pet, made her way over to the front door. She stilled by an unknown impulse, once she could make out the conversation happening outside.