Page 33 of Tell Me Softly
“But that’s not…”
“Fair?” I interrupted her. “Come down off your cloud, precious. Life isn’t fair. Now if you don’t want more days of detention, you’ll quiet down.”
“Hey, now, that’s a little bit much…” I looked to the source of those words: Julian, who was smiling at me, unlike Kam, and didn’t seem in the least intimidated. I’d have liked to smack that smirk off his face, but instead I just said, “That’s enough talk for today. If you open your mouth again, I’ll keep you all here till nine. Trust me, I’ve got way better things to do, but if that’s what it takes, so be it.”
I looked down at my work, not caring how my brother, Kam, or Julian reacted. Fortunately, I was able to get some things done; they kept quiet until eight, when I let them go. Taylor waited for me to gather my things, and we walked together down the hall.
When we opened the door and walked outside, we saw Kam talking with Julian.
“I don’t like that dude,” Tay said as he came up beside me. I was glad to know I wasn’t the only one.
“I think I’ve seen him somewhere before, but I don’t remember where,” I said, taking out a cigarette and lighting it as we walked over to the car. My bike’s motor had started making weird noises, so I had left it in the garage. Once we were home, I’d figure out what was going on with it. I loved taking it out on the open road, but fixing it was a major pain in the neck.
“Are you sure?” Taylor asked, looking a little longer at Kam than he should have.
“Sure? No. But I’ve got a feeling…”
We passed just in front of them, and Kam tensed up. There was something strange in her eyes and my brother’s as they glanced at each other. What the hell was going on with them? Whatever it was, I didn’t like it, and I definitely didn’t like this new BFF routine they had going on.
When I got in the car, I pretended to be looking at my phone, but I was actually watching what was going on in the rearview mirror. As I did so, I got angrier and angrier, and after maybe a minute, I realized my brother felt the same way—except he wasn’t even trying to cover it up.
“Why can’t you stop staring at her, Tay?” I turned the key and sped out of the lot.
I needed to control my temper. I couldn’t just take everything out on my brother.
“I’m worried about her, Thiago.” WTF?
“You shouldn’t be worried. She didn’t worry about us when she tore apart our family.” I turned the wheel into our development. It was almost dark out, but there were still a few bands of pink, orange, even purple on the edge of the sky. I just knew Mom would be on the porch staring at the sunset, the way she loved to, when we got there.
“Bro, I know Danny hurt her. And I don’t think it’s the first time.”
So I have to worry about another asshole now?My pulse sped up, and I responded, “I don’t think Kam’s the kind of girl to let anyone put his hands on her.”
“I saw almost the same thing happen the other day. And when I brought it up, something in her eyes told me I wasn’t on the wrong track…”
I hadn’t been wrong about Mom. There she was, mug in hand, the late September sun reflected in her eyes. I wish I could look into those clouds and feel the same peace in my soul that she did. Instead, it was just that constant frustration and anger that never left me.
“You honestly think he hits her?” My voice sounded sarcastic, but I think that was a reaction to what was going on inside me. I didn’t want to believe what I was feeling; I didn’t want to imagine someone could hurt Kam, and I didn’t want to admit to myself how much I cared.
Taylor took a deep breath before getting out.
“I don’t know, man,” he said, “but even the thought of it makes me want to go to his house right now and whup his ass.”
We turned just as Kam pulled onto our street and into her driveway. She got out and looked at us, then over at my mother, who had just stepped out to greet us.
“Why don’t you boys tell Kam to come over for dinner,” my mother said when we met her on the porch. Kam waved at my mother, and I clenched my fists as Mom waved back. I didn’t mean for anyone to notice, but Kam looked crushed. That image of her, so sad, remained burnt on the back of my retinas.
“If she sets one foot in this house,” I said, “I’m grabbing my things and going.”
I walked past Mom and Taylor and strode up to my room.
I’d had all the bullshit I could take for one day.
Chapter Thirteen
Kami
It’s impossible to convey what it meant to me for Ms. Di Bianco to wave to me, even if it was from far away. I felt so relieved, so welcomed again. But then I saw Thiago clench his fists. At leastshewas capable of looking me in the face, of smiling at me as though nothing had happened. And that lightened a bit of the weight I’d been carrying around since I was ten years old. It took the sting out of the guilt—at least a little. Thiago’s mother said something to him, he snapped at her, and then my heart resumed aching as he stormed off into his house.
