Page 27 of Ky
“The fuck are you watching?”
I jumped at Ky’s barked question.
“Teeth,” Ingram answered as I turned my head to look at him.
“Is that a scary movie?” he asked, his eyes glued on me. “You let her watch this?”
“Ummm…” Yeah, I had nothing. I saw how it might have been a bad choice in movie selection, but really, if I’d tried to veto I would have probably been sent away.
“No, I really like it, Ky. It is about a girl that has teeth in her vagina and she can hurt the people that try to hurt her.” She didn’t take her eyes off of the screen as she talked.
Ky and I both looked back at each other with a strange look. It was almost like we’d picked up on the same thing. I didn’t know what to do with that but it was something that was going to have to be handled at a different time.
“Fine, but I’m watching it with you,” he said and nodded at Mouse indicating in their silent man-talk to move. Mouse got up without any protest and settled on the floor as Ky took the vacated space beside Ingram. “But it goes off if I think it’s too much.”
“Fine,” Ingram grumbled and if I wasn’t mistaken her cheeks heated with embarrassment. I didn’t think he even realized that he was treating her like a kid in front of everyone.
Then suddenly the movie became awkward for me to watch. I had to be honest, the subject matter hadn’t really bothered me around everyone else, but now that Ky was here, it suddenly made me feel itchy. Maybe it was the fact that I sort of found the guy attractive. Okay, it was more than that. I tried hard not to admit it, but ever since the beach and I saw a new side of him, I couldn’t deny that the guy was wiggling his way into my heart. Dumb? Yes. Always is when you like a guy that will never like you back. Even if he might have been feeling some weird thing for me, I had a good idea that he wasn’t going to just jump in feet first and all.
“Oh, fuck. No. That’s just wrong. Chris!” Ky’s bark snapped me out of my thoughts.
He got to his feet at some point during his outburst. My eyes landed on the screen and I actually winced.
“Off, now. Shut it down,” Ky said trying to block Ingram’s view of the screen.
“Ky, no,” Ingram said and her eyes immediately went to the pillow in her lap.
“There was a…I can’t even say it. This is just disturbing on so many levels.”
“Ky,” I said as calmly as possible. I was trying my best to control my laughter and I knew that wouldn’t help him realize how he was making Ingram feel at all. “She’s fine. She understands that it’s a movie.”
I didn’t point out that he was the only one freaking out at the moment. I could see how he was a little bit right but at the same time, if we didn’t let her figure out somethings for herself then she’d never be able to grow. She wouldn’t be able to truly be free. Ingram had been held down and back her whole life, the last thing she needed was to finally get out and receive the same treatment from us.
Everyone else seemed to be frozen in shock and unsure of what to do as Ky and I stared each other down, the movie still rolling in the background.
“Ky,” Mouse said as he got to his feet. The guy was a few inches shorter than Ky but he didn’t look like he was going to back down as he stepped in the middle of us. “It’s my fault, I’m sorry. I thought that Ingram was smart and mature enough to handle it.”
Oh, shit!
It was like Mouse had just verbally slapped Ky and I almost wanted to close my eyes because I knew there was a blow-up coming.
But then Ky’s eyes softened as he looked over Mouse’s shoulder at Ingram.
“You’re right. Shit. I’m sorry. I’m not good at this…” He looked around as if he just realized there was a room full of people. “Alright. Finish watching it. I’ll just…be elsewhere.”
He swallowed hard as he walked in the direction of his room. I resisted the urge to go after him. If anything, he needed time to cool down and put himself back together. I understood where he was coming from and I couldn’t blame him. Maybe it was the wrong choice to watch it but I wanted Ingram to feel like her input counted. Like she could say things and actually have them matter.
“You okay?” I heard Mouse ask softly as he sat down beside Ingram once again. She gave a timid nod but didn’t lift her head. “You want to finish the movie or find something else?”
“I would like to watch it, please.”
Her eyes sought out mine and I gave her a little nod letting her know that it was fine.
The rest of the night went on without any more blow-ups. The weird tension of earlier still hung thick in the air and everyone decided to make their exit shortly after the credits rolled. I hated that this night kind of ended up a bust. I’d wanted to give everyone a chill, fun night but I’d somehow made things worse.
Ingram ducked off to bed and I stayed behind to clean up everything. The house was oddly silent and it reminded me of how it was before Ingram and Ky moved in. For some reason, it felt so strange and I actually realized that I hated the quiet now.
I made a mental note to call Laurel in the morning as I took my suddenly tired ass upstairs. I hadn’t spent that much time with her tonight and I didn’t want her to think that I was brushing her off. Then I wondered if this whole thing maybe wasn’t the best of ideas. I honestly had no idea tonight would go down the way that it had, but there was nothing I could have done about it now.
