“We’ll find a way to help your mom, but for now you just need to be patient. Come on, let's get some food and then we can figure out the rest,” she suggests.
We get out of the car and find a booth at the back of the cafe.
“How do you hide in plain sight?” I ask as I look over the menu.
“So far it’s been fairly easy. Vinco has gotten close a few times, but our network is large enough now we can lead them off the path fairly easily. The main objective is to keep the kids safe. We do lose adults occasionally still,” she says, her eyes glazing over with a far away look.
“Who did you lose?” I ask.
“Another time perhaps.” She smiles, but it’s tinged with sadness. Her aura swirls deep blue.
“How long have you been with CODA?” I watch her, trying to find a neutral subject.
“I joined CODA fifteen years ago. I’m in charge of foster placement. When new kids come in, I find them families to live with.” She smiles, her aura brightening.
“That’s awesome. It’s too bad that the kids lose their parents though. Do the colors around people tell us anything?” I ask, to change the subject.
“You can tell a lot from them, yes. Like yours is bright red, with swirls of black and blue. That tells me you’re angry and sad. The black shows you’ve experienced deep pain,” she explains.
“That’s why most kids don’t have black,” I reply, finally understanding it’s significance.
“Unless they’ve been abused, lost someone really close to them, or have been really sick. Typically teenagers are the youngest you see with black in their aura,” her eyes are downcast.
“I think learning about all this will be useful,” I reply.
After the waitress shows to take our order, we continue to chat until the food arrives and we dig in. My burger is juicy and smells so delicious. As the first bite hits my tongue, my taste buds explode. This is the type of food my mom wouldn’t let me eat very often so it’s a luxury.
My eyes burn with tears thinking about my mom again. I can’t help but wonder if she’s in pain or being treated poorly. Then I think of our last conversation. I was so rude to her, angry because she was trying to keep me safe… The guilt overwhelms me and I lose my appetite.
“What’s wrong Krissy?” Catherine asks, her eyes full of concern.
“I’m a horrible person,” I whisper. “I was so mean to my mom the last time I saw her. She probably thinks I don’t even care she’s gone.”
“Oh Krissy, I’m sure she doesn’t think that at all. We’ve all been your age, and it’s normal for you to be rude and pissy. It comes with the territory,” she comforts me. “Your mom knows you love her and anything said in anger was just that, anger.”
“I hope you’re right,” I mumble, still not able to eat.
I sit and stew in my own guilt as Catherine finishes her meal. We get a to go box for my food then we go back to Catherine’s house to wait for school to finish.
When we get there she gives me the TV remote and says she has work to do but to make myself at home. I lounge on the loveseat and flip through the channels, trying to find something to distract me from my spiraling thoughts.
As Ellen starts, the front door opens. I whip my head around and my eyes land on three gorgeous guys coming through the door. I feel my cheeks heat and turn around quickly and focus on the television.
“Catherine, are you collecting more strays?” the dark haired boy calls out.
“Behave you three,” Catherine shouts then walks into the living room. “This is Krissy. Krissy this is Chance, Noah, and Tanner.”
I turn around and look at them again. Chance is the dark brown haired guy and he has hazel eyes with a rim of green around the pupil. He’s taller than the other two with a lean build and tanned skin. Noah is slightly shorter with a stocky build and olive skin. His jet black hair off sets his brilliant blue eyes. Tanner is the shortest but still tall. He’s fair skinned with auburn hair and green eyes.
“Nice to meet you Krissy,” Tanner says.
“Yeah, hi Krissy,” Noah grins.
“What’s up?” Chance smiles.
“Nice to meet you guys too,” I play with my hair nervously.
“Snacks are ready in the kitchen.” Catherine grins then heads back to her office.
“You hungry?” Noah asks me.
“I could eat,” I reply, remembering my uneaten lunch.
I get up and follow the three of them to the kitchen and see the counter is full of food.
“Do you guys always eat that much?” My eyes widen at the sight.
“We’re growing boys; we require a lot of nourishment,” Chance grins.
They grab plates and load them up while I stand back and wait for them to finish. Tanner elbows Noah then points to me.
“Uh guys, we should probably let her get a plate before we finish this all off,” he stops and glances at me.
“Oh yeah. Grab something. We tend to eat everything in sight,” Noah says, the tips of his ears turning red.
I pick up a plate and fill it with an assortment of veggies and crackers then perch on a stool at the breakfast bar.
“That’s all you want?” Chance’s eyes widen.
“It’s more than I need,” My eyebrows scrunching together. How much did they expect me to eat?
“Suit yourself.” Tanner shrugs.
The guys elbow each other to get back to the food, heaping their plates fuller than they should then carrying them to the table in the dining room. I stay where I’m at and crunch on my carrots when Noah comes back in the kitchen.
“Um, would you like to sit with us?” he asks, his hands fidgeting nervously.
“Oh, sure. I can do that,” I reply, mentally kicking myself. My words sound lame to my own ears.
I follow him to the dining room and sit at the end of the table and start munching on my snack again.
“So what happened to your parents?” Chance asks. “Ouch!”
Chance glares at Noah. “What did you kick me for?”
“That’s a rude question.” Noah rolls his eyes.
“Why? She wouldn’t be here if something didn’t happen to them,” he mumbles.
“My mom went missing yesterday. My dad ran off when I was six,” I reply staring at my plate. “You probably know him better than I do.”
They all look at me with confused expressions on their face.
“How would we know your dad?” Tanner raises his eyebrows.
“He teaches at your school. Dustin Hoalt,” I look at them smugly, waiting for their reaction. I’m curious what they think about him.
“What? Mr. Hoalt has a kid?” Chance asks his eyes opening wide.
The other two are staring at me with their jaws dropped open.
“Close your mouths before you collect flies,” Catherine says from the doorway. “Why are you giving the poor girl the third degree? I know you’ve been taught better.”
“Sorry ma’am.” Tanner looks chagrined.
“We were just getting to know Krissy.” Chance grins.
“You boys need to go clean your rooms and do laundry,” she says then turns to me. “If you ever have boys, teach them to do their own laundry. They are gross when they become teenagers.”
“Can’t we chat with Krissy longer? What kind of hosts would we be if we just ignored her?” Chance bats his eyes at Catherine.
“Fine, but when she leaves you need to do your chores.” She raises an eyebrow at him before heading back to her office.
“So are your tattoos real? I’ve never met a kid our age with so many.” Tanner stares at my arms.
“They are. My uncle Tony is a tattoo artist and he did my first one.” I lift up my sleeve and point to the heart on my upper arm. “And he taught me how to do the rest myself.”
“I don’t think Catherine would let us get tattoos but that would be awesome!” Noah grins.
“How did you guys end up with Catherine?” I ask, curious about their bac
kgrounds.
“My parents worked for CODA my entire life. One day they went out on a mission and never came back.” Noah’s eyes darken.
“We weren’t a part of CODA, but my parents never came home one day then CODA found me and brought me here.” Tanner looks over at Chance.
“Same as Tanner.” Chance shrugs, his face shutting down.
Catherine comes back in the dining room. “Time to get to work.” She claps her hands together.
All three guys groan. I laugh as she rolls her eyes and smiles. The boys get up and place their dishes in the kitchen before heading back to their rooms. Catherine sits next to me at the dining table.
“Your dad called. He’s finished at the school and coming over to pick you up,” she tells me.
“Do I have to go with him?” I ask, feeling my anger rising at the thought of seeing him again.
“It’s what’s best. I know you’re hurt and angry, but I know he loves you, Krissy,” she says as she places a hand on my arm. “Try to give him a chance. If you look at the situation from another point of view, it might look different.”
“I understand logically what he did he thought was for the best, but my heart says he left because I wasn’t good enough for him. If this gift, as he calls it, never happened to me… I would still be living with my mom and he wouldn’t have ever cared,” I say through clenched teeth.
“More like he would let you live in peace to keep bad people away from you,” she says. “I know it sucks, but this life isn’t easy for anyone. If you knew this gift could hurt your mom, would you stay just to be with her or would you leave to keep her safe?”
I sit and think about her words. If me just being like this is what caused my mom to go missing and I could have prevented it by running away and staying gone, I would have done it in a heartbeat. It would be selfish for me to stay. Damn Catherine and her logic! I understand what she means now.
My anger deflates. She's told me the stories of Vinco. She told me what they were capable of doing. If it had been me... "I would have left in a heartbeat," I mumble in resignation.
I understand why my dad left. And if he felt even half of the way I feel just thinking about leaving, it must have been harder for him than even I can realize. I've been such a selfish shit. All I've thought about has been myself, and not just today, but over the last few weeks with my mom. It seems I really do need to work on trying hard to understand others' situations.
The doorbell ringing brings me out of my thoughts. My stomach is still in knots at the thought of seeing my dad again, but I’m ready to at least give him a chance now. If I’m being honest with myself, I really did miss him a lot.
I follow Catherine into the living room where she opens the door. My dad is standing there holding the orange beanie I threw at him. That really was a bitchy move on my part.
“Ni… I mean Krissy, are you ready to go?” he asks hesitantly.
I nod my head yes then turn to Catherine. “Thank you for everything.” I want to hug the woman, but I'm unsure if it’s something I should do.
“You’re so welcome, Krissy. If you need anything, you’re always welcome here,” she replies then wraps her arms around me.
I hug her tight, so grateful that she was so kind and accepting of me. I could see her being an important person in my life if I let her.
When the embrace ends, I step through the door and join my dad on the porch.
“Can I have my hat back?” I chew on my bottom lip.
He looks relieved when he hands it to me. It seems to be a small peace offering between us. Hopefully we can get through the evening without me exploding.
I follow him to his silver Kia Soul and slide into the passenger seat. We ride in a tense silence through town until we pull up outside a small apartment complex. He parks the car, we both get out, and I follow him inside and up a flight of stairs to the second floor.
Halfway down the long hallway, my nose is assaulted by the smells of cooking food. We stop in front of apartment two-fifty-five.
“This is home, for now. I’ll start looking for a bigger place now that you’re here,” he says as he unlocks the door and opens it.
Stepping inside the small living area, a single green couch sat facing the cedar entertainment center that held a large television. It was a quaint apartment done in neutral earth tones. The green of the couch mixing well with the lighter tan colors around the house.
My attention was brought back to my dad as he sat his keys in a bowl that sat on a half-wall separating a galley kitchen with a small, two-seat table to the right. There’s a door to the left of the living room that’s open and leads to the one bedroom.
“The bathroom is through my room. I’ll get stuff moved around so you can have the bed. I’ll sleep on the couch,” he says.
“I’m fine on the couch. You don’t have to change everything for me,” I reply.
“I want to.” He walks off into the bedroom.
I plop down on the couch unsure of what to do with myself so I just wait quietly.
Chapter 4
I can hear him rummaging around in his room, opening drawers and shutting them. Then he comes back into the living room.
“Where’s your stuff?” he asks.
“Everything I brought is in this backpack.” I point to it.
“We need to go shopping then.” He nods as he makes up his mind.
“I don’t need much.” I shake my head.
“Krissy, you only have a couple changes of clothes, and I don’t have everything a teenage girl requires,” he explains. “Let me do this for you.”
“Ok, but I still have money left from mom.” I remind him.
“Keep ahold of it. You might want something later that you can spend your own money on.” He smiles. “I’m afraid I don’t have much food here either so we need to pick some up. What do you want to eat tonight?”
“What would you eat if I wasn’t here?” I ask.
“I’d probably just order a pizza,” he admits.
“Then let's grab pizza.” I shrug my shoulders.
He fishes the keys out of his pocket. “Let’s get moving and get shopping done. Then we can decide where to eat. Pizza is overrated.”
I follow him back out into the hallway, thankful for the distraction. Being with him feels really awkward. Even though he’s my dad, he’s a virtual stranger to me. I don’t know how to be his daughter and he doesn’t seem to know how to be my dad either. So much changes in ten years, how do you bridge that gap?
We get back in his car and drive to a shopping center. When we go inside, I’m a bit overwhelmed with all the choices and he seems to think I should know where to go. What he doesn’t realize is that I've done most of my shopping online. My mom was so paranoid we didn’t go out and go shopping for fun.
We enter the first store and everything is too girly and frilly for my taste so I leave immediately. The next one has a lot of jeans so I go through and find a few pairs in my size. Dad pays for them and we walk around until I find Hot Topic. This is a store I’ve gotten t-shirts online from.
He gives me a strange look as we enter but says nothing. I go to the wall with the graphic tees and start going through and finding a few of my favorites that I left behind. There’s a new one that says Things coming out of holes that I have to get. When we finish there my dad gets an uncomfortable look on his face.
“Um, Krissy. You need um… undergarments. Can I give you money and let you go get them on your own?” His face turning red as he points to Victoria’s Secret.
“Oh sure. No problem.” I try not to laugh. It’s just underwear. It’s not like he would see me wearing it.
He hands me a few bills then finds a bench to sit on as I go into the store on my own. I make my way through the store and find my sizes and pick up the essentials. I pay at the end and find my dad still sitting on the bench.
“Did you have enough to get what you needed?” he looks at me with a worried expression spreading across his
face.
“I did, here’s your change.” I hand him what I had left over.
A relieved look spreads across his face as he smiles. “Let’s go get something to eat.”
“What do you want?” I ask.
“I’m good with anything, but can we skip the pizza?” He grimaces. “What do you want?”
“Could we get Chinese?” I ask after I think for a moment.
“We can. Do you want to eat out or have it delivered?” He stands up and we start walking towards the door.
“Whichever is fine with me,” I shrug.
“We could run to the grocery store then grab some Chinese to go. They have a good selection there,” he says.
“Let’s do it then,” I reply.
We make our way out of the shopping center and get to the car. Dad turns on the radio and 90s music blares through the speakers. I wince and he turns it down.
“Sorry, I forgot how loud I had it,” he smacks his forehead.
“It’s alright,” I reply then go back to staring out the window.
It’s still so hard to wrap my mind around, being here… I can’t help but wonder what my life would have been like if he would have stuck around. Him leaving didn’t prevent mom from going missing, but maybe it would have been worse had he stayed.
“What are you thinking about?” he asks, glancing over at me.
“Everything. Nothing. I don’t really know,” I reply, not wanting to open this can of worms yet. “Where did you go after you left us?”
“Lot’s of places. I moved from state to state really never staying put for longer than a few weeks at a time. I was always looking over my shoulder, convinced they were going to catch up to me. So… How did you convince your mom to let you get tattoos?” He points at my arms.
“It wasn’t hard… I think she felt guilty for locking me away from the world. Uncle Tony gave me my first one then taught me how to do them myself.” My heart sinks thinking about them. I hope they are ok.
“I would have never pictured Jo letting you do that. I guess a lot changes.” He stares straight ahead as he drives.
“It could always be worse. It’s just art.” I reply, not sure what to say about it. It’s not like I could get rid of them even if I wanted to, which I don’t. “So how do we find out what happened to my mom and Uncle Tony?”
The Strange Existence of Krissy Nichole (The Memory Eater Chronicles Book 1) Page 3