by Lewis, D. C.
Most of the kids were minorities and all were from impoverished homes. The types of families that have to make a twenty dollar bill buy enough food to last an entire week, for 5 people. Families that had never known a time in their lives where they didn’t have to worry about money. A time when Christmas time brought laughter and gifts. These were families that fought for everything they had and the byproduct of that hard work was a lack of time to parent their children. So these kids were left to their own devices more often than not, which typically involved them participating in activities that had serious consequences.
Kiera was surprised when she learned that numerous kids in the class had already been involved with Juvenile Detention. She had to make an excuse to leave the classroom and hide in the bathroom to cry when she learned that many of the kids only got regular meals when they were in school and that summer break was one of the worst times of the year for them.
Having so much while those children had so little made Kiera nauseous and she wanted nothing more than to take them all home and take care of them. Feed them until their hunger was satiated. Dress them in new clothes and show them how life could be. She knew what it was like to be raised in a single parent household and even though she was on a different financial level with these children, she couldn’t help but feel a common bond that made her want to give them all that she should.
But she couldn’t and she knew it. In the end that would cause more damage than good and Katrina would never approve, so she put such notions to the back of her mind and committed herself to being the best volunteer she could possibly be, wishing she could do more. Promising to herself that one day, she would.
“I guess for me there is just more than money. I want to do something I am happy with, which is why I didn’t go to college. I didn’t need to - I taught myself all I needed to know about web design and this is something I love to do. Kiera, I think you should follow your passion, to stand up for yourself and go back to school if you want.”
Kiera envied that simplicity with which Brandon looked at the issue. She wished that she could just refuse to take over the pack and that things would be OK, but she knew it was only fiction. Katrina would never give up until Kiera accepted her responsibility.
“Enough about me, what have you been up to?” Kiera asked, wishing to change the subject.
“I’ve actually been pretty busy. I started advertising and have started to get some good business. I landed the Zeflon account last month and that has been a big deal. A few more accounts like that and I will be able to get my own place and a proper office.”
Kiera noticed an excitement in his eyes as he talked about his own place. While his father was nothing compared to her mother, Kiera could fully understand the appeal of living on your own.
“Hey, want to check out the comp I built?” Brandon asked excitedly.
“Do I ever,” Kiera said jokingly, with a touch of sarcasm that Brandon failed to notice.
“I built it a few months ago. Quad core processor that is overclocked, 6 gigs of RAM, 2 terabyte hard drive and a 1 gigabyte 5870 CrossFireX graphics card. This thing really screams. Playing online games is a breeze. The fps never drops below 60, even with max settings.”
As Brandon babbled on, Kiera half listened, muttering an occasional “Wow” or “Really?” or “Cool” to give the illusion of paying attention. “How can anyone be so into this?” she wondered. Sitting there in her computer tech stupor, her mind wandered back to her dream. “Why had it returned after being gone for so long? What did it mean?” She had been having this dream for as long as she could remember but it had been noticeably absent for a few months, Kiera had hoped that it was a sign that it was gone. The dream scared her on many different levels and now it seemed so real. As she closed her eyes she could still smell the earthy aroma of the forest as she ran through the trees. She could feel the wet dirt and other damp detritus on her barefeet. She could feel the wind passing through her…
“Well?’ Brandon asked “Kiera, what do you think?”
Snapping back to reality, Kiera stuttered “I’m sorry, ask me again.”
“Do you think this color looks OK as the background?”
“Hmm, makes the letters hard to read, maybe you should go with something darker.”
“Ah yes, good idea.”
As Brandon made the changes, Kiera took a look around the room.
“Isn’t this bad for your eyes?” she asked.
“No, these monitors have built-in glare reduction.”
“No, I’m talking about the poor lighting in here.
“I’ve never really thought about it, guess I have just gotten used to it.”
“Hey you wanna get out of here, go out and do something?” Kiera asked, suddenly feeling incredibly restless.
“Oh, I don’t know, I don’t like going out into public more than I have to.”
“Come on you big weenie, I won’t let anything happen to you,” Kiera said, picking on him. “You know you are going to give into me anyway so why waste the time fighting,” she said with her most mischievous smile.
Helpless against Kiera’s charm, Brandon caved, just like she knew he would.
Four
The night has not noticeably cooled as Kiera and Brandon emerge from his basement. The humidity hangs in the air like a wet blanket, at times almost suffocating. Yet this doesn’t seem to affect the indigenous wildlife. Crickets are strumming and frogs singing, calling to potential mates, attempting to entice them, just like the kids at the waterfront. A strong westerly breeze carries the tangy smell of the marsh and salt water as it blows Kiera’s hair. Disturbing the golden strands releases the herbal aroma of cucumber and watermelon. Kiera notices Brandon inhaling deeply through his nose. Apparently she isn’t the only one who enjoys that scent.
The stars are out, their light shining in majestic grandeur, so bright that it hardly seems to be 11 pm. Sliding into the driver’s seat, Kiera watches with amusement as Brandon fiddles with his seatbelt, making sure it is firmly buckled. Noticing Kiera looking at him, Brandon simply states “I’ve ridden with you before,” with a boyish grin on his face.
Starting the car and backing out of the driveway, Kiera already has a destination in mind which will solve her need to get out of the house and Brandon’s to stay out of public.
The route is familiar, Kiera having either walked or driven it countless times. The car seems to steer itself, guided only by Kiera’s light touch on the wheel. Brandon spends his time peering out the window. He reminds Kiera of a person seeing the world for the first time, taking in all the sights around him without talking.
They pull into the vacant parking lot. The playground stands like a focal point in the middle of the park, inviting one and all to come and enjoy its services. The moonlight is working its magic here as well, so the swings are more than just a dark shape looming from out of nowhere. Kiera can see that they have recently been replaced. She remembers the way her hands would turn orange because of the rusty chains, and how she had to be careful never to wear light pants because the corroded rubber of the seat would rub off and stain anything it touched. The new galvanized chains and rubber seats looked barely broken in.
“Kiera, do we have to do this tonight? I can barely see anything,” Brandon said in a very worried tone.
“Oh come on, it isn’t that dark and I promised I wouldn’t let anything happen to you. Besides, it's ONLY a swingset, nothing to be scared of here,” Kiera replied, with more venom in her voice than she intended.
Kiera sat down on one of the swings and started kicking her legs back and forth building up momentum as she watched Brandon stumble his way over to her with his arms stretched out before him attempting to feel his way in the dark. “How in the world does he ever make it on his own,” she wondered.
Finally making his way to her, Brandon sat in the swing next to her and slowly kicked his legs back and forth, mimicking Kiera. As he started to gain speed, a smile crossed his face and Kier
a couldn’t help but smile with him. She has shared this experience with Brandon many a day, sitting here in the park swinging and forgetting the worries of the world. How simple things seemed to be when she and Brandon came here as children. The biggest worries they had were getting their homework done on time and being home before the sun set. How different things were now. Kiera wished she could go back to those days, when she wasn’t worried about everything changing and her becoming a monster. Determined to not let thoughts of the future ruin the present she stopped kicking and slowly lets her swing slow.
“My legs are broke, would you push me?” she asked, all the while looking at Brandon with her most helpless expression.
He let his feet drag the ground, kicking up a cloud of fine dust and twisting his swing 360 degrees before coming to a stop. Once he stopped, the swing decided to return to its former position, violently spinning back the other direction. As Brandon tried to stand up, the dizziness overtook him and he stumbled, like one of the local fisherman who have had too much to drink in the town’s only bar and stumble their way to taxis or to displeased wives. Women who have been woken up in the middle of the night to take care of their intoxicated husbands. Trying to regain his balance, Brandon’s foot hit a hole and he went tumbling down. Unable to control herself, Kiera burst out in laughter while Brandon just sat there, defeated and unwilling to even attempt to get up.
“Need a hand?” Kiera asked.
“Nah, I’m OK, just need a second.”
“One one-thousand,” she said with a smile.
Brandon let out a deep sigh and stood up, brushing the dirt off his pants. A dark green stain now decorated the knee of his pants, along with a clump of grass still clinging for dear life.
“Sure would be nice if I had someone to push me,” Kiera said to no one in particular.
Taking the hint, Brandon hobbled over and positions himself behind her. Placing his hands firmly on her back, he gave her a big push. Kiera laughed in glee just like a little girl, her smile running from ear to ear. Being pushed was so much better than doing it herself. Instead of having to waste effort focusing on the making sure her legs maintained the steady rhythm that ensures constant motion, now Kiera could fully concentrate on enjoying the ride. The wind blowing in her face was powerful, she felt as if she was sticking her head out the window of her car. Back and forth, back and forth as Brandon pushed her. At the apex of one of Brandon’s pushes, Kiera leapt from her swing, soaring through the air to land gracefully on her feet.
“You’re gonna get hurt one of these times doing that,” Brandon said with concern in his voice.
“Oh stop being such a stick in the mud,” she fired back.
All Brandon can do was shake his head and sigh real big as he walks over to meet her. As a soft breeze found its way towards them, Kiera shivered as the sweat on her body started to evaporate. Reaching up and running her fingers through her hair, she attempted to untangle the tiny knots that have formed from her hair blowing wildly on the swing. Satisfied, she pulled it back into a ponytail that reaches down to her middle back.
“Well looky looky, if it isn’t the freak and his bodyguard,” a voice said from the dark, “Imagine seeing you two here.”
Startled, Kiera swung around to face the annoyance, immediately recognizing the voice even before the speaker came into the light of the evening.
“Well looky looky, if it isn’t the town loser and his group of idiots,” she retorted, her voice laden with hatred.
“Oh come now Pretty, don’t be like that, I haven’t seen you in so long.”
“Don’t call me that, as a matter of fact, don’t talk to me at all.”
“Now is that any way to treat your old friend Josh. How about you come over here and give me a kiss?”
“I would lick a toilet seat before I kissed you, Josh Riley!”
“Just thought I would try since I know the Freak isn’t kissing you, does he even like girls? Do you Freak?”
Brandon just stood there with his head down looking at the grass and his hands in his pockets. A part of Kiera wanted him to stand up for himself, to retaliate against this hostility but she knows that anything he does in defense of himself will just make the situation worse, so she is glad that he remained quiet. This was the one thing she had wanted to avoid. It was difficult enough to get Brandon to leave his house and with interactions such as this, it was going to be nearly impossible to get him to do it again.
“Hey Spot, I asked you a question. Do you like girls?” Josh asked with a snicker.
“Leave him alone. He doesn’t want to talk to you.”
“I was wondering how long it would take for you to defend his honor. How pathetic, he can’t even stick up for himself. Why do you even hang out with him? You should hang out with us.”
And with that, Josh crossed the final distance over to Kiera and Brandon. Placing himself directly in front of her, Josh reached out and grabbed her arm. His breath smelt like an open sewer with strong hints of cigarettes and beer. It turned her stomach. With clenched teeth, she fights back the urge to gag.
“Yeah, I think you should come hang out with us,” he said as he starts to pull her away.
“Let go of me!” Kiera screamed.
Josh’s grip is hard and feels like a vise on her upper arm. With her “fight or flight” response kicking in, Kiera momentarily lost control of the hold she had put on her Lycoan side all these years and pulled away with more force than an 18 year old human should have and easily pulled away from Josh’s grip. Unprepared for such a quick release, Josh stumbles a few feet before he gets his balance.
“Haha, she is making you look stupid,” one of his goons said.
Kiera saw the change come across Josh’s face and knew that he was near the verge of violence as he walked back towards her.
“You don’t seem to understand,” he said, “You WILL be coming with us, like it or not and if you try to fight, I’ll drag you by your pretty blonde hair.” Time seemed to slow as he reached out again. A fire seemed to burn in Kiera’s stomach as she saw the hand reaching towards her. An anger that she had kept forever locked away found its way to the surface like bubbles from a bottle of soda. She felt herself starting to lose control again, she was scared what was going to happen, she was scared she was going to "change." Just when it seemed inevitable, Brandon stepped in between her and Josh.
“Josh, I don’t think she wants to go with you. Why don’t you and your drunk friends get into your truck and run yourselves into a telephone pole?”
“Oh, Patch can talk. Do you think you are funny? Was that remark supposed to be clever? How about this, how about you get the hell out of my way or I’ll move you myself.”
Brandon didn’t flinch, instead, held his ground, looking at Josh eye to eye. Kiera had never been more thankful for Brandon than at that moment. His quick intervention had allowed her to regain her composure.
“Ok Freak, have it your way.” And with that, Josh reared back and punched Brandon in the stomach. A loud GUFFAW escaped Brandon’s mouth as all the air was forced from his lungs. Collapsing, Brandon laid on the wet grass. Kiera couldn’t help but think about how similar this was to the first time she had met him, how history really does repeat itself.
“What in the hell is going on here? Brandon Phelan, what are you doing on the ground? Josh Riley, are you drinking and harassing people again?”
During the commotion, nobody had noticed that Officer Randolph pulled up. He was not someone to be trifled with. Standing at 6’5'' he was a 4th-generation African immigrant who liked to spend his spare time working out. His back was as wide as a barn door and his arms the size of most people’s legs. While always polite, he spoke with an authority in his voice that commanded respect. Josh’s goons scattered like cockroaches with the light on, leaving him to fend for himself.
“I asked a question,” Officer Randolph said. “What is going on here?”
“Nothing,” replied Josh. “Just catching up with old fri
ends.”
“Do you really think I am stupid? I’ve lived in this town my entire life and I know that you are not friends with Kiera Hemming and Brandon Phelan. If anything, you are their worst enemy.”
Walking over towards the three, Officer Randolph reached down with a hand the size of a skillet and helps Brandon up.
“You OK son?” he asked.
“Yes sir," Brandon replied. “Just got the wind knocked out of me.”
“You want to press charges for aggravated assault?”
“Nah, I would rather he get back into his car and by some miracle run into a telephone pole.”
A brief smile flashed across Officer Randolph’s face. Had Brandon not been paying attention, he never would have noticed. Clearing his throat, Officer Randolph looked at the three.
“Ok, you all get out of here, the fun is over for the night. Josh, you are lucky that Brandon is a good guy. Had it been me, I would have pressed charges.”
“Whatever,” Josh replied. “I’ll be seeing you again soon, Freak, and next time I won’t be so nice.”
“Are you communicating threats right in front of me?” Officer Randolph asked with an incredulous tone. “Are you really that dumb? Well, that seals your fate, you are spending the night in the drunk tank."
Grabbing Josh by the arm, Officer Randolph expertly spun him around and put him in handcuffs. Even Josh was smart enough to know not to try and resist. Once he was firmly secured, Officer Randolph led him back to the car to put him in the back seat. Josh glanced over his shoulder at Kiera and Brandon, a look of pure hatred in his eyes. Kiera knew that this will not be the end of their problems with him. In fact they have just begun.
“Ok, you two should go ahead and get out of here,” Officer Randolph said as he returns. “I can’t promise that Josh’s cronies aren’t gonna come back and I might not be around next time. You two sure you are OK?”