Before he can respond with something equally as outrageous, Isaiah bounds into the kitchen and heads straight towards me. His hair is wet, and his hazel eyes are alight with happiness. I turn around and make him a plate before handing it to him. I may have put a little extra on there, but so what. He’s a growing boy.
“Thank you, Kiani” Isaiah says enthusiastically.
“You’re welcome. It may not taste amazing, but it’ll do the job and fill you up,” I warn.
“If that chicken tastes even just a little bit decent, I’m going to accuse you of witchcraft,” Brian jokes.
“What is so bad about the chicken that you two keep going on about it?” Ashton asks.
Brian and I share a look and start laughing. “It’s best if you don’t know. It’s food. So let's eat up and try to figure out what to do for the day,” I say just as Derrick, Ashlynn and Christine make their grand appearance.
Everyone said thanks for the food, even Ashlynn, and we sat down at the large table and dug in. The chicken and biscuits were actually very good. I’m not trying to toot my own horn or anything, but your girl can throw down.
The sounds of satisfaction and momentary happiness warms my heart. I look around at all the faces that grace this table, and I realize that they’re all my family now. Not just Derrick. I trust them all, save one, to have my back when I truly need it. It’s crazy how a hot meal can bring everything to perspective.
“So what are our plans for the day? I see that it’s still raining, so I know we’re stuck here,” Christine says.
“I say just be lazy. Look around the house and see if there’s anything in here worth taking that’ll help us on our trip. Water containers, weapons, protective gear, anything you think will help. Make sure it’s something that you can comfortably carry, though. Don’t want to lose your strength and agility because you have a sixty-pound pack,” I respond.
“Alright, sounds good to me. I saw a small reading room that I want to lose myself in,” she says before getting up and cleaning off her plates.
“The bathroom that we share has a lot of shampoo and conditioners in it, my hair was dying for some nourishment,” Ashlynn said.
It took me a while to realize that she was talking to me, since none of the guys would even care about any of that. I swallow my mouthful of tea before deciding to play nice with her and continue on with this meaningless topic.
“The master bathroom has a lot of lotions and perfumes, too. The closet is full of uptight clothes, but if you want to go in there and look for anything that might benefit you, go for it,” I say with a smile.
“Why would I want anything uptight?” she asks with a sneer. “You think I’m uptight?”
I sigh internally. I knew I was walking on a thin line with even engaging in this conversation, but I didn’t think that I’d mess up on my first response. I school my face into one of pure shock before I respond. “No, I found this shirt and leggings in there, so I was only saying that if you look hard enough, you might find something that you would like.”
“Oh,” she breathes, probably realizing that she jumped the gun way too soon. “Thanks, I’ll go up there now. You might want to find something else to wear other than those leggings. Those things will have holes in them faster than the world went to shit.”
“Yeah I know. I just want to be lazy in these until it’s time to go. If you see any extra jeans, grab them for me please,” I ask with a smile.
She looks at me for a while. Emerald eyes boring into my brown ones as she considers whether or not I’m being sarcastic, or if I genuinely want to have this conversation with her. When the stare down started to border on rude, she stands up and gives me a quick “will do” before walking away.
The table is uncharacteristically quiet as we all just stare at each other wondering what the hell just happened. We listen to Ashlynn’s footsteps as they move up towards the master bedroom before Ashton broke the silence.
“I think the shower and the reprieve from being scared non-stop has damaged my sister,” he deadpans.
We all start laughing, because the fact of the matter is, that’s the nicest any of us have ever seen Ashlynn. We haven’t stopped arguing since the day we stumbled upon the twins. And now, all of a sudden, she’s chatty Cathy.
Brian leans over and pulls the end of one of my braids. “You might want to sleep with one eye open and the door locked. That was just the calm before the storm.”
I slap his hand away and poke him in the shoulder. “Yeah? You want to be my guard so she can take you down first?”
“Nah nah, I’ll be sleeping peacefully knowing that she doesn’t hate me,” he jokes.
As me and Brian banter back and forth, I notice that Derrick is watching our exchange with a mixture of emotions. The one that comes through more than the others is pure annoyance. I choose to ignore him and continue with my playful conversation with Brian.
“Hey! I’ll protect you,” Ashton says. “My sister only tried to stab me in my sleep a few times and yet, here I am.”
“Umm, I don’t think I’d want someone to guard me who has been on her hit list before,” I say.
“Ouch, Kiani, I’m hurt. You can’t turn a guy away like that before even considering his offer!”
“You just offered for me to die. Maybe you should have left out the fact that she tried to kill you already,” I laugh.
“I’ll remember that next time,” he pouts.
Derrick gets up from the table quietly and says, “Can I have a word with you, Kiani? It won’t take long.”
Brian gives me a side look and motions towards Isaiah and Ashton. “You guys want to look around and see if there are some movies or games? It’s going to be a long day if we have to look at each other all day.”
The boys nod their heads and leave the kitchen after clearing off their plates. I look at Derrick and he starts walking towards the stairs that lead to the basement. The silence is awkward and very out-of-the-ordinary between he and I. We never really had an argument, and honestly, I’m surprised that we haven’t. We’re both pretty headstrong, but we respect each other so much, that we always come to some kind of compromise. Until now.
The basement, unsurprising to me, is completely finished and decked out. Derrick heads over to a mini fridge and pulls out two bottles of water. There is a pool table in the far corner, a giant dark-blue sectional couch, and a seventy-inch flat screen TV perched up in front of it. There’s a foosball table and even an old arcade-style game. This place screams man-cave. I love it.
I plop down onto the sectional and I wait for him to get comfortable. I’m pretty curious as to what he wants to talk about. Last night’s conversation was pretty straightforward and to the point. He wants to go and find Sam, if she’s alive, and I want to keep moving so we all don’t die.
“So what’s going on with you and Brian?” he casually asks.
I spit some of my water out and begin coughing. This is what he wanted to talk about?! At first, I wanted to immediately refute everything. But then I thought, why not have some fun?
“What do you mean?” I ask with fake innocence.
He narrows his eyes and take me in. “I mean the random chumminess between you two. You never talked and now all of a sudden you’re best friends.”
“I would hardly say we’re best friends. He helped me cook breakfast and he found my olive oil. This is the first time we’ve had down time since we all got together. I don’t see the point in not getting to know everyone without the fear of imminent death looming over our heads.”
He leans back in his seat, legs open, arms across the back, and he just stares at me. I’ve been on the receiving end of his stares before, and they don’t faze me at all. I just sit there and stare back at him, waiting for him to get whatever foolishness he’s feeling off of his chest.
“Are you leading him on because we had a fight?” he finally asks.
“Derrick, are you for real right now? Who said anything about leading him on an
d how did this become about you?” I ask, exasperated with his ridiculousness.
“I’m just saying, Kiani, I’ve known you all of my life and I’ve never known you to not cut someone’s fingers off if they touched your hair without asking.”
“If you haven’t noticed, the world kind of ended. I’d be foolish to get pissed off because someone touched my dry ass hair. What is this really about?” I finally ask.
“I just think it’s funny how I propose to go and find Sam, and the very next day you’re buddy buddy with Brian. I’m just trying to make sure that you’re not compromising the balance in our group. Don’t want you at ends with two people. I’m tired of putting out all of your fires.”
I stand up ready to punch him in his mouth before I get control over myself. I breathe deeply and force a smile on my face. I walk over to him and lean into his space. My face is inches from his before I say, “Kiss my ass.” I straighten and walk up the stairs to go find the others. Fuck Derrick. He can sit downstairs and figure out why he’s stuck on stupid.
I find the boys in the living room playing some racing video game with the sound really low. I didn’t even think about that. I guess if I want to watch a movie, I’ll have to go downstairs. We can’t be too safe. Isaiah is standing up next to the coffee table and Ashton is sitting down right in front of the tv like he has bad eyesight. Brian is sprawled out on the couch, watching the spectacle
“Come on, slowpoke! You can’t really be in eighth place!” Isaiah says enthusiastically. “I’ve hit about three walls and I’m still winning!”
I look over and I see Ashton leaning left and right. At first, I was really confused as to what he was doing. But then I realized he was leaning as he turned his car in the game. All that leaning, and he’s still losing.
“Yeah yeah yeah, I’m going easy on you pipsqueak. How would I look if I beat a little kid?” he joked, attention fixed solely on the tv.
I walk over to the couch that Brian is stretched across and flop down on his legs. Brian grunts and then moves his legs from underneath me before pushing me with his feet.
“I know we’ve barely had food for a while, but I hope you don’t think that you’re as light as a feather,” he says.
“I may not be as light as a feather, but I’m still not that heavy,” I argue.
“Could’ve fooled me. You damn near broke my legs in half,” he laughs.
I stick my tongue out at him before focusing my attention back on the game. Isaiah had just crossed over the finish line and had started his victory dance. I’ve never seen him so carefree and so young. There has been so much put on his little shoulders, it feels so good seeing him being a carefree kid. Even if it is for a little while.
“Kiani! Do you want to play? You have to be better than Ash!” Isaiah says while bounding over to me.
“Really, kid? I’m hurt,” Ashton says while grabbing his chest and falling onto the floor. Isaiah shrugs his shoulders and walk over to snatch the controller from his hands. He hands it to me and gives me an evil grin.
“Ready to meet your maker, Ki?” he asks.
“Oh, I’m definitely ready to send you to yours,” I sneer back.
“Bring it!”
We spend the next few hours playing video games and laughing. Ashlynn comes down after a while and sits down on the floor next to Ashton. After a few pleas, Isaiah gets her to play with him after thoroughly beating all of us at the racing game and a fighting game. We’re all having such a great time when Derrick decides to grace us with his presence. He looks at Brian’s legs in my lap before finding a seat in an armchair.
The day passes by so fast, we all are pretty sad to see that it has stopped raining. I tell them that come morning, if it isn’t raining, we’ll be setting out at first light. I ask Brian if he wants to help find some food for another meal, when Derrick volunteers.
“I’ll do it,” he says. “You know I’m a better cook than you anyway.”
I force a smile onto my face before accepting his offer. I hope this won't be as awkward as our previous conversation. I’ve had so much fun today, lounging around with the boys. He better not ruin my good mood.
We look around until we find a very basic meal of canned vegetables and some more canned meat. The can says SPAM, so my poor heart just knows I’m about to eat an unknown. What the hell is SPAM?
“I want to apologize,” he begins. “I came incorrect at you earlier and I just let my emotions get the best of me.”
I take a deep breath and I look at my best friend. I can’t imagine what’s exactly going through his head, but I wish he would’ve let me in a lot earlier than he did. Because now it’s such a mess. But we don’t have the luxury of holding grudges and being angry at each other. If our heads aren’t in the game, we’ll be dead before we know it.
I put the cans down and walk over into his embrace. I can’t even remember life without one of Derrick’s hugs or having him by my side. “It’s ok. We’re both hot headed and things are bound to happen.”
“When did you grow up?” he says over my head.
“When the world ended, and it was just you and I,” I reply somberly.
He pulls back a little so that he can look me in my face. “We’ll always have each other,” he says, before dramatically clearing his voice. “Enough with that sad shit, let’s see how we can turn this water into wine.
8
Kiani
I flop onto my bed with an exhausted sigh. Even though we haven’t done much today, I’m still very tired. More emotionally than physically. I’m happy that Derrick and I are back on talking terms, but I can’t stop thinking about the journey we have to continue tomorrow. I hop up out of my bed and head into the lavish bathroom. I head over to the giant tub and start running a bath.
I’m so glad that I have this tub, because I have so much to think about. I look around for something to put in the tub, when I find lavender bubble bath. Just what I need, thank you Lord. I go and grab my olive oil as I’m waiting on the tub to fill and I find a shower cap. I’m going to be lavish tonight.
I’m rummaging around in the closet when I find a couple bottles of wine. Girl! This is about to be a night for the history books. The tub is full and so is my new bottle of wine. I think I’m getting more and more happy that the owner was such a lush.
I strip down, and slip into the tub with my freshly oiled scalp, my never-been-opened bottle of wine, and my shoulders full of tight muscles. Ahhhh! The water smells like salty lavender and feels like heaven. I can only hope the salty water works the same as Epsom salt. I never used it, but my mom swore on the stuff.
The rain has stopped completely, and we don’t think that it’s coming back tomorrow. Which means that we have to leave and possibly die tomorrow. I shouldn’t be thinking like that, but after being able to relax for a little while, the stress of traveling is definitely catching up to me. I hope that Derrick will put his all into helping me get us out of here and not on his wild goose chase of looking for a maybe dead Sam.
I lean my head back and stare up at the ceiling, hoping that many answers will come to me. I figure I’d find it at the bottom of this bottle, so I continue to chug the wine. I don’t know why I thought it was a good idea to go to town on this wine, it’s not like I’ve ever really drink before.
I’m shoulder deep in the tub when I get a knock on my door. “Come iiinnnnn,” I sing before laughing. I’m trying to make a mustache with the bubbles when Brian walks in.
“Woah, Kiani. I wouldn’t have come in if I knew you were in the tub,” he said while turning his back to me.
“Oh, it’s alright. I think I put too much bubble bath in here anyways. I doubt you can see anything but my head,” I answer, while putting bubbles on said head.
Brian walks over and squints at my face before finding the empty bottle of wine sitting on the ledge of the tub. He scratches his head before sitting down with his back resting against the side of the tub.
“Are you drunk, Ki?” he asks.
“Not yet, but give me a few more minutes,” I laugh.
“Why are you drinking?”
“Why not? I never did before, and I figured I wouldn’t have another chance to drink again. Nothing is better than the present, right?”
“Are you scared?” he asks.
I look down at him and see that he’s looking at me. I stare into his brown eyes and just say fuck it.
“Yeah,” I say. “I don’t want to make a wrong decision when we’re out there and get us all killed.”
“You’re not responsible for us, ya know. Yeah, we depend on you and Derrick to make a lot of decisions, but that’s our choice,” he says.
I stare at him, noticing how his image is focusing in and out, and I just let out a deep breath.
“I’m just tired,” I murmur. “Tired of running and tired of being afraid.”
We sit in silence for a while and the wine finally hits me right the chest. I dip my mouth in the water and start mimicking a water boat with my lips. Bubbles start forming and I actually begin to get a little light headed.
“Are you in love with Derrick?” he randomly asks.
I splutter in the water and damn near drown at his question. I look at him and scrunch up my face. Do I love Derrick? Hell yeah, he’s been in my life my entire life. But am I in love with him? I never stopped and looked at him that way. He’s handsome, he’s smart and he’s beyond brave. I can see why anyone would be in love with him. But am I?
“I don’t know,” I answer honestly. “I’ve never really thought about it.”
“How come?”
“Shush, Bri! You’re… you’re making me sad,” I said while splashing him water.
“Hey! I didn’t come in here to get soaked!” he says, laughter in his voice.
“So, what do you want? Wanna wrestle or something,” I say while giving him the side-eye.
“No. You’re funny when you’re drunk. I came in to make sure that you were alright and ready to keep going on our journey.”
“Right now, I’m just ready to enjoy being drunk for the first time ever.”
Kiani’s Journey- Mayhem Page 6