Chapter 30

Saturday began poorly. As dad moved me from bed to get me ready for the day, he locked on to the sudden uncontrollable shake in my wrist. As his brows knitted, the other also wobbled. Since the hospital, that had become worse. Just as I was about to comment there’d be no piano playing in my future, I caught his expression. His clouded eyes spoke volumes. My lips closed.

While saying nothing and only forcing a tight grin, he placed me in the chariot,

Yeh, surprise. I wasn’t getting better anytime soon.

In fact, the opposite.

So, yeh, not a good start to the day.

At breakfast, dad remained silent while my mother, in a large dark blue dress swishing at her knees, waddled around in flats, clasping her swollen belly. Simply lowering herself to sit brought rapid breaths from her shaking lips.

As she stared at him, my eyebrow raised, and I glanced at Shayna. Her emerald eyes zipped between my parents. Though we caught his eyes flicker at her struggling to ease into the chair, dad hadn’t bothered to look up from his tablet. And she’d made her own coffee.

Somebody else was also running out of juice.

Yeh, juice. Because I’d been thinking about Haley earlier, before dad had come to me.

With a sigh, I pulled out my phone. As my mother wheezed between long sips, I stared at its black screen. My hovering finger trembled. Trembled as in nervous, not the weird wrist thing. Should I even bother? I could delete everything from Haley and be done with ... Whatever she ... With her. Just be done with her.

Enough.

No damned juice.

Just then, my mother whimpered and tensed. That got dad to look up. And as his brow wrinkled, his eyes displayed deeper concern. When I peeked at Shayna, she wasn’t looking at them. Instead, her green pools were locked on me.

Yeh, okay. From somewhere, he’d scrounged some juice.

With a groan under my breath, I tapped the darned screen.

As a string of texts from the night before scrolled past, my eyes widened. While slamming into every gut-filled step on the way down, my heart tumbled deeper into my stomach. My stomach swirled.

Please Kyle. Don’t hate me. My daddy’s just needy, is all.

Are you still there? He means well. He never forces me to do anything.

I don’t mind, Kyle. Except he doesn’t want me to be with anyone else. “No boyfriends for my baby girl,” he says all the time.

Anyway, other than that, he’s real nice. He’s always buying me stuff.

Are you still awake?

“Your mother and I are heading downtown after shopping, Kyle.”

“Huh?” I replied as my finger hovered over the “Delete” button.

That was nothing new. Every Saturday, they drove around doing errands.

“Why don’t you come along?” Though taut, dad’s smile broadened a little as his fingers tussled my hair. “Get some fresh air. It’s a nice day and we’re gonna walk the plaza after we shop. Your mom ... Uh, she could use some exercise.”

When I looked at my mother’s eyes peeping over the rim of her mug, my soul cooled. No golden flecks. Not much shine at all. Also, no juice? When a pair of bluebirds skimmed above the glistening blue pool waters, I sighed and nodded. It’d been a while since I’d been in “Ye Olde Downtowne.” If nothing else, it had pretty good municipal wi-fi.

“Okay, dad. Sounds fun.”

Towards midday, once they’d finished shopping, we arrived at the “plaza.” Surrounded by turn-of-the-century era, gray brick, two and three-story shops and offices, the long rectangular green space held numerous sprawling leafy trees. Black iron benches were sited in the shadiest spots and several white marble fountains shot sparkling water into the cloudless blue sky. A cluster of kiosks and a pair of food trucks, one offering tacos, the other BBQ, lined its perimeter.

Since it was early, there were few people wandering along the sidewalks and fewer cars moving past. When I peeked at Shayna, a grin slid across my face. It was her first time here. With the shiny black tip of her nose sniffing, her thick tail whipped from side to side.

As dad pulled the van into one of the few handicapped spots, Saturday got better. It was our favorite location, right near “Grady’s Ice Cream.” His smile matched mine. Once he’d lowered me to the cracked concrete sidewalk, he climbed the shop’s worn gray step and slipped inside with my mother.

The tiny white, blue and pink painted shop—shoppe(?)—had no ramp. It was “historic.” At least it wasn’t crowded yet, and they were out in a matter of minutes.

“We’ll be around,” dad said, while handing me a tall, white-blue-pink cup with a spoon and straw embedded in its thick contents.

With a cone of vanilla in one hand, he held my mother’s waist in his other. While leaning on his shoulder, she gazed at me over her waffle cone. With each long drag of her glistening tongue across the top of the caramel swirl soft-serve, the golden flecks in my mother’s eyes arrived and—deepened. Both her fixated gaze and the impish smile on her face sent shivers skidding along my spine.

Yeh, out in the fresh air, she was feeling better. At the tightening in my shorts, I returned her grin. I was too.

“Call us if you need anything,” he said as they turned for one of the white concrete walkways crisscrossing the plaza.

“Okay, dad.”

After a chuckle at their receding backs, I rumbled along another path, moving deeper into the quiet, sunbaked park. Alongside the chariot, Shayna kept flicking her gaze between me and the massive green space ahead of us. She was hesitant.

“Go on, girl.” While smiling, I gestured ahead of me.

Like a shot, she barreled off onto the lawn. As small, chirping birds zipped overhead, Shayna whizzed back and forth. Whether her nose was in the air or skimming the verdant blades of grass swirling in a languid breeze, her fluffy tail kept whipping.

With warm sunshine soaking into me, I proceeded to my favorite spot, beneath a tall spreading oak. After a lengthy inhale of crisp air, I crunched over a thin pile of leaves and twigs before spinning to pull alongside one of the black metal benches. Its massive trunk behind me, the ancient tree’s low, thick branches shaded much of the surrounding grass.

At long last, Shayna crumpled to my side. While panting, her tongue raced over her pointed teeth. Yet still her nose continued to twitch, and her eyes tracked every moving bird, squirrel, and rolling leaf.

After giving her a smile, I returned to my laptop. Although we’d planned a dungeon run, nobody was awake. As such, I settled back to browse the interwebz while savoring the strawberry shake. And avoiding another series of pings from Haley. She was awake.

“Hi Kyle!” At a woman’s voice, I jolted and looked up.

It was Mrs. Cameron. The widow who lived behind us. And, uh, wow!

With her long, straight red hair in a ponytail, faded blue jeans spray-painted to her, and a gray t-shirt with a gaping V-neck, she was almost unrecognizable. When at church, dresses—pretty flower-print dresses—covered her from wrist to ankle. And, gulping, I forced my gaze to remain focused on her eyes; her loose top displayed an impressive chest.

If she noticed any slight glance at her cleavage, she must’ve ignored it. Boy plus eighteen equals certain things were expected. Not a hint of red was on her cheeks. Instead, she smiled while several bags dangled from her hands.

“Hi there, Mrs. Cameron.”

“Haven’t seen you in church recently, Kyle. Hope everything’s okay?” She searched around before rolling her lips. She wore no lipstick. “Your parents doing alright? I, um ... Well, I heard that, uh, Wendy is with child. You must be very excited to have a new, um, sibling.”

“They’re doing fine, ma’am.” She had the shiniest light blue eyes. I caught Shayna’s swift glance at her before returning to watch me. “They’re, uh ... They’re around here somewhere.”

“Is that a Grady’s strawberry shake?” she nodded at the cup in my hand.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Oh, I do miss those.” Her smile became wistful as a sigh slipped from her pink, yep, definitely non-lipsticked lips. So full. They managed to glimmer in the dappled sunlight.

“Would you like a sip?”

With a grin, I offered her the cup. At Shayna’s gaze focusing, my fingers twitched.

“No. No thank you, Kyle. Gotta watch my figure.”

While chuckling, I scanned her petite, top-heavy frame before returning to her face. Her eyes had narrowed, becoming prettier, while a brief twitch rustled her bags.

“You? You don’t need to lose any weight, Mrs. Cameron.”

At that, as crimson glided up her cheeks, she pursed those sorta cute lips. Despite a rabbit hopping in the distance, only Shayna’s ears twitched. She remained fixed on Mrs. Cameron. But, I mean, that was only being pleasant to the woman. A compliment can make a person’s day. And I wasn’t lying.

“That’s very sweet of you, Kyle.” Her gaze flicked to the cup.

“Aw, come on.”

Right then, when I said that. That’s where “Old” Kyle diverged, becoming “New” Kyle, thrusting the straw towards her. And when she looked around and nodded before slipping to the bench, old me kept quiet. Glittering emeralds, Shayna’s eyes gleamed. And new me? I was flashing a broad smile while spinning the chariot to face her.

“Okay, you devil.” After placing her bags on the ground, she moved to cross her legs. “One little sip.”

All of a sudden her smiling full lips formed an “o” at Shayna’s swift dart between her shifting jeans.

“Oh. Oh. Oh, my, uh, she’s a friendly dog,” Mrs. Cameron stammered while Shayna dragged her muzzle along a denim-covered thigh.

As her uncolored glossy fingernails raked deep into Shayna’s fur, the dog lifted to look at me. Tiny swirls of gold appeared in Shayna’s glimmering green eyes.

Really?

“New” Kyle or not ... No juice. Remember?

While glancing around, I emitted a long sigh. Only friendly conversation. Make the woman feel better about herself. Do a good deed. For once. After another exhale, I handed her the cup.

“Bill, my late husband...” After taking the shake from me, she leaned forward to push the straw between her pink lips. As her cheeks sunk inwards, my heart stammered. While swallowing, she smacked her now pinker and shinier lips before flashing me an anxious grin. “He, um ... He always wanted me to stay thin.”

“How, uh, long has it been since he, um ... Since he was called to heaven?”

“Seven ... Seven years.”

As she again sipped, the faintest of tears slid into her eyes. When she glanced at Shayna, snuffling along her other thigh, I shifted to free my swelling crotch.

No. No. No!

This was only a conversation. As they filled with more flowing gold, I caught Shayna’s eyes once more looking up at me. But my gaze was fixed on Mrs. Cameron’s gorgeous, pursed lips, glistening in the shade as her red-peaked cheeks puffed in and out. Impressive suction; those shakes were thick. Rhythmic. Methodical. Consistent. At that pace, she could suck for a long—very long—time.

Just a darned conversation.

“That’s ... Uh, that’s quite a while. You haven’t found another man yet?”

What the heck? Even Shayna halted. With her eyes narrowed to slits, Mrs. Cameron peered over the straw. Her mouth was a tiny pink circle. Shiny. Perfect. As she pulled those glimmering, full lips from the little white tube, a strawberry bubble dribbled down its side.

To read this story you need a Registration + Premier Membership
If you have an account, then please Log In or Register (Why register?)

Support the author's future writing by purchasing this book from Bookapy

A Fair Trade

INtrinSicliValud

$4.99