Chapter Eighteen

I was in my new room, staring at the ceiling while Kayla talked to her parents.  They felt like they had to do something, but I didn’t think they had to bother at all.  I was fine how I was, living with them for the time being.  To console myself, I took out my violin and started learning the last song in the last book, Rondeau by Mozart.

I looked over the page and started practicing the hard parts first before going through the entire song, and soon enough they seemed easy and my fingers slid across the fingerboard smoothly, one note after the other.  Finishing the song, I looked at the door to find Kayla watching me.

She smiled.  “You’re really good.  When did you get that good?”

I shrugged and replied, “I started practicing a lot more over Christmas break.  All I have to do is learn this song better and then I’ll have gone through all of the books.  Maybe after that I can work on memorizing all of them. . . .”

“You’re going to memorize them?  Girl, you need a boyfriend.  Mike would do the job fine,” she giggled.

Laughing along with her I said, “He’s like a brother to me.  I don’t think of him that way.”

“But maybe you will.  Come on, my parents want to talk to you.”  I followed her down the stairs to where her parents were sitting on one of the couches.  Kayla sat down on the one opposite them and motioned for me to do the same.

When I was settled, George started out with, “So we understand that your father kicked you out.”

“That’s right,” I replied.

“Do you know why?”

I sighed.  “He said that I forgot his birthday, and that I didn’t respect him enough.  He said that he never wanted to see my face there again and he watched me pack my things and leave.  I never knew it was his birthday.  If he ever got drunk in celebration of it, it wouldn’t have been any different from any other night.”

Taylor looked at my face.  “Where did you get that bruise?”

I touched my cheek and winced, replying, “He slapped me twice.  It was the first time he had ever hit me or Mom.  Ever.  He usually just gets drunk and yells at us or breaks something, but he never hit us before.”

Taylor started crying, “You poor baby!”  Getting up and running over, she kicked Kayla off the couch and hugged me tightly.  I patted her back.  It was strange to comfort someone, but I didn’t have a problem with it, and neither did she so it was okay.

George cleared his throat.  “We have to file a report into the police about this.  It’s physical abuse, and that cannot be tolerated.  Think about your mother as well, Katie.  What would happen to her if he continued like this?”

“She’s probably have another breakdown and would have to stay in the hospital for a while longer,” I replied quietly.

He nodded.  “Do you want to file a report, though?  We can’t do anything unless you give us permission.”

“Can we wait a few days, until more things are settled down?” I asked him.

“Of course, dear!” Taylor sobbed.  “Anything you want, honey, and we’ll give it to you.”

“A new set of parents?” I muttered.  I didn’t mean for them to hear, but they did anyway.

Taylor looked at her husband.  “Can we, honey?  Can we adopt her?”

“No, no, I didn’t mean it like that,” I quickly replied.  “I’m fine with the parents I have, I just meant I wish they wouldn’t be so troublesome sometimes.”

Kayla sighed.  “Can we continue this conversation later?  I really don’t think that Katie wants to right now, and I know that I don’t.  And Mom isn’t really in any state to continue it, either, Dad, if she took what Katie just said seriously.”

George sighed and took off his glasses, rubbing his eyes.  “Fine.  We’ll talk later.  But we will talk.”

“Of course, Dad.  Come on, Katie, we have to go do our homework.  It is a Monday, after all.”  Kayla led me back up the stairs and closed her bedroom door after I had taken my backpack in there.

She stared at me as I started my Biology homework.  “What are you going to do, Katie?”

“What do you mean?”

“You can’t exactly stay here forever, you know.  So what are you going to do?”

I snapped at her, “I’m trying really hard not to think about that right now, Kayla, so can we just drop it?”

“Of course,” she replied tartly.

Sighing, I said, “I’m sorry.  It’s just - I never thought that this would happen.  I thought that Dad would be in his own little drunken world forever, and Mom would get better and I would be happier.  I guess things don’t always turn out the way you wish for, do they?”

“I guess.”  That was the end of that conversation.  I really wish that it had gone better, but it hadn’t.

I was halfway through my English homework when Kayla got a call on her cell phone.  She giggled.  “It’s Vance.”  They had been dating for almost half a year by then.

“Hello?  Oh, hey sweetie.  Yeah, I’m in my room right now.  No, no one is listening to me.  My parents are downstairs.”  She snuck a glance at her, and I nodded.  Of course I didn’t want anyone to know that I what had happened just yet.

“Yeah, you can tell me anything.”  She laughed.  “Why wouldn’t you be able to?”  Kayla stayed silent for about a minute, listening to him talk.  About halfway through she started crying a little, silently, but I could see the tears running down her face.

At the end she burst out, “Why?  What did I do to make this happen?”
Finally I couldn’t take it anymore and I scooted closer to her, putting my ear up against the phone so I could hear.  Vance was saying, “You didn’t do anything.  I just like her better, that’s all.  If you really want to know, then I couldn’t stand being with you anymore.  You’re too loud for me.  She’s quiet and sweet and the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen in my life.  I think I love her, Kayla.”

She sniffled.  “Whatever.  I never really liked you all that much, anyway.”  Snapping the phone shut, she threw it across the room.  The sim card fell out and slid across the floor and she started throwing insults at her new ex-boyfriend that I didn’t even know that she knew.  I patted her back, but it was useless.  This had really hurt her.

Taylor came up and asked, “What happened?  I heard something fall.”

I whispered to her, “It was Kayla’s phone.  Vance just broke up with her.”

“Oh, come here Kayla.  It isn’t the end of the world.  It may feel like it, but it isn’t.  Come one, we’ll get you some soup and a nice big sundae, how does that sound?  Katie, you of course can come and have some soup and a sundae, too, if you want.”

“I’m good,” I replied.  “I really need to finish my homework, in any case.”  I didn’t tell her that I only had to finish writing the sentence I had stopped in the middle of and then I would be done.  Less is always more for me.

Taylor nodded and led Kayla out of the room, for which I was glad.  I was started to wonder if I should have gone to Mike’s instead of Kayla’s, but he had done enough for me already.  Besides, I was afraid that if I had went to his house then my dad would have more problems than being an alcoholic.  He would have been lucky if he had survived with a few broken ribs, knowing Mike.  I was like his little sister.  He would probably do that for me, even if I told him not to.

Looking at my violin, I decided not to play it.  Instead I checked my phone.  To my surprise, I had two unread text messages.  One was from Hannah, wanting to know what I thought about the movie.  The other was from Jake.  Apparently he had heard that Vance was going to break up with Kayla tonight and he wanted to know how she was.

[How do you think she is, Jake?  She’s heartbroken.]

[Well, I just wanted to make sure.  I didn’t know if he had done it yet.]

[Just a few minutes ago.  He called her on her cell and told her that he had met someone else that he loved, and that he just didn’t like her anymore.]

[Can I kill him?]

[No, Jake.  You’re too skinny, and he’s too not skinny.  He’d beat the crap out of you, and then what good would that have done?]

[Good point. . . . I still want to kill him.]

I laughed to myself.  Good old Jake, always being able to lighten the mood, even if he didn’t mean to.  [Don’t.  It’s not worth it.]

[Do you think I could come over right now?]

{I don’t think that’s a good idea.  She’s gorging her self on soup and ice cream.  You wouldn’t be safe in this war zone.]

[I’ll talk to you tomorrow, then.]

[Night.]  I snapped my phone shut and put it back in my bag.  Taking my toothbrush and stuff, I went to the bathroom and started getting ready for bed.  It was only eight, but there wasn’t anything that I wanted to stay up and do.  There weren’t any dishes, and I didn’t have to clean anything.  Things were different.  They would take getting used to.

I only wished that I could.

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