Kyri Jackson

Erika meets Kyri, a girl that ran away from everything...Peace is not ensured.

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Kyri turned her head to face the fire, where a girl soaked through had sat down on the closest chair to the fire. The girl seemed to have dirty blond hair tied up in a messy bun and was wearing a filthy grey hoodie, faded jeans, and an oddly new pair of Nike running shoes. She was leaning into the fire and was pulling off that hoodie. She wore a black shirt with an illegible logo on the back. The girl slowly turned around to face Kyri and scowled. “What’cha looking at?” the girl asked, her green eyes flashing.

Kyri blinked. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize-“

“That you were staring? Kid, listen, just ‘cause I’m wearing something that doesn’t look all that new, doesn’t give you the right to stare. Consciously or not.”

“I told you,” Kyri exclaimed. “I’m freakin’ sorry!”

The girl laughed. “Woah, temper. Let me tell you something, kid, if you live on the streets, you don’t want a temper. Might get the better of your life. I’m Erika. Erika Coyne. And I have the pleasure of meeting…?”

“Kyri Jackson,” she mumbled.

“Well then, if you ever need to call on someone for help, I can probably do it. Er, you just need to know where I am though.”

“Um, okay?”

“Kid, I’m not as weird as I seem.”

“Don’t call me a freakin’ kid!” Kyri exclaimed angrily.

Erika laughed, something that told Kyri that she had seen almost everything. “When you’ve lived in the streets for this long, any newbie is a ‘kid.’”

“Excuse me? A newbie?” Kyri cried indignantly.

Erika rolled her eyes. “I know that you’re a recent runaway, and I know that you won’t be leaving the Salvation Army for a while.”

“Humph,” grumbled Kyri, though she knew Erika was right.

The next moment Leanne Bernardi entered, carrying two steaming bowls on a tray and a towel on her shoulder. She stopped first at Erika, and handed her the first bowl as well as the towel. Erika took the bowl, hunger written on her face.

“Bloody hell, Ms. Bernardi, thanks. I can’t remember the last time I had some Ramen.”

Leanne smiled warmly. “Think nothing of it. You’re like my daughter.” And as if to put emphasis on that, she placed the towel on Erika’s shoulders, while expertly holding the tray in one hand. Erika softly smiled, something that she only reserved for Leanne Bernardi.

Beside them, Kyri sighed. One could tell that she wasn’t used to being ignored. Leanne’s head turned in her direction. “Oh, baby!” cried Leanne in a motherly tone. “Erika, look at this girl. She runs away from a family that was would pamper her in every way to live on the streets! And you think, why the heck would someone want to do that?”

“I’m not the only one,” grumbled Kyri, staring at Erika.

Seeing the look on Kyri’s face, Erika broke out in her all knowing laughter.  “Kid, I’ve got a home, I have I job, and I know how to live. I was born like this, and blimey, I’m surprised that I haven’t gone to London already knowing how my mother talked about it.”

That caught Kyri’s attention. “You’re British?”

Erika grinned. “Heck, if I weren’t Brit, I wouldn’t have survived this long in the Pittsburgh streets. Why in the world would you run away from a home with other people to take care of you when I can clearly tell you’ve been pampered silly?”

“Migrandfaderhatesme,” mumbled Kyri.

Leanne cocked her head in confusion, but Erika, having the ear that only comes from living in the wild, heard every word and frowned. “How would you know that?” she asked, a subtle anger on her voice.

“He just does, okay? I know he poisoned my parents after Thanksgiving for their money!” Kyri exclaimed this in an indignant tone of voice, as if she had said this over and over so she would believe it.

Erika pushed her bangs out of her eyes. “Are you kidding me? You don’t even believe what you’re saying. How can you be such a jerk? Ever since my mother died in that gang war, I’ve tried so hard not to be caught by the social workers. And now, I regret it so much.”

Hearing this, Leanne set the tray down and threw her arms around Erika. “Oh, Erika,” she cried in the most motherly tone she could manage. “You know you always have a home with me.”

Erika pushed back the tears in her eyes and softly smiled. “Thank you, Ms. Bernardi.”

Leanne let go of Erika and stiffly handed Kyri her soup. She got up and walked to the door, gave Erika a smile and walked out the door.

 

Author's Note

Feel free to critique.

Reviews

[Vannah]

nice....it took me about one mintue to figure out what she said....