Chapter 5 I'll never leave you sister.

    When Mom, Dad and wade went to their church I hastily make my to the hospital. It was hard riding my bike for almost 30 minutes, but it was worth it. The sun had hidden behind a curtain of clouds and that helped me last longer.

    When I came into Kiya’s room she was asleep. Her chest slowly lifted and lowered. It was so smooth and natural that all I could do was watch. However, the main reason I would watch her breath is that I’m afraid that she might suddenly stop. I feel like if I’m around she’ll be alright.

    Her heart monitor was a steady stream of beats and that reassured me also. Kiya is safe and everything will be  alright once more.

    As I waited for Kiya to wake up I took out my blank sketch pad. Just like me, I will carry a book bag with me all the time. Most women have purses, but most purses are too little to carry all the art supplies I do.

I wasn’t sure what I was drawing, so it was just a collection of lines.

Someone brought breakfast and said a automatic “good morning” before leaving. I waited for Kiya to stir from her sleep at the excitement of food, but I knew that once Kiya is sick she’ll never eat, so I ate half of her breakfast.

I never go to Mrs. Wright’s without Kiya so this morning I skipped breakfast, and plus she’s not open on Sundays. Mrs. Wright most have known Kiya was sick because she sent her a rose, which she does when ever Kiya is in the hospital.

Kiya woke up at noon, but because she was so drugged she never tried to talk to me.

Her caramel colored skin was pale and her breath was heavy which meant her nose was stuffed.

“How’d you feel?” I asked placing my pad back into my bag.

Kiya paused and smacked her lips. “Bad.”

“What you mean by that?”

“Bad. What else could that be?”

“When you get sick, you're not playing.”

“I never have to. Nine times out of ten I’ll end up in the hospital for two weeks.”

“How long do you think you’ll be in here now?”

“A month.” She said surely.

“A month?” I aspirated ” That’s terrible! How do you know?”.

“I’ve never felt so sick, so soon with an illness.”

“Well haven’t you had pneumonia before?”

“Ya.. a touch but this isn't so simple. Dang it, the first weekend of summer and I’m here. This is no fun.”

“Well why don’t I bright you the fun?”

“Hun?” She asked after coughing.

“We can still paint toenails and we can still eat Goldfish and Tin Roof ice cream. Those are still your favorite snack foods?”

“Well ya.” Kiya paused to cough. Her neck and face went blood red and when she stopped her face when back to her normal color. I sighed with concern, and thankfully she never picked up on it.

“Well when I get paid I’ll buy those things and magazines and bring them here.”

“Can you rent movie and watch them on my portable DVD player?”

“That sounds good.”

Kiya’s tired eyes shifted to the tray. “Wait a second, you ate my breakfast didn’t you?”

“I knew you wouldn’t want it. It was oatmeal and toast. If you want something I’ll get a nurse to get it.”

“No, your right. I’m not hungry.”

Kiya turned on the TV. “Where are Mom and Dad?”

“Church.”

She shot me a look. “I’m the only one who goes to church on a normal basis.”

“I know it’s odd, but they decided to go now. They haven’t been in three months.”

“Which church was it? It wasn’t my church, was it?”

“It was another Baptist church.”

Kiya goes to a Baptist church out my main street with some school friends and Mom, Dad and Wade goes on and off to another one out of town.

“Why didn’t you go with them?” She asked.

I shot her a look of annoyance “Kiya I’ve told you. I’m an atheist.”

She looked down on to her lap. “Tell me how come…”

“I told you about my old sister didn’t I?”

“She was in one of your older foster homes.”

“Exactly.”

“Me and her had the relationship that you and I have. We were so close. She taught me how to steal make-up, how to sneak out, and most that there is no god. She knew I was special and different and she told me that. We were a like.”

“Do you miss her?”

“I do. She left for another foster care and I never heard of her again.”

The room went quiet and then finally Kiya whispered, “I won’t leave you.”

“That’s sweet Kiya.”

“I’m going asleep.”

“Sadly Kiya there will come a point when you have to say good- bye to everyone. And then your left alone. Some come back, and others don’t.” I said as if I never heard her.

“That’s deep.” She mumbled sleepily.

“I try.”

Within seconds Kiya was asleep. I watched her chest move slowly up and down. A low snore was admitted from her lips.

I sighed and went back to drawing.

Soon the lines started taking form. They became the sun with dying trees under them. The sun was smiling, but the plant life was gone beyond reach.

Mom creaped in and behind her was Wade. With out any words I stood up and gave Mom my set.

I know better then to talk while Kiya was asleep, because she is a light sleeper.

Wade and I watched mom as she held Kiya hand and was tended with how she held it. Kiya never woke up, when we left Mom had a shadow of depression because Kiya never spoke to her.

Wade and I never looked at each other during Mom’s visit or during the car ride home. I just put my bike on the back and slid into the car.

None of wanted to talk. And that was mostly because when Kiya’s sick we all become nerved. Common sense tells you that this is nothing new, but still you worry.

Dad was still writing on his novel. After coming home from church he had to interview someone about a car wreck and then type it up at his work. We saw him after church then he went to work, came home and work on his novel, so then the first time we saw him after wards was at dinner.

Since Kiya wasn’t here it was so grand of a dinner. Mom did her best, but all we had to eat was cheese ravioli, jell-o and a salad with chicken pieces.

I decided to help so I cleaned the table and helped Mom pull out her scrap booking supplies.

This was a new hobby that a lot of people her age enjoyed and she thought she’d give it a try. Sadly, she had trouble really expressing her self properly. She sighed when she added up the cast of everything, she had spent 30 dollars and hours and a hobby that wasn’t really her.

I sat at the piano playing a simple, sweet sounding piece while Mom held a photo of Kiya and I at the pool. Small pieces of colored paper and stickers surrounded her.

“Will, you’re an artist will you help.”

I paused and walked over to Mom. She handed me the photo.

It was a glossy snap shot of time. I had barely known Kiya for a month and we were becoming so close.

“Put this in the center and then add some of the red paper.”

Mom picked up the glue stick and looked at it and did as I said. “That looks nice. ”

“Now what?”

Mom held up a book that she had bought about scrap booking. She sighed again, “This was a waste of money.”

“No.”

“Well ya.” She said. “I’ll tell people to try arts and crafts to keep their minds busy, but I hate this. It doesn’t help, I’m just more stressed out.”

“Well you are left brained…”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“Left brained people have more trouble doing artsy things.”

Mom started packing up the supplies into a translucent container . “Take them.”

“Why? It’s yours.”

“Not anymore. I’m going to look for a new hobby.” She then pulled out a sheet of paper and crossed off scrap booking. “Now candle making.”

“Good luck with that.” I said taking the things upstairs. There I played a CD and did scrap booking to try not to think about Kiya.

 

Author's Note

Tell if my novel is too boring, or long.

Reviews

[Korahs]

It was an interesting read. It was sweet reading the relationship between the two young people. You need to go over this and fix the typos for it was a bit of a distraction. Conversations were easy to follow and I would like to see where your story goes.