"Jake, can we go to the park?" Savannah asked as she ate the promised M&Ms I'd remembered to buy on the way home.
"I don't see why not. Does Isla want to come?" I asked.
"Yes." Isla replied, popping up out of nowhere.
"Okay, go and put your shoes on then, and we can go to the park." I told the pair.
It'd do me some good to go outside for some fresh air.
Holding their hands, we walked up the road to the park and I watched the pair as they ran ahead to the slide, smiling. They were so young. So perfect. I hope Papá's actions didn't ruin that. For all he said about keeping the girls out of it, I didn't think he could really stop a protestor from taking their lives if they needed to.
I wouldn't let that happen.
"What are you up to?"
I startled but didn't reach in my pocket for the phantom knife in there like my instincts told me to.
"Damn it, Kennedy. Don't scare me like that." I snapped, spinning round to face her.
"Sorry." She said, not looking sorry at all as she plopped down next to me and nodded to the girls. "Are they your sisters?"
"Yup." I said, lightly. "Isla and Savannah. Savannah's the one with glasses."
I listened as she prattled on about everything that came into her head and smiled, I'd never known anyone as talkative as Kennedy was. Even my sisters were quiet sometimes if we put the TV on.
Eventually, she ran out of words and pulled out her notepad to draw instead. I didn't bother talking to her, remembering what she said last time about needing peace to work.
"Jake." Savannah and Isla barrelled towards me and watched Kennedy as she drew, the longer locks of her hair covering her eyes, making me wonder what she was drawing.
"Who are you?" Isla asked.
"Kennedy." She said, smiling as she looked up.
Savannah pulled me down to whisper in my ear.
I chuckled. "Is she?"
Kennedy looked at me expectantly.
"Vanny said you're the most beautiful person she's ever seen." I repeated.
"Thank you, you two are gorgeous too." She replied, looking at my sisters. "Who does your hair for you?"
"I do Isla's." Vanny said. "And Jake does mine."
"Which is why Isla's hair always looks much better." I mumbled.
She chuckled.
"Mamá would be better at doing my hair but she doesn't always have time." Isla said.
She and Vanny giggled, making a smile tug at Kennedy's lips.
"Do you want me to fix it for you?" She asked.
"Okay."
She sat in front of her and Kennedy started loosening her plaits and brushing them through with a comb she found in her backpack after some digging around.
"You should watch this and learn." Kennedy told me.
"I know how to do it." I defended. "I'm just not very good at it. And this one fidgets a lot."
"Sure." She said, as she continued brushing her silky hair.
The little monkey sat good as gold as Kennedy brushed her hair gently and spoke to her like she was in a hair salon. Typical.
YOU ARE READING
Darkness Falls
Teen Fiction"Everything I am, everything I ever did, every mistake I ever made. It was all because of her. She was the reason for my existence. And without her, I wasn't the same." Jake has spent his life fighting against his father and the gang he uses to con...
