Killing Carter

Chapter Nineteen - Man of the Minute

Chapter 19

Clenching my fist inside the glove I put all my strength into the punch causing the punching bag to swing roughly away from me before returning for my second blow.  I had been beating the shit out of this bag for almost an hour now and the sweat was dripping off me but the anger was still there.  It was burning away inside of me making me want to go to the nearest pub and pick a fight with the biggest guy there.  That was something I had done many times in the past and from those experiences I knew it was never a good idea and from past lectures from Lippy too.  That girl is crazy.  I don’t know what I would do without her though.

“Kale?”  I heard Mitch call.

“Yeah?”  I asked holding onto the punching bag and turning to look for him in the gym but his eyes weren’t on me instead they were looking at the figure that just entered the gym.  At five foot nine she was hard to miss and with her green eyes narrowed and lips painted a bright red I knew that I was in for it.  I had been avoiding her all week and ignoring her calls and texts and if there is anything that Lips hates as much as her arsehole of an ex that’s being ignored especially by me.

“What’s going on with you?”  She growled as she marched towards me looking even more fierce than usual in her black military boots and Will’s Metallica t-shirt.  When she got close enough to touch me she used all her strength to push me but I knew almost all there is to know about Lippy so I was prepared for the shove and the slap that followed but I took it anyway.  “I’ve been worried sick!  You’ve ignored all my calls, all the messages I’ve sent you and every time I go to your house your mum says you’re out.  So I gave you some space.  Some time with that girl and college.  But it’s been two weeks Kale.  I miss my fucking best friend.”  When she finished her raging speech I watched a tear run down her cheek and sighed as I have managed to make another girl cry.

Pulling off my gloves I guided her outside but we had already caused a scene so all eyes were on us as we left the gym to sit on a bench just across the street.

“I miss your crazy ass too.”  I smiled back.

“What happened?” She asked able to read me as well as I could read her.  “It’s about Kimberly.  What happened after you found her?  You said she was ok.”

“There’s another guy.”

“What?”

“We broke up.”  At that she wrapped her arms around me and sat there in the cold September afternoon with me until I had managed to tell her the whole story.  I had avoided her for two weeks as I wasn’t ready to talk about how I had failed another girl.  I was never able to save them.

“I’m so sorry.”  She said once I had finished speaking.

“I loved her Lippy.  I love her.”  I choked the words out past the lump in my throat.

“I know you do.”  She soothed as she rubbed my arm knowing that is the only way to calm me down.

“And I can’t stop thinking about her with him.  Her with him while we were together.  And I can’t stop thinking about will happen to her if he can’t make her happy.  I’ve watched nightmares pull her apart at night then seen her smile and laugh the next morning.  I know what depression looks like.  I know the stages of grief.  I’ve watched her experience them.  I tried to make it all better.  I tried to fix her.”  Words tumbled out of my mouth, words that I’d trapped inside my head for the past two weeks.

“Kale look at me.”  I tore my gaze away from the littered pavement and focused on the brown flecks in her green eyes.  “It wasn’t your job to fix her just like it wasn’t your job to fix Hayley or Steph or Becca.  They needed to overcome their problems.  Yes what you did helped but in the end it’s something they have to do.  Kimberly lost her brother.   Now I don’t know the details but if I lost one of my brothers I wouldn’t handle it well.  I would be more of a mess than Kimberly is, so I think she’s doing well considering.  It’s just going to take time and she’s a fighter.  She’s nothing like Hayley and I’m going to keep telling you that until you believe me.”