Found by the Rivers

Explanation

                  

I watch Odessa walk towards a hallway; look under the quilt at my bruises, Kaden really did me in with this. I press down on the tender spots, big mistake; a whimper escapes me. I swallow the pain down trying to keep tears from swelling in my eyes. I'm so sick of crying all the time. I ball my hands into fist, nails digging into my skin.

"Don't you dare cry." I threaten myself. I hate being known as the actual crybaby of the family. Kaden, what I did, did not deserve this punishment. All I did was fall in love and now I'm paying for it with physical pain.

"Okay I put it in the drier." Odessa says coming back to her living room. "Are you okay?" I just nod my head because I know that is I speak my voice will crack in pain. She walks over to me and removes the quilt and ice pack. "Don't move." She instructs me. I nod my head. Her warm hands attack my freezing abdomen; she presses and massages quickly moving around.

"What are you doing?" I ask her squeezing my eye lids shut as she nears my ribs.

"I'm checking for internal bleeding and fractures. It seems that your rib is fractured in some way, but I don't know how to fix that." She says moving her index and middle fingers softly up to my ribs.  I breathe in sharply moaning in pain.

"Yeah that hurts." I clinch my fists above my head. "Shit that hurts." I bite my lip to distract from the pain but it doesn't work.

"Eli I should take you to the hospital, it might be broken." Odessa says putting her hands on my fists.

"No it's fine." I give a weak half ass smile.

"I'm worried please; my step-father could examine you, no one would have to know." She begs.

"No, if he asks how it happened what would I tell him?" I refuse to rat out my brother.

"We could tell him you fell down the stairs."

"With no other injuries; seems unlikely."

"Well how did you bust your rib?" She asks.

~

"Little brother what happened to you after lunch?" Kaden asks me as I begin to go up the stairs. Venus joins him as they both put away their umbrellas; she stares at me as stand in the middle of taking a step.

"I didn't feel well so I came home." I lie bringing my feet together on one step turning to face the both of them.

"Did you walk home or something?" Kaden walks up the steps to join me. "Your hair is all wet dopey."

"Nice sweater." Venus says behind us.

"Yeah what's up with the sweater? You find it in the 'lost and not want to be found' at school or something?" He laughs.

"It's soft, I like it." I bring the cuff of the sleeves up to my nose and breathe in the scent of Odessa.

"Well you look like a nerd." Kaden ruffles me hair. We walk to our room and Venus follows.

Kaden kicks off his shoes and leaves them by the closet door. I think about Odessa's neat and tidy room and I put his and my own shoes away. Venus laughs at me.

"What's so funny?" I ask her coldly.

"You, putting away his shoes like it's your job." She sits on Kaden's bed as he lays down putting his feet near her. I sit on my own bed; it's made up unlike Kaden's, his blue and white sheets scrunched into balls. He reaches for the book on his night stand.

"So how did you get home Eli?" he asks opening to a page his eye scanning. "Oh did Odessa ever get to you? I think she was looking for you at lunch." His eyes meet mine.