Swing Life Away [Kellic]

Chapter Twelve

As the days get longer and the sun increasingly reluctant to go to the other side of the world, I kept finding Vic fixated on something outside the window. Sometimes he'd have Copeland on his lap as he absentmindedly played with her. Other times, he'd put Copeland in her cot and leave her to her own devices.

It was yet another evening that I came home and Vic was staring out the window and Copeland was in her cot. He must've taken her out to the playground today because she was fast asleep in her cot. I knew that if I were to verbally announce my return, I wouldn't get much response so I didn't. Instead, I crept up to him and wrapped my arms around him.

He barely even flinched at the sudden contact. I pressed a kiss on his cheek. "What's on your mind?" I asked him softly, nuzzling into his shoulder.

"What's the town like lately?" Vic asked, still looking out the window.

"Busy as it has always been," I told him. "There's always people walking on the streets even though it's office hours. There are a lot of new cafés popping up and they serve coffee that cost more than my daily food budget. Everybody tries to get to them though. Everybody wants to be seen in a fancy coffee shop. The movie theatre was renovated not too long ago so it's not so shitty now." I racked my brain for something interesting about the town to tell him but I drew a blank. "When was the last time you were there?" I asked instead.

"Senior year," he replied, a ghost of a smile on his lips. "My friends and I cut class one day to go out and have fun before we graduated. It was the best day of my life."

I nodded. "Maybe I could bring you there someday," I chanced a thought.

Vic shook his head quickly, much to my disappointment. "Cronies," he started.

"Yeah, I know," I cut in. We've had this conversation many times in our short months together. Every time I suggested to him to leave this place where he was being held prisoner, he'd only shake his head and say that his father would find out and hunt him down. "But you can't hide here forever," I said for the hundredth time. "If we get far away enough, he won't find you."

"I dunno," he mumbled. "Anything could happen."

I didn't say any more. I didn't want us to have an argument over this, it wasn't worth it. "I'm going to shower," I spoke up after a moment's silence. I gave him another peck on the cheek and left for the bathroom.

I have never met Vic's father but I hated him. I hated how he's trapped Vic in this dump of a neighbourhood without even physically being around. I hated how he has led Vic to believe that his life was meant to be spent rotting in this place without ever seeing the world outside. I hated how he made Vic feel worthless and wrong. Vic didn't deserve any of this. I ended up here because I fooled around with a girl and made mistakes. Vic didn't. He was just born unfortunate. He didn't deserve any of this at all.

The more I thought about it the angrier it made me. In a red hot flash of frustration, I lashed out at the nearest object. The blow nearly broke the little metal shelf screwed into the wall. Bottles of shampoo toppled to the wet floor, creating a loud ruckus that echoed through the tiny bathroom. The noise brought me to my senses, realising that I could've woke Copeland up and startled Vic who was outside.

"Kellin?" Vic called, knocking timidly on the door. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," I replied. "I just slipped a little."

"You're taking a long time in the shower," Vic pointed out.

"I'll be out in a second."

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