Between Worlds

Unheard Goodbye

It was 2003. "Are we there yet?" we're four words that made 8th grader Koda Renk feel even more like she was a kid again. Though when you hear it through a forty five minute car ride to the park from your car seat bound little sister and second grade brother, you'd realize why, when you were their size repeating those same words the whole car ride, you wouldn't make it to your destination.
We finally pulled into the parking lot of Green Lane Park, and I had already had a high urge to strangle Bryson and Faye both. They gave me a splitting headache and now I was contemplating walking home. When we finally pulled in, I sat up from leaning on the dog, and went from seconds to rem, to hooking the leash on Kujo's harness and practically throwing us both out the car door before mom could say "shut up we're here". As Kujo followed me to the back, I could hear Dad hollering out the driver side window, "Koda, do not go off on your own". I rolled my eyes and opened the back gate. Kujo sat and watched as I grabbed the mini cooler from big blue ice box, with his drinking bowl and crunchies, and grabbed a water bottle and stuck it in the cooler as well. Faye was just four years old and now I guess I couldn't blame her for getting excited, but Bryson was almost eight years old, and I could tell he was only repeating it even though Mom said we were here, because he knew it drove me nuts, which you see now, is Bryson's favorite game, how long can you act like a butt head before Koda snaps? But anyway, Faye had somehow undone her seat belt by herself, and had turned around in her seat.
Can I just stop a moment to say, Faye Faye is adorable, she takes from Mom and I of course, we have the better looks in the family. Her with her light Caramel skin, almost almond eyes, perfect eyebrows, brown hazel eyes, medium hair (except for her it went halfway down her upper back) with bangs side swept, (though mine are grown out and parted), cherry cheeks, light strawberry brown hair (no it's not dyed this shade actually exists naturally) perfect smile, white teeth, and the most adorable voice at four years old.
"Koko!" And she still calls me that to this day, "can you please help me out?" I smiled after swallowing my long sip, and winked as just closed the cap. "I gotcha babe!" I said, sounding like the higher pitched girly sounding version of Uncle Jessie, from Full House. Faye giggled and turned to sit down and I chuckled as I put the water bottle down and Kujo then fallowed me to her side of the car. When I opened the door, she launched herself into my arms. "Whuh-hoa! Hey there Faye Faye!" I grunted, when all the breath was knocked from me.
As Mom and Dad stepped out the car and began to unload, Bryson pushed through the partly open door and past me and Faye and rushed toward the playground immediately. When I saw him I cleared my throat just like Mom does when any of us kids are doing something we aren't supposed to, and he froze in his tracks and doubled over like an armadillo on a busy highway. "Where do you think you're going" I said as motherly as I could, though with, my at that time, small 13 year old voice, listening to myself, I sounded more like a bully than a mother. Bryson peeked at me, terrified over his shoulders, "the playground" he said nervously, I sighed with annoyance in my tone, and rolled my eyes "next time ask, only warning" I said, he got excited "you mean I can go?" He said, "yes" I began, pausing to hear his excitement before I could crush it, "yay" he turned back to run for the hills, but I stopped him "after, you help unload the car" I said with a devious smile, a smile I'm sure Mom bares when she builds up my excitement just to tear it down again. One reason why I just about lost faith in my mother's encouragement. Bryson's shoulders slumped as all happiness drained from him, and he dragged his butt, head down, to the back gate, and started helping.
When I glanced away from a second of unloading the car I immediately recognized the first of my friends to arrive, his family's black jeep pulled into the parking lot, in the front window I saw him wake up, and smile when he spotted me as he stretched.
Jason and I have been friends since preschool, and normally at that age girls and boys care about whether they hang out with boys or girls, us, we didn't really care, cause no one wanted to join us until 1st grade. That's when we met Jill, and Corey (Caroline), and as the years progressed more people added to the group, more wolves added to the pack. I met Bradley, Aya, and Dalton in second grade, Dalton and Bradley were in my homeroom that year, we were partners for every group activity in class. Fourth grade I became good friends of two girls Jane and Rose, we all followed each other through till we graduated.
When Jason opened his door, I put down what I was doing and Kujo and I met him at the bumper of his car. "Jason!" I exclaimed as I ran to him and jumped up to give him a big hug, as if I hadn't seen him since the American Revolution. "Hi" he breathed, I dropped and turned turned to my mom who was watching us, then Dad who pretended he wasn't watching, he closed the cooler and glanced up a second at us, back down at the cooler and paused at mid touch and looked back up. He continued working as he watched. I saw that look on his face, and recognized it immediately. It was the same face he made watching me with my first boyfriend, who broke my heart, then was chased off by him and Jason. I cocked an eyebrow at him then looked at Mom, and made the "what is he worried about now" gesture, she glanced between the two of us and shrugged. I rolled my eyes. "You guys done yet" I thought I heard Jason say, "hm" I mumbled, turning my attention back to him. "You guys almost finished unpacking" he said more clearly "yeah" I said, I glanced at the car. My mom lifted, my sister who wore her pink shorts that came above the knee, her sneakers, and an adorable shirt that I picked out for her. It was camouflage and said you can't see me, the sleeves came to the middle of her mussel. I saw her motion Faye using her hand to draw a small circle in the air, reading her lips clearly I could tell she said, "m'kay Hun turn around", she spread her arms out and closed in on Faye as she giggled and turned around. My mom took a hairbrush, and brushed Faye's long beautiful hair back, then brushed it up into a ponytail in her fist, then took the strong hair tie, and tied it into a loop. "You want to take a walk on the path, while we wait for everything to be ready?" he said, I smiled, "Actually yeah I was already planning on taking Kujo on a stroll through the woods" I said, "Wanna head now", "Yeah, lemme just tell my mom where I'm going, you wait with Kujo" I said, and handed the leash to Jason, then ran to the open back gate.