Chapter 7
She Will Be Loved- chp 7
The next morning when I woke Jayden was already awake and out of the tent. I sighed hoping that he wasn’t outside making conversation with those two. The first sound I heard was them laughing and I threw open the flap of my tent to see what was going on.
Stepping outside I found the two sitting by themselves by the extinguished fireplace. I didn’t know what they were laughing about but I didn’t care as long as they weren’t doing it with Jayden. Though now I couldn’t help but wonder where he had disappeared to . . .
---Jayden’s POV---
I couldn’t stay out there for much longer. What Jonie had said last night had really gotten to me but I knew that it wasn’t my fault . . . it couldn’t have been my fault . . . Jonie was the one who had decided to involve weapons. She was the one who thought it would have been fun . . . I couldn’t possibly have been to blame.
I walked into the kitchen to get a glass of orange juice in order to calm my nerves and get ready for the day when I was unpleasantly surprized by my morning guest. She looked up at me from her seat on the stool by the counter with that haughty, know-it-all look of hers that she knew I hated.
“What?” I asked impatiently. Left to herself she would have stared on forever.
“She’s not Cyn you know.”
I could feel my expression darken. “And you think I don’t know that?”
“Well obviously not or you wouldn’t be acting like she was. It’s time you faced up to the fact Jay, the sooner you do the better it will be. Knowing you anything could go wrong when it comes to Cynth--“
“Oh yes and when it comes to her you’re the perfect saint aren’t you. You did absolutely nothing wrong and so your conscience is clear and you sleep like a baby every night.” Her expression darkened too but she deserved any new guilt that she felt because I never completely forgave her for what happened.
“You think I sleep well at nights knowing what happened? You think I don’t have feelings or cry whenever she pops into my mind? You think you’re the only one hurting?” Wait . . . were those actual tears in her eyes . . .?
“Jonie I—“
“You know what, screw you. I don’t have to take this.” She brushed past me but said no more as she exited the room. I threw myself against the wall with my eyes shut tight and I took a deep breath. I really couldn’t handle this. Cynthia didn’t have to end up that way. We could have saved her . . . Sometimes I just forgot how much she meant to everyone else. It didn’t seem like anyone else really cared that she was gone. No one spoke about her. No one mentioned her in a casual conversation, not even Jonie—it was like they were all trying to pretend that she never existed but she did! She was real and what happened to her was even realer.
“Hey what’s wrong with Jonie?”
I opened my eyes slowly and saw Kai standing at the door with Emi in her arms. She seemed genuinely curious but it was nothing for her to worry about. “What’s right with her?” I joked.
She chuckled. “You know she probably has you bugged so don’t be surprized if she heard that.” I chuckled too but it was nothing to laugh about. It was that blasted data carrying business that brought on the situation but no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t get her to stop which was all the more reason to not want Kai around her. She was a danger magnet and when she wasn’t attracting enough she went looking for more.
“Are any of the other happy campers awake?” I asked, trying to change the topic. It didn’t appeal to me anymore.
“Um . . . well our neighbours are awake but you know Matt, he’s still lost to the world.” She said rolling her eyes animatedly. Emi began laughing. I found myself smiling. I was so lucky to have her and half the time I forgot that.
“Hey Kai, you know that I only stuck my hand in Shyla’s bra to save the poor salamander right?” I had to be sure. The lord knew that girl was getting on my nerves with her screaming. The last thing I wanted was her feeling hurt in any way then not telling me but instead allowing it to bottle up until it spewed over in a less than constructive way. I didn’t like when she hurt herself and though she said she stopped trying sometimes I could see it on her face. I could see her literally fighting the temptation as it was to her. Those times I just felt like taking her into my arms and begging her not to but I knew better. It would only have made her more self-conscious. I found that the best approach when she did that was firstly to point out that she was about to do the wrong then let her know that the thought was to be expelled by suddenly changing the topic. She actually responded quite well to that. Well from what I could see anyway.
“Yeah, of course.” She said with a smile and a dismissive wave of her hand. “You couldn’t have let it stay there and neither she nor her cousin seemed of any help to themselves.”
“So you’re not mad?”
“Mad? No, I know you too well to get angry over something like that, besides if I’m right you only did it because her screaming was annoying you, am I right?”
“Yeah . . .dead on, but how did you know . . .?”
Her smile widened with pride. “I saw that look go on your face.”
“Oh so now you’re studying my expressions, are you? Well then Ms. Shrink, what look gave me away?”
“The one you get when something’s getting on your last nerve and you’re stuck between two choses, help it or hit it.” She said matter of factly before turning to leave. I had to fight not to laugh. And here I thought I had that look covered quite well.
“Wait where are you going?”
“Jonie wanted to see me before breakfast if that’s okay.” She shouted back into the room.
“Well actually it’s kinda not.” I shouted back.
“That’s fine, she said you would say that then I was supposed to tell you that it’s in her living room and not her bedroom.”
“Oh,” Well she didn’t keep any of her stuff in the living room . . . “I guess that’s okay then.”
“Thank you.”
I shook my head. I knew it was a bad idea letting those two get to know each other but eh what are you gonna do? Women find companionship in the strangest things and even, in Jonie’s case, the strangest people.
---Kai’s POV—
I took Emi across the yard with me but before I could get very far I was intercepted by Jayden’s younger cousins.
“Hey Kai can we borrow Emi, pleeeaassee?” Shantal asked.
“Should I be worried?” I asked raising my eyebrow expectantly. Jayden had told me not to underestimate them; they really got around when they needed to.
“Don’t worry; she won’t end up in the black market we promise.” Danielle said raising her hand in pledge.
“And if she does, I know a guy.” Javade added.
I clung tightly to Emi and stared down at them in shock. They all burst out in loud laughter after that. How could they find that funny?! I couldn’t afford to lose Emi. She held two parts of my world; Lilia would be remembered through her life.
“Lighten up it was just a joke.” Daneille said after realizing that I hadn’t and didn’t plan to join in their laughter and merriment.
“Yeah, we can’t have ties to the black market until we’re 18.”
“Yeah, not unless we want to be their next sale.” My eyes bulged wider. “Relax we were just going over to Javade’s house and with Charis and we thought we might as well take Emi with us. It’s right across the yard, we won’t even cross the road.”
I sighed. “Okay, but only if she wants to go.”
They all nodded eagerly then Danielle stretched her hand forward and of course Emi happily went. I couldn’t have expected any better anyway because she loved them. She saw family in them and I guess that was a good thing. Now if only they could have been a better influence on her—which reminded me! “Oh and guys while you have her cool it on the swearing please, she called her teacher a bitch.”
“No way! That’s so cool!” Javade said, clearly impressed. I glared down at him. “I mean, tut tut Emi, that’s a mean word, that you should only use in dire circumstances.” He glanced back at me and caught me still glaring. ‘I mean never—never use that word. It’s really naughty and you can get in trouble.” Emi only giggled at him. I guess she saw it all as a big joke. I sighed again.
“Alright, have fun.” I said before giving her a quick kiss then heading over to Jonie’s. When I got inside I found her standing by the window looking out. At first I thought she was watching the two unwelcomed guests but then I realized that they weren’t in that direction. “Um . . . Jonie? Are you still angry about what happened last night?” The way she had left told me that she would either be in an internal rage or fully and externally explosive. She seemed fine so I’m guessing it was more internal.
“Why would I be?” She asked, turning to me with a smile.
“Well . . . You and Jayden did kinda go at it last night . . .”
She waved the statement off dismissively. “Story of our lives. Anyway that was all a part of my plan.”
“Your plan?”
“Yeah, I needed a reason to leave last night without looking too suspicious and Jayden pissing me off was the perfect cover. I’m only sorry that the poor salamander had to suffer for my gain.” I rolled my eyes. It was funny how everyone’s sympathy only extended towards the salamander. “Right so after I left I snuck over to Destiny and Shyla’s house to get a more detailed account of the place they live in. I saw Destiny’s Hole.”
“Hole?”
“Yeah, every DC has one, mine is at school—you aren’t gonna repeat that—and I was planning to take one home but after having those two move in I don’t think I still will.”
“But one question, she’s a DC as well so are you sure she didn’t bug me before I came in here?”
“Well even if she did I have a jamming device at the front door. The moment you entered it destroyed the frequency transmitters with anything below a certain frequency level—I had to reprogram it to do that because it kept killing mom’s phones. Anyway straying from the important. I found some things in there that I would have found funny if I never met you—no, they’re still damn funny but I guess to you it wouldn’t be so I shouldn’t share that but what I will—“
“Jonie! You can’t just give such an introduction then not tell me! That’s torture and you know it!’
She chuckled. “I knew I was rubbing off on you. Okay so you remember last night when Destiny wouldn’t stop looking at you?”
“How can I forget?”
“Yeah, so I’m guessing the bruises were just too familiar to pass up.”
“She has bruises all over too?!” Now that was a shock.
“No she doesn’t but Shyla does.” Even better—wait, no that was mean of me. “I’m sure the majority of them weren’t shelf inflicted after looking through the photos, by the way here.” She said tossing me the folder in her hand. I skipped through and saw what Jonie meant by scars. She almost had as much as me . . . I looked to Jonie for her to continue explaining. “I took some of those pics with my hidden cameras and was counting on them to want to camp so I could retrieve them.”
“Was it by her parents . . .?” I couldn’t help but ask.
She shook her head. “No . . . I watched a tape I shot a week ago with their normal interactions. It seems too typical, the abuse was coming from somewhere outside the home.” It figured. She atleast had parents that cared about her . . . “Kai stay focused or I’ll do this alone.” I knew she didn’t mean what she said as much as a threat as she did a distractor. I nodded. “Now the thing is, if the abuse really wasn’t internal then that must mean that she left the abuser behind. Probably wherever she’s coming from which would mean that I would need to know their old town.”
“How are you going to find that out?”
“I already have. I asked her mom.”
“You did what?! And it actually worked?! How?!”
“Not every aspect of Data Carrier has to be complex you know. There are things that can easily be acquired with the right smile and more pleasant of mannerism.”
I shook my head. Much like her cousin she was simply too much.