|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2011 3:35 am
Flashes of light splashed the old country road through a canopy of tree tops that met overhead, throwing the Jeep in and out of spotty shadows as it left a path of swirling dust in its wake. A dark-skinned, older woman was staring from the passenger seat with one of the sweetest smiles Kam could remember; it was like sunshine on a rainy day, a little piece of comfort that made everything okay. She laughed at something that he hadn’t quite heard and her whole face lit up. Her dark eyes crinkled at the corners and her smile widened, shining down on him. Then she was turning around to face the road ahead of them and he was instantly filled with a sense of homesickness that made his stomach churn.
He was turning to look to his left before he had even thought to do so and one dark hand reached out to settle on the top of a younger teen’s head, shuffling the short dreads that fell around his equally dark face until two skinny arms reached up and shoved him away roughly. He heard his own deep laughter in his ears as the kid crossed his arms over his chest and made the grumpiest, sulky little face he could manage. Then he just looked away, out into the forest that the Jeep was whizzing by, and let his head fall against the tinted glass with a soft ‘thunk’.
Kam had reached out to bother him again when a stern voice jerked both boys upright. His eyes looked up to the rearview mirror where an identical pair stared back from the driver’s seat. His good mood faltered and his mouth drew into a sneer before he could help it. Then a soft, comforting voice broke the silence and he saw the woman reach out to set a gentle hand on her husband’s shoulder. Kam watched as the man relaxed under her touch and turned to look at her briefly with a smile that spoke a thousand silent words that he couldn’t even begin to understand yet.
Instead he just looked down at the PSP he’d forgotten was in his lap, shying away from the affection he felt like he was intruding on. He picked up the handheld console and began to exit the pause screen when he noticed the grumpy teenager to his left wasn’t staring out of the window anymore. He was leaning a little to his right, trying to see what was on the screen of the PSP but trying to hide his intentions all at once. Kam considered putting his back against the door so he couldn’t watch, but in the end he leaned to his left and held the game out. The teenager hesitated for a split second before a half smile split his dark face and his long hands reached out to grab it.
A barrage of questions started when the younger boy leaned back in, navigating the small figure on screen but interrogating Kam about every move he was making. Then they were huddled together over the center of the seat, strained against their seatbelts, while an unnaturally patient Kam steered the teen through the game step-by-step. Time passed like that for a while with nothing but their voices filling the silence and an occasional reprimand from the front seat when they got too excited.
Then, out of nowhere, a scream ripped through the cab. Kam jerked his head up just in time to see a brown shape flash past the front of the Jeep, then around the left side as the man behind the wheel jerked it hard to the right. There were a few split seconds when he was aware of what was about to happen and before the Jeep pitched and finally began to flip from its own momentum, he reached out and threw one strong arm across the boy at his side in a vain attempt to protect him.
Seconds felt like minutes as Kam watched the world fly by outside of his window and felt his body being tossed like a ragdoll in the constraints of his seatbelt. Each crash jolted him to the core and still more painful were the shards of broken window pressed against every inch of his exposed skin. It was an agony that felt like it was never ending, filling him with fear and panic and confusion. Then one last hard crash shook the remains of the jeep, like they had been stopped by a brick wall, and an overwhelming blackness swept over him.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2011 3:37 am
Kam jolted upright on the couch he had been crashing on for the last couple of weeks, disoriented and panicked in the darkness of the room until he realized where he was. His heartbeat was pounding in his ears and drowning out the distant sounds of the city outside the window. He was dimly aware of a cold sweat that coated his dark skin and the sheet that he had been curled up under was now sticking to his heaving chest.
He shifted on the plush cushions until he could set both feet on the floor and then slowly relaxed into a slump, rubbing one broad hand over his stricken face. Little by little, his panicked breathing began to soften and the roaring sound of his heartbeat was dying in his ears. The hand over his face shifted to rub the back of his neck as he looked up and towards his roommate’s bedroom door – he didn’t hear anything. That was a good sign; at least he hadn’t woken Bo up.
Unfortunately, he was done sleeping for the night. He stood up and dressed quickly, throwing on the same clothes he had tossed on the floor mere hours before. He pulled his shoes on without untying them and reached out for the end table in the darkness, fumbling until he found his keys and wallet – then his new cellphone as an afterthought.
He stood then, unsure of exactly where he was going, but knowing that he couldn’t stay in anymore. He knew it was the city, he knew he had invited ghosts to his door the second he took his first step off of that bus. He couldn’t leave though, not this time, not now. He had a promise to keep.
That only left Kam with one option. If those ghosts wanted to plague him tonight, he would find a sleep so deep that the devil himself couldn’t drag him out of. As he opened the front door and shut it behind him, his feet were already following a path that led to the closest open bar.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
