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Chapter 61 - We Have Lea At Home

No….no no no…there had to be a simple explanation for all this.

The flowers had always been poppies but me (no actual grammar intended), with my lousy vision, had completely misinterpreted a tiny flower for an enormous one. Perfect logic. Okay…

I was really tired and…in a novel I’d read for that wasted freshman reading class, they talked about false memories. It had always been poppies but something along the way had changed my recollection of the event. That’s why the words I expressed before involved sunflowers when there were none. That’s why the memory is especially messed up now. Human memory is an absolute disaster, mine worst of all.

There. I could breathe again. I smiled at Lea and told her, “Nah. I was just thinking of sunflowers…and sunflower seeds. Kinda hungry. Let’s go grab that snack.”

Though Lea cocked her head and held on to a questioning look long after we’d passed the mural, she didn’t ask me any follow-up questions. Using the change left from lunch, we each got what amounted to a candy bar with some peanut butter and nuts. And I got Lea a little bag of honey-roasted sunflower seeds.

We ate and took the long way back through the trio of drama buildings. They looked more like concrete, oversized garages. I’d once gone to a cozy, fun improv show at the big one.

The art gallery was closed on Friday but Lea peered through the darkened windows and pointed out a few works she really liked.

As we finished our snacks and approached the Sidewinders Stadium parking lot, Lea asked me, "What are your plans, like for college and you know...life?"

I didn't bother making plans before I became a battery which leaked radiant girl energy all over everyone. I'd left the medical academy. I’d been scared off by AP classes. I’d selected the most useless electives, like reading. I'd taken more than one of the alphabet soup standardized tests and that led to fancy, colorful mail by universities all ready to receive my money.

Realistically, I accepted what my parents said that this local college was cheaper for my first two years than anywhere else I could go. But life?

I barely had plans for meeting Lea's parents and what I might say to them.

We threw our trash away in the nearest can (I did not attempt to throw it with flair) and I tried to think of a decent answer to Lea’s question.

She smiled at my vague, regurgitated college plans and frowned slightly when my words petered out. I massaged my neck and admitted, “I have no idea…”

“Same here…” Lea clasped my hand and sighed to herself before admitting, “I’ve regaled you with stories of my pharmacist uncle. I helped him out one summer with inventory and other stuff behind the scenes. I love drawing, but I anticipate that won’t become anything more than a hobby. And then there’s…” She gestured to herself with her free hand.

I gave her hand a little squeeze and she continued, “I mean…it kinda changes everything but hopefully not as much as I fear.”

The sun neared the horizon and evening students were starting to show up. We continued along the edge of the parking lot as it led to the tennis courts and the gym.

I felt another of those random spells of uncharacteristic optimism as I told Lea, “Don’t focus on fear. Don’t dwell on what doesn’t make sense or terrifies you. Instead, think about all the ways that today went right. Think about all the moments that made you smile. Imagine those moments piling up. Think of all the unimagined, but inevitable great things.”

Lea leaned into another hug and quietly answered, “I’ll do that. As much as I conceivably can.”

I was glad to comfort Lea, even though I felt more like the person who needed comforting. Uncertain memories. Shadows that moved on their own. A girl who hated my guts. Parents who I made cry about their child. And a power I could still barely comprehend.

At least the college only had the normal sorts of shadows. And I was watching, checking even rooftops and the densest parts of trees as we turned onto the path which took us past the gym and back to my dad’s classroom.

When we arrived, he was waiting for us with his briefcase filled and the lights already off. We gathered up our things and left together.

Lea took the lead, walking right beside my dad as we made our way to the car. He asked first about my day, stressing, “Nothing crazy happened?”

No, I didn’t make any more girls. I didn’t even get close compared to Thursday.

“No more than usual. There was a lousy identities test in math though.” I figured he’d be more interested in that than anything else I could offer. Probably should’ve mentioned Natalie’s threat but he didn’t need to know about that yet.

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Dad was quick to leap on the math thing and ask if I did thing X, or thing Y that he’d mentioned. Yes, I remembered those things, but they didn’t work out for me. Lea kept quiet until dad glanced over at her, took a deep breath, and asked, “You…uh…alright?”

Lea wrapped her hands around her pack as we neared the car. “I’m doing my best. Your daughter has been a kind and faithful friend when I’ve needed help. And I’ve done everything possible to return that favor so she’s unburdened.”

My dad’s answer to that was a steady nod with a simple, “Good to hear.”

He didn’t have anything to say about me and Lea sitting in the back. I placed myself as far from dad as I could, same as the drive yesterday. Lea leaned against me with a faint, calm smile.

I didn’t try to focus energy on her one way or the other, but I couldn’t help the warm feeling that seemed to draw her closer. Despite how cautiously (but still with jerks and squeaks) my father drove, we made it to Lea’s home sooner than I expected.

Her dad sat at the edge of a wooden bench on their front porch. He sprung to his feet when we were a few houses over. I’d seen him a couple times, mostly at back-to-school and once or twice when Wes and I were an awkward couple.

He had several inches on original Wes and a full but carefully-groomed beard best described as…Riker. He didn’t look much like the character otherwise, but he had that same sort of beard. He wore a full, gray suit. Lea’s mom was nowhere to be seen.

Their house was newer than ours but pretty much every house on this side of town was. It was one of those sandy-colored tract homes with terracotta tile roofs wedged onto a cramped lot with a dinky tree out front.

I let Lea get out first but tagged along closely. They exchanged a few words in Spanish. Lea brushed her hair back. Her father fidgeted in place before shaking my dad’s hand. The pit bull next door went nuts, howling and vaulting against the narrow fence.  

“Head on inside”, Lea’s dad encouraged.

I followed Lea as our fathers' voices faded between the yelping dogs.  

The front room had a long, gray sofa and the walls were filled with family photos, floral decorations, and plenty of religious symbols, especially the large lithograph of a haloed, bearded Jesus gazing in my direction.

Lea set her bag by a table with a few cooking magazines and a potted fern. From the kitchen, a woman leaned into the hallway to inquire, “…Mijo?”

And that was as much as I comprehended the Spanish between them. I did understand the difference in her saying “mijo” and not “mija”. Lea didn’t stress it the other way, but she did relay her name several times.

So far as her mom, Lea had good cause to be wary. She had on a loose, maroon sweater and her chest thoroughly distended it. It was way the heck out there and she wasn’t a big woman in any other respect. While she had the same thick, shoulder-length black hair as Lea, there were a few artificial, lighter streaks.

After some words, she looked me in the eye and asked, “You’re Kenzie, right?”

I smiled and nodded but kept quiet as she continued, “Wes talked about you…several times. I always wanted to meet you properly.”

She shook my hand and ushered us into a living area, behind a nice kitchen and a dining table, where we sat on a brown couch.

We went through the usual courtesies. She offered us something to eat. We accepted a little with the promise of a full meal later. The perfunctory stuff faded as Lea’s dad walked in and watched me. He took a chair from the table and sat across from us.

First, he looked at me with his hands folded and said, “I just spoke to your father. He would like for you to call him around nine to be picked up, whether this school project is finished or not.”

Then, he gazed at Lea. He shut his eyes a moment and brushed at his beard. “Wes…what’s going on?” He leaned forward on his toes. His wife laid a hand on the dinner table.

Scooting forward on the couch, Lea found the words, “A lot…lately…”

Looking between me and Lea, Mr. Betancourt elaborated, “You stayed with the Wallers last night. You told me not to worry about you because you were safe. And you chose not to come home earlier…”

With a tip of her head, Lea pointed out, “I’m home now. I’m not…going to run away.”

Settling back in his chair, Mr. Betancourt noted, “I wasn’t worried about that. I’m not worried if you need time away or…whatever you need. I’m just…The look in your eyes last night when you left…I saw the same look in Uncle Alonzo’s eyes the weekend before...what he did to himself. That terrified me. I don’t…don’t care what you look like, what name you take, or any other small thing. All I need to know…is that you’re okay.”

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Art by Alexis Rillera/Anirhapsodist