Parish: Killing Me Slowly

Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen

“I have to go, Leigh.” Greg tells me and I all but fall to the floor at his feet as his sentence breaks my heart. Greg is going into the military. He’ll be stationed somewhere half-way across the world, somewhere I won’t be able to reach him if needed.

Honestly, he’s always wanted to be in the military, to help our nation with everything he’s heard about. Wars. Recessions. Economic downfalls. The whole lot. But a small part of me wishes he wouldn’t go, wishes he would stay here forever and be the big brother he was intended to be. The one that has always been there for me, through thick and thin. The brother I’ll never be able to give back to because there’s just not enough in this world. He gave me countless opportunities to live once again, when I thought all was lost.

And now he’s leaving.

“But, you don’t have to go!” I say as I cling to him. “Please!”

Gently, he pries my fingers from around his neck and steps to the side. I fall into Blade who is standing just behind Greg. He grabs onto me and I mold to him, holding tightly.

“Greg?” a small voice asks. I look over to see Amanda standing by the steps, looking worried. “You’re really leaving.” It wasn’t a question, but her tone implied otherwise.

He nods and his lips form a tight line. “I’m sorry. Leigh is older now.” he gestures to me. “She’ll be able to take care of herself and with the help of you two, I’m sure she’ll be more than safe. Besides, this’ll help me pay for college. I only ever saved up enough for Leigh.”

A touching story. I knew all that money would some day go to my college expenses, but I didn’t really want to go to college anyway. Over the years, I never had to worry about what career I would go into or what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. I thought only of survival. It’s all I’ve ever really known. Maybe I’ll be a police officer and stop people like my father: abusive parents. Maybe that’s my purpose.

“Will you be back?” I ask in a soft voice and look at the floor.

Greg walks over to me and wraps me in a hug. “Of course I will. I promise.”

I nod my head and he walks over to say good-bye to Amanda. I know she’s hurting just as much as I am, possibly more. She’s in love with Greg and it’s a wonder I never figured in out before. My heart breaks watching them and I turn into Blade.

I breathe in deeply, filling my lungs with his musky scent. I’ve never smelled anything quite like it. It’s alluring.

After another round of good-byes, Greg leaves. The sound of his car driving away drills a hole into my heart. I’ll be fine. I have to be.

For the rest of the day, the three of us lounge around, moping. There’s not much to do. It’s a Saturday so there’s no school. We don’t feel up to shopping or even going out somewhere without Greg.

It’s been three weeks since my memory came flooding back to me. It shocks me to my very core to know that Blade loves me, to know what we’ve been through and yet he’s still here. It’s surprising, and yet comforting. I wouldn’t want anyone else to be in his place. He belongs here, with me as I do with him.

The next few days are uneventful. I fall into routine: school, homework, time spent with Blade and Amanda, dinner, reading different books, then bed. After about a week, I’m sick of it. Greg had a special… spark that I miss dearly. He usually found something to do that involved all of us and was a lot of fun.

I sit at the kitchen table, thinking about everything that’s happened in my life. My mother died during childbirth. My brother practically raised me, no thanks to my abusive father. I met Amanda and we came best friends. Soon after, I met Nick and up until now, thought he was a pretty okay person, until he raped me at least. Then I met Blade. Maybe sharing the details of my father to both him and Amanda were what truly helped me to recuperate. Maybe that’s what gave back the spark in my life.