When He Leaves - R. Cameron

11 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒, 𝑡𝑜 𝑘𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟'𝑠 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑠𝑎𝑓𝑒

𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒,
𝑡𝑜 𝑘𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟'𝑠 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑠𝑎𝑓𝑒

summer of '19

          Rafe was back. But he had come to see Rory at the wrong time— she and her dad were in the middle of an argument. The kind where she was trying to explain herself, but he was yelling in her face. It stemmed from the fact she had been out past eleven last night which was because she worked a late shift, and although they closed at ten, she had to clean after. He never let her explain that.

          "I was working, Dad." She finally tried to explain, her back hitting the wall where he had backed her into. His eyes were bloodshot and he looked malicious with his mouth hanging open in mid–shout, breathing heavily. That was the moment Rafe decided to walk in the door. It was normal, she said he was welcome anytime. But her dad's truck was in the driveway, so she had no idea what gave him the nerve to come in without calling her.

           Her eyes fell on him over her dad's shoulder, where he stood with his eyes narrowed in on them. The man in front of her turned slowly to look at the boy standing in the entryway of the kitchen. "Oh, great! You're fucking around with a boy! You're a whore just like your mother!" He slammed his hand against the wall beside her head, leaning down in her face. "I want you out of this house before you get pregnant."

          And then walked toward Rafe, who had his hands in fists at his sides. He was nearly a half foot taller than the man, towering over him. But Rory's father had a way of making people feel smaller than him, despite logistics, and he would not let a teenager get in his way. He was intimidating when he wasn't wasted, stumbling over his feet and words. "Why the hell are you in my house, boy?" He spat, looking up at him as if he was looking down.

Rory squeezed her eyes shut and covered her ears, sliding down the wall. She swallowed, hearing her heart beat thrumming in her ears. If she did not start breathing and calming down, she would have a panic attack in front of the both of them. She refused to do that, so she breathed through her nose and out of her mouth. Everything else around her was a blur, and her breath hitched when she felt hands on her hands, where they were covering her ears.

Her eyes shot open to see Rafe, bent down at her level with a look worry. He grabbed her hands and took them away from her head, holding them in between them. "Are you okay?" He asked, releasing one of her hands to smooth his fingers over her cheek, tucking hair behind her ears.

She nodded. "Yeah." She managed to get out and looked over his shoulder. "Where did he go? Did he try to hurt you?" She was so embarrassed again. What if he tried something with him, or yelled at him. The boy tilted his head, with a pained expression. "I talked him into taking a drive to calm down. He told me he would if I would get out of his house." He explained, sweeping his thumb over her cheek to catch the tears falling down. Had she been crying?

She pressed her lips together and looked down. He was comforting her, rubbing her hand and holding her face. It was all so surreal, and she wanted no part of what was happening. "Let me get up." She muttered, taking her hand back and turning her face so his hand fell. He watched her, his face flushed as if he even regretted what had happened. "Rory." He murmured and followed her. She walked to where there was crushed glass from the beer bottle he threw down, looking at it with hatred.

She walked toward the pantry where there was a broom, but a hand caught her wrist. "You're not cleaning up after him again. It's bullshit." He sounded angry at her, at her dad, at everything. She laughed at him, and he looked at her with worry. Again. "Who else will? I live here all the time, he lives here when wants. And this will be another fight if it's not cleaned up later. If he comes back. There's always that, he might disappear." She was hysterical, sweeping it into a dustpan.