The Girl With Bruises on her Knees

Partial Edition

The Girl with Bruises on Her Knees
Written by Jehssikah Plummer
© 2021

Chapter One- Kyla Langley

      Kyla pressed herself up against the side of the cold, damp brick of the old pharmacy building she occasionally worked at in the late hours of the night. She hated working night shifts. She had originally requested to work daytime hours, but her boss claimed he didn't have the hours. None of the other more seasoned girls had been willing to give up their shifts. Of course they didn't want to. Everyone knew what happened in Whitewall after dark. It was never advised for a woman to be out after dark. That's when the wolves were on the hunt, sniffing for a woman's sweet-tasting blood.

      The cold air reached within Kyla's skin, causing the little blonde hairs on her arms to raise and goosebumps to sprinkle across her olive skin. She hugged her threadbare, jean jacket closer to her chest and shuddered violently. She peeked hesitantly around the corner of the building. She had thought she had heard something. Footsteps. Or, maybe she had imagined it. She just had this sick feeling, the sick feeling that someone was watching her. She swallowed hard. She couldn't see anyone. There was a sour stench on the air. Her nose curled. She placed one foot out in front of her and slowly moved her body from around the side of the building. After a brief scan of her surroundings, she began to walk briskly, at a half run to her apartment. She quickly pulled her phone out of her pocket and glanced at it. 7:05 a.m. She was late again. Grandma hated when she was late. She liked her breakfast precisely at 6:45am. She needed her medications, too. Kyla was, now, 20 minutes late. She swore under her breath. She could already feel the sting of her grandmother's ring across her cheek. She exhaled loudly. Why was her boss always screwing her over? She told him upon hire how important it was for her to get off at 6:00am, so she could start her walk home. She had come to time her walk. It was roughly 22 minutes. She lived a mile out. She wouldn't be home now, until at least nearly 7:30. She sucked in her breath and walked faster. Maybe, she could get home sooner. She began to sprint.

      Around 7:20am, she came up to the winding dirt road that led up to the single-wide trailer she shared with her grandmother. Kyla stopped to breathe for a minute. She had to prepare herself for what awaited her. She jogged up the path and leant down to unlock the door with the key that hung from the straw cord around her neck. "Jane!!", came the sound of her grandmother's voice at the sound of the lock in the door. Kyla winced. Her grandmother knew she hated being called by her middle name. Yet, her grandmother insisted on using it. Kyla was her mother's name. Her grandmother had hated her mother. She always said she was the reason Kyla's daddy lost his mind and started doing drugs. She always said that her mother was good for nothing. But, her daddy loved her mother. He always spoke highly of her. It was he who had decided to give Kyla her name. Her grandmother had given her the middle name of Jane, after the firstborn child she had lost, four years before her father's birth. And, that's the name she called Kyla, even though it was always evident that Kyla would never replace the original Jane in her heart. That made Kyla despise the name all the more. "Jane??" entreated her grandmother's crackly voice again, with adamant agitation, this time. Kyla rolled her eyes just before she opened the door. Why did she have to sleep in the living room?

      Kyla crept open the door and walked timidly inside. "Yeah, its me, Maw Maw", she said softly. "It's nearly 7:30", her grandmother said in a flat tone. "I'm sorry", Kyla uttered, swiftly bustling to the kitchen and flinging open the fridge to reach for the eggs. "Boss kept me over time. I keep telling him I have to leave by six."  "What are you doing?" her grandmother demanded. "Making your breakfast. Two scrambled eggs, bacon and coffee, like always", Kyla replied, trying to hide the hint of annoyance in her tone. "I want cereal," her grandmother snapped. Kyla paused. "Cereal?" Her grandmother glared at her from her rocking chair. She raised a brow. "Did I stutter? I want some damn cereal!" Kyla paused again and stared at her. "Rude old bitch", she thought. Her grandmother got even angrier. "Jane, if you don't fucking pour my cereal, I'm liable to shove my cane up your..." Kyla stopped her before she could finish her sentence. "Maw Maw, please calm down. I'm getting it." She crossed the floor agitatedly to the refrigerator. She snatched the box of Life cereal from the top, flung open the ugly orange cabinets by the sink and grabbed her grandmother's favorite pink china bowl with the chip in it and poured a handsome serving of cereal. She turned back to the fridge and reached inside it to grab the milk. "Don't use that soy shit", her grandmother called to her."But, Maw Maw," Kyla protested. "The doctor said it's bad for your..." "I don't give a damn what the doctor said, Jane Langley! I'm fucking 76 years old. I can have whatever the hell I want! It's bad enough that you're late and I haven't had my pills and am starving, to boot, but now you're going to stand there and argue with me too?? Just grab the damn whole milk and pour that shit in!" Kyla closed her eyes tight for a moment. She inhaled sharply, then exhaled quietly. "Yes, Maw Maw", she said through her teeth, before reaching into the fridge to grab the whole milk.