False Pretenses

Part 11

Chapter 10

Was it odd that I found Kyle’s hand in mine comforting?  I have had guns, knives, other weapons in my face, but when standing in front of this crowd of people, a child kept me calm.  Maybe, this was why people flocked in groups.  I had never understood why they said that the larger the group, the stronger you were.  In my opinion, being by myself was always the best.  I didn’t have to worry about the others weaknesses, didn’t have to worry about how they would make a mistake.  Here, though, I was happy to have Kyle next to me.

“Genna,” Kyle said, pointing at the woman walking towards me.  She swayed a little, but the tears in her eyes were what worried me the most.

“Aren’t we friends?” I whispered.

He looked up at me and grimaced.  “She was friends with you, but you hated her.  I think she would like you how you are now though.  Show her you, and she’ll be okay.”

I didn’t answer him; he didn’t understand that that was out of the question.  I had already messed up a couple people’s lives; I wasn’t going to cause more damage.  Blanking my expression, I waited for the woman to stop in front of me.  I had to admit, if I judged a book by the cover, I could already say this woman and I would have gotten along.  Her hair was a little sloppy, but the woman herself was beautiful.  That wasn’t what allowed me to judge her; it was the genuine smile she sent Kyle before glaring at me.

“I can’t believe you would do that,” she whispered, hurt clear in her eyes.  She glanced at Kyle once more before her eyes scanned the place.  “Do you think we could go to the library?  My father won’t care.”

“I’m going,” Kyle said.  His voice was more commanding than such a young person’s should be, but I knew that his experiences allowed him to pull the hardness from deep down inside of him and display it.

I reached out with my free hand and mussed his hair.  “Of course you are, kid.  I promised I wouldn’t leave you alone, didn’t I?”

“Yeah,” he said his hard voice dropping to be replaced by a smile.  “Come on, sis.”

He tugged me towards what I assumed was the library, and I followed absentmindedly.  Never, have I ever had a person call me sis.  It was odd, but something that I liked.  I mentally berated myself.  I couldn’t afford to like the way Kyle treated me, couldn’t want to be here.

Pushing a door open, his hand slipped from mine as I walked into the place.  By the sounds behind me, I knew that Genna had entered too, and that the door was being closed.

“Why would you do that?” she said.  I closed my eyes, hating the complete hurt in her voice.  It wasn’t something knew, hearing betrayal being thrown at me, but usually, I knew what I did.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I mumbled, not turning towards her.

Angry footsteps stomped towards me.  Her hands grabbed my shoulders, and I had to force my instincts down.  The woman was an innocent, nothing more.  Jerking me around, her face came inches from mine. “You knew I loved him,” she sniffled.

“I’m sorry.”

She took a wobbly step back, her eyes closing.  “You’re a liar, Dorothy.  I wish I could believe you, but you went too far this time.”

“Genna,” Kyle said, bring attention to him.  His face was hard, and I hated it.  Why did the kid have to grow up so soon?  Why couldn’t he be the innocent smiling boy I had seen earlier?  “Leave her alone.”

I smiled at him, understanding the hard expression.  It was like that for many foster kids.  They were so used to giving up their belongings that once they found something they wanted to keep a hold of, they fought for it.  “It’s okay, Kyle.”