Layne refused to be anywhere near Coden or Iker. He didn't know how to go about behaving around them, so he simply avoided them. His next best choice, of course, was hanging out with Malia and Alana, who so happened to start volunteering as babysitters on their very first day in the village.
Alana loved children. She'd try to spend all of her time helping out the mothers. Malia appeared to only be there for the company, thus Layne didn't feel like he was the only one with a hidden agenda.
"Why would anyone have children in a place like that?" Malia whispered once when they were sitting within a distance of Alana, Mary and the children.
Layne shrugged. "I'd assume they might not have effective birth control?"
"I think I'd rather live without... Intimate relationships," she said just a little too loud. "It's such an awful place to grow up in."
Mary turned to her and smiled. "None of us chose to have intimate relationships, Malia."
Malia blushed and bit down her. "I-I," she stuttered, "I'm so sorry, I didn't even think about it."
"It's ok," Mary chuckled. "Just don't say something like that again, some of the others are more sensitive than me."
Malia only nodded and turned her eyes away. For some reason, Layne had an urge to laugh. He swallowed it down and took her hand.
"Let's go somewhere else," he offered.
"Yeah, okay."
* * *
They ambled around the streets, silent, most of the time. Malia kept her eyes down and Layne wondered whether she at least saw what was right in front of her at any given time.
"Oh come on, it wasn't that bad," he said. "Besides, no one else will know."
Malia shook her head. "You don't get it."
"Guess I don't."
They fell silent for a while. When Malia spoke again, Layne had almost forgotten where they had ended. "I just should have known better."
"If everyone knew better maybe we wouldn't be here, but people often don't know better, so..."
She clenched her jaw and opened it again. It looked like she wanted to say something but couldn't make a sound. Tears started rolling and Layne got lost. Again. He never knew how to handle her like that, so he just wrapped one hand around her shoulders and continued walking, pretending not to see her crying.
He was only glad there weren't that many people in this village, thus, they didn't meet anyone.
"Erick," she sobbed.
"No, I'm Layne." He raised his eyebrows and quickly realised that wasn't what she meant, so, he laughed, trying to make it pass a joke. There couldn't have been worse timing for that and it definitely didn't help her.
"My... 'ex', Erick." Malia wiped her eyes aggressively but tears just kept coming. "He was never really my boyfriend. I mean, he pretended to be, at first. Then he just used me. For money."
Layne bit on his lips. He didn't understand why was she telling him that. He didn't want her to be telling him that. Since she did, he had to come up with an answer – which was too big of a task for him. He only cursed Malia in his head. They weren't that close or anything. Why was he always the person she'd decide to open up to?
"And when I decided I wasn't gonna do it anymore..." She squeezed her lips together and closed her eyes. "Suddenly, I'm visited by the RCI."
He tightened his grip on her shoulder. "Why are you telling me all that?" he asked. Those were wrong words. Those were very wrong words.
आप पढ़ रहे हैं
In Saving the Imperfect
कल्पित विज्ञानA bastard, an alcoholic and a murderer - all have committed an equivalent crime. *** Layne Marks has always been a failure in the eyes of his family. The black sheep in the shadow of his more successful brother. At twenty-six, he still can't keep a...
