Break In My Heart

11. The Pot & The Kettle

"Your total will be twenty nintey-two," Mrs. Cortez politely said from behind the counter as she continued bagging my endless mountain of trash food into small bags. My heart felt heavy as I slid twenty-one dollars across the counter toward her.

Kyra had just gotten back from their "surprise" visit to see her had early this morning, and if her sobs that overtook her words as she spoke to me were any indication, it hadn't gone well. I just didn't know why or what happened. All that I knew was that she said that she really needed me, so I was going to her house stocked with her favorite snacks and a vinyl of the newest album from her favorite band named The Abyss from another store called "The Rock" for her to add to her ever-growing collection, though I was sure that she'd already streamed it a million times since its release two weeks ago.

"Thanks, Mrs. C," I said as she handed me my change and bags.

"No worries, Addison. Tenga un buen día (have a nice day)!"

"Tenga un buen día tambien (hace a nice day too)!" I called over my shoulder before I pushed open the door and thrust myself back onto the busy New York streets. It didn't take long until I was knocking on Kyra's familiar front door. I bounced my leg as I heard muffled movements from inside, ants of anxiety moving within me as I tried to piece together what could be the matter.

When the door opened and the girl in front of me was not the girl I recognized as my girlfriend. Her eyes were puffed and her skin was tinted a red that only hours of crying could produce, a shade of red that my Padre had made me familiar to when his father passed. Her clothes were disheveled and her hair was messy, but not in the organized mess that it usually was, but pure chaos. The way her chin trembled as she looked at me broke me and within a moment's breath, the bags that I'd been carrying were on the ground and my arms were tightly wrapped around her.

As if my touch broke a dam within her, tears flowed from her eyes and her body violently shook in my arms as heartbreaking sobs were pulled from her chest. I didn't bother whispering sweet nothings into her ear like "it's okay" or "I'm here", I'd come to realize that she hated stuff like that, especially when she was emotionally bent out of shape. When she was done, I held her in my arms, not putting any space between us until she wanted to.

"It's so bad, Addi. It's so, so bad," she whispered as she pulled away and looked up at me, her eyes glassy and red.

"What is, piccola (baby)?" I softly asked as I gently swept her tears away with my thumb.

She shook her head. "Not here. I'll tell you inside."

I nodded as I gathered my dropped bags in my arms before I turned my back to her and bent down. "Hope on, princess."

I didn't have to be facing her to see her grin before she slowly climbed onto my back. As I carried her into her house, I could feel a tension in the air that wrapped around me and squeezed like a boa constrictor. The light aura that usually ran rampant in her halls had been brutally killed and replaced by an impenetrable darkness. It honestly scared me, especially when I didn't see her mom in the kitchen or watching bad reality TV in the living room like I usually did.

I carried Kyra up to her room and gently set her on her bed. Her curtains were drawn, giving her room a darkness that matched its aura, which she never did unless something very very bad happened. "What do you have?" she asked, her voice weak as I kicked my shoes off and turned toward her.

"All of your favorites," I said as I dumped the bags' contents on her bed. "Candy, soda, chips, gummy bears, tea. I got the works. Oh, and I got you the vinyl to that awful band that you listen to."

She weakly punched my shoulder. "The Abyss is great, and don't you dare slander their holy name," she joked, though she lacked her usual joy. She took the record from me and set it on her nightstand. "Thanks, Addi. You know me too well."