Longing

Chapter Four

Melanie woke in a cold sweat, her blankets tossed to the end of the bed and tangled around her feet. She didn't remember what she'd been dreaming about but she did remember how terrifying it was. Her heart drummed in her chest and she had to take a few minutes to calm her breathing and wipe the sweat and sticky hair off her forehead. Kendo rolled over and mumbled something, still asleep. It was dark outside when Melanie pulled back the cheap blinds, which meant it was either very late or very early. The air held that spookiness so common in the wee hours of the morning. With a sigh, Melanie collected the blanket from the end of the bed and burrowed into it as best she could. The rest of the night she spent awake, dreading her trip back home and trying everything she could think of to get back to sleep, from poorly-executed meditation to counting imaginary sheep.

Kendo cleared his throat and groaned as he stretched. "Morning," he said to Melanie quite groggily.

"Morning," Melanie said, an automatic response. She wiped her eyes; she was sure they'd have dark rings below them.

Kendo's pink hair spewed in every direction and the half-asleep look in his eye made it even more comical. Melanie stifled a laugh. "What?" Kendo asked, oblivious.

"Nothing," said Melanie, and finding a new resolve to face the day, got up and flattened down her hair.

Kendo yawned, "I'll make breakfast." Then he shuffled into the kitchen, leaving his crumpled blanket on the floor by his pillow. Melanie heard his joints crack with every step and couldn't help feeling a little guilty over it. She had slept in his bed, after all.

They had hamburgers again. Melanie wondered if she'd get sick of them soon.

"Where's your dad?" Melanie asked.

"Off somewhere. It's Sunday. Who knows."

"Has he always been such a goofball?"

"You're too awake for this early in the morning." Kendo handed her a plate of hamburger; this time it was broken up with melted bits of cheese and bacon bits mixed in.

"That's a creative way to make a hamburger," Melanie teased.

"Oh shut up," said Kendo. And he shoved a humungous spoonful into his mouth to make his point, "If you aren't gonna eat it then I will."

Melanie grabbed a spoon and dug into her own pile of hamburger. It was strange in a good way, like hamburger-omelet. "How come you know how to cook such weird stuff?" That earned her a hurtful look from Kendo and she rephrased, "I mean such unique, inventive meals."

Kendo sighed, "I kinda had to figure out how to cook on my own." He turned his attention to the next scrambled hamburger, sprinkling red pepper and onion into the mix. "Dad can't cook for crap so he eats out all the time."

"What about your mom?" Melanie stood up and joined him by the stove. She planned to ask for more but then she saw the empty freezer bag on the counter. She pretended she had gotten up to put her dish in the sink and did so.

"Mom isn't around anymore," Kendo sounded pained.

Melanie stopped in her tracks, the dish in her hand hovering over the sink like she'd forgotten what she was doing. She stared at Kendo. He looked so upset all the sudden.

"You know how I said I'd been where you were? When you tried to jump in front of that car?"

"Yeah." Melanie didn't like where this was going. Her tone was unfathomably flat.