Chapter 2
Kit continued walking for awhile longer. He was beginning to get tired. He would have to stop somewhere to rest soon. He didn't know where Baloo was. He had already checked Baloo's favorite spots in Cape Suzette.
'He must be at Rebecca's apartment.' Kit thought. He really had no desire to stop in there right now so he found a park bench to sit on. It was directly in front of a baseball diamond with several young boys playing on it.
He was just sitting for awhile resting, watching the game. And after a little bit his thoughts, as they frequently did anymore, began to drift back to the war.
2 Years EarlierKit and Joel, his copilot, were flying a Southern Route through Thembria. They had just finished a mission earlier that day and were heading back to base camp. They were both tired and their plane was running low on fuel.
"Kit do you see something to the north? It looks like planes maybe. Think the rest of our squad is making it in now too?"
"Don't know. We left quite a bit later than they did. They should be back at camp by now. You could radio them and see what they are doing."
"Wait a minute." Kit squinted, looking harder at the planes. "Don't, those are Thembrian planes!"
"Think we can outrun them Kit?"
"Yeah, their far enough away I don't think they even see us yet. But where's the fun in that? There are only three of them. I can just fly up in those clouds there, wait for them to come by, and then take all three of them out."
Joel eyed him suspiciously. "Whatever you think. You're the pilot. I'm just the lowly co-pilot."
Kit ignoring the sarcasm in Joel's voice pulled on the yoke of the plane bringing it up into the clouds. From underneath it was virtually invisible.
It was only a few moments until the enemy planes were directly below them.
Kit felt the adrenaline running through him. He had done it a million times before, or so it seemed like. But the anticipation of a dogfight was enormous. It was what he had fantasized about doing for as far back as he could remember.
When the moment came he darted out of the clouds directly behind the three Thembrian planes. His gunner began shooting hitting the engine of the first plane causing it to fall to the ground. He then began toward the second plane when he noticed that he no longer had vision of the third. All of a sudden there were the sound of bullets on the side of his plane and breaking glass. They had been hit. But all of the engines were still working so he was ok. Kit, with quite a bit of skill, somehow managed to get behind the third plane where it was an easy target.
Kit looked around for the other plane during this time. The gunner must have hit it before they were shot at. "See, now I told you that would be fun didn't I. And you just wanted to leave." Kit said grinning at the thought of raising his plane count number. It was really the only way to get respect from the other pilots over there. It seemed that they had egos as big as their attitudes. When there was no response Kit turned to look at his friend.
What he saw horrified him. Joel had been hit in the head by one of the bullets that passed through the cockpit window. There was blood all over the back of the seat and on the wall behind the seat where his brain had literally been blown out.
Kit sat frozen in shock for what seemed like an eternity. He came out of it when the realization that this was his fault hit him. After all Joel was the sensible one who wanted to leave. But no, Kit had to stay and fight them for the superficial reason of making himself look good.
Kit near hysterics tried as best he could to get the plane back to the base camp. It became easier because it wasn't long before he went into an almost dreamlike state. Nothing seemed real. About a half hour later he landed on the runway almost perfectly. When he stopped he opened the cockpit door and stepped out. He then slowly with his eyes glazed almost completely over walked away as the ground crew members ran towards the plane.
Present Day
Out of nowhere a baseball came flying over and hit the bench that Kit was sitting on. This immediately woke him up out of his daze. He handed it to the little boy who ran over to recover it. The boy thanked him while grabbing the ball and ran off back towards the others to resume his play.
'How long is this going to haunt me?' Kit thought. 'It's my fault that Joel died, and I don't know how long I can live with that on my chest.' Suicide had entered his mind many times. He thought about how much easier it would be. How he thought he deserved to die. And how much easier it would make other peoples lives, or so he thought. But he couldn't do that. It was the coward's way out. He had to deal with this. It was his job to make things right somehow. But there was really no way to do that in this situation.
That was when Elizabeth popped into his head. Elizabeth was Joel's older sister, she was a teacher who lived just a couple of blocks up from where Rebecca did. And for some reason he had this sudden urge to see her. He didn't know why. It was almost as if he had to see her right then.
Kit got up from his bench and began to walk at a pretty quick pace towards the other side of town. He had something to take care of.
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Baloo was nearing home at a very quick pace for the large bear. The excitement of telling Kit about what he had planned for the next day was only growing with each block he went. It was almost comical to watch. Several people snickered as they watched the bear. He was almost skipping, he was so happy. Baloo paid no attention to anyone else. He had much more important things on his mind.
Louie's was their all time favorite spot to go. It had been the scene of countless late night parties. Even on school nights, which Rebecca was not too fond of. It was also the place where he and Kit had uh, ran into each other for the first time. And who could forget the adoption celebration, or the graduation celebration they all had there. And he had no doubt that it would be the spot of many more joyous occasions in the future. After all there was still Molly's graduation. Molly's wedding, where he had been promised the father of the bride role. And hey if ol' Becky ever found anyone. Baloo chuckled at the idea. Or Kit's wedding. Baloo quickly shook that thought out of his head. That would never happen. Now that Kit's back from the war they would resume flying cargo together. With Kit flying too the profits could be doubled. Wouldn't Becky be excited. 'Hey, now I'm starting to sound like a businessman. Becky would be proud.' And of course Kit would still be living at Higher for Hire. Or so he desperately hoped.
"Kit, Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiit" Baloo began yelling before he even made it through the front door of the building. No response. Baloo went inside and looked around downstairs, no one there. 'He must still be upstairs sleeping. Poor kid, he's certainly had it rough these past two years.' Baloo made his way up the stairs and quietly opened Kit's door. When he looked in there was no one in there either.
"Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit" Baloo bellowed as he walked outside thinking he may be at his plane. Just then Wildcat popped up out of the engine of the Sea Duck. "Kit like left an hour or two ago Baloo. Didn't say where he was going." Baloo looked over at Kit's plane. And sure enough he wasn't there.
Disappointed by the news he decided to go back inside and wait for him. After all he would be back soon and then he could tell him about his plans. He went to wait in his favorite big red chair in the office of Higher for Hire. Being pretty tired from his walk he decided to rest his eyes for just a moment while he waited. It wasn't long before Baloo was in a deep sleep.
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Kit walked up to the door of a modest apartment building. He stopped outside. What was he doing here he wondered. He would be the last person that Elizabeth would want to see. But still the same force that compelled him to walk this far made him open the door and go up the stairs to her apartment door.
He knew which one it was because he had been here before. He had helped Joel bring up some boxes during their leave at Christmastime. He and Elizabeth had spoken very briefly while Joel went into a different room. Just formalities and small talk though. He didn't really know her. He could tell that she was a very kind person though. Beautiful too. She was slightly shorter than he was with shoulder length auburn hair. The kind of person that he would consider dating if he had been interested.---which he still wasn't, especially after what had happened. But still he couldn't help but think of it.
He slowly raised his hand to knock on the door when all of a sudden it opened up. Elizabeth was standing on the other side with her purse, apparently just leaving. They both stood there for a moment getting over the surprise. A second or two later a look of recognition crossed Elizabeth's face.
"Kit, what a nice surprise. How are you? Come on in."
Kit suddenly feeling extremely embarrassed turned a bright shade of red. "Uh, I can see you're busy right now. I'll come back later."
"Don't be silly, I was just going to the store."
"Well, okay I'll come in then. That would be good."
Elizabeth giggled at his apparent embarrassment and uncharacteristic loss of words.
Once inside Kit felt even more uncomfortable. What was he going to say to her? He knew that he had to explain what had happened. He just wouldn't feel right if she didn't know exactly what had happened to her brother.
Elizabeth motioned him towards the couch to sit. He followed and sat down next to her.
"Is there something you came here for?" She asked looking curiously at him.
"Actually there is. I guess I wanted to talk to you about Joel." Kit said, not really getting much more out than that. All he could seem to do was to stare down at his fidgeting hands.
"You don't have too. I already know what happened." Elizabeth said while reaching a hand out and placing it around Kit's hand. This of course doing the opposite of its intention and making him even more nervous.
"Yes, I do. You don't know what really happened."
Elizabeth just stared at him blankly. "Weren't you shot by enemy planes while returning back to your camp?"
"Well yes, but you don't know why we were shot at."
Elizabeth appeared more confused than ever.
"The only reason that we were shot at is because of my ego. Joel wanted us to leave. But no, I had to stay so that I could take down the planes and be able to brag to everybody when we got back." Kit by now was in tears and trying desperately to control himself. "Joel wouldn't have died if it wasn't for what I had done. Your brother is dead because of me!" No longer able to hold back Kit became overwhelmed by racking sobs.
Elizabeth just sat in shock at what she had just heard. Joel didn't have to die? The man sitting in front of her, whom she considered her friend, was responsible? Not some Thembrian?
This was just about too much to believe. But as she sat there looking at Kit, she knew that it was true.
"You did this? Y-You did this?!" She paused waiting for a response. When none came she continued.
"You arrogant, selfish…I-I can't believe you. You have the nerve to come into my home and tell me this, and then just sit there expecting me to forgive you?"
By now she was angrily standing over Kit.
"I'm sorry. You have no idea how sorry I am---!" Kit pleaded with her.
"Sorry. Why in the world do you think that you deserve my forgiveness?"
"That's just it --- I don't deserve your forgiveness. I just thought that you had a right to know the truth." Kit just sat there looking up at her.
"Get out! Get out of my apartment right now! I never want to see you again. Ever. Do you hear me? Never!"
Kit got up off of the couch and followed her to the door. He looked back at her one last time to see if there was anything that he could do or say to make things better. The look on her face, however, told him that things were best left like they were. So he made his way out.
He had no idea where he was going now. He could not go back to Higher for Hire right now. He couldn't stand it. It was already the middle of the night. The darkness surprised him. It was still early evening when he had first arrived.
Kit made his way back to the park bench where he had been sitting earlier that day. He sat down to think about what to do and where to go. He finally decided just to lie down right there for the few hours left in the night. Memories of his years on the streets started coming back to him as he was drifting to sleep. That night his dreams were filled with all of the terrors that he had encountered.
This time not from the war, but of his years living on the streets.
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The alarm clock went off in Rebecca's bedroom at six o'clock that morning. She wanted to be sure they were up and ready so that they could meet Baloo and Kit early that morning at Higher for Hire. She got out of bed and put on her robe so that she could go and get Molly up. She figured that Molly probably hadn't slept all night. Even though nothing was ever said out loud, Molly's crush on Kit was obvious to her. She never mentioned it because she did not want to embarrass her daughter.
She wondered if anyone else noticed it. She figured that Baloo didn't. He really didn't pick up on such things. But Kit? He was a very perceptive boy. He and Molly were extremely close, how could he not? Maybe that was the problem. They were too close. He might not see it. 'Well, anyway it doesn't really matter, it's just a crush. I'm sure that she will grow out of it soon. She'll meet some boy from her class, her own age and forget all about Kit.' In that way of course. It was obvious to her that her daughter and the boy she thought of as her son would be good friends forever.
Rebecca opened the door to Molly's room and sure enough there was Molly sitting on her bed already having taken her bath and wearing the dress that she had begged for at least a month earlier. It was a little more expensive than what she usually got. But Rebecca had a suspicion that it was just for this occasion.
"Up a little early aren't we?"
"I guess I was just excited about going to Louie's and all. Couldn't sleep."
"Louie's, that's what you were excited about?" Rebecca asked smirking.
No response from Molly except for the bright red color that appeared on her face. With that Rebecca went off into the bathroom to start getting ready.
With her mom in the bathroom Molly felt it the perfect opportunity to go into her mothers bedroom and see what she could find in her vanity. Molly wasn't supposed to wear makeup yet. She was only fourteen. Her mother didn't feel that makeup was appropriate for such a young girl. She had to wait until she was sixteen.
Well, she was not today. She had to make herself look older for Kit. She just had too. In the middle of applying lipstick she heard the drain of the bathtub being pulled.
Before she could get out of the room though her mother was already in there. "What are you doing in here young lady?"
"I was just going to borrow your hair brush."
"What happened to yours?"
"I couldn't find it. But I'll go and look for it again." Molly raced out of the room.
Not missing a thing Rebecca saw that Molly had been using her makeup. But not wanting to ruin the occasion she let it pass.
"Come on Molly, its almost time to go! The car will be here in about 5 minutes."
"Okay Mom. I'll be right out."
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The sun shone through the office windows at Higher for Hire. With a start Baloo awoke from his sleep. It was morning. Kit wasn't home yet. 'Where could that boy have gone? Doesn't he have any respect for anyone else? This is so unlike him. What if something happened? Oh my God. That's it. Something must have happened.'
At that moment the door at Higher for Hire opened. Kit walked in sheepishly looking at the ground. He knew Baloo would be worried about him. He always felt bad when he made the big bear worry about him.
"Kit! Where have you been?"
After being consumed with worry for Baloo the whole way home he had not thought of where he was going to say that he was. Although he was not in the habit of lying to the bear he certainly could not tell Baloo where he really was. He could not tell Baloo that he had went to Elizabeth's apartment because he would want to know why. That was a subject that he did not want to talk about right now. He didn't know if he ever would, but now was definitely not the time.
Kit paused to think of something. But nothing came to him.
"Where have you been all night!"
Kit became very agitated at his accusing tone. He did not like to be told what to do. Did not like it in the least bit. And anyway, he was twenty years old and could very well do what he wanted to do.
Baloo kept pushing. "Answer me. I asked you where you were!"
Kit's original fluster now turned to anger. "I went to see a girl alright! I was at her house last night. Is that what you wanted to hear? Is it?" Kit almost wanted to anger Baloo this time. He could not explain why he felt this way.
Baloo was very taken aback by this answer. Not what he was expecting at all. He didn't know what he was expecting, but this was not it.
At that moment the front door opened and in walked Rebecca and Molly. They of course heard what Kit had yelled. They had been right outside the door. Molly just stood there a second and looked at Kit. She felt like her heart had broken into a million pieces in that second.
Molly turned and took off running out of the door. Kit, knowing that he had just messed up big time took off after. He knew that he had to catch her and explain things. He wasn't completely sure about his feelings, but he knew that he could never hurt her. He needed time that was all. Time to sort things out.
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