Chapter 5 Klayre

A week later Rain comes to see Weevil in the hospital. He's doing just fine. "I have something I'd like to tell you." "Okay dear." She goes in and finds him sittting on his bed,holding three pictures. Two of them have a woman or girl with black hair and one is a boy with dirty-blonde hair. "Rain,do you know who these people are?" She picks the picture of the boy up and looks at it. He has dark blue eyes and is wearing a old,faded REO Speedwagon shirt,it comes down past his knees. He looks like he's about seven years old. She studies it further to find that he has a set of stitches under his right eye identical to the scar under Weevil's right eye. "Is this you? When you were small?" "Yep. The woman with black hair is my mother,Oliander and the girl with the short black hair is my sister Klayre. Would you like for me to tell you about Klayre?" "Okay..."

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FLASHBACK ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~

Its a cool Friday afternoon in Baton Rouge,Louisiana a young Weevil Underwood walks hand-in-hand with his sister Klayre,who was six years his elder. The two of them carry their bookbags and some grocery bags up the street to a large,two story wood siding house. Klayre takes out a key and opens the door to their house. "STEPHEN,ARE YOU IN YET!?....Guess not...C'mon Weevil,we gotta put the food away and get supper started." "Okay Klayre." The small,blonde-haired boy says as he kicks off his old,ragged-out shoes. "When you're done with ya bath tanight,I need ta cut ya hair,kay boy?" "Okay." "Then you might need to give me a trim." "Alright. I will." The two of them eat their dinner and Weevil goes upstairs and bathes. When he gets done,Klayre cuts the dead ends of his now shiney,golden, sholder-length hair. "God Almighty,Weev,you got nice hair. Wish mine was that shiney. Fulla body,too. Dats why it's so bouncy." "Thank you Klayrie.....Um Klayre?" "Yeah?" "Do you think Dad'll be in tonight?" "I tell ya Weevil,I really hope not...I don't feel like dealin' with Stephen's drunk ass tonight." "Klayre,why do you call Daddy Stephen for?" "I don't thank he's fit enough to be our father. All he does is drank and snort cocaine all day....hate him." "Oh..." "Dun worry,He'll get his someday,baby." Weevil didn't hear the last part,he had fallen asleep. Klayre looks down at her seven year old baby brother and smiles. "Don't worry,child. I make him stop hittin ya soon,then ya don't gotta deal with no pain no more,sweety." She carries him to her room(He usually sleeps in there with her on a cot for saftey reasons.) and lays him down on his cot and lays a blanket on him. "Ganight,Weevil."

Klayre goes downstairs and watches TV. Saturday Night Live. Chris Farley falls on a table. Around Midnight,Stephen Underwood walks in to find his only daughter asleep on the couch. He's drunk out of his mind and decides to wake Klayre. "Klayre. Klayer you dumb bitch where's the Goddamn boy at? I wanna talk ta him..." The thirteen-year-old girl opens her dark green eyes and looks at her father and immediantly she sobers up. "No Stephen. I aint gonna let you hurt him any more. He's just a child and he aint nevah done nothin' ta you ta make you treat him the way you do." He smacks Klayre "Tell me where the fuck he is, Klayre!" "GO TO HELL!" He punches her in the face. "WEEVIL! GET YOUR LITTLE ASS DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!" "NO WEEVIL! STAY UP THERE! RUN AWAY!" "Shut the fuck up,bitch! GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE OR I'LL KILL YOUR SISTER!" The small boy had come out of the room. His bare feet padded aginst the wooden floor sleepily but cautiously. His sister sees him up there but tries not to look at him. 'Go hide Weevil. Please,PLEASE go hide.' she mentally pleads with him. The boy,seemingly,"hears" his sister's pleads and moves away quickly and quietly. Stephen sees his shadow and runs after him in a drunken stumble. The boy goes through the bathroom and goes through the crawlspace to get back into the hall. then he runs downstairs to meet his sister and the two of them run out the door. Klayre picks him up and carrys him because he's barefoot and not wearing any pants(He's pretty much just in his REO Speedwagon shirt) She tries to get to New Orleans because their Mammy Florence lives there as well as the Connors,who are friends of their parents and still have no idea that Steve's abusive. Klayre doesn't get to New Orleans though,it's just too far for a thirteen year old carring a seven year old to travel.

--------------------------------------- So how was it? Reveiw but PLEASE don't flame! The next few chapters will be flashbacks.