Broken But Not Shattered
Chapter Nine: Searching For Answers
"Keavy, you're alive!" Squid said as he grabbed for her hand.
"No, I'm dead and this is Hell," Keavy replied with a smile.
"Excuse me!" the Warden exclaimed seeing Keavy and Squid
"And there's a demon," Keavy muttered under her breath.
Squid chuckled.
"So, Mouth, I see you're up and doin' well." The Warden said looking at Keavy with relief in her eyes.
"Yep.
"You're not gonna tell yer dad or anythin', right?
Keavy smiled to herself reading the Warden's thoughts, "Oh I just might and he might come down here with ÔJohnny The Jackhammer' and slaughter ya.
The Warden threw herself onto the sofa and looked at Keavy wide-eyed.
"Right, like my father cares Ôbout me. He'd rather see me dead than do anything for me." She said not realizing the information she gave the Warden.
Lou smiled knowing that she could do anything to Mouth now, "Good." She left the cabin to go find Sir and Pendanski.
Squid looked over at Keavy, "Good goin', Keav.
Keavy rolled her eyes and raised her voice, "What did I do now!
"You just let her walk all over you.
"Whaddya talkin' about?
"The only reason yer not dead in that hole is Ôcause she thinks that if she didn't save you, yer dad would come after her and kill her. Now you blew it and she'll walk all over you.
Keavy snorted, "I won't let her walk all ova' me!
"That's what you think.
"You think I'm so helpless, don't you? Well I'm not; I've seen more than your eyes could take, I've seen stuff that'll make you sick. But you just think I'm some helpless girl that you can try and save. Well let me tell you somethin' Squid, you can't save me, you can't even help me." Keavy stared him straight in the eye, Squid stared back.
"I don't think yer helpless.
"Oh yes you do. You're just some happy-go-lucky hick that thinks he can get his way with any girl, you don't care about me, all you care about is my pretty face and what you can get outta me." The wake-up call sounded. Keavy shook her head. "Now if you don't mind, I have a hole to dig." She got up off the sofa and immediately fell, she tried to pick herself up but failed. She looked up, Squid offered her his hand. She took it.
"Look Keav, I know you think I'm just some worthless hick with nothin' on his mind, but I'm not who you think I am. I see something in you, I don't know exactly what but it's somethin' special."
Keavy sat back down on the sofa and for a long time she said nothing. Squid sat back down too.
Footsteps were heard coming from outside, the cabin door swung open and in came Mr. Sir.
"What are you two Girl Scouts doin'? It's diggin' time, get yer butts offa that there couch and into yer diggin' clothes." He spit a sunflower seed onto the ground by Keavy's feet. She stared at him ready to attack with her words at any moment.
Squid stood up, "What are you talkin' about? Keavy can't go and dig holes like this, just look at what the lizard did to her leg.
Sir stooped down to look at Keavy's unclothed leg. The cut was small but it seemed about as deep as the Grand Canyon. Sir squinted, "That there ain't no yellow spotted lizard bite, that's some type of a scorpion bite. Sometimes if they don't get you with their stinger they'll bite you and leave the edges of your skin lookin' like little razors. See?
Keavy looked at him then at Squid who looked as if he just won a million dollars, "So that means I can dig.
Sir spit a seed, "You would've dug anyway, Kiwi.
Her small body shook in rage, "The name's Keavy.
"Whatever. Now, go get yer shovels.
Keavy rolled down her pant leg and half-limped, half-walked out the door of the cabin with Squid following right behind her.
Squid came up beside her, "I think this is yours." He handed her a notebook.
She stopped walking, "Where did you get this?
"Um, do you remember when I found you the first time on the lake?
"Uh-huh.
"Well you left this.
Keavy said nothing she just took the notebook and walked off to D-Tent. Zigzag was the first to see her walk in.
"Mouth, you're alive!"
Keavy didn't say a word; she walked over to her backpack and put her notebook inside of it. A page fell out of it. Magnet found it on the ground and began to read.
"Blood splattered on the wall, everywhere.
Nowhere to hide, I'm scared.
Trembling as his body fell to the groundA knife to the throat, I've been found.
Magnet stopped reading and just looked at her. She sat there crumpled on the ground, staring into oblivion. As if in a trance Keavy stood up and limped outside, she grabbed a shovel from the library and walked down to where D-Tent was assigned to dig. All of D-Tent did the same.
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Keavy reminisced that day when Old Man Mario died along with his employees. She shook her head as if to get the thoughts out. It wasn't working, she could still hear the screams of the men as the bullets hit them.
She drove her shovel hard into the ground; she had been digging for the past 3 hours non-stop. No one came to see how she was doing not even Squid. "I guess that poem really freaked Ôem out," Keavy said to herself. "Well that's what they get for snoopin' in my stuff.
Keavy dropped her shovel and lay in her hole. The sun beat its hot rays upon her small body; that alone was enough to make a person go crazy. She closed her eyes but that still wasn't enough. A shadow came over her hole; she looked up thinking it was a cloud. It wasn't. The figure was none other than Squid, the only person she didn't want to encounter at the moment.
Squid cleared his throat as if he had some important announcement to say, "Can I come in yer hole?
Keavy laughed, "He is such a hick," she thought to herself. "Um, sure.
He jumped down into her four-foot hole, and stood there just gazing at her. She tried not to directly look at him, but found that task hard to do. "He isn't that bad looking," She reminded herself.
Keavy couldn't take one more second of the awkward silence that sat between them, he just stood there gazing at her and she still sat there arguing with herself whether Squid was cute or not. "Is there a reason why you came here?" she asked suddenly making Squid jump out of his Ôdeep thoughts'.
After a moment, which seemed like forever, he just said, "Well, I just wanted to tell you that the water truck is here.
Keavy stood there as if expecting him to add something else, "That's all you came over here for?
"Not exactly.
"Well then, what is it?!
"I just wanted to know how you're feeling.
She looked at him, oh how she wanted to tell him everything; she wanted him to hold her, and understand how she felt, to comfort her. Though she would never admit it, she was crushing on Squid, if you would call it a crush.
She shook her head, dismissing the thoughts. "I feel fine.
He looked at her, "Uh-huh. Keavy, do you think I'm that stupid?
She said nothing.
"C'mon you can't hide anything. You just got bit by a scorpion, you were unconscious in a hole for who knows how long before I came and got you, and you try to tell me that you feel fine!" He looked her straight in the eyes.
She turned away, "You don't understand.
"Try me.
"I can't, Squid. There's more to it than what happened last night, my life, it's so screwed up.
"No one said it would be easy.
"Yeah, well no one told me my father would kill my brother and leave me to fend for myself. Oh wait, no one said that I would have to be abused by my boyfriend then watch him die in a puddle of blood," She raised her voice and tears ran down her face. Squid looked at her with compassion in his eyes and put his arms around her, she didn't protest she just snuggled up into his chest as the tears flowed from her eyes.
Having Keavy in his arms was like eating apple pie with extra ice cream on top, Squid thought to himself. He really liked her, he didn't exactly know why, sure she was pretty, but she could sure yap her mouth, and not to mention she was as stubborn as a mule. But yet there was more to her than met the eye, she wasn't like the others she was different.
Keavy lifted her head from Squid's chest, her face was stained with tears, her eyes were red and puffy, her head spun with old memories, thoughts that wouldn't leave her mind. She said nothing for a long time, she just sat there in his embrace not wanting the moment to end.
Squid didn't complain, he liked the feeling of comforting someone. No one had ever comforted him before, all they told him was how stupid or worthless he was, now was his chance to prove those people wrong.
He knew all too well how Keavy felt; all alone having to fend for herself, losing people she cared about, being abused by people she thought cared about her. Yeah, he knew what she was going through. He would hold onto her and never let her go.
***
The shadow of an approaching figure danced along the Ôwalls' of Keavy's hole. Squid saw it, he braced himself for who would come.
X-ray looked down into the hole, "Man, what are you doing? You'd better finish your hole, and what the heck are you doing with her?
"Nothin', X-ray.
"It doesn't look like nothin' to me.
"She still doesn't feel too well, I'd thought that I'd come to see how she was doing.
"Who do you think you are, Squid? Superman? You've changed ever since she came.
"Yeah, well, maybe I know what she's going through.
"What she's going through? Man, that doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that one out. She's just some big mouthed New Yorker who thinks she can get whatever she wants.
Keavy let go of Squid and hopped out of her hole. "This is the last time, X-ray!" She pushed him into the neighboring hole and spit into it. "Mind your own business, Jerk!
All of D-Tent looked shocked. Keavy hopped back into her hole, where Squid stood just looking at her.
"Sorry, but he was asking for it. Why do you let him talk to you like that in the first place?
Squid shrugged, "I dunno, he's the leader, always has and always will be. No one has ever tried to overrule him before.
"I didn't try to overrule him, I was just putting him in his place.
Squid looked up, "Well I'd umÉ better get back to my hole.
"Yeah me too." Keavy spoke up, "Squid?
"Yeah.
"UmÉ.thanks.
He smiled, "Anytime.
They both awkwardly looked at each other in silence, and as if some invisible force drew them closer Keavy was back in Squid's arms. She looked up into his eyes, he moved closer to her and she to him. He pulled her closer, she closed her eyes and kissed him, he kissed her back.
The kiss was over as quickly as it had begun. They both looked at each other sheepishly.
Squid let her go and without a word climbed out of the hole and disappeared.
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Keavy was the last to get done digging, but she didn't mind she was floating on a cloud ever since Squid kissed her. Or did she kiss him? She giggled. Who cares? She could barely wipe the smile off her face. For once in a very long time she didn't have a care in the world.
A/N: Okay well they kissed! How'd y'all like it? R-E-V-I-E-W!