Broken But Not Shattered
Chapter Eleven: Running From The Past
Keavy woke up from a dreamless sleep to the droning noise of the bugle recording. She opened her eyes and saw Squid halfway on the cot. His left arm was hanging off the edge along with the rest of the left side of his body. She looked around the tent, everyone was just starting to awake. Keavy took this opportunity and shoved Squid off of the cot. He landed on the floor with a thump.
Squid groaned and opened one eye; he rolled over so that his face was looking at the giggling Keavy. "Funny, real funny, Mouth!" He got up off the floor and acted like he was going to fall. Keavy apologetically looked at him. He took advantage of that and fell onto the cot and tickled her. Keavy laughed so hard that she could barely breathe. She tried to fight him but he tickled her harder.
"I won't stop 'til you say..." Squid thought for a moment, "I won't stop 'til you say sorry."
Keavy shook her head stubbornly and smiled. He just continued tickling her.
"Okay! Okay! I give up, sorry, sorry!" She said gasping for breath.
He stopped tickling her, and watched as she sat up, straightened herself and looked at him.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" She asked, her attitude changing abruptly.
"Because your beautiful."
Keavy suddenly remembered their "quarrel" last night, "Oh give me a break, Squid!" She turned away, but he cupped her chin and turned it to face him.
"No, look at me, Keavy."
Her eyes looked into his and she sighed, "What, Squid? What do you want from me?"
"I want you to know that I'm sorry for insulting you last night."
"Insulting me? You didn't say anything."
"And that's what's bothering you isn't it? I didn't tell you how I truly felt and you got mad at me that's why you stormed off."
Keavy thought for a moment, "No, your wrong," She lied with ease, "I was just tired and I took it out on you, that's all."
Squid couldn't believe his ears. Maybe X-ray was right after all, he thought, maybe she didn't really care about him. He shook his head and looked at her again. Her back was turned from him as she grabbed her clothes and quickly escaped out of D-Tent.
Keavy wished with all her might that she hadn't said what she did. She lied to Squid, the guy whom she learned to love more each day. And now when he comes to apologize for something that really wasn't that big of a deal, she lies. Keavy hit herself, "Now you know why they call you Mouth, because you can never shut up!" She silently screamed to herself, "Well what are you gonna do now, Keav? You can't tell him the truth, if you do, he'll just think that you're changing you mind cause you feel bad for him." She was confused, but what could she do? For the rest of the morning she tried to ignore the guilty thoughts that came into her mind. She tried to focus on digging her hole, but found herself thinking about Squid.
***
"Hey, uh, Mouth?"
"What, Magnet?"
"Are you alive down there?"
Keavy popped her head out of the hole that was barely 2 feet deep, "No, like I said before, I'm dead, we're all dead and burning up in Hell!"
"Whoa, Chica, no need to get mad."
She sighed, "Look just leave me alone, okay? I don't wanna be bothered, let me just fry in my grave."
"Whatever you say, Chica. But the water truck's here if you want to fill your bottle."
Those last words Magnet said rang in her mind; the last time she heard that the water truck was here was when Squid kissed her the other day. That was the last person she wanted to think about. She just sighed and climbed out of her hole.
She went to the back of the line, and right in front waiting for her was Squid.
He turned to look at her, "Hey."
Keavy stuttered for her words, "Um, hey."
He came a little closer to her and whispered, "I have to talk to you."
"About what?"
"Come to my hole after you get some water and then you'll find out."
Confused, she looked at him, "Sure. Where's your hole?"
He smiled, "Right next to yours." Squid turned to get his canteen filled from Pendanski, and then he walked off.
"Well, how do you like digging, Keavy?" Pendanski said with a pathetic smile on his face.
Keavy looked at him with disgust and said the one thing that would tick him off, "My name is Mouth."
"Correction, your name is Keavy Ann Torrelli."
"Shut up, you jerk! Don't you ever say my middle name again!" Keavy grabbed her canteen from his hand and stormed off to her hole.
Pendanski just chuckled as he watched Keavy walk off angrily. He really enjoyed taking his anger out on the kids. It was sort of a contradiction to what he "taught" at his family chats, but they were only juvenile delinquents, right?
***
Keavy took a deep breath and walked towards Squid's hole. She poured some water into her hands and ran them through her hair, she shook her head to get the excess water out. Then down she jumped into Squid's hole.
"Hey, Keave."
"Uh, hi, Squid."
The both just kind of looked at each other in an awkward silence.
Keavy was the first to speak up, "Well, whaddya want?"
Squid laughed, "She really knew how to get to the point of things", he thought to himself. "Well I wanted answer your question that you asked me last night."
"What question?" She asked impatiently.
"You know, what's going on between us. The one you got mad at me about."
Keavy swallowed the lump in her throat, "Uh, yeah. I remember...." Her voice trailed off.
"So do you want my answer?"
"If you wanna give it to me."
"Well the thing is...I really like you." Squid was at a loss for words, " Keavy, you don't know how much you mean to me. Ever since the time I held you in my arms, I've wanted to comfort you and tell you that everything's gonna be okay. I know how much you're hurting right now and I wanna make it better. I've never felt this way for any other girl before," He grabbed her hands, "And I will only feel this way for you. I don't wanna lose you."
Keavy shook her head and backed up towards the side of Squid's four-foot hole. She stood there her eyes wide with terror.
~*Flashback*~
"How dare you, Keave?!" Tommy said with that evil look in his eye.
"How dare I what, Tommy?!" She screamed back at him.
"There's something going on between you and Brad, isn't there?" He pushed her into the wall.
"No, what are you talking about! Don't touch me! Get offa me!" She screamed amidst her sobs. Tommy had her pinned against the wall and was beating her. She fell to the floor in an unconscious heap.
Tommy laughed, "That's what you get for cheating on me." He landed another kick in her stomach and left the room.
~*End Of Flashback*~
Squid saw the fear in Keavy's eyes, he moved closer to her. A fearful tear ran down her cheek.
"Keav, what's wrong?"
She trembled in fear and flinched as the thoughts from the past replayed in her mind. Her breathing became heavier and the world seemed to spin. She clawed her way out of the hole like a frightened kitten, Squid didn't try to stop her. He just stood there in his hole wondering what he'd said wrong.
***
Running. That was nothing new to Keavy. She'd been running all of her sixteen years, now she would run some more. But what was she afraid of? Commitment? Squid? Or maybe it was the fact that Squid would tell her he loved her and then beat her for the fun of it, just like Tommy had once did. When Squid had told her all those things it was like she was reliving the past all over again. Deep down inside she knew that Squid would never lay a harmful finger on her, but try as she may, she couldn't shake the thoughts from her mind. Keavy just kept running, passing hole after hole until she couldn't run any more. She just sat herself on the ground, grabbed her knees and rocked back and forth, it was something she had did since she was a child.
***
"Hey, Squid?"
"What?"
"Where'd your girl run off to?"
"Man Armpit, I told you before, she's not my girl! And I don't think she'll ever be!" Squid wiped the remaining tears off his face before Armpit could take any notice.
"Sheesh, you don't have to get snappy about it. I just saw her take off like greased lightning and wondered what happened." Armpit walked off mumbling something about New Yorkers and their tempers.
Squid resumed digging his still four-foot hole and tried to get the picture of the frightened Keavy out of his mind. He was about ready to drop his shovel and cry again when he saw a shadow.
"So, can I say 'I told you so' yet?"
Squid looked up and saw X-ray standing there, "Do you just sit there all day and watch whatever I do?"
"I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't keep and eye on you."
"I can take care of myself, X." He said coldly.
"Doesn't look that way," X-ray scanned the area where D-Tent was digging, "I don't see her."
"Would you just leave her outta this?!"
"No."
Squid groaned, "C'mon X, just go away."
"I will. But first you have to tell me where Mouth is."
"Why do you care?"
X-ray took off his glasses and started cleaning them, "Just tell me, Squid."
"I dunno. She ran off somewhere."
"You're better off without her." He said coolly.
Squid became agitated, "I thought you were gonna leave."
X-ray put his glasses back on and walked away, leaving Squid confused and alone.
***
Keavy got up from her spot in the sand. She thought it would be best just to finish her hole, the last thing she wanted right now was to start trouble with Pendanski and get X-ray on her back. Usually Keavy would jump at the thought of starting trouble, but right now wasn't a good time for that. She just needed some time alone to think. She headed back in the direction of D-Tent's assigned digging place.
***
She was the last one to finish digging, or so she thought. Keavy climbed out of her hole and was about to walk back to D-Tent when she heard a noise in the hole beside hers; it sounded like a whimpering dog. She finally came to a realization that it was Squid.
"Squid?"
He looked startled to see that Keavy was standing there, "Keav, what are you doing here?"
"I kinda had to finish my hole. Didn't you hear me?"
"Yeah, but I thought I was dreaming. I didn't think you'd come back after what had happened."
Keavy dropped her gaze to the ground, "I'm so sorry, Squid."
"It's okay." He sounded unsure.
"No, it's not. I hurt you and I..." She couldn't think of what else to say. Keavy jumped down into his hole, and rushed into his arms.
Squid comforted her, "Oh Keav, I know you've had it hard. But you're not the only one."
Keavy looked into his eyes, "What do ya mean."
Squid smiled, "I'll tell you some other time. Right now I wanna go see what X-ray's up to. He's been such an idiot towards you and I'm not gonna stand for it any longer."
Keavy smiled back, "Well you just let me at him and I'll show him who's boss!"
"No, Keav, that's my job."
She laughed, "Okay, my big-mouthed hick."
"Well if I'm your big-mouthed hick, then you're my loud-mouthed New Yorker," He said trying to imitate her accent. She smiled and playfully punched him in the arm.
Uncomfortable silence filled the hole again, but this time Squid didn't wait for Keavy to speak up. He held her closer in his arms and embraced her in a passionate kiss.
***
X-ray growled with anger, this was the last straw. He'd been eavesdropping on their conversation from another hole. He told Armpit to cover for him back at the tent, and as a loyal D-Tenter, Armpit did as he was told. X-ray was going to put a stop this crud tonight, no more second chances, no more leniency , this was it!
Chapter Eleven: Running From The Past
Keavy woke up from a dreamless sleep to the droning noise of the bugle recording. She opened her eyes and saw Squid halfway on the cot. His left arm was hanging off the edge along with the rest of the left side of his body. She looked around the tent, everyone was just starting to awake. Keavy took this opportunity and shoved Squid off of the cot. He landed on the floor with a thump.
Squid groaned and opened one eye; he rolled over so that his face was looking at the giggling Keavy. "Funny, real funny, Mouth!" He got up off the floor and acted like he was going to fall. Keavy apologetically looked at him. He took advantage of that and fell onto the cot and tickled her. Keavy laughed so hard that she could barely breathe. She tried to fight him but he tickled her harder.
"I won't stop 'til you say..." Squid thought for a moment, "I won't stop 'til you say sorry."
Keavy shook her head stubbornly and smiled. He just continued tickling her.
"Okay! Okay! I give up, sorry, sorry!" She said gasping for breath.
He stopped tickling her, and watched as she sat up, straightened herself and looked at him.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" She asked, her attitude changing abruptly.
"Because your beautiful."
Keavy suddenly remembered their "quarrel" last night, "Oh give me a break, Squid!" She turned away, but he cupped her chin and turned it to face him.
"No, look at me, Keavy."
Her eyes looked into his and she sighed, "What, Squid? What do you want from me?"
"I want you to know that I'm sorry for insulting you last night."
"Insulting me? You didn't say anything."
"And that's what's bothering you isn't it? I didn't tell you how I truly felt and you got mad at me that's why you stormed off."
Keavy thought for a moment, "No, your wrong," She lied with ease, "I was just tired and I took it out on you, that's all."
Squid couldn't believe his ears. Maybe X-ray was right after all, he thought, maybe she didn't really care about him. He shook his head and looked at her again. Her back was turned from him as she grabbed her clothes and quickly escaped out of D-Tent.
Keavy wished with all her might that she hadn't said what she did. She lied to Squid, the guy whom she learned to love more each day. And now when he comes to apologize for something that really wasn't that big of a deal, she lies. Keavy hit herself, "Now you know why they call you Mouth, because you can never shut up!" She silently screamed to herself, "Well what are you gonna do now, Keav? You can't tell him the truth, if you do, he'll just think that you're changing you mind cause you feel bad for him." She was confused, but what could she do? For the rest of the morning she tried to ignore the guilty thoughts that came into her mind. She tried to focus on digging her hole, but found herself thinking about Squid.
***
"Hey, uh, Mouth?"
"What, Magnet?"
"Are you alive down there?"
Keavy popped her head out of the hole that was barely 2 feet deep, "No, like I said before, I'm dead, we're all dead and burning up in Hell!"
"Whoa, Chica, no need to get mad."
She sighed, "Look just leave me alone, okay? I don't wanna be bothered, let me just fry in my grave."
"Whatever you say, Chica. But the water truck's here if you want to fill your bottle."
Those last words Magnet said rang in her mind; the last time she heard that the water truck was here was when Squid kissed her the other day. That was the last person she wanted to think about. She just sighed and climbed out of her hole.
She went to the back of the line, and right in front waiting for her was Squid.
He turned to look at her, "Hey."
Keavy stuttered for her words, "Um, hey."
He came a little closer to her and whispered, "I have to talk to you."
"About what?"
"Come to my hole after you get some water and then you'll find out."
Confused, she looked at him, "Sure. Where's your hole?"
He smiled, "Right next to yours." Squid turned to get his canteen filled from Pendanski, and then he walked off.
"Well, how do you like digging, Keavy?" Pendanski said with a pathetic smile on his face.
Keavy looked at him with disgust and said the one thing that would tick him off, "My name is Mouth."
"Correction, your name is Keavy Ann Torrelli."
"Shut up, you jerk! Don't you ever say my middle name again!" Keavy grabbed her canteen from his hand and stormed off to her hole.
Pendanski just chuckled as he watched Keavy walk off angrily. He really enjoyed taking his anger out on the kids. It was sort of a contradiction to what he "taught" at his family chats, but they were only juvenile delinquents, right?
***
Keavy took a deep breath and walked towards Squid's hole. She poured some water into her hands and ran them through her hair, she shook her head to get the excess water out. Then down she jumped into Squid's hole.
"Hey, Keave."
"Uh, hi, Squid."
The both just kind of looked at each other in an awkward silence.
Keavy was the first to speak up, "Well, whaddya want?"
Squid laughed, "She really knew how to get to the point of things", he thought to himself. "Well I wanted answer your question that you asked me last night."
"What question?" She asked impatiently.
"You know, what's going on between us. The one you got mad at me about."
Keavy swallowed the lump in her throat, "Uh, yeah. I remember...." Her voice trailed off.
"So do you want my answer?"
"If you wanna give it to me."
"Well the thing is...I really like you." Squid was at a loss for words, " Keavy, you don't know how much you mean to me. Ever since the time I held you in my arms, I've wanted to comfort you and tell you that everything's gonna be okay. I know how much you're hurting right now and I wanna make it better. I've never felt this way for any other girl before," He grabbed her hands, "And I will only feel this way for you. I don't wanna lose you."
Keavy shook her head and backed up towards the side of Squid's four-foot hole. She stood there her eyes wide with terror.
~*Flashback*~
"How dare you, Keave?!" Tommy said with that evil look in his eye.
"How dare I what, Tommy?!" She screamed back at him.
"There's something going on between you and Brad, isn't there?" He pushed her into the wall.
"No, what are you talking about! Don't touch me! Get offa me!" She screamed amidst her sobs. Tommy had her pinned against the wall and was beating her. She fell to the floor in an unconscious heap.
Tommy laughed, "That's what you get for cheating on me." He landed another kick in her stomach and left the room.
~*End Of Flashback*~
Squid saw the fear in Keavy's eyes, he moved closer to her. A fearful tear ran down her cheek.
"Keav, what's wrong?"
She trembled in fear and flinched as the thoughts from the past replayed in her mind. Her breathing became heavier and the world seemed to spin. She clawed her way out of the hole like a frightened kitten, Squid didn't try to stop her. He just stood there in his hole wondering what he'd said wrong.
***
Running. That was nothing new to Keavy. She'd been running all of her sixteen years, now she would run some more. But what was she afraid of? Commitment? Squid? Or maybe it was the fact that Squid would tell her he loved her and then beat her for the fun of it, just like Tommy had once did. When Squid had told her all those things it was like she was reliving the past all over again. Deep down inside she knew that Squid would never lay a harmful finger on her, but try as she may, she couldn't shake the thoughts from her mind. Keavy just kept running, passing hole after hole until she couldn't run any more. She just sat herself on the ground, grabbed her knees and rocked back and forth, it was something she had did since she was a child.
***
"Hey, Squid?"
"What?"
"Where'd your girl run off to?"
"Man Armpit, I told you before, she's not my girl! And I don't think she'll ever be!" Squid wiped the remaining tears off his face before Armpit could take any notice.
"Sheesh, you don't have to get snappy about it. I just saw her take off like greased lightning and wondered what happened." Armpit walked off mumbling something about New Yorkers and their tempers.
Squid resumed digging his still four-foot hole and tried to get the picture of the frightened Keavy out of his mind. He was about ready to drop his shovel and cry again when he saw a shadow.
"So, can I say 'I told you so' yet?"
Squid looked up and saw X-ray standing there, "Do you just sit there all day and watch whatever I do?"
"I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't keep and eye on you."
"I can take care of myself, X." He said coldly.
"Doesn't look that way," X-ray scanned the area where D-Tent was digging, "I don't see her."
"Would you just leave her outta this?!"
"No."
Squid groaned, "C'mon X, just go away."
"I will. But first you have to tell me where Mouth is."
"Why do you care?"
X-ray took off his glasses and started cleaning them, "Just tell me, Squid."
"I dunno. She ran off somewhere."
"You're better off without her." He said coolly.
Squid became agitated, "I thought you were gonna leave."
X-ray put his glasses back on and walked away, leaving Squid confused and alone.
***
Keavy got up from her spot in the sand. She thought it would be best just to finish her hole, the last thing she wanted right now was to start trouble with Pendanski and get X-ray on her back. Usually Keavy would jump at the thought of starting trouble, but right now wasn't a good time for that. She just needed some time alone to think. She headed back in the direction of D-Tent's assigned digging place.
***
She was the last one to finish digging, or so she thought. Keavy climbed out of her hole and was about to walk back to D-Tent when she heard a noise in the hole beside hers; it sounded like a whimpering dog. She finally came to a realization that it was Squid.
"Squid?"
He looked startled to see that Keavy was standing there, "Keav, what are you doing here?"
"I kinda had to finish my hole. Didn't you hear me?"
"Yeah, but I thought I was dreaming. I didn't think you'd come back after what had happened."
Keavy dropped her gaze to the ground, "I'm so sorry, Squid."
"It's okay." He sounded unsure.
"No, it's not. I hurt you and I..." She couldn't think of what else to say. Keavy jumped down into his hole, and rushed into his arms.
Squid comforted her, "Oh Keav, I know you've had it hard. But you're not the only one."
Keavy looked into his eyes, "What do ya mean."
Squid smiled, "I'll tell you some other time. Right now I wanna go see what X-ray's up to. He's been such an idiot towards you and I'm not gonna stand for it any longer."
Keavy smiled back, "Well you just let me at him and I'll show him who's boss!"
"No, Keav, that's my job."
She laughed, "Okay, my big-mouthed hick."
"Well if I'm your big-mouthed hick, then you're my loud-mouthed New Yorker," He said trying to imitate her accent. She smiled and playfully punched him in the arm.
Uncomfortable silence filled the hole again, but this time Squid didn't wait for Keavy to speak up. He held her closer in his arms and embraced her in a passionate kiss.
***
X-ray growled with anger, this was the last straw. He'd been eavesdropping on their conversation from another hole. He told Armpit to cover for him back at the tent, and as a loyal D-Tenter, Armpit did as he was told. X-ray was going to put a stop this crud tonight, no more second chances, no more leniency , this was it!