Chapter 18:
It was only a short while before Kim decided to move back to Suburbia. There was no longer any point in staying in New York. Although Leon was now in jail, he still had some power to bribe his officer friends and prevent Kim from visiting Edward. Naturally, she would have protested against that, but she had to remember one thing: she was pregnant. She didn't have the luxury of caring only about Edward and herself anymore. If anything went wrong with the birth, it would solely be her fault.
That meant she also had to stop going to work. And paying the rent would be impossible without a job. Plus, her parents were home in Suburbia and she could use some help.
On top of all that, they had a television set in the living room. She felt herself glued-almost literally-to the screen, since Edward's trials were all televised, mainly for entertainment purposes. The trials brought a lot of pain in Kim's heart, as if she could just sense the hate and judgment in the courtroom. She felt herself shake with fear when Edward was asked a question and he was too scared to say anything. The lawyers would deliberately talk fast, try to confuse him even more. She hated every second of it. The only thing she hated more was when the screen would show Edward being led to the courtroom, with people and reporters and protesters following him. She wanted to kill them all. The reporters with their lack of sensitivity, the judgmental protesters with "Kill the Monster" t-shirts, the single women who "found criminals attractive" and kept on asking for Ed's phone number.
This whole routine brought Kim a lot of stress, and she was aware of that, but she had to watch Edward. This was as close as she could get to him at this point.
She regretted that her last moment with him was when she left in anger after attacking Leon. She was so angry, she didn't even say "good bye". She felt terrible about the fact that Edward was still unaware of her being pregnant.
Time passed and, with the help of her mother, Kim successfully gave birth. The baby turned out to be a healthy girl, and more beautiful than anyone could have imagined.
The baby was born with large black eyes, and a little patch of brown hair. She was simply angelic-and she had a perfect mix of Edward and Kim's features. That always made Kim feel better when she was upset about Edward not being there to see his own daughter be born.
Kim decided to call her "Eden". Kim felt like the girl was the best thing in the world, and for Kim to have to raise her without Edward-that alone felt like the ultimate banishment. But she imagined, that one day, when Edward would be free, and they could raise their daughter together-that would be like Heaven.
Kim now at least had a way to occupy herself and keep from worrying about Edward's trials too much. She would take Eden in a stroller around the neighborhood, ignoring any scornful glances by the neighbors who hadn't changed a bit.
Although the neighborhood once loved Kim and they felt a degree of worry when she left, they were shunning her now. "She had lied to them", that was their excuse.
But, truth be told, Kim couldn't care less. She had bigger problems to worry about, and shortly after-she found out her world was about to change even more drastically.
"And the verdict is…guilty."
Kim bit her lip until it bled.
"Edward Boggs, you are guilty of first degree-murders, damaging private property, and harassment. The penalty is death."
Kim screamed so loud it woke the baby.
She fell off the couch, hitting herself with any object she could find. Picture frames, pillows, plates-no, nothing hurt enough for her.
She ran to the kitchen and looked for a knife…any knife. She found one sitting on the counter and, without thinking, aimed it at herself.
"Kim! NO!"
Peg ran into the room, pushing Kim down, removing the knife from her sweaty hand.
"Have you completely gone mad! What the hell are you doing?"
"They're going to kill him…they're going to…"
"Who…oh, oh…dear…I'm…so sorry."
"What am I supposed to do? How am I supposed to live?"
"I…don't know. Oh, sweetie…" Peg reached down and placed Kim on her shoulder, as if she were a little child.
Peg felt wetness cover her shoulder.
"Listen, Kimmie…I know it hurts…but you have Eden now. Think of her, too. If you kill yourself, you are not only hurting me and your father and brother, but you are also hurting your own daughter as well."
Kim nodded in understanding, but didn't stop the tears from crawling down her face.
She got up and went to Eden's crib, lifting her up and holding her.
Eden was the last piece of Edward left for Kim. It was the only piece that would never perish.
Kim looked out the window, the sunlight hitting her like raindrops. Holding Eden tightly, she looked to the sky.
"Mark my words, Leon. One day, I will kill you." She said, her lips trembling up and down in a continuous pattern.
She walked away, and let Eden sleep in her bed that night.
The only one crying was Kim. She had never cried so much in her entire life.
A doorbell woke Kim from her deep slumber.
"Kim! There's some man here to see you!"
Kim quickly put on a pair of jeans and ran to the door.
One thing Kim hated about her personality was her naivety. No matter how terrible a situation got, Kim always showed a speck of hope. Running to the door she imagined everything-the arrest, the courtroom scenes, the verdict-all to be false, as if some kind of test. As if everything was made up and Edward was really in no danger.
But all of that left Kim's mind when she opened the door.
Sorry guys-I don't know why the last sentence got cut off before. That's odd. O.o