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| Subject: New Novella! **Rain** Part One of Two....Feedback please | |
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Author: Kira |
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Date Posted: 18:10:26 06/24/02 Mon Sorry I've been gone for so long. My grandmother passed and although I didn't really know her, I haven't really been into writing. But I wrote this for a friend and it turned into something I really loved. I hope y'all love it too. Don't kick me for the ending. Memories are just reminders of the world before Yesterday, last month, last year are no more Memories can be painful, especially when things change When the light gives way to dark And the crystalline blue eyes held only an extinguished spark When love turns to hate And smiles to rage Memories are just bittersweet images of the past Happiness that doesn’t last. ** A pall of gray covered the sky, ominous clouds rolled in and instantly, it was dark. The evening’s lingering light had been replaced with a spring monsoon. Water rushed down gulleys and rain troughs. Drops fell from the sky like the wishes of angels plummeting to earth. It was dark, but beautiful. Trees sagged with the weight of the water, but their leaves were greener, their roots stronger. JC ran his fingers through his hair, frizzed by the rain, turning up the collar of his sleek black coat as he darted through the downpour, polished black shoes splashing through puddles. His pushed a crimson tongue through ample lips, tasting the rain. With a childish laugh, he stopped running and strutted. His gait was smooth. Jumping excitedly, he landed in a puddle, and water streamed out around him, soaking his pant legs, seeping into his shoes. He heard a woman curse and he turned his head, pulling down his sunglasses. He noticed the well-dressed woman, brushing the water off her thin jacket and briefcase. “Oh God, I’m so…I was just…uh, yeah, here, let me help you,” he stumbled, slightly embarrassed. He yanked the belt of his coat out of the loops and nervously began wiping off her leather briefcase. “You seem happy,” she laughed, stepping closer so her large black umbrella covered him as well as herself. “It’s a beautiful day,” he smiled. He bent over to wipe off her jacket, but stopped and blushed, handing her the makeshift towel. “I’m really sorry.” She looked up, reading the mirth in his face and shrugged her shoulders. “It’s okay.” “Here…” he pulled a few tulips out of his bouquet and handed them to her. “Oh…how sweet, thank you…” JC laughed and continued walking. He reached the large, rustic building and stepped inside. He found that he couldn’t stand still. He smelled the flowers and sighed, he was lovesick. A sense of warmth washed over him as he thought of her. Soleil. She was definitely his beacon of life, his source of joy for years. At first, they started out as friends. For years, their lives were platonically intertwined, connected by the simple solace of being themselves around another person. No fronts. No lies. Just each other. Soleil was beautiful. JC had noticed that from the moment he met her a some obscure mall show in 1997. She was Puerto-Rican and French, blessed with rich olive skin, long black ringlets and piercing greenish blue eyes. Her face was simple. Her nose was sleek with a small bump in the bridge from a nasty fall while ice-skating. Her lips were full and pink. JC loved everything about her, even her faults. But an innate friendship changed into an intense love- passionate and perfect in its own. Filled with a level of joy, an abyss of light that he had never known before. JC giggled as he nearly leapt off the elevator and danced around the corner to her door. He knocked for the effect of surprise and bounced up and down as he heard her squeal as she opened the door. His eyes expanded and his knees suddenly weakened as Soleil stood in the doorway. Her long hair was wrapped in a taut bun at the top of her head and a simple towel was draped over the front of her body. JC leaned dramatically to the left and licked his lips as the candlelight danced over the round lines of her bottom. Soleil gently pulled the flowers from his slackened grasp and grinned. “You…uh, you knew I was coming?” “Justin called looking for you.” JC wiped his mouth. “Justin who?” Soleil laughed seductively. “I was just taking a bath.” “I gathered that, sweet thang.” She smiled at his manly infatuation with her scantily covered body and turned around, revealing her bare backside and walked into the spacious bathroom. “You coming?” she inquired coolly, tossing the flowers on the kitchen counter. JC was already in the apartment, locking the door. He kicked off his shoes, ripping off his coat. With trembling hands, he yanked the tails of his shirt from his pants and unbuckled his belt. Before he knew what hit him, Soleil had grabbed him by his tie, dragging him into the bathroom. Kicking the door closed, she pushed him against the wall, kissing him fiercely. Her hands fumbled for his buckle and she began tugging and scratching at it wildly. “Um…hey, girl…uh…” he struggled to talk in-between kisses. His thoughts were muddled and his skin was on fire as Soleil jerked off his dress shirt, ripping the fabric. Her hands roamed over his strong shoulders. “Baby…no, come on…” “What?” Soleil panted. “Slow down…” “This is what you want, right?” “Yeah…oh, stop it…” he moaned as she ravenously nibbled on his throat. “Slow…let’s go slowly…I want our first time to last for HOURS…and hours…” Soleil stumbled backwards and gaped up at him, lips swollen and red. She secured the towel around herself and fought to hide the embarrassment in her cheeks. “I’m…” JC pressed a finger to his lips. “Don’t you dare say you’re sorry. We’re going to have plenty of times to have a quickie in some elevator…” he grinned. “But I want this to be a marathon event.” JC pulled a long embroidered scarf from his pocket and smiled softly. “You’re so beautiful,” he gasped in awe. He draped the cloth over her shoulder as he slowly walked around her. Soleil shuddered at its delicate feel and closed her eyes as JC gently brought it up them. He tied it behind her head, the ends dangling against her back, sweeping over the soft skin between her shoulder blades. Soleil trembled as JC pulled the towel from her around her shapely body and her damp skin met the cold air as he let his fingers caress her hips and curves of her waist. Without sight, her body was alive with unadulterated sensation. But she could hear him breathing deeply behind her and she could FEEL. Her sense of touch has catapulted to erotic sensitivity and she whimpered as JC leaned forward, his hard chest against her back. His musky cologne swirling around her. His lips blessed her shoulders, then her neck. She arched her back in sheer pleasure and JC’s laugh rumbled behind her. “This is only the beginning, love…” ** The rain fell, much like it had on that day when life was created and a miracle was bestowed on two people celebrating love…gently, passionately, tenderly. But the wind was cold, cursed with a hollow rattle as it cruelly swept the drops sideways and lightning sizzled across the black sky. Thunder told ominous stories of doom and destruction and JC trembled for they were all true. The rain poured off the brim of his hat, soaking him to the bone, but he was sheltered from the cold. Grief and pain covered him in a fiery ache that he embraced. JC tripped over the brick steps of Joey porch and knocked quietly on the door, his head hanging limply between his shoulders. Joey opened the door, a slumbering Brianna draped lovingly across his body. Joey’s brown eyes widened and he looked at the child with a glance that wasn’t filled with awe and affection. “Man…I’m sorry. I can put her in the crib…she was scared, thunder,” he rushed to explain. JC glanced up at him, eyes red. Wet and trembling. His gaze shifted to the child and he reached out a hand, wrinkled by the rain, to stroke her curls. He stopped short, his resolve splintering. Wordlessly, he turned around, trudging down the sidewalk, biting his lower lip. Joey called to Kelly and pushed Brianna in her arms, darting out into the elements. He easily caught up with JC and he struggled over his words. “I don’t know what to say, man. You can come inside if you want.” “Nah.” “Really, it’s no problem.” “I don’t want to look at her, right now, Joe.” Saddened, Joey closed his eyes, shaking his head. He understood, but it still pained him. “I’m sorry.” “Who told you?” JC growled. “Chris. He called me about an hour ago…saying she…lost the baby.” JC looked up at Joey, his eyes begging for answers, but he could only stare. He could only think of the beautiful child he lost before he had the chance to grow or breathe. The man next to him was the epitome of the proud papa, something he had longed to be for the past three months. He hadn’t realized how much he loved children until Soleil told him that she was pregnant. And suddenly, he was enamored with every bud of life that passed him. Wide-eyed and innocent with this unfettered laugh straight from the heart. Now, it was gone. And he was empty. The future stunk of raging emotions and tears of grief. JC was petrified. But Joey. Joey got to be a father. He got his miracle. JC felt a sense of disgust with his best friend and he shook his head, almost indifferently. “I’m just gonna go…” “Where?” Joey asked. “I don’t know…I can’t be around you…without.” He bit his lip to keep himself from talking. Joey nodded. “I know. Call me.” Joey pulled him into a hug and JC tensed, knowing that Joey was just trying to help, yet not wanting to be touch or soothed for it just made the grief and anger intensify. He brought his arm up, closing around his taller friend for an instant before jerkily pulling away. JC went back to the hospital, but Soleil had refused to any visitors. He wandered helplessly down the rainy Orlando streets and numbly knocked on yet another door, searching for a sense of home, a shred of peace. Lynn opened the door, clad in a sweater and knit pants. Her pale blue eyes burned into his with motherly concern and JC crumbled. Tears choked his voice and devastation muddled his thoughts. Lynn gathered her to him and rocked him back and forth. JC clutched the back of her soft sweater and buried his face in her neck. “I’m sorry,” he sobbed, trying to compose himself, but the tears wouldn’t stop. Lynn, smelling of ivory soap and fried chicken, rubbed his back soothingly and shushed him. “Shh, baby, it’s okay…” “I wanted him, Mom. I wa…nted him so bad.” “I know you did.” JC shuddered. “I did this…did this…to her…my fault…” “No, baby, it’s not.” “She doesn’t…want me, Mama, she doesn’t.” He held on tighter, fisting her wool sweater. “She’s just confused now.” JC let go when Lynn squeaked and tugged at his arm softly. “Come on, baby. I’m cooking. You can put on some of Justin’s sweats and…cry some more if you want…” she laughed comfortingly. JC nodded. And he did cry. He cried until his belly burned, his mouth was dry and his shoulders ached from sobbing. He laid in the room that used to be his, bundled in blankets that held years of memories, aimlessly watching the rain plummet to the earth. He waited for sleep, but it never came. It unmercifully avoided him, not giving him a chance to escape the devastation and the constant stream of blame. Taking a deep, shuddering breath, JC closed his eyes against the agonizing loneliness and silence. He didn’t want anyone but Soleil. He wanted to comfort her, cry with her. Hold her. He needed her, but he had no right to. She was hurting in ways he couldn’t bare to imagine. JC jerked as he heard a cluster of loud footprints, leaping up the stairs. “Ma!” It was Justin. “Ma! Come look at all the stuff I bought,” Justin laughed. JC sat up, pushing the blankets to the floor. The mirth dripped from the younger man’s tone cut deep into JC’s heart. He didn’t know. With a fortified sigh, he stolidly shuffled into the hallway and just listened as Justin, his son’s godfather, dug through his shopping bags. “Ma, they had so much stuff. I know Sunny told me that I shouldn’t buy anything with a distinct color until she finds out the sex, but look at this. Isn’t it cute? It’s a gown, but it doesn’t have the strings at the bottom like they used to. It’s blue. But to be fair I bought some pink and sea green and yellow and lavender. Oh and this, you can’t tell C, but I got him the bouncy seat. They had different covers. So I got the blue and the pink. See, he can sit in there while Sunny is in the shower and it vibrates and has toys. Ma, I just know it’s going to be a boy. I can feel it. I’m excited either way though.” Josh leaned against the wall, but a bittersweet smile graced his lips. “Honey…” Lynn’s voice was quiet. “Um…” JC peered into the room and his gaze immediately locked with hers. “Mama, just let me tell him.” “You sure?” “Yeah.” Lynn bit her lip and walked past her son, hoping to shield him from the sadness in her face. “I’ll be downstairs, babe.” Justin frowned. “Sure, Mom.” Turning around, he quickly pushed the remaining bags onto the floor, out of JC’s sight and sat on the bed, folding up the tiny gowns with matching slippers. “I went a little overboard. I’m just incredibly happy right now…for you and Sunny.” JC forced a smile, but his stance was rigid. “I’m not surprised…about the shopping thing.” “I didn’t know you were here.” JC tugged on the bottoms of the sweatpants that swallowed him and pulled his robe closed. “I wasn’t planning on it. I know you don’t like to share your mom when she’s here.” Justin simply nodded, entranced with his purchases. “Justin. I have to talk to you, man.” “Shoot.” JC picked up one of the gowns and let the delicate folds fall apart. His eyes watered as he fingered the collar. The gown was a white, the thick, but soft cotton was stitched together with gleaming, white silk thread. It glimmered angelically as it detailed designed on the collar, sleeves and bottom hem. “This is beautiful, Justin.” Justin smiled. “I thought you’d like it.” “I do.” “You had to tell me something?” he prompted. JC nodded. He glanced up at the man before him, azure excitement leaping from his eyes and he faltered- not wanting to take such happiness away from him. In an irrational, selfless way, JC hated to be the one to take something he knew Justin clung to away from him. He was already on shaky ground, without Britney, without the spotlight. “You’re…doing okay, now? I mean with the long break and the break UP…and everything?” “Yeah. I’m okay. Why are you stalling? It’s starting to scare me.” “Oh I’m sorry…” He paused, drawing in a long breath. “Um, God. Soleil…uh, she was having…um some p-pains last night and…this, this morning they got worse…so we went to the hospital….and she had the baby. Today.” Justin blinked. Once, then twice. “What does that mean, Josh?” “That means that he was born today and he died an hour later.” “But…” “It was too early for him. Twenty one weeks is just too early.” He sniffled. “Man, I’m sorry.” “It was a boy…just like you thought…” Justin was silent for several moments, sitting froze on the edge of the bed, his eyes wide, his skin way. Then, he sniffled, startling to life, remember to breathe. He brought his arm up to wipe his eyes. He looked around the room before he sprung up from the bed. “God, I’m sorry. Just let me get this crap out of here.” He snatched the gown from JC’s hands and continued cleaning up the baby things in a dazed frenzy. JC stared at his hands…empty and trembling and he began to sob, in the haze and bags crinkling and the shuffling of feet. He dropped to his knees and wailed into his hands, bending over at the waist. Justin finished stuffing the packages in his closet and closed the door. He sat down in front of JC, folding his legs underneath him. Placing a hand on his back, he sat quietly and patiently. His best friend wasn’t going to be a father. Wetness splashed on his cheeks, matching the cadence of the rain splattering overhead. ** JC sat captivated, his aimless sketching forgotten as his eyes followed the little man around the yard. His legs were short and in the long grasses his had to waddle, picking up each leg to simply maneuver. An eerie smile tugged at his lips and he craned his neck as the boy scampered behind the bush. Seconds later, he came barreling back, running on stubby limbs, laughing bubblishly. JC closed his eyes, feeling the giggles dance in his soul, in his heart. It rattled blissfully, bouncing around, covering the dark burden of grief with torrents of color, hues of love. The laughter continued and his eyes parted as he stared at the boy. The young one had his hands balled into fists, poised just under his nose. His gaze moved from the creature captured inside his hand to the man sitting just a few feet away. JC was startled for his eyes of ethereal blue were identical his. The little boy’s fingers began to uncurl. JC’s head snapped sharply upwards as he felt a hand clamp deftly on his shoulder. “What?” JC asked as he peered up at Justin. Justin sat down beside him. “You’ve been out here all day. Chris and Lance and everyone want to come over.” “They don’t have to ask. It’s not even my house.” His eyes whisked to the boy in the yard and he stilled, the hairs on the back of his neck hissed to an erect position as he noticed nothing was there. Justin was talking quietly beside him, but JC ignored him, standing up, sketch pad falling to the floor. He jogged out into the yard, turning in circles. JC stood in the middle of the yard, hovering over the man-made lake and ran his fingers through his dark brown hair. “Where’d he go?” he whispered. Justin frowned. “Who?” “The boy…he was right there…chasing the bug..” “Um, you know I have gates up. I don’t…I don’t see anyone.” JC sighed brokenheartedly. “I’m losing my mind,” he muttered. “I’m going inside. Just holler when the guys get here.” Justin’s face crinkled in concern and he grunted in response, watching his best friend trudge into the house. He waded through the thick grasses and bent down, flicking the grasshopper off the crude sketch. His eyes moved over the drawing and he closed his eyes at the picture of a little boy, grasshopper perched on his fingers. ** Legs burned. Arms buzzed. Breaths stampeded through dry lips as he pushed himself forward. Worn, old tennis shoes slapped against the slick pavement, but they soon left the man road, moving onto a soft wooded path. The forest was quiet. Everything was still, too still for peace to settle into JC’s mind as he had been waiting for. It was the type of quiet that made one’s body rigid with fear, because demons were lurking. Peering behind the trunks of trees, waiting to attack. To inflict. To torture. His eyes flicked about the forest. JC’s easily moved up the steep hill, splashing through deep puddles of rain. He turned his hat backwards before leaping over fallen log. He wished he could run away from the world that had suddenly crumbled around him, to reveal his nightmares, realized. But that was childish thought. He had been spoon-fed clichés for the past few days and they made his head spin with dark laughter. He didn’t have a choice but to take it one day at a time. He didn’t want time to heal this wound. He wanted apart of him to mourn his first child until he joined him in heaven. Just because his life last mere minutes did not mean he wasn’t worth remembering. JC soon found himself on the road back to Justin house. He was looking forward to showering. Feeling the hot water on his muscles, hopefully Lynn would massage his shoulders and he’d fall into the blissful black abyss he’d been longing for for the past three days. He punched in the code of the gates and jogged up the gravel driveway to the stately home. As he reached the house, his loose, practice stride turned into a sluggish walk. Soleil. She was leaning against her car. Her hair was straight, tucked behind her ears as she stared aimlessly and the churning gray sky. JC smiled. His chapped lips split as he grinned from ear to ear for the first time in days. He wiped the sweat off his forehead and quickly ran to her. His heart beat raggedly in his chest, but he welcomed the excitement. He approached her cautiously. Taking in features etched in crimson from crying, grieving. “Baby…” Soleil lifted her head and stared blankly into JC’s eyes. “Hey…” “I could have…um, picked you up from the hospital.” “My mom did…I’ve been staying there…” her voice was uncharacteristically subdued. “Oh…okay…” She stroked his cheeks that was splashed with husky stubble. “Wow, you look bad…” she sighed, which could have been mistaken for a laugh. A glimmer of emotion. JC nervously adjusted his clothes- using the hem of his shirt to wipe the sweat from his forehead and neck. He turned his hat forward, creating shadows over his face. Shadowing his gaunt cheeks and red-rimmed eyes. “You look...beautiful…I missed you…” he breathed, his fingers tangled with hers. “Um, I brought you some stuff. Um,” she picked up a large plastic bag and began rummaging through it. “Your…shaving kit, your favorite sweats and your sleeping pills…I know you haven’t been sleeping. My mom…made some of those meatballs you like and oh, I made you some of those raspberry cookies. Your favorites…” her voice began to shake. “I got you a new toothbrush because I couldn’t find your old one. I kept your favorite shirt, because it smells like you…and uh…” she began to cry. JC took the bag from her, tossing it aside. “What’s with all this stuff, babe?” he pulled her to him, shuddering as he felt the tiny hump of her tummy press into him, the way he once loved. “Why are you crying, Soleil?” She clutched at the back of his shirt, squeezing the soft cotton in his hands. “I love you...” JC smiled into her hair. He could feel his muscles cramping and tightening, but he didn’t care. “I love you too.” “…but I need you to move out of the apartment.” JC stepped back. “What?” “I…was thinking, in the hospital and at home…and I can’t have you there.” JC’s world perished. Colors melded into gray. Sound was smothered by suffocating silence. The barren remains trumbled and twirld, whirring from side to side. It took several taunt moment for his mind to decipher her whispered words. But his heart was bewildered, confused because she said that she loved him. And love doesn’t hurt. It doesn’t destroy and condemn. Love is happiness, blazing nights of passion, holding hands, inspiration, love-filled gazes and blinding intensity. This wasn’t love. This was something deceitful and conniving. JC’s heartbeat quickened as he tried to rationalize the sudden rift. “Baby, you’re just hurt and grieving and struggling….you can’t possibly….shit, you don’t want to do this…” “I do.” Soleil said with resounding determination. Her fingers wrung the hem of her gray sweatshirt. “Um, I just can’t…you’re a reminder of…everything, right now. My mom is insisting that I see a therapist, to keep everything sorted out. Deal with this the right way…” JC paled, his mouth went dry and the Florida heat that he was immune too, abruptly swelled in thickness and he fought for each breath. “You’re…saying, this is my fault?” he whispered. Soleil’s stormy emerald eyes flared open and she shook her head vehemently. “No…not at all…” She nibbled on her bottom lip, her eyes flitting back and fourth. JC pushed away from her, ripping her delicate fingers from his arms and staggered backwards. Tears rushed to his eyes and the exhaustion of the past three days caught up with him. His legs were heavy, his feet constructed of lead, limb of concrete. They slapped against the pavement towards Justin’s front door, towards his sanctuary away from the blinding agony of his late son and the reality of her words. Soleil gaped at the man, broken, struggling for breath. His back was facing her and he was simply walking away. The pain and anger welled up inside of her and she was waddling after him, ignoring the motherly ache. “Don’t walk away…don’t you walk away from me!” she warned her voice raising to a painfully raspy octave. JC didn’t turn around, but he stopped his retreat. “What am I supposed to do? Am I supposed to stand there and accept the fact that you’re throwing me away? Am I supposed to smile and nod while you blame me for losing…” There was a disturbing, pregnant pause where it dawned on JC that he did not know his son’s name. “…Quinton Scott…” she muttered the name. They were quiet, letting it linger in the air. “I don’t blame you…” she continued in the same meek tone. JC whirled around and snorted disgustedly. “You do,” his voice trembled. “I sat back and let you grieve and be as irrational as you wanted, despite the fact that it killed me that you wouldn’t let me be a father and hold you and try to make things right. But I didn’t complain or whine or pitch a damn fit when you wouldn’t even let me see you. I did what you wanted, no questions aked. Because I wasn’t the one that was carrying him. But you can’t just push me away, you can’t keep pushing me away and except for me to accept it, because I can’t!” he explained in a flutter of words, emotion dripping from his words. “I love you…” Soleil’s eyes narrowed and she advanced threateningly towards him. “Oh, well should I just bow down to you for being so selfless and so understanding?” she hollered sarcastically. “I mean, wow, you stood back and let me-- my pain-- cloud your judgment of what you SHOULD HAVE been doing? You know me, Josh, inside and out and you just let me sit in that hospital alone! You didn’t have sense enough to know that I was just angry...and disgusted with myself.” JC’s eyes blazed a bright blue fire as he forcefully interjected. “How the hell was I supposed to read subliminal messages, especially when you told the battle axes they call nurses that? How am I supposed to pull out that you wanted me there when you’d start sobbing hysterically even time I tried to touch you. I’m not Ms. Fucking Cleo…” She let out a primal growl, her entire body shaking as she ran her fingers through her hair, closing her eyes. When she finally spoke, her words were measured, sharp and delivered with subdued intensity. “You touching me is how this was started in the first place.” She watched the anguish well upwards in JC’s eyes and the adrenaline of their reunion vanish from the same icy depths. The remaining color drained from his cheeks. His face was blank. Shuffling in old sneakers, JC moved, silently walking away. ** On the day when the graying of clouds was a blessing-every silver drop an answered prayer, the sky was a clear, unpleasant blue. The sun glimmered and gleaming narcissistically, sleekly illuminating the black paint of limousines parked neatly underneath emerald hills. The breezes were sickeningly sweet and barren of moisture. Black suits, embellished with powder blue ribbons and satin ties, were buttoned formally. Heads hung limply as sluggish strides pushed the throng of family up towards the hill. Vivid flowers covered a coffin, their lively blossoms hiding its austerely small size. Sunglasses covered crimson, teary eyes. Kleenexes were tucked in trembling hands, dripping of tears of grief. JC sat, his eyes trained on his puffy, swollen knuckles. His mother sat beside him, her warmth pressed against his side. She never shed a tear, saving them for when he son didn’t need comforting, a source of strength. Now, she was rubbing JC’s back in smooth strokes. Justin, Lance, Joey and Chris stood behind Josh, protecting him from the nosy reporters that challenged the border of the private, secured cemetery. The words of the preacher sailed over slacked shoulders, reaching some, but lost on others, but it was the words just couldn’t comfort the loss of such a young life. Nothing could. JC tore his tissue in shreds, shifting in his seat, shuddering, sighing, anything he could do to push back the tidal waves of infuriation. His mother glanced in his direction. “Josh?” she asked. “…fine…” he replied robotically. He closed his eyes behind darkened lenses, squeezing them tautly before he shuddered yet again, a hollow, malignant ache coursing through him. He peered upward, for the first time since the service had started and watched Soleil, her eyes were closed, streaked with tears as she held her grandmother’s rosary beads tightly in her fingers, moving them back and fourth. JC prayed, silently for her to simply open her eyes, so he could relish in the orbs of heavenly green and gold that could always soothe him. The parents were separated, one on each side of the casket. Mourning alone. When they yearned for the each other’s touch. JC sat forward on his chair, longing to walk across the divide of death and hold his girlfriend. At that very moment, Soleil opened her eyes, the lids parting difficulty, heavy with tears. She pursed her lips and quickly looked away, grasping frantically for her sister’s hand. With a pained, suffering cry, he laid his head in his mother’s lap and cried, not caring about what was to come. ** Justin was sprawled across the couch, still clad in his black suit from the funeral, but his tie had been loosened and the jacket was thrown haphazardly across the room. He slept fitfully on the couch, his long legs hanging over the high arms of white leather. The phone sliced through the air, startling Justin from his stupor. Rolling over and off the couch, he hit the carpet with a thud. Opening his blurry eyes, he patted himself down, searching for the annoying disturbance. His eyes were blurry and the milky twilight of the early morning hampered his vision even more. Pushing aside beer cans, he finally found the phone and put his to his ear. “What?” But the ringing continued. Justin frowned, rubbing his head, before he realized it was the front door. Stumbling down the long corridors in slippery songs, he rubbed his head, running his fingers through his tiny curls before opening the door, grimacing at the sheering sunlight. “What?” Soleil glared at Justin, her concerned overshadowed by Justin’s haggard appearance. “You’re drunk?” “Nope…jus’…yeah, little.” “Your best friend just buried his son and you’re drinking?” she spat disgustedly. “I started when he started,” he muttered through barely open lids. “Now what do you want?” “I need to talk to JC, apologize…is he here?” “Upstairs…” she moved to push past him, but Justin caught the back of her sweater. “You wait here and write me a check for the wall, he ruined…because of you…” he sneered. Soleil scowled, but followed the direction where Justin lazily flailed and noticed the cracked drywall. Walking over to the two large dents, she ran her hands over the ripples of impact and balled up her hand into a fist. Placing it in the center of the depression, she sighed guiltily. “Josh…” Justin entered JC’s room, not daring to turn on the lights. The dwelling was dark. He leaned against the doorway. “C…get up. Sunny’s here.” Justin rolled his eyes at the silence. Moving towards the bed, he probed the mattress. His eyes flaring open as he felt nothing but a cold mattress. He dove for the light, flipping the switch. Blinking repeatedly, he stared at the empty bed. “No, you didn’t, C.” he whispered, moving to the closet…empty. “Son of a bitch…” Justin ran down the hall, ripping the phone off the base. Squelching the panic that began brewing. Dialing frantically, he tugged at the newborn curls at the nape of his neck. “Chris! Is Josh there?!” he hollered into the phone. “No, he’s not…” “FUCK! Call Joe and everyone!” “Why?” Chris asked grimly. “Because he’s not here.,,I don’t know where he went, man…he was here like, two hours ago…” Justin forced himself to sit on the bed as he dialed JC’s house, then his favorite hotels where’d he like to stay and write, then his family and friends. He gripped his curls fervently as he came up empty every time. Thirty-eight hours later, as the sky grayed, then blackened and thunder rumbled in the distance, Justin made one last, desperate call for JC had simply vanished, whisked away from everything he’d lost. “Orlando Police Station, do you have an emergency?” Justin closed his eyes as Soleil sobbed on the bed behind him. He stood at the window, gaping out at the world through chiffon curtains. “Um, I’d like to report a missing person…please…” And it began to rain. © Copyrighted by Kira, June 2002. [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] |
| Subject | Author | Date |
| Re: New Novella! **Rain** Part One of Two....Feedback please | Kimmie | 21:57:00 06/24/02 Mon |
| Re: New Novella! **Rain** Part One of Two....Feedback please | Gina Z. | 21:59:59 06/25/02 Tue |