AncilI forced myself to wrap my arms around her to comfort her as she cried. In the distance, I saw the two police officers carrying Kate’s father and his buddies in handcuffs. As they got closer, I noticed that the pit bull was gone and a big black plastic bag in one of the officer’s hands. They must have shot the pit bull. Kate’s father and his buddies were complaining and trying to convince the two officers that they were innocent but the officers didn’t budge. I was somewhat relieved that they were in handcuffs but I also felt like it was all my fault.
Kate’s father instantly stopped talking when he noticed Kate and me sitting by the wall. His eyes were glued to me with a kind of rage that could only mean one thing: bad news. His gaze was stuck on me until the officers pushed his head down and into the police car. Kate wasn’t even looking at her father. She didn’t seem very concerned about him as she faced the opposite direction refusing to make eye contact with him.
Before the officers left, one of them came over to us and asked us if we were okay. We lied and told him yes. He then went on to ask us a series of questions related to the assault and I told them everything except for the fact that I kind of sort of kidnapped Kate. I decided to let Kate say that part but she didn’t say anything. She just sat there quietly and let me do all the talking. The officer told us something about filing a complaint then left and they drove off with Kate’s father and his buddies.
“We only met today and you’ve already destroyed my life,” Kate said with a slight smirk.
“Yeah I’m awful,” I said.
“You look awful too,” she said, referring to my current disheveled state. She touched the huge bump on my head and it stung.
“Ouch!” I shouted.
“I think we really need to put some ice on that,” Kate said. “Come with me.” She got up, pulling me up in the process, and led me to my car. She took the driver’s seat and I rode shotgun. I was in no condition to drive.
She drove me to her home then helped me out of the car and into her house where she helped me to sit down. She hastily went into the kitchen and grabbed a packet of ice which she then placed on my head.
“Hold it there for a while.” She removed her hand allowing me to take over. She then got up and went back to the kitchen. “Waffles?” She shouted from the kitchen.
“Sure!”
Moments later she brought me a plate of Smoking hot waffles and had another plate for herself. I took one small bite and then put the plate down as my head throbbed more. I just couldn’t gather enough strength to eat.
“What? You don’t like it? I’ve got some other flavors if you like,” Kate said.
“You really do like waffles.”
“I hate waffles, but I like the idea of it.”
“The idea of waffles?”
“The idea that it’s a type of food that you can make at any time without much effort. You don’t need a special occasion to eat waffles. Just pop it in and pop it out. That’s what my mom used to say. Just pop it in and pop it out, no worries.” She looked down at the plate of waffles on her lap with forlorn eyes.
“How did she die?” I asked softly.
With her head down she said, “Two days before her court appearance she was found dead in this house with a needle in her hand. She committed suicide.”
“Oh my God! That’s awful. I had no idea that your life was so-“
“Messed up?”
“Complicated,” I finished. “When I first saw you at that workshop, I thought that you were just a regular girl with a regular family and a regular teenage life. I had no idea things were so…” I paused for a while then said, “Bad.”
“That’s the problem with people these days. They always judge a book by its cover. They think that they can tell the whole story with just one glance at the cover. But you can’t know the whole story unless you open the book and read it.”
“What separates me from other people is that I don’t just want to read your story. I want to be a part of it.”
“You already are,” she smiled. I smiled back.
“Your waffles are getting cold,” she said, breaking the romance.
“Oh right,” I said before taking another bite.
“I’m going to hit the shower and get out of these muddy clothes. I’ll be back in a minute okay.”
“Okay.”
I remained on the chair holding the bag of ice on my head. I took a couple bites of the waffles Kate had given me but I wasn’t hungry enough to gobble them down. I was beginning to think that Kate had completely forgotten about me because she took an incredibly long time upstairs. Actually — TOO LONG.
