The Hunt

Chapter Two

The Day After

June 16, 2011

I woke up to Kay’s hysterical banging on my bedroom door.  What does she want now?  “Joey! Turn on the TV,” Kay sobbed.  Wait, she’s crying. Oh no, what happened? I sat up and looked around. The clock said 7:54 A.M. My mind was still foggy, and my feet felt like they were made of lead. “What’s wrong Kay,” I asked opening my door. Kay leaned against the wall holding her hand across her stomach as though she was sick.

“Look,” she said handing me the paper. It was today’s copy of The Village Herald. My heart dropped to my feet. The headline Plane Crash.  No, no, no. This can’t be happening.  I frantically read the article.  I couldn’t believe my eyes. I was reading it, but my mind refused to accept it.  No survivors what’s it mean no survivors, there has to be survivors. I hadn’t realized how hard I was clutching the paper till I felt my knuckles cracked. The swayed beneath me.  “Joey!” Kay said alarmed. I felt the world slipping away. Little black sparks danced around the corners of my vision. The floor rushed up to meet me on my way to oblivion.

                                                            Three Months Later

                           September 3, 2011

  So after four foster homes, and two separations, Kay and I ended up in the loving custody of our grandparents in West Virginia. Joshua and Mellisa, Sparks, lived in a decent house in the country. It was a two story beige house with white shuttered windows and a cobble stone drive way. The house was cozy on the inside with old timey feel. A small Sharp TV sat on a black stand by the door. They even had an old record player. The walls were the same beige color as the exterior. All the furniture was white and the stands and tables black. A wood fire place made of smooth stones sat in the back of the living room, an old family portrait of his grandparents, his mom, and her siblings, was perched above it.

Kay and I arrived here maybe two weeks ago give or take a few days. My personality was cold and sullen towards everyone I met. The other people I stayed with often left me to my dark and dreary room to ponder my thoughts in peace. This usually was after vain attempts to cheer me up and make a connection. Kay, who was usually chattering and laughing, hadn’t said a word since the funeral. Mom and Dad lay there cold and lifeless. They were almost like strangers. It was the first time either of us had been to a funeral and we just sat there staring absent mindedly at the preacher and the coffins.  Kay’s personality was no longer warm and bubbly, but bleak and her mind seemed barren and thoughtless. I’m sure she’s somewhere in this shell of a person. She’s buried herself deep inside her mind one of my foster parents had said she’ll be ok in a few weeks. Time heals all wounds. Well,  snorted I in my mind, theses wounds will never heal. To be honest I was quite tired of people trying to interact with me all I wanted was to be left alone.

After a few weeks though, I slowly rejoined the human race little by little. Thought I was still sullen I wasn’t detached from humanity any longer. Now school was staring soon and we’ve yet to do anything to prepare for it. I’ve always loathed school shopping. When we’d go before Kay was always talking non-stop about the ‘cute boy at the pretzel stand’ , or my ‘ annoying smirk that I always seemed to wear on my face when she’s talking’.  However as much as I hated it, I felt like I needed to do it. My life has been a whirlwind of chaos theses last months I needed some sort of normality.

“Hey grandma, when are we going school shopping. School starts Monday.” I asked

“I thought you hated school shopping Joey,” she teased. She knew I hated it since when she first brought it up I told her that it was pointless to think about the torture of school so early in the summer.

“I do, but Mondays only days away in case you forget,”  I said wryly.

“Okay, Joey we’ll go tomorrow,” she said, “now go get ready for dinner.”

                                     

                                                         September 4, 2011

We walked around WalJMart for hours. Looking at notebooks, pens, pencils, binders, and clothes.  Purses, skirts, jeans, blouses, and dresses for Kay; book bags, jeans, tee shirts, and sneakers for me. We finally checked out and went to a Jay Rays Diner.  I ordered a hamburger with everything and fries. Kay got a salad. When our food came she picked through it and sipped her water silently, staring off in to space as usual. We finished our meals and went home. After we put our bag together and put our clothes away grandma called us down to dinner. She made a wonderful meal of turkey, mashed potatoes, and corn on the cob. “That was amazing grandma,” I commented. I was really making an effort to be normal now. At least not as lonely and cold.  After dinner we had apple pie and ice cream. I finished my pie and went upstairs to take a shower. In the weeks following my parent’s death, my only safe haven had been the shower. It was the only place I could get any privacy. I was on like suicide watch or something.  Now I stand here letting the hot water run down my natural curls. Thinking about –of all things- my hair being jet black and naturally curly, unlike the rest of my family who had straight light blonde or brown hair. I usually kept my hair kind of short. It was long enough to curl above and around the tips of my ears. Now it was getting long, too long.  I shall have to have it cut soon I thought running my fingers through the dark curls that nearly swept over and covered my eyes as I leaned against the red tile wall. A knock on the door told me that someone was tired of waiting for me. “I’ll be out in a minute,” I said turning off the water. I dried of and got dressed. Kayla Stood outside the door impatiently tapping her foot staring at me, almost through me. “Sorry,” I mumbled. She just shrugged and pushed past me closing the white door in my face. I was worried about her. I went to bed thinking about how troubled Kay was and how selfish I had been toward her. After the death I was rude and cruel to Kay. I never even thought how she was dealing it. When finally occurred to me how far gone she was it was too late to do anything to help her. I fell into a light, uneasy, and dreamless sleep.