Page 10 of Rough Start

Kye’s too, if he wanted it.

Putting nearly as much research into planning their future as she did her application, Eliana had managed to find and secure lodging as well as a job waiting tables starting that summer. She’d even spoken to three local auto shops that had agreed to interview Kye if he wanted a job. He could work during the day when she was in classes. She could wait tables in the evening and weekends, and in their free time they could be together. Kye could even try for junior college if he wanted! All her education had paid off. She’d planned the perfect life for them together.

With time running out before Kye was too old for foster care aide, she knew he was going to need somewhere to live after the Duncans. Why not with her? Eliana had sworn to herself she wouldn’t mention a word of it to him until she was certain of his feelings. Call it the pains of life, but she’d learned to be guarded. Knowing her own heart was on the line unless she was certain he cared for her the way she cared for him, how could she possibly propose they live together? Even as friends?

Now she knew. The way he’d come to her when he needed help. The way he’d held on to her like she was priceless to him. The way he’d kissed her… she knew—he was falling in love with her too.

If her mother was a fairy tale princess, Pine Hill was the tower Eliana felt trapped in, then the hero of the story was Kye. Her Knight in Shining Armor.

More importantly— he was hers.

“You were out late last night,” Stanley Duncan said over the top of his newspaper as Kye, his eldest foster son, entered the kitchen. Stan was an older man in his mid-sixties with a dusk of white hair that created a perimeter around the bald top of his head. He was short, well under six foot, and he used his retirement from accounting to help his wife run her craft store.

“Transmission fell out of Mr. Grouper’s minivan,” Kye said, grabbing a piece of bacon off the plate on the counter. “I told Hal I’d stay until it was done.”

“You know curfew is ten on a school night,” Stan continued and folded his paper before setting it down.

“What was I supposed to do, leave early? I promised Hal,” Kye argued.

“You also promised to follow house rules,” Carey, Stan’s wife, chimed in from her position in front of the frying pan on the stove. Just as petite, the round woman had a mop of white and blonde highlighted hair. “Next time you need to call…”

“There won’t be a next time, will there?” Stan interrupted. Kye sat opposite Carey on one of the stools, and she handed him a glass of orange juice.

“Listen, I don’t mean any disrespect to you guys,” Kye began, “you’ve been great, really, but I’m eighteen in like two weeks. I haven’t broken a single house rule since I got here. I’ve got a good job, and we all know that I need to have a plan for when I age out. If Hal asks me to work late, I’m going to stay.”

“Well,” Stan said, folding his hands and looking at his wife before replying, “I can’t say I agree with everything you said, but you make a valid point. You’ve been well-behaved and hard-working these last eight months. Just don’t work too hard…”

“Please call or text if you’re going to be out past midnight,” Carey added as she set a plate of food in front of him. “You know Stan worries,” she said with a wink.

“I will, thanks,” he said and downed a few mouthfuls of eggs before sliding out of his chair and grabbing his coat.

“Leaving already?” Carey asked with surprise.

“I want to walk Eli to school, I need to get a head start.”

“In sweatpants?” she asked with hands on hips. Kye only shrugged and set his plate in the sink. “See you tonight then.”

“Yeah okay,” he called over his shoulder as he made to leave.

“Kye,” Stan called, and Kye resisted an annoyed sigh as he turned to look back at the pair. Carey standing with her hand on her husband’s shoulder, staring at him with rounded eyes. “Whether seventeen, eighteen or thirty-five you’re welcome in this house.”

Kye could only manage a nod, a sudden lump in his throat, before closing the door behind him as he left. Of all the foster homes he’d been in, he was most grateful for the Duncans. Stan’s comment about being welcome gave Kye a small feeling of guilt that he’d lied. As much as he would have loved to walk Eliana to school, his leg was killing him. It was going to take the extra thirty minutes just to get to school on time.

Though admittedly not one to rush for academics, he was in more of a hurry this morning than any before. He couldn’t wait to see Eliana. Just the thought of seeing her again, kissing her again, made the pain in his leg more bearable.

Though his plans were cut short. Only six blocks from school, he heard an all too familiar rumble approach. Turning around he saw four motorcycles, Max’s chopper in the lead, pull up next to him. Kye shifted his backpack onto the other shoulder as Max pulled the facemask off his mouth and took off his sunglasses.

“Get on,” he instructed shortly. Looking at the other four men he recognized as Wayne, Hamilton, Riggs, and Shon, Kye knew it wasn’t a request. These might as well have been the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

Kye took the spare helmet off the sissy bar and slid onto the bike. With a roar, they peeled off.

* * *

Pine Hill wasn’t a large town. Two main roads, a grand total of one stop light, a hardware store, two diners, a gas station, an arcade a bowling alley, three bars and a grocery store made up the downtown district. The majority of the town was divided into two industrial yards: one lumber mill and the other an old train depot that was renovated into a scrap metal yard.

A warehouse and six adjoined shipping containers made up the headquarters of Screaming Demons. Their black, silver and blue tags were littered on every broad wall and a chain-link fence penned in their accommodations.

Max and the others pulled to a stop at the main hall, and they all dismounted. Wordlessly following their leader, they stepped inside. The wide-open room had a makeshift bar and kitchenette with fold-out tables lined up for dining. On the other side of the room was a large TV with three worn-out couches and a few armchairs that were covered in cigarette burns. There were at least a dozen men strewn about, some working on bikes in the open space, a few watching television, and others shooting pool.