Chapter 8: The Figure

Kevin's POV:

I woke up to the sun in my eyes. I put my arm across my face. "Kevinnnnnnnn! Get up!!!" Called Sarah. Oh God no. I'm too tired. I put my pillow on my head. "Kevvvvvinnnnnnn!!!" She shouted. I pulled my pillow around my head. She then jumped on me. "Wake up. Wake up. WAKE UP!!!!!" She screamed. I sighed. There's no escaping the beast. I sat up. "What?" I asked, with a blank face. "Have you forgotten? You're taking me to do whatever I want this weekend." She excitedly.

Did I say that? Yes. Now you got do it. Its for your sister. I know. "Give me ten minutes." I said. She ran out my room. I got out of bed and took a shower. I got out, got dressed, and brushed my teeth. "Hope ulu plan on talking to Angel sometime this weekend." Said a voice. "I'm going to Manny. But what is there to talk about?" I asked. "About that kiss." He said. "Manny there's no point. She doesn't remember. I talked to her yesterday. The last thing she remembers is me and Kacey taking her the nurse's office." I said.

"Kid, you can't continue hiding your feelings from this girl. All right? Its only a matter of time before someone swoops in and takes her attention." He said. "I know. But I'm not worried about that. I'll kiss her again and if she faints, I'll put her right back in the water. Right now, I'm focused on making this weekend the best for my little sister." I said as I left the room.

I walked downstairs and saw my mom talking to Sarah. "Oh honey, where are y'all gonna go first?" She asked. "Where gonna go to the Pony Garden first. I wanna pet them all." Sarah said. "Well let's go." Said Manny. "By the way, when am I gonna be able drive myself again?" I asked. "When you get better." He said. I rolled my eyes and walked out. We drove to the Pony Garden. They had all sorts of ponies and horses. We even saw a horse give birth. Note to self: if I ever get Angel pregnant, stay FAR from the delivery room.

As if on cue, her scent filled the air. I sniffed the air. Oh my God her scent is mouth watering. Sarah caught whiff of it too. "Mmm, something smells good. Someone smells like vanilla." She said and took off. "Sarah wait!!!" I said. Me and the other caretakers ran after her. We caught up to her at the pen where we saw a horse give birth. Another one gave birth. I saw Angel and Tasha. Her purple curly hair was beautiful. It was half up, half down.

Sarah tapped her. "Excuse me, but you smell delicious." She said. Angel widened her eyes. Oh Jesus. "Ya know you look familiar. Is Kevin Griffin you're brother?" Angel asked. "Yeah, how you know?" Sarah asked. "You & him look alike." She said. "Yeah but I'm more cuter." I said walking up to her. She turned to me. Her face held no expression I could read. I tried reading her mind. Again nothing. Why can't I read her mind? I can read everyone's but hers. "And what do I smell like?" Asked Tasha. "You smell like oranges. I love your hair. Its so curly." Sarah said.

"Thank you. I love yours. Angel did my hair." Tasha said. "Pooh. Angel can you do mine pweaseeee?" Sarah asked. She then put on the puppy dog face. Angel smiled. "Sure I'll do your hair." She said. Oh God. "Ya know Kevin, she's actually more cuter and more adorable than you." She said. I rolled my eyes. Where's a cliff when you need one? Sarah reached for Angel to pick her up. She carried her to the stalls. I looked down at Tasha. She stared at them. Then she looked up at me.

The more I looked at her, the more she looked like Angel. She reached up for me. "You want me to pick you up?" I asked. She nodded. I picked her up and carried her to the stalls. We watched the horse all trot together. I noticed a crowd gathered around. I looked to see everyone staring at me. I growled lowly. Tasha whispered in my ear. "Just ignore them Kevin. I'm sorry for staring at you. I was just surprised to see you helping somebody. From what I heard as t school, you don't like people. Or life. So when I saw you helping me and my sister, I was confused. Angel, told me to not judge you and that you're actually a good person. And from what she told me, you are." She said. I looked at her.

"She said good things about me?" I asked. She nodded. "Kevin, you need to open up more. Talk to her. She's been wanting to talk to you anyway." She said. Wow. Tasha is really is smart for her age. "Hey Sarah, how about me and you go get our faces painted?" She said. "Yeah. That sounds like fun." Sarah said. She got down and her and Tasha ran to painting booth. I made Tyler watch them. I didn't want him around me and Angel.

"Hey Angel can we talk?" I asked. She looked at me and nodded. We walked to the benches near the fences. I looked over at Manny. He smiled and gave me a certain look. "So what do you wanna talk about? The kiss?" She asked. "I wanna talk about-" I stopped and looked at her. "I now remember everything. I was looking at book covers when it came to me." She said. I looked away. I didn't think ahead with this. "Kevin do you like me or nah?" She asked.

I sighed. "Its complicated Angel. The only person I've ever really liked was Charlotte. With you, its off and on." I said. "What do you mean?" She asked. "It means that I do like you, but when you bring up the fact that I'm a suicidal psycho, I freaking hate you." I said. She didn't say anything. I looked at her. She stared blankly ahead of her. "Kevin, I like you too. Its just that you scare me sometimes. I'm scared that I'm gonna snap at you one day and you're actually hit me." She said.

I panicked. "No. No. Noooo Angel. I would never ever hit you. Yes I lose my temper, but I would never hit a girl. I was raised better than that." I said. "Angel I like you. A lot. Okay? I get jealous sometimes. The first night, when I took you to get Tasha, I got jealous because Tyler was thinking negative things about you and I didn't like it. That's why I growl a lot. Your with people who can get away with touching you but I can't." I said.

"Wait Tyler thinks negative things about me? What did I do to him? I'm not a mean person." She said. I stared at him. Wow. She really is virgin. She is pure. I know. Shit turns me on though. "Yeah, Angel that's not what meant by negative thoughts." I said. She looked confused. I explained to her about Tyler's thoughts. Sh gasped and covered her ears. "Oh my God. That's crazy. That's bad thoughts. That's not good. To have sex before marriage. That's insane." She said. I stared at her. She is too pure. "Angel, until you know what sex feels like, you would not be saying that." I said.

"What does it feel like?" She asked. I took off my jacket and piled it on my lap. I blushed hard. I tried explain to her. "Well everyone experiences it a different way." I said, not really wanting to go into details. "Well what does it feel like for you?" She asked. Oh Jesus help me. I blushed even harder. "Its not something you could put into words Angel." I said. "Oh come one. It can't be that hard." She said.

"Okay, I'm gonna attempt to explain it to you. You like cake right?" I asked. "Yeah, everyone loves cake. Especially with whipped cream." She said. "Okay, that's good. Now imagine eating that kind of cake with your happiness of eating cake." I said. She just stared at me. "Kevin, I'm legit not following you. So I ate some cake. Big deal." She said. "Ah, but times that feeling by a million." I said. Her eyes slowly grew wider. As he covered her mouth.

"Are you starting to get the picture?" I asked, hoping she wouldn't ask further questions. "Eh, sorta kinda. How does it feel for you?" She asked. I could feel myself getting harder talking to her about this. Her being too pure is making me hard for her. "Um, like I said, everyone experiences it a different way." I said, hoping she'll let it go. "But how so you experience it?" She asked, smiling. She scooted closer. Her vanilla scent overwhelms me. Her scent only made me harder. Oh God, this girl is gonna make me take her on this bench in front of everyone.

"Angel...its not something I can put in words darling." I said. "Just try." She said. I noticed her shirt was unbuttoned. I seen the top of her breasts. My heart raced. "Oh Jesus." I said and looked away. "What's wrong?" She asked. She got closer. If she gets any closer, I'm not gonna help myself. I'm gonna take her the way she is. "Kevin?" She leaned closer. No no. Noo Angel. I got up and moved from her. She would not like the dominant side of me.

"Kevin, are you alright?" She asked. "Yeah I'm fine, but I experience it a different way." I said. "Try to explain it to me." She said. "Eating my favorite food. Hey let's go see our sisters" I said quickly and ran over to the paint booths. The girls had they're face painted. Tasha was a ladybug again and Sarah was a cat. I noticed Angel wasn't beside me. She was talking to Manny. I eased closer behind a booth to listen.

"But Manny, what should I do? I really like him but I want him to open up to me." She said. "Kevin is a complicated soul. He's also bipolar but he's a good kid. He's just lost his way. He doesn't like to open up because he doesn't want to be hurt again." He said. "I would never hurt him. Not intentionally. If he wants to get better, he has to open up. If he continues to be a shut in, he's never gonna be himself again." She said. "Pretty big talk for a girl who doesn't have many friends and comes from a messed up home." He said.

"That's because I don't let my home condition affect my life." She said. "Yet your mother doesn't care about you and she didn't teach you anything about what you should know. Nor did she care about Tasha. She showed us that bruise on her left side." He said. "That's why we moved out. But about Kevin, what happened to him that caused him to become suicidal. He had his life on track, he was happy, outgoing, had a girlfriend, and friends who care about him. He used to go out to parties all the time. What happened?" She asked. "He never told me that. Plus its not my business. I may be his caretaker, but I've grown close and attached to Kevin. He's like son to me. And I don't want to see him in a casket. That's why no matter what, I never leave his side." He said.

I'm like a son to him? "Me either. I grown to like Kevin too. But he can be a scary at times." She said. Manny's phone ranged. He declined the call. "Who was that?" She asked. He sighed. "My boyfriend. He's been getting antsy lately." He said. "Why?" She asked. "I haven't really came out yet and my parents no nothing of it. Or my boyfriend and he doesn't like it. I mean I'm not trying to hide it but I'm just not ready. Plus my parents don't really look upon gay people. Or even black people." He said.

"Your boyfriend's black?" She asked. "Yep. My parents are racist. They don't like black people, which is another reason I'm prolonging my coming out." He said. "Manny, you can't do that. It's better to come out now because if they find out, its gonna be nothing but hell for you. Plus its not fair if your boyfriend is out and your not. Eventually he's gonna get tired of hiding and gonna leave." She said. "Wow. Angel if I was straight, I'd definitely make you my wife. Which what I'm expecting Kevin to do and quit being a baby." He said.

"That's another reason why I can't see us being together. Kevin is white and and I'm black. He's more of the outspoken type and I'm not. He was right. I compared myself to a pit bull and he said I'm nothing like them. They're natural born fighters and im not." She said, looking at the ground. "How bout this Angel? You try to get Kevin to open up and I'll have him yrach you how to defend yourself and stand up for yourself?" He offered. "Okay. Plus it'll help me grow closer to Kevin." She said, and walked off towards the girls.

I quickly ran to a booth. They walked up to me and called out. I played it to make it seem like I wasn't listening. "Kevin, I know hear us." Said Tasha. She's a feisty little one. No doubt. I turned to look at her. "Well excuse me for trying to win a toy for you and your sister." I said. "Who you getting smart with?" She asked. I looked at Angel. She shrugged. I fake coward away from her like I did before. "I was joking, please don't hurt me." I said. "Mmhm. That's what I thought. Now what's over here?" She asked. She's everything Angel isn't.

"They got crocodiles and bunnies and of course horses." I said. I looked at Angel. She was looking at the bench where we just was. I noticed a figure stood behind it, staring at her. I moved closer to her. "Yeah, I've been to ask you, whose that?" I asked. "I honestly don't know. Ever since I met you, that figure showed up. I thought it was somebody you sent to spy on me or something." She said. "If I wanted to spy on you, I'd do it myself. Not that I would." I said quickly.

"But you don't know who that is?" I asked. She shook her head. "I chased after them before. I chased them to a creek but I didn't feel like swimming. Fuck it I'm going over thee." She said. I was gonna come with her but Tasha got her attention. "Angel, I'm hungry. I want McDonald's." She said. "Okay." She said. We turned back to the figure gone. Go for it. I can't chase them and leave Sarah by herself. Manny and them will watch her. I'm not leaving Angel and Tasha either. You think the figure could be Kacey? She said she's supposed to be with Angel this weekend. That's not Kacey's scent. She could be masking it.

"Hey Angel, aren't you supposed to meet Kacey?" I asked her. "I did. Her and her little brother went to the bathroom. On the other side where we came in." She said. As if on cue, Kacey and her little brother showed up. "Angel!! I just saw that figure you told me about. I grabbed Steve and ran to get you. Where'd you go?" She asked. "Sorry Tasha wanted to see the birth of a horse so she took off." She said. "We were just talking about the figure. I'm not gonna lie Kacey, I thought it was you." I said.

She glared at me. "And just why would I stalk Angel?" She asked. "I was just saying. No need to get defensive." I said. "I'm not getting defensive!" She screeched, drawing attention. "Kacey, is this the dude messing with you? Listen you.." He started. "Okay guys chill. People are staring."Tasha said. I noticed Angel was silently hyperventilating again. She really doesn't like attention or being around people. "Angel?!" I called her. Tasha grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the area. They started running after a minute. We ran after them.

Angel then threw up. "I'm sorry y'all. I've managed to put up with a lot of people but I couldn't do it anymore." She said. Kacey held her hair back. "Angel, I don't understand how you can live with this honey. I would not be able to deal with this." Kacey said. "It takes years. It took me years to get used to it. "Angel here. You can have my cotton candy. And my soda." Steve said. "No Steve its yours sweetie. I bought it for you." She said. "Angel, please. You just lost a lot of fluid." He said. "Angel just take it. He's not gonna stop unless you take it." Kacey said. "Thanks." Angel said, as she ate and drunk.

I looked around. I saw the figure again. They saw me then disappeared. I looked around myself. Manny, Joshua, Tyler, Angel, Kacey, Steve, Tasha, all my other caretakers were here. So who the hell is that?