Raymond curled his legs up slightly, feeling lonely now that Khione wasn't in the room. He hugged himself as he contemplated going after her. If he did….it could just make the situation worse. She never liked to talk, even when he told her that nothing would change if he did. It frustrated him that she refused to let him help. It doesn't matter if he didn't really know how, he never even got the chance. What was he supposed to do? He doesn't have the backbone to sit there and force her to. His brain never let him. So here he was, stuck in his cold bed, staring into the darkness as if it could tell him the secret to the world.
Khione made her way outside, pausing by the front door to grab her shoes as Raymond's words echoed in her mind. After slipping them on, she shut the door softly behind her, the cold night air a welcome sharp knife through the hazy remnants of her nightmare, and the discussion with Raymond. And the stars were visible. She didn't get to see them often in the city, because of the pollution where she lived and the obvious 'gang infested areas are dangerous as is, let alone when you yourself are in a prominent gang' thing.
There was a small buzz against his leg, making Raymond sit up again. It was his phone, which he forgot to take out of his pocket before going to bed. He reached into the pocket and slipped it out, seeing it was an ESPN notification. He stared at it for a moment before unlocking the screen and tapping contacts. His finger hovered over Khione's name for what felt like an eternity before tapping the 'Message' button.
I didn't mean to be rude, he typed, pressing the send button after reading it over about 9 times.
Khione's phone buzzing a few minutes later startled her out of her fascinated revery, her eyes coming unglued from the stars to look down at her phone screen as she pulled out the device. What exactly is he talking about? She thought to herself, tilting her head slightly as she typed a reply.
[rude? ray, you weren't being rude. don't sweat it.] And then, another message, right after that one. [i'm sorry for not telling you. i know you just want to help, but i'm not sure what there is to do to help]
[Sometimes just talking about it helps,] he sent back, turning down the brightness shortly after because it was hurting his eyes. [All I'm asking is a chance to help you for once.]
She didn't respond immediately, fighting with her fingers. The instinct to type out something like 'i'm a bit too far past that' or that she didn't need help was so strong. But maybe she wanted help.
[you can try.] She sent, finally. [i'll talk. but i can't promise anything will help]
[Can you come back, then?] His response was almost immediate, as if he had expected her to say yes. [I have ice cream if you want some while we talk.]
She was a sucker for icecream…
[yeah. on my way up.] Turning back towards the house, she cast one last look up at the stars, taking a deep breath before going inside. Locking the door behind her, she slipped out of her shoes and headed upstairs.
Raymond was sitting cross-legged on the bed, dragging his finger back and forth the screen. He was playing Angry Birds while he waited for her.
"Do you want to get the ice cream now?" he asked, pausing the game to look up at her.
Khione nodded once, tapping her palm with the fingers of her other hand. "Something cold. It helps…keep things clear. And then I'll talk, best I can. Promise."
He turned the phone off and set it on the bed, scooting over to the edge and standing up. After a few moments of stretching, he shuffled out the room, assuming she'd follow him.
"I have mint chocolate, I think," he said over his shoulder.
He was right. She did follow him, arms wrapped around herself and almost sort of shrinking into the hoodie. “Second best ice cream flavor.”
"What's the first, again?" he asked, glancing over his shoulder as he walked down the stairs. His right hand went out and gently touched the railing as he walked, a habit of his after a fall down the stairs when he was younger him with a broken rib and countless bruises.
“Strawberry. Strawberry cheesecake if available, but strawberry is hands down the best.” She said matter of factly, taking the stairs just a bit too quickly after him. Like falling wasn’t something she was afraid of.
He made it to the ground floor without falling and walked into the kitchen, opening the left side of the fridge and pulling out a half-eaten tub of ice cream.
"It was from last week, so it might have a bit of freezer burn," Raymond said, setting the tub on the counter.
“Still ice cream. Spoons?” She asked, pointing at the various drawers in the counters. Her arms were red from the irritation, littered in those half moons from her fingernails. “And are you entirely opposed to me sitting on your counter.”
"Spoons," he agreed, walking over and pulling out one of his big spoon. "And yeah, I don't care. I never let you do it before because Mom didn't like it."
He tossed the spoon over to her and leaned against the other counter, directly opposite from her.
Khione caught the spoon, hopping up onto the counter and pulling the ice cream towards her. “She was very adamant about that rule. I get why, though.” She said with a shrug, scooping some of the ice cream into her mouth. Procrastinating.
"So…..the nightmares," he said after a few moments, trying to force through the awkwardness that surrounded the situation. "What are they usually about?"
“It varies.” Khione said, eyes still fixed on the ice cream. “Sometimes it’s things I’ve done. Sometimes it’s a fight I almost didn’t make it away from, like the one right after the homecoming game senior year. Jeremy, like tonight. Or…something that happened when I was younger.”
"Just glossing it over like that doesn't help much," he pointed out, crossing his arms over his chest. "You have to describe them, Khione, or else this will be just a giant waste of time."
“Which one.” She finally looked up, face guarded and chilly, like she was doing her best to hide what she could. “Pick one. I’ll talk about one o’ them, t’ start.”
"Tonight. Tell me what it was about tonight," he said, his face as devoid from emotion as always. She had to put on a mask to hide her feelings. Raymond's body did it for him.
“Jeremy.” She said simply, taking another bite of ice cream to try and shove down the ugly taste in her mouth at his name. “The elevator incident. He hunted down where we’d moved, cornered me in the elevator, and pulled the emergency break.”
