• Chapter 16: The Ride “Home”


    Kauri got into Cameron’s car, curious about why Carrie wasn’t in the car with them. Kauri had been a bit of a klutz lately, so when she tripped and her left side landed into the car, it wasn’t much of a surprise to her. What was a surprise was the sharp pain that shot through her body when it happened.
    She sat down and pulled her shirt up to the point that the spot she fell on was the only thing shown. She saw a huge, dark bruise and thought about where it had come from. Her mind flashed back to Friday, when her dad had violently shoved her into the corner of the bookshelf. Suddenly, she pulled her shirt back to its original position, hoping Cameron wouldn’t have seen it on his way to the door of the car, since he was still outside.
    “What was that about?” Cameron quizzed Kauri as he opened the door and sat in the driver’s seat.
    “Oh, nothing. I just had a… cold chill. It’s pretty normal for me, since I’m so tiny,” Kauri made up, although cold chills were common to her.
    “Looking at your side with your shirt showing your side?”
    “Yup.”
    “Fine. You don’t want to tell me, I can’t make you,” Cameron pointed out. “Although, if I get upset about it I might pay more attention to what you’re hiding than the road in front of me, causing us to crash.”
    “I’ve got nothing to loose.”
    “Except your child, me, and the other driver could be someone you care deeply about.”
    “Fine, whatever. If you want to know so bad… But, you have to promise not to tell a soul, alright?”
    “I swear. That’s beyond promising, and if I ever break this, let the Lord send me straight to hell, no questions asked.”
    “Ok, but remember, you’re the one that wanted to see,” Kauri reminded him as she once again revealed the big purple and black spot on her side as Cameron pulled into the Middle School parking lot.
    Cameron turned and gasped at what he saw. There was still a little swelling, but near as much as there originally had been. He balled his hand into a fist to discover that the bruise was about the same size. He ran his fingers across the bump, feeling its sharp incline in the center. “Kauri…” he whispered. “That’s from your dad, isn’t it?”
    “It’s nothing. I told you. Don’t worry about it.” Kauri yanked her shirt down to its resting position, knocking his hand away from the mark.
    “How could you say that’s nothing? That’s everything! A couple of inches to the right and there would be a very small chance your baby could’ve lived through that.”
    “Yea, but it wasn’t,” Kauri said with tears in her eyes. She knew it was more of a deal than she was about to let it become. She started to become upset with herself because she had dragged Cameron into all this, and now she wanted to push him out. “I’m fine, the baby’s fine, and everyone is living just as they were before Friday.”
    “Yea, except for you, the girl with giant swollen bruises and no home and a very limited supply of food.” Cameron took a pause and thought for a moment. “Can I at least take a picture?”
    “Why would you want to take a picture? You promised you wouldn’t tell anyone.”
    “And I will live up to my promise. I won’t tell a soul, remember? I swore upon it. I want a picture just for my memories.”
    “Whatever, only because you swore,” Kauri replied, not actually believing his story. She revealed the spot once more and he took a picture of both the mark and her face with his small camera he kept in his car. Cameron always kept it there in case he came across something extremely beautiful as he drove.
    “Do you care if I take pictures of any other spots, as long as I don’t tell anyone?”
    “Wow, you really do enjoy pushing your luck a little.” Kauri looked at the other side and discovered a few more bruises that weren’t quite healed yet. “I’m taking the pictures,” she told him, snatching the small camera from his hands.
    “Why?” he quizzed her.
    “Well, some are too close to things, and I want to make sure you don’t zoom in on the wrong stuff. Now turn around!” Kauri ordered. She took several pictures before handing the camera back to him.
    “Did you get all of them?”
    Kauri let out a frustrating sigh. “Fine, I guess you can take the pictures of my back, even though I don’t understand why you need these when you swore not to tell anyone.” Kauri stated as she turned around and moved her hair.
    Cameron slightly raised the back of her shirt. After seeing so many bruises, he wondered what the rest had looked like. Some were less intense than others; some had lost their swelling while others were still very swollen. He began taking pictures of all of them, wondering how and when they got there. “I’m done,” he said to her, signaling she could put her hair back down.
    “Are you happy now?” Kauri sarcastically asked.
    “Actually, I kind of am,” Cameron truthfully answered. He couldn’t explain why, but he actually felt satisfied now that he had proof that this had happened, even though he was the first out of two people to know about it.
    “Can I just go back to my tent?”
    “Oh, yeah,” Cameron answered, turning his attention back to the car.