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 That s right. After you re gone, I ll just sit with one of the other men. It
makes no difference to me who it is.
Jack closed his eyes and breathed hard. When he again looked upon the girl
before him, he didn t know if he saw the friend he d developed a crush on or
the vixen who had broken his heart. He reached out and caressed her cheek, but
when she didn t respond he took his hand away.
 I really hope you re being honest with yourself.
 You re the one who s not being honest.
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 If you let me leave, then you let go of me forever.
 And what s so special that I should want you?
Jack leaned so he could whisper into her ear:  The thing that makes me
different is that
I loved you as a friend first. He stepped away and looked into her glossy
eyes. Her lips parted but before she could speak he said,  I guess you re
right. You don t feel the same.
And then he left, into the cold, alone. With only the song that echoed in his
mind for company:
When all is lost, and no one s near
We ll look at our world, an empty sphere
The time we wasted, with pain and sorrow
Wish we d lived for now, with no tomorrow
 I waited at the café. Todd came by, the voice was Cecil s, not Audra s.
 Oh. Jack did not turn to face the woman behind him. Instead he focused on
the music, the darkness and the empty shot glasses before him. Four empty
chairs surrounded the round table, each one adorned with jackets and purses.
She spoke again,  I didn t want to believe you were here.
 Then why d you come? Jack leaned forward, his hand stretching over the shot
glasses.
He wrapped his fingers around an octagonal shaped glass filled with cola.
Slowly he brought it to his lips, but before sipping from it he said,  You
came because you knew I
was here, and you re speaking to me because you think I ve fallen.
Just then the music changed. The thump thump of the dance music faded into a
soft, angelic voice singing of heartbreak. Beneath the tunes a hiss
accompanied smoke pouring onto the dance floor. The area was paired with
lovers, each holding the other as if to hold together their shattered
emotions. Jack sighed, sipped his drink and stood. He still did not
The Kith  51 
turn to her. His back faced the tears that had begun to stream down her
cheeks. Cecil reached out with her hand but froze inched from Jack s shoulder.
The feeling was not unlike standing next to a bonfire, Jack s tense muscles
much like the flickering flames. Her mouth opened but there was nothing to
say. Relaxing her hand back by her side Cecil sighed, turned and started to
walk away.
Jack said,  You never believed in me.
She looked over her shoulder and saw him facing her. He looked like James Dean
clad in a black leather jacket, white T-shirt and blue jeans. His shoulders
slumped to the right and his left thumb was hooked into his pocket. Grease
held his hair slicked back into a pony tail, and his lips were pursed. His
voice quivered when he said,  All your talk of friendship and respect, yet you
never had any for me.
 I respected you. We were friends. Cecil tried to take a step forward but it
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was as if a wall were erected between them. A wall through which they could
see, hear and speak but not pass. The song ended and another melody began in
its place.
Jack stepped forward, destroying the spiritual barrier. He walked up to Cecil,
reached out for her cheek but stopped when she flinched. Slowly he brought the
backside of his fingers up to caress her cheek. Then he traced her lips with
his thumb.
 To you I will never be anything but the man I once was. And since he no
longer exists, to you neither do I.
The song changed. The beat was fast. Jack and Cecil stared at one another in
silence.
Jack sighed and walked out the exit.
A red lamp shed an eerie glow over black painted walls. Leather couches
scattered about the area were occupied with men and women entangled with each
other in various positions, and moans echoed in the smoky air. She saw Jack
point to two empty couches, and Tammi climb onto one. She glanced at Trent who
nudged her toward one, and reluctantly she climbed on. She looked over at her
friend who had taken off her skirt, and then at Jack who had his head between
her legs.
Trent mounted her, his crimson eyes boring through her light blue. Ones. She
wished the room would stop spinning, even lying down it seemed as if she might
fall a thousand feet.
 Please don t bite me, she whispered.
 Kiths don t bite blood-slaves. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]