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Seeing him again brought flashbacks into my mind of the dark haired little boy with big green eyes abd freckles across his nose. He had not changed much over the years except that he had lost the freckles and shot up in height. However, I was not that shocked. Every summer, I would see him once in a while for the two weeks that he spent up here with his dad, Paul.
Paul lived in the brown house next to mine. His house blended in to the rocky beaches of Homer, Alaska. My mother had been friends with Paul's wife, Katie, before they had gotten a divorce. After that Katie had snatched my closest friend away and moved him to some city in Colorado, where Kale had become lost to me. With every court date that took place over the custody battle, Paul and my mother became more and more hositle to each other. I was five at the time and did not really understand. My mother ignored my questions on the subject. Why did Auntie Katie and Kale leave?. When are they coming back? Why is Uncle Paul mad at you? I never got the answers until the next year, after I turned six.
When Kale came back, I was told he would only stay for two weeks. I was very vocal in my protests of our seperation, so Mom gave in to my constant begging and said that if I wanted to play with Kale then I should go invite him over to our house for a playdate. She still treated Paul with hositlity and vice-versa.
The thought of a reunion with my Kale sent me flying to his front door. When Paul answered the door, I could see Kale standing at the end of the hall with one fist still clenched around his bag. I remember waving at him so hard that it shook my entire body while grinning like a fool. Kale had smiled sweetly at me, tilting his head slightly, while he stuck up his middle finger at me. He then suddenly turned around and stalked off into his room, leaving his bags out on the hallway floor. Paul shock his head at me and said that Kale and him needed to spend "family time" together during Kale's short visit. Later, I realized that he had basically sent the same message to me as his son had.
Everytime I saw Kale since then, we would keep our distance from each other and-- this time would be no different. I quickly gathered up my book and snacks and left my front porch chair before Kale could step foot out of the taxi cab into Paul's overgrown lawn. It was same blue taxi that delivered him to Paul from the airport every year. Inside I secretly watched Kale unload his bags from the taxi. He had one suitcase as usual, no blankets or pillows. Weird. Well to me anyway, I never traveled light. I had to take at least two suitcases and all of the supplies for my cat, Dartaniun, because I would never leave my baby behind. I also prefered to travel with my own pillow and blanket, but I could live without that if I absolutely had to. I came out of my daze to the realization that I was staring out of a slit in my curtain...at some one who was staring back. Kale had an infuriating smile on his stupid face as he cooly returned my gaze. Hurridly, I shoved the curtain back in place over the gap and turned around, headed for my room.
In the privacy of my cool gray blue walls, I promptly threw my book, Ophelia by Lisa Klein, into the wall where it slid down and landed on a heap of dirty clothes. I glared menacingly out of my windows, that covered the entire west wall of the room, out towards the stormy ocean. I needed to control my temper better. After all these years Kale's appearence still annoyed me. Maybe because I did not like having to hide away during his visits. My room felt cramped after a couple hours, that is when I decided to do something productive. However, my stomach growled before any task came to mind. Off to make supper it was then.
Mom has been divorced from Dad ever since I can remember, apparently it destroyed her. She hardly raised me to the point where I was old enough to care for myself before vanishing into some corporate career. She still technically lives here, but she rarely ever sleeps at home. It is easier for her to rent an apartment in the city or sleep at the office, than to travel 3 hours to work and back everyday. Even if she did though, I do not think it would make a difference because she has to go to New York a lot on business as well.
I pick at my food and watch some comedy show on television, where unsuspecting people get mobbed by a crowd. The show,unsurprisingly, does nothing to improve my sour mood, though. I travel out to my backyard to my only hope for peace, my sanctuary. My backyard leads out to the beach and I often go there to collect my thoughts and relax. There is somethign about the cool ocean spray against my legs and the crisp salty air that is extremely refreshing to me. There I can think clearly.
I am usually more prepared for Kale's arrival at the end of the summer. I plan a camping trip, family visit, or vacation with my friends, etc. In my personal attempt to avoid unnecessary conflict between Kale and I. I think he hates me. I also believe that if I ever talked to him again, I would chew him out for being so evil these past years. The huge dilema in this case was that it was not the end of the summer, but the beginning. He had probably smiled at me earlier because he had caught me off gaurd and totally unprepared. I suppose I was also caught staring at him, I bet he got a little kick out of that too. I would have to be extra careful the next two weeks, but that would not mean having to hide. This was more my town than his, so he would have to be the one skirting me this time around. I would not let him control me. I would not let him win any more.