Chapter Twenty-seven

Chapter Twenty-seven

I heaved a sigh of relief as he walked out the door with thudding footsteps. What just happened now? Did we almost have sex? Jeez, Galena! Don’t let a brute like him touch you!

I stared at the ceiling, thinking, my mind travelling back in time to when I was just a little girl. I miss that girl so much - the little Galena. I remember when I and Mia were kids, we would play around, hopping, making sand castles and styling each other’s hair. We were indeed happy children, until one day, I mistakenly crashed a big sand castle she made as I tried to fix a beautiful, shiny pebble I found, at the foot of her castle.

She was so mad at me. Her cute, little face was blazing as she called out my full name; “Galena Fields!”

That was how she addressed me whenever she was really mad at me. I could feel my knees wobble beneath me as fear cursed through every orb of my pale, little body.

“I’m sorry, Mia…” I tried to explain but she cut me off angrily.

“You will be sorry, Miss Fields.” She said angrily, stomping away. Now that I think of it, I can see that she had such amusing, cute, little anger issues. The way she spoke when she was furious made her sound like a cussing grandma, really amusing.

She took out our rubber swords from where they lodged and stomped towards me, flinging mine towards me. She posed regally like a soldier ready for a calvary with fury blazing through her eyes. She was a little vixen.

“Let’s fight fair like real men.” she said, taking slow, menacing steps towards me. “I’ll fight for my honour while you fight for yours. Whoever loses builds a better sand castle for the other.” her thin, lethal voice came, with a grim look plastered on her face. I could almost swear that she looked like her dad at that point.

“Deal…” I said quietly with an apologetic look plastered on my face as I tightened my grip around the rubber sword.

She ran towards me with her sword raised, and we did our usual sword greeting before swinging into action. She was swinging her sword fiercely at me, while I only docked and tried to defend, but I didn’t fight back because I was feeling too guilty to do so.

“You’ve got no balls Galena. Fight like a real swordsman, will you!?” She screamed, swinging the sword again at me, but I shifted back and used mine to block hers from landing on my face.

“Yeah, I’ve got no balls. I’m not a man.” I said with a defiant look as I used my sword to block hers with a great effort.

“You, little, piece of shit!” She screamed angrily and flung the sword towards my face, but I docked with my arm, and it gave me a slick cut due to the force she used. My young and delicate skin oozed out blood, terrifying me, and I screamed in fear and confusion; not even pain.

She seemed to have returned to her right mind when she saw my blood as her mouth dropped open in terror. She let the sword slide from her hand to the ground as she gasped; “Lena!”

She ran to my side with an apologetic look on her face but I pushed her away, crying.

“Don’t touch me!” I screamed. I clutched my hand in pain crying. She knew so well that I hated the sight of blood so much, especially, when it was mine.

Her dad, Mr. Bennie Hands came running to me with terror in his eyes. He crouched beside me while Mia watched from a distance with a remorseful look on her face.

“Are you okay, baby?” he asked and I shook my head negatively. He quickly picked me up and dashed into the house and cleaned my wounds and bandaged it. Mia stood by the door watching with remorse seeping through every part of her.

“Mia,” her dad called in a soft voice, “come here.” he commanded and she trotted towards him with her head bowed.

“You did this?” he asked with disbelief in his voice. As she tried to speak, she bursted into tears instead. Her voice cracked with sobs as she tried to speak.

“Calm down Mia.” he said in a soothing voice, rubbing her shoulder gently. “Now, tell me what happened.”

“She broke my sandcastle.” she said with tears still streaming down her face.

“Is that true?” he turned to me and asked and I nodded.

“But that’s not enough reason Mia.”

“It was a mistake, dad!” she cried.

He held her hands and pulled her gently, closer to himself. “Now, I know Mia gets really mad sometimes and flies into a rage just like daddy.” he paused, examining her critically, “but daddy never hurts the people he loves no matter how mad he is at them.” Mia nodded remorsefully.

“You’re just like daddy, Mia, and I don’t want you feeling bad about that. But I want you to only trample on your enemies and love your friends. Can you do that for me?” She nodded again.

“No matter how mad you get at anyone you love, especially Galena, I want you to promise me that you’ll never hurt them.”

“I promise. Dad, I’ll never hurt Galena.” she said with remorse all over her voice.

“Pinky swear?” he asked sweetly and she nodded. He smiled at her and patted her head, before nudging her towards me and quickly left the room for the both of us.

She fondled her fingers, feeling embarrassed as she stood before me. “Lena…” she called without looking up, and I stretched towards her and caught her in a firm hug, and we both cried into each other's arms. She loved me. I loved her too. I still do. And sometimes, I wish I could just go back to those times. It was a cute, carefree, little life to live. How did we grow up so fast, and eventually grow apart?

I felt a tear slide down my cheek and I wiped it off. A sad smile hung on my face still as I wished for better things. I couldn’t hold back the brokenness I felt from within, and soon, I bursted into tears, letting it flow as much as it wanted, freely, without any blockade.