Sweet Burden (27 page)

“So there is a Heaven?”

“Sort of. It’s not really there anymore.” Obi searched the street for vehicles. “C’mon.” They hurried across the street towards a pay phone situated in the lot of a small gas station.

“What do you mean?” she questioned.

They hopped up onto the curb on the other side of the road and strolled over to the phone. But Hitomi’s mind was still occupied with the thought of the Heavens.

“Obi, what do you mean that Heaven isn’t there?” she tried again for an answer.

 Obi dug into his pocket and pulled out some change. He took Hitomi’s free hand and dropped a few coins onto her palm. “Here. Call your mom.”

She watched as he glanced around watching everything but her. Her eyes narrowed and she stepped in front of him. “Are you avoiding my question for some reason?”

“No. It’s just not a pleasant story, or at least what I know of it.” He rubbed the back of his neck as his gaze returned to her. “I’ve already brought enough unpleasantness into your life. Can we just put off a little bit more for awhile?”

Hitomi gave him a grin and nodded. She did appreciate him trying to shield her from anything horrible but she would eventually need to know the story.

Squeezing the coins in her hand, she pulled the fingers of her other hand from Obi’s grasp. He seemed reluctant to let go and immediately shoved his hands into his pockets. She walked over to the phone, loaded the coins and dialed home. Obi had his back turned to her as if trying to give her privacy. The phone rang and rang until the answering machine picked up. Hitomi was shocked that her mother wasn’t home.

The answering machine beeped. “Mom, it’s me. I just want you to know that I’m okay. I’m with…” Suddenly Obi grabbed the receiver from her hand and hung up the phone. “Why’d you do that?”

“You let her know you were okay. You never know what people might be able to track with background sounds.”

“You’re paranoid.” She sighed and peered around eyeing a small diner on the corner.

“What do you want to do now?” Obi asked and followed where she was looking.

“How about some lunch? Do we have enough money?”

“I think we have enough for that place.”

“C’mon.” She smiled up at him and started walking. Through being attacked, finding out she was supposed to die, and discovering a special power, she was still able to find her smile. She turned around realizing he wasn’t following her. He had an odd expression on his face as he watched her. “Are you coming?

He gave a nod and jogged to catch up with her as they walked to the diner. Inside they slid into either side of a booth. The small room was only able to fit a handful of booths and a long counter with a dozen stools. It smelled of years of grease, but appeared to be well maintained and cleaned. A waitress sauntered over and plopped down two menus.

“Anything to drink?” she asked in a thick southern drawl.

“Just water,” Hitomi replied grabbing a menu.

“Same,” Obi answered. She walked away and Hitomi peeked up from the menu to find Obi staring at her. His expression made her heart beat faster and she turned her attention back to the menu faking interest in the selection.

“What are you getting?”

“Whatever you get. It doesn’t really matter.”

She shut the menu and laid it down on the table. “If you don’t want to tell me about the Heavens, tell me about something else.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know. More about you. Like why were your eyes red?”

Obi licked his lips and shifted in the seat. He shrugged his shoulders waiting for her next question.

“Do you have wings like Guri?” she lowered her voice to a whisper.

“Yes,” he nodded.

“I saw the slits on your back. How do they come out? Does it hurt?”

“They just come out when I want them to. It doesn’t hurt. But I have ruined many shirts.”

Hitomi smirked. She could tell he was still uncomfortable talking about himself but she had learned more in a few hours today than she had learned in the few weeks they spent around each other. She hated to stop the questioning, but she decided to give him a break from the inquiries for now.

The waitress brought out their drinks and took their order. When she walked away, Obi dug into his pocket and pulled out the money. He unrolled the squished wad and smoothed out each dollar one by one.

“I’m going to kill him,” Obi said under his breath.

“Who?”

“Guri. He said he didn’t have enough money.”

Hitomi looked down at the pile of hundred dollar bills Obi had stacked together. Her eyes widened and she couldn’t help but laugh. “I guess we’ll be able to take a trip to the store.” Obi didn’t say anything and he stuffed the money back into his pocket. “Do you think Guri is okay?”

“Most likely. He’s pretty crafty. It’s starting to get late today. We’ll go to the store tomorrow.”

She gave a nod as she noticed rain begin beating against the window. It didn’t take long for them to get their burgers and fries. There wasn’t much conversation while they ate, but Hitomi could feel his eyes on her. Her skin felt hot from his stare and her pulse went into overdrive. She wished that she had been sitting next to him instead of in front of him.

After eating, Obi left some money on the table and they got up to head back to the motel. As they stepped outside, it seemed that the drops of rain became bigger and fell to the ground with greater force. Obi sniffed at the air and turned to her as she lifted off her sweater. He gave her a puzzled expression until she held it up over her head.

“Ready?”

“For what?” His eyebrow raised.

“To run.” She laughed and started running for the motel.

“Hitomi!” he shouted behind her.

She didn’t bother to turn. She knew he was close behind her as she ran first to the cover of the gas station and then continued towards the motel. She rushed to the room and stopped outside. Obi was close on her heels and he ran up to her. He grabbed her arms tightly.

“Don’t you do that ever again. You stay with me at all times,” Obi stated. His voice trembled slightly and she could see his body shaking. Seeing the fear in his face made her body shudder. She didn’t know what to say to him, but it made her realize how scared he was of their situation. He let out a huff and let go of her.

After unlocking the door, they went inside and Hitomi went straight to the bathroom. Her entire body was soaked and she grabbed a towel to attempt to dry herself. Obi walked in behind her but did not even look at her. He grabbed another towel and walked out. She stood there for a few seconds wondering if she should say anything, but she just closed the door to change her clothes. She found a camisole and shorts pajama set and quickly changed into them, then pulled on a cardigan sweater for a little more cover. She started towel drying her hair and then tentatively left the bathroom.

Obi was standing across the room at the table with his back to her. Her eyes traveled along his shirtless body and down his defined back. His jeans barely clung to his hips and she almost expected them to just fall down. He had the towel draped around his neck and she noticed the pink slits along his shoulder blades. She bit at her bottom lip as she was unable to take her eyes from him. She couldn’t believe there wasn’t even a scar left from all the lashes on his back. She eyed the slits wondering what his wings looked like. She wanted to run her fingers along his back feeling his skin. Her thoughts were interrupted when he peered over his shoulder at her.

“Did you get dried off?” he asked.

“Um,” she shook her head out of her trance. “I’m working on it.” She went back to drying her hair and moved over to the bed sitting down on the edge.

“Can I ask you a favor?”

“Sure.”

“Do you think you could fix my bandages?” he asked as he turned around. She immediately settled on his much sculpted chest. She had seen him shirtless before, but this time just seemed entirely different. Every single muscle and ripple was noticed except for the area that was covered by gauze and tape. “Hitomi?”

“Yah? Oh, yah, I can change them for you.” She spit the words out nervously and concentrated on drying her hair as he walked around her. Obi sat down next to her and held the supplies out to her. Her heart pounded in her chest as she took them from him. He relaxed back on the bed as he tore the old bandages off. She turned to him and stared at the gash in his abdomen. It should have made her nauseous, but the only thing she felt in her stomach was flutters.

Hitomi cleaned up the wound, which she noticed was already healing. After placing some gauze over it, she ripped off a piece of tape trying desperately to keep her eyes from traveling up his chest or down to his navel. She stayed focused on the task, finishing taping it up and then collecting the trash. Suddenly Obi grabbed her hand.

“Hitomi.”

She loved the way her name rolled from his lips. Her eyes moved up to his face waiting for his next sentence.

“I never thanked you for saving my life,” he stated.

“Well, if I’m not allowed to thank you, then you’re not allowed to thank me,” she attempted to withhold her smirk, but it sneaked out across her mouth.

“Thank you Hitomi.”

“I’m just glad I was able to.”

Obi sat up and put his other hand over the bandages, but did not release her hand. “We should probably get some rest.”

“We can see what’s on TV,” she suggested.

He gave a nod in agreement and got up from the bed letting go of her hand much to her disappointment. Obi turned on the TV and flipped through the channels as she moved up to the head of the bed and crawled under the covers. He stopped on some black and white movie because it was the only choice out of the five channels that wasn’t showing a cop or doctor drama. She had expected him to come around to the other side of the bed, but he moved over to one of the chairs. Hitomi watched as he tried to get comfortable and instantly felt guilty taking the bed.

“Obi?”

“Hmm?” His eyes shifted sideways at her.

“You don’t have to sit over there,” she said quietly. Not only did she feel guilty, but she didn’t want him so far away from her. Even two feet from her felt like miles. Obi stood up and watched her as he moved around to the empty side of the bed. She focused back on the TV as he pulled back the covers and slipped into bed next to her. Her heart was beating so rapidly, she was positive he would be able to hear it.

He relaxed quickly resting his hands behind his head. Hitomi propped her head up on the pillows and stared ahead.

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