“Fuck. I’m sorry.” He pats my knee again. He reminds me of Alex a little, gruff and rough around the edges, but Mark has one of the biggest hearts I know, and his awkward attempt to comfort me makes my chest ache with a new force.
“Me too.” I sniffle.
“Where do you want me to take you?” He offers with a sigh.
“Can you take me to my trailer?”
“Sure. Are you really gonna tell me where you live?” He lifts a brow, and I feel a tug of a smile on my lips.
“Ready to feel special?”
He chuckles and follows my instructions on how to get to my home. When he sees my trailer, he whistles. “Wow, you got a fancy one.”
"Yep," I say proudly. "Wanna see?"
"Sure." He follows me inside. I'm not scared of him in my space because it was never like that between us. He always protected everybody, me included. That's it. I feel safe with him. Like with a big brother. It's not only that I trust him but also that he never, even once, has made me doubt my trust. "Nice place. I'm proud of you, Kayla." He says after he looks around. His tone isn't mocking; it's genuine. I feel my cheeks heat up, and the ache inside my chest subsides a notch.
"Where do you live now?" I ask him, realizing I never have before. He just always showed up at the right time in the right place, but I don’t know his story.
“I bought a house three years ago.” Then he adds with a cheeky smile. “On the good side of town.”
“Oh, I bet ‘the good side’ loved it!” I laugh, imagining those uptight people being neighbors with trailer trash. We, being one, are allowed to call ourselves that because we don’t mean it.
“Didn’t they?” He joins in, laughing. “My new neighbor, Mrs. Jenkins, we literally share a driveway. She used to call the cops on me every day. But once I started cutting her grass when I was doing mine, she turned into a fairy godmother and started bringing me cold lemonade, batting her lashes.” He shudders.
“Don’t tell me the lemonade was so bad," I say as I open the fridge, and he laughs. “Want something?”
“No, I’m good. Just wanted to make sure you are okay. Give me your phone.” He stretches his arm with an open palm, and I pass him my phone. He punches digits in and returns the phone. “Here, call me anytime.” I nod. “Anytime. Got it?”
"Yes," I whisper, feeling a new wave of pain descending upon me.
"Oh, Kayla." Mark grabs my hand and pulls me into his embrace, where I shed all the liquids I have left in my eyes to the point of hiccuping. “This will pass.”
“I know.” I muffle into his shirt. “But it hurts.”
He doesn’t say anything but just keeps me tight to his body. When I'm finally done, he makes sure I'm okay and leaves me to my business, forcing me once again to promise to call him if I need anything. I promise him with a sincere smile. Mark was always there, even though we were never considered actual friends. But when anyone needed protection, Mark was there, like a solid wall you can lean on or hide behind.
When he’s gone, I call Archie.
“Hey, Kay-baby.” He’s ever flirtatious.
“Hi, Archie,” my voice cracks a little, and he senses it immediately.
“Are you okay?”
"I'm ready to start that thing we were discussing anytime now." I sniffle into the phone.
“Did something happen?” His voice borders the edge of dangerous.
“Sort of. I just need to get out of town.” I’m vague, but I’m not about to go into details. At least, not yet.
"Okay. I'm gonna send you my address; come here anytime."
“Alright. I just need to get my trailer ready.” I sniffle as I wipe my nose.
“What for?” Genuine confusion laces his voice.
“To hook it up to my Jeep.” Duh.
