A Book I'm Writing (if published would you read it?)

When Lynette looked at her phone, it wasn't at 6:30 like she'd intended. Her mother's words warning her to get home before 7 repeating themselves to her now as she looked down to see 7:42 on her lock screen. A bright streetlight being the only thing outside to light the way down the heavy roads. No sun left in sight, days shortened ever so by the colder months in the ever frigid pacific northwest.

Her heart dropped, the infuriation she knew her mother would show at her once again rebellion. Her unbridled swearing, convinced it was a direct attack on the perfect image she tried to keep up. She might bring up the danger of Seattle streets but it was never her first concern. To say the least, she was overbearing. Lynette often left to question the control her mother had on her. Even though she could legally drink, legally wield a gun, legally ruin her life with any choice she made, her curfew stayed 7. Her mother vowing it would continue that way as long as Lynette lived in her mother's home, and that's what it was. Her mother's home. Not hers, not her father's. She stayed on top of the pyramid and kept the home and its occupants in line or at the very least, tried to. You were just expected to be perfect. Had to be. If you wanted to stray, you knew that the leash she kept was tight and that she had no predilections preventing her from pulling back on it. Lynette often being the one to push her own boundaries. Blaring her loudest obscene music and wearing clothing a goodwill would deny was the least of it. Her individuality a core stressor and button pusher to her own mother.

Fall and Winter in Seattle was always cold, more like ice that ran deep into your bones. The mist of the clouds and the spray from the bay waters didn’t help the skin from prickling with gooseflesh. With winter's approach came the dark just as well; days so short the average work day lasted longer. 

Grabbing her thick coat she said her goodbyes and speed walked out the door and down the pavement. Neon lights lit up shop windows leaving bright hues bouncing off the soaked pavement. Street lamps keeping the road visible to it's busy traffic. rain trickled and mixed with dirt where cars drove over and the sidewalk had been heavily travelled making a mix of sludge far from just mud. Almost like a dirty river bank that slushed around your shoes that just as easily you could slip in.

People clotted the sidewalks busy shopping for Christmas before November had even the time to end. The themed lights lit store windows and decorated the electrical poles. A Santa Claus at every grocery store now asking for a donation. Lynette couldn't take the time to admire the excitement that seemed evident on the street or to entertain any store keepers trying to lure her in with the prospect of the "perfect" gift for a loved one or friend.

Trying desperately to cut down on time Lynette took a short cut she knew. She’d cut through a bike trail she would take during the day. It ran behind the busy roads and highways, often splotched with homeless campsites along the way. Some making their settlements a real home out of the garbage they found. It wasn't used often, even during the day. That's why Lynette knew it, she'd often travel the trail in the daytime to get directly onto this or that bus. She'd never walked it in the dark though and while the stray light peeking from the highway through the trees gave her a sense of comfort; in it's emptiness, now it held a more sinister aura. An awareness started to set in. She was alone. It was dark.

Without realizing she'd picked up her pace, almost making her way into a jog. Her breathing all the more difficult and heavy in her chest than before. She only took a moment to herself once she’d reached the bus stop, a metal gazebo by the empty highway, a streetlight just overhead. With a single breath everything went quiet, a sudden calm. The very wind hushing itself before hitting her ears. A peaceful moment for what it was, just a moment. It was then that she heard something hitting the pavement behind her. She had half a mind to connect that it was running, the sound getting closer much too fast. She turned around, when just as quickly her back made contact with the sidewalk. The breath she'd been able to take in just as quickly knocked out of her own chest on impact. Her skull hit the concrete hard and for an instant she could not move, stunned. She had to fight to move at all, to regain the power over her limbs and surroundings. Her eyesight had knocked to the side where she noticed the thin pale white hands holding her arms to her side like bones. ‘How romantic, a grim reaper had come for her now. So suddenly, in the rain, in the dark, in the cold. When she looked up at the face of death, all she saw was blue. Deep ocean eyes that stared daggers into her own deep brown and seafoam shoulder length hair that fell like curtains at their shoulders, stray pieces stuck to their thin face. Sharp but feminine. She was beautiful. She was also strong. Stronger than Lynette would ever have guessed with this strangers small frame. Even after the initial shock and recovery, Lynette found with every fight against this woman's hands she couldn't free herself from her terrible grip.

The woman opened her mouth as if to talk, a flash of white teeth and sharp canines before the weight on her was suddenly lifted. Without much fight, the woman had been hoisted off Lynette and thrown into the mud and leaves that had piled up without remorse or concern. A figure then lifted Lynette over their shoulder and started to book it. Sound finally coming back into Lynette's ears as wind whistled past them like a high pitched scream, her tight curls forced into her own face as it whipped back and forth. She supported herself by putting her hands on the person's back to push herself up, muscle evident underneath despite the layers that kept her hands from their skin. All she could see was their dark wool coat and the rain like needles in the air speeding past. It had all happened seemingly in a flash leaving Lynette not enough time to react to the order of events. Now though, she could find her voice.

"WHAT'S GOING ON? WHO ARE YOU?!?? PUT ME DOWN!!! HEY, WHAT ARE YOU DOING??!?"

Just as she lifted her hands to hit their back her weight shifted and she was put down. Feet on solid ground, her legs were left with jelly bones and she was temporarily unable to hold her full weight. She swayed but caught herself before having to lean on this person who'd run off with her. She looked up and found they were back on the main shopping center sidewalks. She was fairly certain before but now she could see them. They were in fact a man, seemingly in his late 30s, dark. She considered herself to have a pretty dark complexion but he was coffee, deep, dark,and rich. His jaw sharp, stubble grew black and his hair shaved just as close. Undeniably a handsome man, anyone would probably agree. Along with his gray coat he wore fashionable dress pants and a nice pair of pointed black dress shoes along with sunglasses and some studded earrings. Why and how he ran so fast in the attire boggled her now as she took him in.

His voice came out low and smooth.

“You’re head okay?”

She hadn't the words to respond, shocked first by his voice, his words taking a moment for her brain to connect together and understand. "Oh, um-” She went to touch the back of her head and winced slightly at the egg bmp that had grown there. She checked her hand for blood and luckily there was none. “I think so.”

“Do you know that woman?”
“No, do you?”

“No… I don’t think she followed us. Do you want to call the police or go to the hospital?”

“I don’t think so. I actually-” her eyes grew wide “Shit! I need to get home, like now.”
“I’m going to walk with you. You seem fated for mishap tonight.”
“Ha! Yeah!” Lynette put on a look of exasperation “I would appreciate that a lot actually.”.

He nodded once and waited for her direction.

She put out her hand to him. "The names Lynette! And yourself?"

He didn't take her hand but bowed slightly in her direction "Kehma."

~~~~~

They'd walked the long way. Finally making it to her own home an hour and a half much too late. Lynette's porch light left on giving a soft glow to the plants growing by the door. The kitchen light as well left on. From the sidewalk that they stood she could see her parents talking inside. She hesitated here. Feet stuck in the mush beneath her, glued in her step. Their walk had been silent for the most part. Lynette had tried to spark up conversation, asking a million questions about him he would refuse to answer. He seemed to be a man of few words. He looked at her now as she for once on their walk stopped pestering him and froze.

"Are you going to go inside?"

Shaken out of her stupor by his voice she looked at him for a moment like a deer in headlights. Once she'd come back to herself she shook her head quickly "Yes, yes, I'm gonna go-"

"LYNETTE MARIE! WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? IT IS PAST 9 O CLOCK! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!?!" Her mother stomped down the porch step, leaving the door open for her father, and made her way down the walkway to where Lynette stood. She was average build, toned slightly. Age had whispered through her skin around her eyes and showed in the stretch marks of her arms. She wore a bright multi patterned sundress like summer had never left and her hair kept away in an orange wrap.

"I lost track of time! I didn't mean to be out so long!" She swung her arms out to the side as if showing her whole self, some sort of proof of her honesty. "I swear."

Her mother finally catching sight of Kehma looked him up and down with a judgemental stare that could kill by itself. "And who are you?"

Before he could respond Lynette chimed in as if to save him. With her tone back to her usual bubblegum self "This is Kehma, he walked me home because some weirdo tried to attack me. Can you believe that mom?! It was seriously scary. Well, he helped me and made sure I was alright."

Her mother pulled Lynette into herself holding her to her side now, she looked at Kehma with disdain even with her daughter's word, in a tone that held no friendliness "Thank you for getting my daughter home alive."

"Tanani, what's going on?" Lynette's father had finally joined the party. Age had hit him harder than his partner. Grays peppered into his short hair and beard, worry lines etching canyons into his forehead. He wore more casual clothing, a loose shirt and sweatpants.

"I'll tell you inside, Lynette needs to explain more anyways." She gave one last look at Kehma " Goodnight."

As she dragged Lynette in with her, Lynette could only mouth "I'm sorry" with a pained expression. The door closed, warmth radiating in the air. She took off her jacket and put it on the hooks by the door. She hoped she'd be able to catch Kehma again, if only just to show gratitude and apologize for her mother. The likelihood of that in such a populated place as Seattle wasn't very high though. A guilt washing over her as she finally turned around to see her mom, arms crossed leaning on the kitchen table, father sitting in a chair at one end.

Her mother didn't say a word to her but kept her eyes on Lynette, not budging from where she stood, waiting for Lynette to explain herself. The guilt she held very quickly turned into agitation when she'd locked eyes with her mom.

"Why were you so rude to him!?"

Her mother's eyes went wide. "Excuse me?!?"

"He saved me tonight! Why were you so mean to him??!"

"He's a grown man, Lynette! Are you kidding me??? You don't know him! What if he was just walking you home to attack you here? He's gotta be twice your age and did you see him?? If he'd wanted to and had the opportunity, who's to know what would have happened to you."

"He saved me! Why would he do that just to attack me himself?! Come on, mom! What sense is that?! Why do you have to assume the worst of him???"

"Because you're being stupid, Lynette! You're so naive of the world! You have no grasp of how dangerous it is! You're too irresponsible!"

Lynette at that had nothing more to say, she looked at her father as if begging him to speak up.. He hadn't said a word, never would, and her mother would never admit she was in the wrong either. It was pointless to try to fight about it. The ground she stood on would only become more unstable if she kept this up.

Eyebrows furrowed, mouth set in place leaving her lips straight she could only stare her mother back, a deep fire in them that could have ignited the air between them. 

"Are you going to say anything?!"

"What's the point!? You've made up your mind! There's no talking to you! YOU DON'T EVEN CARE WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED! YOU THINK YOU'RE SO PERFECT AND RIGHT AND YOU REFUSE TO CARE ABOUT ANYTHING ANYONE ELSE-" 

A loud slap rang in the kitchen, a stinging burn at Lynette's cheek and her hand flew up to hold it. The shock of the blow left her eyes wide to stare at her mother in disbelief. Her mother's face unmoving, waiting for a response. 

"You will NOT yell at me."

She was left speechless, looking at her father as a last ditch effort, only her father had removed his eyes from the event and decided to stare into a boring empty corner away from the drama unfolding. She couldn't hide the anger leaching into her face as shock left it and her hands shook by her side as she clenched them into tight fists. She stormed away with a yell and slammed the door to her room ignoring her mother's "Hey, get back now! We're not finished here!!"

She locked it before her mother could try to forcefully open it as she was left to bang instead.