Awaysick: Lehiff and Katia Part 2

Okay, so I'm sorry this chapter and the other about Lehiff and Katia don't actually have Chapter names. But that's because I've only just started the Lehiff and Katia story and the entire Awaysick plot is being shuffled around as a result.
Anywho, I'm sick of writing in bits and pieces, and I realise it must be so annoying. So I'm going to write from now on in sequence. I'm focusing on Lehiff and Katia for a little while, and this chapter immediately follows the one entitled 'Lehiff and Katia' in which Lehiff tried to burgle a drug dealer's house blah blah etc.
Lol, but hooray for some kind of continuity!
Alright, I'm just talking crap now, but enjoy reading this. I'm sorry if it's not quite up to standard. I just really wanted to write it, and I had to get it done this morning before I go food shopping. Lol!
So, enjoy! And I will be posting the chapter that comes staright after this one later today!

Love ket xx

AWAYSICK:
LEHIFF AND KATIA
PART 2

***
Katia hastily slicked away the beads of sweat collected on her forehead. An angry sun beat down heavily from above, and she felt her face growing hot and pink from walking home from another day at school without Cokey. She sighed gratefully as her mother’s house came into sight. The ugly leather school shoes her mother, Irene, had bought felt as though they were searing through her socks and scorching the sides of her feet. It seemed that they were made of lead as she heaved them along beneath her.

Finally reaching the house, she went down the drive and bathed in the shade of the shelter before the front door. Turning the handle, she yearned for the always reliable air conditioning inside.
And it was cool. Closing the door behind her, Katia vacantly slipped off her backpack and abandoned it just behind the front door.

Flapping her school blouse back and forth from her stomach to create a breeze around herself, she made her way up the stairs towards the bathroom.
She slipped off her lead shoes and let her feet enjoy the coolness of the bathroom tiles as she closed the door behind her.
As she ran a bath for herself, she turned to the bathroom cabinet, listening to the gushing water connecting with the porcelain.

Katia’s reflection in the bathroom mirror confronted her, and she realised, as usual, the summer heat had caused her face to become blotchy and red. Her nose was particularly pink, and she pressed a finger against it, scowling at the temporary white imprint that followed.

On days that didn’t melt the tar on the roads outside, Katia’s skin was so pale it was almost translucent. Irene’s mother had been born in Finland, and along with her name, both Katia and her mother had gained a Scandinavian complexion. Sometimes people she was introduced to and family friends made a habit of commenting on Katia and Irene’s skin, complementing its purity. Irene had always shown an obvious pride towards it, lapping up the praise in a manner that embarrassed her daughter profusely. On the other hand, Katia despised the tone of her skin. She supposed she would look somewhat normal in Finland, but here in Australia it was not common to see somebody so much without a tan, and try as she might, all Katia’s skin could do in the sun was go red, pink and then peel. Cokey’s skin was always perfectly and evenly browned.

Irene embraced all facets of her heritage, and Katia suspected this indulgence had spilled into the naming of her daughter. Katia’s full name was Katia Florinda White. She guessed that her mother had chosen the most obviously Finnish Christian names to make up for her husband’s less-than-distinct surname.

Of course, Katia loved her mother very much, but she had a habit of trying to parade her daughter in front of her friends like a new toy. Every time Katia did something right in her mother’s eyes, a party would be thrown without her knowledge, and she would end up interrupting her own celebration at any random time, usually when her skin was patchy and red from the sun.

Katia didn’t appreciate this; she was not the type of person who enjoyed being doted upon or being the centre of attention; that was Cokey’s cup of tea. And that was the way Katia preferred it.
The fact that she was good at school did not help, every time she received marks from an essay or assignment, her mother would go into raptures and detail every element of Katia’s wonderfulness to her friends. Naturally, Katia would be forced to sit in the living room with them instead of hiding in her bedroom until they left, like she really wanted to.

This attention troubled Katia so much that she had considered on several occasions deliberately failing an exam just so she could avoid it. But she knew this wasn’t possible, Irene spoke about Katia’s excellent results so often that any lapse of this information would mean that everyone would immediately know of her failure, and she couldn’t possibly deal with her mother if that happened.

When the bath was eventually filled, Katia pulled her top over head and stood in her bra and skirt before the mirror. She stood back to get a fuller view of herself, and ran her fingers gingerly down the sides of her midsection. While she was certainly not fat, Katia was resolutely pear-shaped. She had wide hips that pestered her to no end, and breasts that did not meet the measurements of her lower half. She was still in reasonable proportion, but as she looked at her body, she twisted slowly from side to side, and realised that her hips must be completely noticeable when she walked.

Katia’s hair was dirty blonde and long, waving down almost to her hips. This was not because she thought it added to her appearance, but her hair had been without a real haircut for so long that she thought if she did anything drastic to it, she might look like a completely different person. Plus, she had never been comfortable with the phony, idle small talk that seemed to be a standard feature of all hairdressers. The only person she let cut her hair was Cokey, and even then it was only ever about a quarter of an inch or so. Katia knew that if she let Cokey loose on her hair too long she might emerge with a green Mohawk or something.

Katia’s eyes were blue, and she was tall, much taller than Cokey, and this was something else that made Katia feel that it was better if she let her best friend take most of the attention. Katia thought Cokey was cute and perfectly curved, the way a woman should be, and when she acted flirtatiously and made everybody laugh, it was usually impossibly adorable.
If Katia did that, she was sure people would think of her as some kind of obnoxious Godzilla girl.

Suddenly, Katia felt the buzzing of her phone vibrating in her pocket. Scrounging for it in her school skirt, she found she had an unread message. She clicked the button and realised it was from her father.

Hi sweetie, can you do a couple hours of work at the shop tomorrow? Just accounts and stuff. We’re snowed in with business. Let me know. Love, Dad.

Yuck, accounts. Katia thought to herself, and her instinct told her to refuse. But, Katia’s wallet was specifically thin lately, and her father always made sure she got some kind of compensation for the work she did for him. Reconsidering, she replied to him and made a mental note to go to the mechanic workshop tomorrow after school.

A moment later, Katia slipped into the tepid bath she had prepared and sighed. She took a deep breath, closing her eyes and slithering further into the lukewarm water so that the hair closest to her neck floated lazily around her.
Suddenly, her body stiffened.

Lehiff will be at the workshop tomorrow. The voice inside her mind groaned.
While she had mildly enjoyed seeing Cokey’s brother in a completely different light than she had ever anticipated the other night, that didn’t mean he didn’t make her uncomfortable. Lehiff was big and intimidating. His eyebrows were thick and dark, and, as she had learned the night of the almost-robbery, practically covered his eyes altogether when he scowled. And Lehiff scowled significantly more often than the average human being. This was supposedly one of his most attractive features to a large percentage of girls in the general Beech Drives area.

Lehiff had allegedly slept with a sizeable number of girls in town, and Katia had seen him execute the preliminary stages of this hobby on more than one occasion.
It was not unusual for Katia and Cokey to make a visit to an old, abandoned community centre that was in the middle of a field close to Cokey’s house some Friday or Saturday nights. They did this so Cokey could smoke certain illicit substances or get pills if they were going to a party. Katia had never been interested in the recreational drugs that her best friend sometimes liked, but it never bothered her.

Lots of people her age went to the community centre, and Lehiff was usually there too, often slouching in a corner smoking languidly, only speaking in grunts and looking miserable in general. Occasionally, Katia would see him raise his head slowly to send a twisted half-smile to some girl sitting strategically in his view. No matter the girl (and there had been plenty of girls, even in the select few times Katia had witnessed this), the response was always the same. The girl would erupt into convulsions of giggles, whisper to her friends, and move a little bit closer. This palpably well-practiced technique continued until Lehiff and the girl were sitting together in the corner, the girl tittering nervously, and Lehiff never breaking his temperament, addressing the girl with slow winks and low whispers that only made her giggle even harder.

Katia did not understand this at all. She knew that a lot of girls were attracted to the kind of bad-boy act that Lehiff was apparently so good at, but it evaded her completely why on Earth the girls were so animated with excitement at being wanted by him so nonchalantly. Katia had always thought that he seemed more interested in his cigarette than he ever was in his female company. But this was probably all a part of the process, because it didn’t stop the girls wanting him and chortling eagerly every time he looked at them. Now that Katia thought about it, it almost certainly made them fancy him more.

Katia stretched her neck forward so that her chin sat shallow in the bath water. She closed her eyes tightly and shook her head, as though trying to fling her thoughts out of her brain. Thinking about Lehiff, especially in the bath, was so strange. But she couldn’t bring herself to stop. She had never realised how interesting the way he did things was.
She thought about the community centre girls again, and had no pity. Once she and Cokey had been confronted by a particularly bitter girl named Sandra, who demanded of Cokey the reason why Lehiff had not contacted her. Cokey had merely gifted the girl with an irritated glance and continued walking with Katia. She knew that Cokey was not interested in what her brother did in the slightest.

Katia didn’t know why the girl had been so surprised. Lehiff’s reputation was not exactly exclusive knowledge, and Katia was positive she had never seen him with the same girl twice. Surely Sandra knew what was going to happen. Maybe she thought she could be the one to distract Lehiff from his smoke for more time than it took to smile lopsidedly. Katia supposed that was the appeal... The girls thought they could change him.

She pushed herself up so that half her body was out of the water, and was as confused as ever. She guessed that she would most likely never understand the motives behind the girls’ desire for her best friend’s brother, or Lehiff’s reasons for sleeping with as many girls as possible. Actually, that was obvious.

Urgh, I don’t want to think about this anymore. Katia thought.
To distract herself, she thought it would be appropriate to get out of the bath. Also, her fingertips were getting wrinkly.
She heaved herself up and stepped out onto the bathroom rug. Taking a towel from the rail, she sponged herself dry and rung the damp lower sections of her hair. When she was completely dry, she wrapped the towel around her body and left the bathroom for her bedroom. She found herself a pair of especially breathable pyjamas (old cotton shorts and an oversized shirt) and rubbed her arms as she experienced the pure, clean feeling of putting on fresh clothes after a bath. She was about to leave her bedroom when a brief flash of light outside her window distracted her.

Making her way to the glass, Katia squinted, trying to see properly in the gaining dusk. The sky was painted orange and the sun sat low in its seat, creating an intense, hyper colour glare.
Katia’s bedroom window was actually a sliding door that led to a small balcony beyond. Squinting harder, she pushed the door open and stepped out.

To her utter bemusement, a convertible car was parked at the top of the driveway, and a man was now stepping out. She could see him quite clearly because the car’s soft top was down.
Katia watched in surprised confusion as the man nervously smoothed the front of his light beige suit and began to come down the drive at a hurried pace. Instinctively, Katia moved down behind the bars of the balcony’s barrier so that he couldn’t see her.

The man had stopped in the driveway now, and Katia thought he might have seen her because he turned and hurried off again. However, a moment later, he had turned once more and was moving towards the house again. As the man checked his watch anxiously, Katia wanted to laugh at him. She probably would have if she wasn’t so perplexed by him being there at all.

The man still hadn’t decided which way he was going to go, and when he was headed back towards his car again, Katia dashed inside and hurried down the stairs.
‘Mum! Hey Mum! There’s some g-‘
Katia’s sentence evaporated into the universe when she saw her mother. Irene was standing in the kitchen, a small compact mirror in her fingers. She was wearing a slim-fitting, pale blue cocktail dress with heels, and she had curled her hair. Irene never curled her hair, and she stared at Katia with wide eyes.

‘Katia? Wh-what are you doing here? I thought you were staying with your father tonight.’ She said hastily, nervously glancing to her sides.
Katia furrowed her brow and her lips parted in confusion.
‘Mum? What? No, you know I’m here every Tuesday now that Dad works late.’
‘Oh, oh yes. Well, why don’t you go upstairs and have a sleep? You look tired, darling.’
Katia’s mother said this in a strange tone, and Katia’s eyebrows lowered further.
‘Why are you all dressed up?’ She asked quickly.

Before Irene answered, the doorbell rang. Katia’s mother looked terrified at this, and Katia seized her opportunity. She made a lunge towards the door, and as she expected, was pulled back by the manicured nails of her mother. This in itself was out of the ordinary.
‘I’m going out with a friend tonight.’ Irene hissed desperately.
Katia gaped.
‘Mum! I saw him out the front! He’s a man! A man in a suit... That’s not friendly!’
Irene hunched her back slightly and looked to the ground, as Katia pulled her arm free.
‘Alright’ She whispered, ‘I’m going out with a man tonight... Our first date.’
Katia remained quiet for a long time.
‘Okay’ Katia finally said slowly. ‘That’s fine.’
Irene looked up.
‘Really?’ She said, ‘Are you sure?’

A small smile reached Katia’s lips as the doorbell rang again. Irene looked towards the door nervously.
‘Of course, Mum.’ Katia said. ‘I’m seventeen now, I don’t mind if you go out.’
Irene returned the smile and Katia spoke again.
‘I’ll go and answer the door, because there is some unwritten rule about you not being allowed to be ready when the man arrives... Or something.’
Irene smiled, but looked anxious. Katia squeezed her arm slightly, and nodded reassuringly at her mother.
‘You can’t exactly keep me a secret.’
With the third ring of the bell, Irene pointed her head in the direction of the door, indicating for Katia to go. Katia smiled and went to the door, pulling the handle slowly.

Once it was open, she gaped. The man standing on the threshold was... young. He looked shocked to see her, but displayed an involuntary grin when he looked past Katia and saw Irene standing in the hallway.
Katia stared at him. His features were firm and he had light brown hair with no bald spots. He was quite good-looking, Katia thought, but this was probably because he must have been about thirty.

She kept watching him, stunned, until she heard her mother’s nervous laughter somewhere behind her.
‘Katia, don’t just let Daniel stand in the doorway all night.’
Daniel. That name is so... juvenile.
Absent-mindedly, she stepped aside as the man came in. It took a few moments for her to realise that he was standing in front of her, beaming.
‘It’s wonderful to meet you Katia.’ He said, holding out his hand. ‘I’m Daniel.’
Obviously, I have ears.

He obviously had ears too, having heard Katia’s mother say her name. Gingerly, she extended her arm and he shook her hand enthusiastically. Katia was just coming back to reality when his next sentence sent her soaring again.
‘I’ve heard so much about you.’
Systematically, Katia looked to her mother and her answer was in the form of Irene’s face. Her mother realised Katia’s expression and spoke instantaneously.
‘Uh, Daniel and I have gone to dinner a couple of times in the last few weeks.’
Last few weeks?! Katia’s brain shrieked.

Irene’s expression was petrified, Katia’s was stunned, and Daniel’s was still glowing. After several moments of peaked silence, his voice echoed through Katia’s ears.
‘So, Irene. We better get going if we’re going to make the movie.’
Katia was staring intently at her mother, who refused to meet her gaze. Instead, she gifted Daniel with a warm smile and nodded. Still not looking at her, she said pointedly to Katia,
‘Well, sweetie, we’re going to head off now. There’s plenty of food and I’ve got my phone if you need me.’
‘It was lovely to meet you, Katia.’ Daniel smiled at her.

Katia didn’t reply. She stood frozen as he and her mother made their way towards the door. She didn’t even react when Daniel tripped over the school bag she had left near the doorway earlier and her mother proceeded to apologise profusely as he laughed assuringly.
When she came close to her daughter, Irene leant in towards Katia and whispered, unknown to Daniel.
‘We’ll talk about this as soon as  get home.’

And with that, they were out the door and walking up the driveway towards Daniel’s convertible.
Katia remained in her place for several minutes, stunned, before her feet seemed to discover that they were mildly sore from lack of movement, and carried her to the sofa, where she collapsed rigidly.
She was completely upright and felt she couldn’t move, even should she have the strength. Her mind was in overdrive, and using far too much energy for her to be able to function physically.

Her mother had just left the house with a man. This concept still affected her, despite what she had said. In fact, she was sure she had said it was fine just to be able to answer the door. Irene hadn’t dated at all since divorcing Katia’s father, Michael. But, of course, Katia didn’t actually know that. Only minutes ago, she had discovered that her mother had been seeing a man who looked far too young for her and had far too nice of a car for the last few weeks. Few. How many was a few anyway? Katia had always thought of a few as at least three. Or at least more than two. That meant that her mother had been seeing a much younger man for more than two weeks, and Katia had been completely oblivious. Had he been in the house before? He’d definitely looked certain that he was at the right place when he’d pulled up. Had they kissed? Had they...?

Katia shook her head violently, her first sign of life for over ten minutes.
Daniel may as well be a little boy. A little boy with a car that was too fast for him and an ugly beige suit. He was a little boy masqurading as a man.

Gross.
Katia remained on the sofa, totally unaware of what to do with herself. Then, when her phone once more commenced its notorious buzzing on the coffee table in front of her, she was eternally grateful for the interruption to her thoughts and answered it immediately.

‘Hello?’ She said breathlessly, thought she had hardly moved an inch.
‘Hello.’ Came the voice. Nothing followed. She had hoped it was Cokey, but didn’t know this voice.
‘Who is this?’ She asked slowly, relishing any distraction to the fact that her mother had just left with what appeared to be a previously unknown son. There was a pause on the phone.
‘It’s Lehiff.’
Katia’s brain was labouring so hard that these words didn’t register their full effect.
‘Lehiff. Okay. What can I do for you?’
Another pause.
‘I was just wondering what you were doing.’
Virtually all thought regarding her mother went missing from her brain.
What?
‘What?’
‘Have you talked to your dad about me yet?’ He asked very quickly.
Katia slapped her hand to her forehead and realised that it did not hurt nearly as much as her brain.
‘No, Lehiff, I haven’t. I’m really sorry, I will do it soon, I promise.’ She sighed.
‘You don’t have to say sorry. You don’t have to do it. I didn’t ask you to.’
‘No, I will do it. I want to. I just haven’t seen my dad lately, but I will tomorrow because I’ll be at the workshop. I’m just a bit involved with something right now, so I think I’d better go.’ Katia said. She had wanted a distraction from her mother, but Lehiff’s badgering hardly seemed a better alternative.

‘Is something wrong?’ He said promptly.
‘Pardon?’
‘You said you were involved in something. And your voice sounds funny, so I’m guessing something is wrong.’
Katia pursed her lips.
‘You’ve spoken to me, what, twice? I really don’t think you would know if my voice sounded funny.’ She said, slightly annoyed.
‘That’s probably true. But am I right? Is there something wrong?’

Katia fell silent. She could hear him breathing on the other end of the line. It was deep and slow.
‘You can say it.’ He said after what seemed an eternity. ‘You did me a favour by saving me from being caught by the cops. I can repay you by listening.’

Katia closed her eyes and listened to his breathing when he fell silent again. She tried to mimic his long, calm breaths. He was always so calm. Even when they were running from the police, he was totally in control. At least, that’s how he had seemed to her in the two times they had interacted. Every time they had spoken, she was in hysterics.

‘I thought you said I didn’t do you a favour. You said all I did was get you out of some money.’ She said quietly.
‘Well, if you choose to believe the crap I say, then you telling your dad about my good work can be the favour. It’s up to you.’
Katia laughed, then was immediately shocked by it.
‘So,’ he said. ‘Are you going to say it?’
‘Say what?’
‘Why your voice sounds strange.’
‘Oh...’ Her voice was quiet again. ‘I don’t know.’
‘Why not?’
‘You might tell somebody.’
‘Who would I tell?’
‘I don’t know...’ Katia thought of the girls at the community centre and cringed. ‘Anybody.’
‘I’m not interested in gossip, Katia.’

She looked to the ground. The words were desperate to spill out of her, and her brain hurt too much for her to be the only person thinking about this right now.
‘My mum just went out to a movie with a man.’ She said quickly. Lehiff took his time to respond, and Katia began to regret saying anything at all.
‘Is he a nice man?’ Lehiff asked finally, his voice thoughtful.
‘Well... I dunno. I guess. He’s a young man.’
‘But he’s nice to your mum?’ Lehiff’s voice was composed and contemplative. She thought she could feel his voice calming her down.

‘By all that I’ve seen so far. He’ll probably have lockjaw by the end of their date from smiling at her so much.’ Katia said and Lehiff laughed. She noted that he had a very pleasant laugh. It was a warm, rich laugh that made the soles of her feet prickle. She chose to ignore this, though it was sufficiently difficult.

‘Is your mum happy with him?’ Lehiff asked.
‘Well. Yes. She seemed very happy.’
‘Has this man done anything against you?’
‘No,’ Katia whispered resentfully, realising Lehiff’s approach. ‘He was nice to me.’
‘Good,’ Lehiff said conclusively. ‘Then there is no problem.’

‘But she’s been seeing him for at least two weeks... and she didn’t even tell me.’ Katia said quickly.
‘Oh, well that is a problem.’ Lehiff sounded serious, and was taking his time again. ‘Have you ever seen a boy without telling your mother?’
‘No.’ She said, and immediately felt completely inept. It suddenly dawned upon her that she was a 17 year old virgin, and she was talking to a 24 year old... very much non virgin.

Lehiff was quiet. Katia grimaced. He was probably thinking she was a silly little girl.
‘Maybe you should, to get back at her.’
Katia’s eyes widened, and she found speaking very difficult.
‘Huh?’ Was all she could manage.
‘See a guy and not tell her. Maybe we should go for a drive together. I can pick you up.’
‘Now?’ She breathed.
‘No better time. We could drive to the harbour. It’s pretty at night, it might distract you.’ He took his time saying this, and had perfect annunciation. Katia laughed unconsciously. Firstly, because she thought it more likely that she’d be distracted by the person driving than the harbour. Secondly, Lehiff sounded funny when he said the word pretty.
Lehiff didn’t respond to her laughter, and she thought she must have sounded insensitive.
‘I’m sorry,’ She said quietly, searching for an excuse. ‘Um, I don’t think I should leave the house unattended.’
‘You’re home by yourself?’ He said, as Katia smacked herself in the head for coming up for the worst excuse possible.
‘Yes. It’s just me.’ She said in a low voice. He responded predictably.
‘I could come over. I’m not doing anything.’
‘To my house?’ Katia said stupidly, glancing around trying to imagine Lehiff standing in her living room. Suddenly, she remembered Sandra and the community centre girls.

‘I don’t think that’s a very good idea. I’m very tired. Plus I’m hungry. I’m going to go to sleep and have something to eat. Or something to eat and then sleep. I don’t know. But no. I don’t think so.’
She spoke rapidly, and froze when she was done, awaiting an answer. She didn’t wait long.
‘That’s fine, Katia.’ His voice was tranquil, he didn’t sound annoyed at all. She exhaled. She supposed he would just choose another girl to visit. Without realising, she came to listen to his deep, long breaths again.

‘I’d better go.’ She said.
‘Yeah, okay.’
‘Bye.’
‘Katia.’ He said hurriedly.
‘Yes?’
‘I’m sorry I was mean to you the other night. With the police and everything.’
Katia softened. Her lips contorted into a small smile and she said,
‘That’s alright. Don’t worry about it. Um, bye.’

She hung up without hearing his goodbye. She couldn’t hear his voice anymore. It made her head feel sore and her hands tingle.
Seated on the sofa, the house was completely still and quiet around her. Katia was happy, but no less rattled. She was glad she’d said no to Lehiff. She refused to be one the community centre girls, even if his voice was so nice and his breathing made her feel relaxed.
Her mind was exhausted, and she yawned, glad for her sleepiness. She stretched her length out on the sofa, and rested her fatigued head on a nearby cushion. She knew it would not take long for her to fall asleep. As her eyelids flickered, she heard once again the distinct vibration of her phone. She groaned, as she reached for it and opened the message that waited.

Hey babe, I called your dad’s house because I thought you were there. Turns out you’re not, but he told me you’re at the workshop tomorrow after school. I think we should go shopping at about 5, when you’re done. Love you. Xx Cokey.

Katia smiled sleepily, but then growled bitterly at her phone.
‘You need to start leaving me alone.’
With that, she threw it away from her and placed her head back on the cushion as she heard it make a dull thud on the carpet.

***

Thankyou so much for reading!