“It was just a nightmare, Brandon. There’s nothing to talk about. It’s not like you can protect me from them.”
“No, you’re right. I can’t protect you from the thoughts your mind creates, but I can show you the virtues in the world, so that maybe you can forget the cruelty,” he stated, pulling me up into his arms. “There’s no reason for you to have nightmares as long as I’m by your side.”
I lay my head on his chest, wishing I could always feel this protected, but I couldn’t ask that of him. This marriage was only going to last till the end of the school year, then we would be going our separate ways and I would be alone again.
Thinking that it would be best not to get too attached, I pulled away from his hold and got out of the bed to put some space between us. “Brandon, that’s nice and all, but we know where this is going. When school’s over, we’ll be getting a divorce and going our individual ways. Maybe it will be best if we try to put some space between us and not get so devoted to one another.”
I watched as Brandon gets up from the bed and walk over to me, only for me to take a step back which made him stop. “Have you forgotten we’re married? It’s too late for the ‘devoted to one another,’ we’re bonded together now. Yes, I agreed to this till the end of the school year, but you never know what could happen after that. For all you know we could still be friends or even go to the same college.”
“That’s not the point,” I insisted. “I don’t think it’s smart if we get attached to one another. I need to stand on my own two feet and try to do things on my own. I appreciate you wanting to protect me, but we need to see the bigger picture here.”
“Bigger picture,” he repeated with anger in his voice. “What bigger picture? All I see is you trying to close up on me again.”
“That’s not it, I just don’t want to get attached that’s all,” I responded, taking a step to him and placing my hand on his arm as he looked down at me, but was still unable to make out his facial expression. “It would just be hard for the both of us if we became too close.”
“Alright, if space is what you want, fine. Just know I will be there in the shadows watching over you though,” he declared, “As long as we’re married, I will be by your side, but I’ll try to give you the space you want.”
“Thank you. Now can we please go back to bed?” I asked, letting out a yawn as I walked by him, only to find him wrap me in his embrace. “What are you doing?”
“Hugging you good night,” he said in a calm voice, pulling me closer to him. “I know this isn’t giving you space, but it helps me to know that I’m doing my job right protecting you.”
We stayed like that for a few seconds till we both turned back to the bed and got under the covers. As I turned my back to him once again, I thought back at the wedding and how he wanted me to be more open with him. And now we just agreed to give one another space. It wasn’t that I was ungrateful of Brandon wanting to keep me protected, but I didn’t want to take the chance of getting my heart broken.
“Kami,” I heard him speak. “What do you want me to do the next time you’re tossing and turning in your sleep while screaming?”
“Try to wake me up,” I replied. “I don’t ever remember having nightmares before, but that one was like my mind was trying to tell me something more dangerous was coming my way. That’s just because I’m in a state of peace right now, it doesn’t mean something frightening is coming out to get me.”
“Then I’ll have to make sure to stay a few steps closer to you to make sure that doesn’t happen then,” he answered as I felt his arm wrap around my waist, pulling me to him. “I vowed to keep you safe till graduation and I’ve never broken a promise before, so you don’t have to worry about someone harming you while we’re together.”
“Thank you, Brandon. You’re like this guardian angel that showed up and it’s nice knowing that there’s someone to try to keep me safe from all the crazy things out there,” I said, starting to close my eyes, feeling sheltered while wrapped in his arms.
“You’re welcome, Kami,” he said as he moved some of my hair out of his way, lying down behind me with his arms still embracing me.
When the sun finally came up, I found myself in his arms still. It seemed that in the middle of the night, I had turned in my sleep and was now facing him, with my face pressed up against his bare chest. When I tried to move a little to get out of his hold, he tightened his embrace, making it almost impossible to move out.
“Kami, go back to sleep,” he simply said, with his eyes closed. “It’s too early to be up and I would like to sleep in today.”
“Brandon, we have to go to school, though,” I said, trying once again to push myself away from him when I started to feel more like a prisoner. “Can you please let me go?”
“We’re not going to school today. I think we deserve it after yesterday,” he told me as he loosened his hold. I moved out of his hold and he turned to lie on his stomach, burying his face into the pillow. “Please go back to sleep, Kami.”
“No, I’m going to school with or without you,” I declared with finality, moving to get out of the bed only for him to grip hold of my arm, pulling me back into the bed and leaning over me.
“What part of ‘we’re not going to school today’ do you not understand?” he asked, looking down at me with my heart beating speedily. I lay there, waiting for him to do to me what my stepfather would have done.
“Brandon,” I said in a shaky voice, “please let me go. I don’t care if you don’t want to go to school, but I have to go if I want to get into a decent college and get my inheritance.” That was when he rounded off of me and back onto his back before getting up and walking off to the bathroom, but saying something about me being stubborn and how I wasn’t right for wanting to go to school today.
Walking out of the room, I found Brandon’s mom standing there laughing quietly. “I’m sorry, but that was the best thing I’ve ever overheard. Brandon never listens to anyone, and then you showed up and put him in his place. I think I’m going to enjoy seeing you two married.” I just stood there with a questioning look on my face, wondering how long she had been standing there listening to us. “Here, I brought this for you to wear since you don’t have any clothes. Maybe we can go shopping for some new clothes after school if you like.”
Taking the clothes, I turned to see Brandon walking out of the bathroom still in a pair basketball shorts. “I don’t know,” I answered, turning back to her, unsure since I’ve never really gone shopping before. When it came to clothing, Mandy normally just gave me clothes that she didn’t like anymore and since she was bigger than me, they were baggy.
“I’ll let you think about it while you’re at school. Till then I hope this works,” she said as she handed over the clothes. Taking them, I thanked her and walked back into the room, forgetting why I was going out there to start with.
Brandon was throwing clothes out from his closet by the time I closed the door and saw him pop his head back out. “You know, she always wanted a daughter and was disappointed when she found out she was having a boy.”
“That can’t be true, Brandon. I’m sure she loves you just the same,” I told him.
“I was only kidding, Kami. Calm down. She always did want to have another child, but something happened and she wasn’t able to have any more after she had me.” There was sadness in his eyes. “I guess she wants to experience bonding with a daughter.”
I just nodded my head in understanding and walked into the bathroom to change and get ready for school, wondering what the day was going to bring me. How was the school going to take us getting married and what would the student body say once they found out?
7
Before going to school, Brandon’s mom, Melinda, made us some breakfast. We were eating when I heard his father from outside, shouting on top of his lungs how he should call the cops on someone. It wasn’t till he walked into the dining area that I could see what made him so angry. His hair, that was nicel
y fixed yesterday, now resembled a bird’s nest. His clothes had some rips in them, but what really caught my eye was the bruise appearing on his cheek.
“Dear God, Louis, what happened to you?” Melinda asked. Brandon had a murderous look in his eyes as he tried to figure out the same thing.
“I left this morning to go get Kami’s school things like I said I would last night. When I got to the house, that pathetic excuse for a human being opened the door. I asked him for her stuff and he punched me. It ended with me having to knock him out, but damn, I’m too old for this shit,” he lengthily explained, dropping my school bag to the ground.
To Brandon he said, “Next time you decide to save a girl and marry her, make sure you grab her school bag first.”
Brandon just laughed, shaking his head. “Will do,” he said before going back to his breakfast.
Nothing else was said as we all finished eating. Brandon and I got up to leave when his father spoke again.
“Before you two run off, I want to talk to both of you.”
I eyed Brandon, thinking what it could be about. He looked down at the floor and I knew whatever it was, it wasn’t going to be good.
We followed him to his office and were told to shut the door behind us. “Please sit,” he said, gesturing to the chairs in front of his desk as he sat on it. I took a seat as Brandon stood by the other empty chair. “I’m not going to sugar coat this. The way you two went about getting married is for all the wrong reasons, but I respect my son here for doing what he thought was best.”
Then he walked around the desk and sat down in the chair, still eyeing us. “As I told Brandon last night, now that you are married, you need to act like a married couple. That means my son here will have to treat you like a wife.”
“Sir, that’s not fair to him. Yes, we got married, but I don’t see why he needs to be faithful. We got married so he could protect me, not to fall in love.” I tried to reason with him, seeing now what made Brandon act the way he did yesterday. “We agreed that after graduation we’ll get a divorce. By then I would get my inheritance that my grandmother left me and I would be fine on my own.”
Mr. Mitchell nodded as he said, “Yes, Brandon told me this all and I’ll have my lawyers look into that for you, but I think this is the kind of thing Brandon needs to learn to be more grounded.”
“What do you mean, more grounded?” Brandon finally asked, looking at his father with a suspicious look.
“Son, your mother and I are at our wit’s end with your troublesome ways. My brother can only do so much down at the police station to keep your record clean, but it’s harder now that you’re of age,” his father answered. “We told you to stop misbehaving and I hope this marriage will help you see things in a different light.”
“Okay, is there anything else you need to tell us? Kami here wants to go to school,” Brandon said, sounding annoyed about all this. Maybe this marriage was already too much for him to handle and he was second guessing it.
“Yes, there’s more. To remind you that you are married to one another, I want you to wear these.” He pulled out two white-gold rings from his pocket. “These were the rings that your mother and I wore the night we got married and since it seems history is repeating itself, I think it’s only natural for you to wear them.”
“What do you mean, history repeating itself?” I asked, looking down at the ring on the desk, thinking how Brandon had said that something happened sixteen years ago. Could this be a hint to that incident?
“That’s not for me to discuss with you. You will have to ask Brandon about that since he decided to do this without talking to us about it first,” Louis answered, holding up one the rings. “Now back to the rings, I need you both to stand up looking at one another.” We did as he asked and he handed Brandon one of the rings and said, “I Brandon Gab James Mitchell…”
Brandon’s face registered irritation and his eyes turned dark. He looked at his father, slamming his hand on the desk with the ring under it. “I will not repeat that name ever. That is not my name,” he yelled at him.
“Okay, sorry. Calm down, son,” his father said, holding his hands up to placate him. “I, Brandon Gab Mitchell, will protect Kami Van at all costs and treat her like a wife should be treated.”
As Brandon repeated the words, a smile appeared on his face just like it did yesterday after the minister said he could kiss me.
“Kami.”
I turned to his father as he handed me the other ring. “Repeat after me. I, Kami Van, will treat Brandon Mitchell as a husband is meant to be treated and make this marriage work to the best of my ability.”
I repeated the words, thinking how this went against everything I had told Brandon of what I wanted the night before.
After all that was done, I looked down at the ring on my finger, thinking now how this ring symbolized the vow that we made to one another last night. Not only had I brought Brandon into my problems, I have now brought his family into it as well. It was all becoming too much and we should have figured out some other way to keep me safe.
“Come on, Kami, let’s go to school before he makes us kiss and we know how it went last time.” Brandon laughed, taking my hand and making me wonder why he was in such a good mood now. I found out fast this guy I married, had some serious mood swings and needed help.
Once we were in the car I knew it was time to ask him about his past again. “Brandon, what did your father mean about history repeating itself? Does it have to do with what happened sixteen years ago?”
“Yes, but right now is not the time to talk about it. It doesn’t matter what happened in the past for the outcome was the best thing to happen to that person. I just hope I can do the same with you, even if it is only until graduation.” He was gripping the steering wheel. “Please just drop the question about my past. When I’m ready, I will talk to you about it, but right now isn’t the time.”
“Then we should talk about what to tell our classmates if they ask about the wedding rings,” I suggested, feeling the anxieties about what others would say as we pulled up into the parking lot.
“Don’t worry about it. If they have a problem with us being married, let them come and talk to me. You’re my wife now, they’ll just have to get over it,” he replied, shocking me a little that I shouldn’t care what others thought about him, when I couldn’t stop thinking about it. It was fine when I was invisible, but now with Brandon shadowing my every move, someone was bound to notice the rings.
“Are you ready?” I heard Brandon asking. I just looked out at the school, thinking how it was my safe haven from home. Now it was like the places have been switched overnight and I was about to walk into a battle field.
“Hey, it’s going to be fine. Just don’t think about what others are saying and everything will turn out fine,” he said in an effort to reason with me.
I sighed and got out of the car. As I walked away, the people who saw me get out of the car looked shocked that I was with Brandon, but I didn’t stop to see if he was following me. When I got to the door, I felt someone’s hand land on my shoulder, causing me to flinch.
“Here, you might need this,” Brandon said, holding up a hoodie. “You still have a bruise under your eye and I don’t want anyone questioning how you got it.” He sounded concerned. I smiled at him as I slipped it on and he brought the hood up to my head while bringing my hair forward to cover the bruises some more.
“Thanks,” I said, turning to walk inside. I went to my locker to get my books for the morning classes. As I opened the locker door, I heard some noise next to me to see him standing there eyeing the people who walked by. “What?”
“We need to go to the office and give them your new info,” he said.
“Why? I don’t think that’s smart,” I told him. “Look, I’ll take the ring off so no one will think differently than what you told them yesterday. No one has to know we got married.”
Unfortunately, one of his fan girls stopped in front of us, who se
emed to hear the last bit of what I said and eyed the ring on my finger I was trying to take off. “You married her?” the girl screamed, causing a few others to stop and look over at us.
Brandon only laughed as he threw his arm around my shoulders. “Yep, we got married last night. Sorry about your bad luck.” He was acting like this was the most casual thing the way he was talking about it.
“Why her?” she questioned him. “You can have your pick from any girls in the school. Why would you marry her? She isn’t even pretty.”
“It doesn’t matter why I married her. That’s between me and her. All that you need to know is she is my wife, so you better leave her alone or you won’t like the outcome. Now get out of our faces, we’re talking here,” he rudely told her, moving his hand for her to move along. She just threw her brown hair over her shoulder and walked off.
“Brandon, she’s going to tell everyone. Why didn’t you just lie or something? Plus the lady at the chapel said it won’t be finalized till Saturday,” I told him, with the fear of his fan girls causing me more trouble than I already had crept up to me.
“Like I said, don’t think about it. They should know better than to cause you any problems. Now come on, we need to go to the office to tell them about us getting married. I have a copy of the paperwork for our marriage certificate to show them.” He took the books I had grabbed and intertwined our fingers and walked back down the hall to the office. As we walked, I noticed people talking about us and pointing at our hands. I looked down to the ground, not liking how fast the news had traveled in just a short time.
When we walked into the office and faced the lady from yesterday, she looked up at us and grabbed the microphone and placed it far away from Brandon. “Can I help you two?” She asked, raising an eyebrow at us.