by Ms. Elsewhere » Wednesday 12 August 2009 5:03:08am
Ouki tried to hide and shot Damien a deadly look. He ignored it. She leaned across the table and hissed so quietly only Damien could hear. "My parents put on a real show for everyone else, but it was all lies." Damien stood up and walked over to Belinda and her husband. Belinda smiled at Damien and looked back at Ouki. Her husband made room for Damien to sit with them, and Damien waved for Ouki to come over too. Ouki stalked over and sat down next to Belinda, who looked at Ouki and pushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear.
"Well I can tell you her hair was much shorter." Belinda began. "And she was not so thin, either. Our families used to go camping together. My daughter is four years older than Ouki, so they didn't always play together. Ouki spent a lot of time on her own, or hanging out with our son, James." Belinda shifted in her seat, looking at Ouki, trying to stir up the memories. "I still remember the day, Ouki. Have you told him?" she glanced at Damien, who gestered an exagerated shrug. "Well, she nearly drowned." Damien's eyebrows lifted and he looked at Ouki. Ouki stared only at Damien now. "She was swept down the river. She was gone all day, until some local men brought her back. That was so crazy..." the woman drifted off, remembering. "I always thought you were a good swimmer."
"I was." Ouki said simply. "I think the issue is I was 10 and no one thought to watch out for me." this brought on an awkward silence. Ouki continued. "But I'm fine, of course. Look, I survived!" she smiled. Belinda's husband spoke.
"You really have changed Ouki, but you still have the face of that girl we've always known." he smiled and reached for her hand. Ouki pulled away and looked down. "Yes well, I guess some things never change." she looked up at him, and he looked away too. Belinda stared at her husband and glanced back at Ouki.
"You're all grown up now, and i just wanted to you to know..." Belinda started.
"You don't have to say anything. Nothing you say is going to change anything. " Ouki said softly.
"I'm sorry Ouki." Belinda's husband muttered.
"Right. Damien, we need to go now." she stood up. "If you see my mother again, do me a favour? Tell her that I'm dead." she walked over to her table, grabbed her handbag and started walking out of the door. Damien followed her quickly. They stopped in the inbetween section of the train cars.
"What's the matter with you?" he hissed.
"You know those bad things that happened to me? Well one of them was at that table. When a kid is quiet and a recluse, it's really easy to take advantage of them." Damien stared at her, still not registering what she was saying. "He used to attack me every night, every time our family went camping together. We stayed in a house, both our families, and I had a room to myself because my sisters hated me and didn't want to share. Every night, Damien! Until I told him if he didn't stop, I was going to kill him. And I nearly did." Ouki smiled at the thought.