Not That Bad

TWENTY-NINE

One chapter left after this! Please read the note posted at the end.

After sitting Santiago and Ximena down, Santiago decided that he wanted to go with Augusta on his spring break, just to distract him from Ximena's absence. Ximena was worried, of course, but wouldn't let Santiago see it.

So, before Augusta left, they all made the preparations. Augusta sat Santiago down and talked to him, while Kaya went to talk to Ximena's room. After the talk, she'd stormed out of the room, a distressed look on her face. When Kaya arrived in Ximena's room, the place was a whirlwind with Ximena in the middle.

"It's like you're abandoning him," Ximena said when she registered Kaya's presence. Her worry had turned to anger and she was lashing out at Kaya. Kaya knew that it was because Ximena felt helpless with not knowing how to help her brother. "You just couldn't wait to get him out of the house, could you?"

"You know that's not true," Kaya said. "My mother offered and Santiago accepted. We sat you both down to talk about it, and Santiago agreed with the idea. He likes my mother, and he's going to miss you. Whatever we're doing here isn't helping as much as it could be."

"He's just a kid," Ximena said. "You can't just send him off."

"He's old enough to make his own decisions," Kaya gently reminded her. She sat down on the bed beside Ximena. "I know you don't like it, but we're all trying to help Santiago. We're not sending him away. We're not abandoning him. You aren't abandoning him. This is yours and Santiago's home; it's always going to be here."

Kaya pulled Ximena close and said nothing as the younger girls' tears wet through her shirt. After she fell asleep, exhausted from crying, Kaya gently positioned Ximena on the bed and closed the door shut softly once she left. 

Augusta was waiting out in the hall; Kaya didn't know for how long.

"Let's go for a drive," Augusta said. "Just us. The kids can survive on their own for a bit. I've cut off the roast and I'll cut it on when we get back."

Kaya nodded and left a note for Santiago, just in case he wondered where they were. The two piled into Augusta's SUV—with Augusta driving, of course. The two were quiet for a while, with Augusta occasionally commenting on the changes made to the town.

"You know," Augusta finally said, "I'm really proud of you."

Kaya glanced at her mother.

"You moved here, made your place, and stopped caring what other people thought about you," Augusta continued. "That makes me proud."

Kaya smiled at her mother. "Thank you, Mom. It means a lot, coming from you."

Augusta returned the smiled and the two kept driving in silence. They drove around Layton, remembering the places that they used to go to and reminiscing about old times, like when Augusta and Kaya arrived and met Derrick and his then-girlfriend in the parking lot of the grocery store, or when Kaya graduated high school and they ordered takeout at the one Chinese restaurant instead of going out to eat.

"I still don't like this place," Augusta said as they pulled back into the driveway. "I'm happy that you've made good memories here, but I still can't get over the people of this place. What they did to me, to you. There's a reason I'm leaving so early."

"It's okay," Kaya said, placing her hand on her mother's. "This place is just a stepping stone. It's not my forever."

"Do you like it?" Ximena asked. She gestured around at the studio behind her. Kaya, Julian, and Santiago all stood and looked around at Ximena's apartment. It was small, of course, but Kaya knew that Ximena could work with it. "Ty helped me pick it out. We saw, like, five other apartments, but I didn't care for them."

"It's beautiful," Kaya said, smiling.

"Where are you going to put the bed?" Santiago asked, walking forward. After they all talked, Santiago seemed more content, even ready to go to Georgia with Augusta. It was a welcome change.

Ximena pointed. "In that corner." She pulled Santiago with her and the two started to talk about where she was going to put her furniture. It was the first time Ximena had something of her own—something that she was proud to have—and the two teens were excited about it. Boone was five hours from Layton and they'd gotten up at five to drive down, making it to the city by ten and starting to move in. They would all be spending the night; Santiago would stay at the apartment with his sister and Kaya and Julian had gotten a double room at the local hotel.

The two adults watched the siblings for a while, and then they all got to bringing up Ximena's furniture and boxes. A lot of the furniture was bought locally and the people that sold the furniture was able to hold it until Ximena moved to the city.

Once everything was situated, they all sat down to eat pizza and watch a movie. When it was over, Kaya hugged the two kids goodbye before she drove a sleepy Julian back to their hotel. While he booted up his laptop to turn in an assignment, Kaya took a shower. When she came back to bed, Julian was still on his laptop, a frown on his face.

"Everything okay?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said. "I'm just trying to submit this assignment, but Blackboard is being stupid."

"Ah," Kaya said, climbing under the covers of her bed. For a while, Julian sat opposite on  his bed, tinkering with Blackboard until his was able to submit his assignment. Then, he finally took a shower. While he was in the bathroom, she called Ty.

"Hey babe," Ty answered. "What's up? How is everyone?"

Kaya smiled and snuggled even deeper into her blanket. "Everyone's fine. Ximena was excited about her apartment and Santiago is spending the night there. Julian's taking a shower."

"And you're in bed with your bonnet on," Ty said, a smile in his voice.

"Of course," she said, laughing. "Anyway, how was your day?"

"It was fine," Ty said. "After I got off I stopped by your place to talk to Augusta and helped her pack her things. She really likes what you've done with the place."

"I know," Kaya said. "She's told me multiple times that she can't believe it was ever her house and that she should go ahead and give the title to me." The two continued to talk about their day, and by the time Julian came out of the shower Kaya was half-asleep, slurring her words. He took the phone from Kaya and spoke to Ty a bit, but Kaya didn't hear what they were saying because she immediately fell asleep.