Free Shelter by Tara Shuler Page A

I didn’t want to have an encounter with her. All I wanted was to see Kai.
    I had Will drop me off down the street so I wouldn’t risk waking Kai’s mother. When I got to the shed, he opened the door and let me in before I even had a chance to knock.
    I threw my arms around Kai the moment I saw him, and he held me closed and buried his face in my hair. We clung to each other for several moments before Kai finally spoke.
    “I wanted to tell you in person, Alice,” he said.
    “I know,” I nodded. “It okay.”
    “Alice, I do love you,” he said. “I hope you know that. I know it’s weird, because we just met, but I feel this…”
    “Connection?” I asked, finishing his sentence. “I feel it, too. And I love you.”
    He brushed a stray strand of hair from my face, and I stared into those icy blue eyes. I didn’t know how to bring up the subject I’d come to talk to him about.
    “I have something I need to talk to you about,” I said somberly.
    His face fell.
    “Please tell me you’re not leaving me,” he said, taking a step back.
    “No! Oh, God, no!” I gasped, taking his hands in mine. “I love you! I won’t leave you. I swear to you, Kai.”
    He breathed an enormous sigh of relief. “Then what is it?”
    “Do you know why your mother…” I struggled to find the words. “Do you know why she treats you the way she does?”
    Kai shook his head sorrowfully, looking at the floor.
    “I think I do,” I told him.
    We sat down together on the floor of the shed, and I explained the whole sordid tale. His face remained stolid throughout most of the story – odd considering how emotional he usually was.
    “I had no idea,” he said, shaking his head.
    “You don’t remember any of it?” I asked.
    He shook his head in despair. He couldn’t even remember his father. He’d died in prison, and Kai was too young to remember him.
    I put my arm around his shoulder, and he touched his forehead to mine and sighed.
    “My mother said your mother never drank before your father died,” I told him.
    He nodded in acknowledgement, although he hadn’t known that.
    “It is my fault,” he finally stated.
    “What?” I huffed. “Don’t be absurd! How could it be your fault?”
    “Because I wasn’t supposed to be here at all,” he told me.
    “What do you mean?” I asked.
    “I’m adopted,” he revealed.
    I gave it a moment to sink in.
    “But… how does that make any of this your fault?” I wanted to know.
    “If they hadn’t adopted me, none of this would have happened. Your father and my father would be alive,” he responded.
    “Oh, Kai, no,” I said, squeezing him tightly. “None of this is your fault.”
    “You don’t blame me for your father’s death?” he asked.
    “Of course not!” I practically shouted.
    “It’s my fault,” he lamented.
    “None of this is your fault,” I repeated. “None of it.”
    He looked like he wanted to believe it, but he couldn’t. Why was he so down on himself? Was it because of the way his mother treated him? She was constantly telling him how worthless he was in the short time I’d known Kai.
    I touched his face and pulled him toward me, gently pressing my lips against his. He responded by pulling me closer and placing his hand on the back of my neck to kiss me more passionately. It felt incredible to have his arms around me, and his kisses were so emotional. It was as if I could feel everything he felt through the way he kissed me.
    Suddenly, the door to the shed burst open and his mother staggered through the entry. She glared down at us, and her eyes snapped with fury. Her hair was wild and tangled, and her bathrobe hung open, revealing a dirty, tattered nightgown.
    “What is the meaning of this?” she shouted.
    “Mom!” Kai gasped. “I…”
    “I don’t want to hear it!” she shrieked. “You promised me you’d stay with me tonight! You can’t even keep one little promise? I’m so fucking sick of you. I want you out of my house you