Read Online Worlds Apart by Daniel Kelley - Free Book Online Page A

this!” Kurt admonished, and he reached forward to pull her inside the house. She complied limply, like a cloth doll.
    “Sonya! What’s wrong?” Kurt asked as he closed the front door. “Sonya!”
    He drew her to him, enfolding her in his arms to warm her, and he could feel the coolness of her skin through the thin blouse she was wearing. “My God, you’re freezing!”
    Sonya started to sob, tremendous racking sobs that shook Kurt’s body as well as hers. He feared the worst and held her even tighter, almost to prevent her from vocalizing what he already knew must have happened.
    “Sonya, Sonya,” he murmured.
    She drew a shuddering breath and then released it in several violent huffs.
    “Sonya, it’s Reginald, isn’t it?”
    And then she screamed. Kurt grimaced as her fingers dug into his sides, as they pinched and strangled the waistline he’d been admiring just a few hours before. She screamed again, and again.
    “Sonya,” he said, trying to hold her still. Sonya!” he exhorted as she started to hit him.
    A burst of anger flared, and Kurt grabbed her hands and gripped them firmly; he efficiently transferred both of her hands to one of his own, and then clasped her waist with his free hand. In a few seconds, he had her sitting on a couch, hands still secured but with the surreal appearance of normalcy: a father and a distraught daughter, sitting side by side on the living room sofa.
    “Tell me!” Kurt instructed. “What did he do?”
    Sonya’s answer was to scream once more, an intense, blaring shriek.
    Kurt moved quickly, almost as if to slap her, but his arm immediately slowed and he merely brushed Sonya’s hair off her ruined face.
    She breathed in, then out, then took several brisk inhalations. “He. KILLED. Himself,” she said, each syllable articulated with meticulous care.
    “How?” Kurt asked simply.
    Sonya’s eyes darted to his. “He. THREW himself . Off. Our. Building.” Her lips drew back, exposing her teeth. Kurt retained his grip on her; she looked practically feral. “NOT. The future. I wished. It to be, Papa.”
    Kurt drew a sharp inhalation himself. His words, so calming and inspiring just a day earlier, appeared so blind and useless today.
    “I’m sorry,” Kurt breathed out. “So, so sorry, my sweet. My sweet Sonya.” He released her hands, and once again pulled her into a tight embrace. “I’m so sorry, my dear.”
    And Sonya’s body went flaccid as she began to cry again, as she leaned into her father and shed a stream of watery tears onto his neck and shirt. Kurt’s arms rose and he gently soothed her.
    The clock on the fireplace mantle was the only sound in the room outside of Sonya’s ragged breaths. Seconds passed by, then minutes. Kurt remained silent, continuing to console his daughter with slow, deliberate motions.
    And then she pulled gingerly away from him. She wouldn’t look at him, but she let him hold her hand.
    “It’s all gone now, Papa,” Sonya said in a placid voice. “Everything. What am I supposed to do now?”
    Kurt didn’t want to answer that. There was no acceptable answer!
    “You have me. Your mother. Johnnie and Amy,” Kurt said. “We’ll all be there for you.” Unlike that weak husband of yours! he wanted to add, but it didn’t take much effort to squelch his ignoble sentiment.
    “We’ll help you get through this,” Kurt finished quietly, resisting the urge to say something similar to what he’d said yesterday. Hopes and wishes weren’t going to cut it with Sonya at the moment.
     
    * * * *~
    Elyse had been crying for what seemed like hours. Loudly, then silently, then barely audibly, then at full volume again. A cycle that she seemed unable to break as she continuously broke down anew.
    Kurt finally turned on his side in the bed and put an arm around her. She didn’t scoot backwards to meet him as she normally would, so he wrapped his entire body around hers, raising his knees and pushing his chest forward so the two of them