I Unintentionally Became Her Kitten

Chapter 48: Home is where the Heart isn’t

Home was a smaller house. It wasn’t trailer sized but it was just a three bedroom, one bathroom residence with a kitchen and living area and a separate single-car garage filled with miscellaneous junk.

There was a sick twist in my stomach as we approached. I'd told myself I'd never come back here, even if it meant death. But things had changed. I would put up with this for now, until I found a way out.

Sophia parked on the street, leaving the burnt orange sedan free to back out later on.

She hesitated to get out of the car.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” she asked. “I know things weren't good between you and Mom and Dad.”

I nodded and tried to give her my most reassuring smile. “I'll be fine,” I said.

She looked sad, but smiled at me anyway.

I opened the door, stepping out to the road pavement, giving the house a long look as my heart beat faster.

Sophia went to the front door first and opened it with her key.

The smell was familiar, though indescribably indistinct. I stepped inside and pulled my shoes off, setting them in the pile next to the door, the habit reawakening in me. It was notable to see my nice clean shoes next to the pile of worn and smudged others. I didn’t even realize how coddled Alisha had kept me. When was the last time I had to walk across something dirty? The dirtiest thing would’ve been pavement and that wasn’t exactly well-known for transferring lots of debris to the upper parts of shoes. Compared to Sophia’s everyday shoes… her’s were smudged with a few different colors of grime.

There was movement of the shadows in the other room and I felt my blood run cold.

“I’m home,” Sophia said into the house.

My father stood from the dining table and came around the corner.

His broad shoulders were braced as he examined us.

I stared at the shoes more intently, only daring to glance up here and there.

“Welcome home, Bailey,” he said coldly.

I swallowed, my brain wanting to scramble that name up, but there was so much numbness I didn’t feel much of anything anymore.

“She goes by Kit now,” Sophia said a bit chidingly.

“Not in this house she doesn’t,” he disagreed.

I felt Sophia’s tension next to me and she put a hand against my back to reassure me.

“I’ll be in my room,” I mumbled and started to head there.

“Wait,” my father ordered.

I stopped, just a couple steps away.

“Empty your pockets,” he said.

I took a breath and took out the makeup, setting it on the floor before showing him my outturned pockets. His eyes narrowed.

“You didn’t bring your phone?” he asked.

“It’s not mine, so no.” I picked my makeup up off the floor and continued on my way, his eyes boring into me the entire time.

I went down the narrow hall. The walls were painted pale yellow and the floor was still a very worn hardwood. I thought it had a nice warm glossy finish at one point, but by now it was the color of sand from years of abuse.

My room was the first bedroom, and also the smaller one. My parents and Sophia had the same size room but Sophia’s only had a twin bed and her dresser/desk combo like mine. I pushed the door open, smelling dust almost immediately. My bed was still made, like I had left it, with my wallet and former phone on it. I picked them up and set them on the nightstand instead and peeled the comforter back, sniffing cautiously. The dust had settled thickly on most of the room but beneath the comforter, the bed was clean and I let myself collapse onto it and curl up, feeling more tears starting to come but within a few moments they had dried and I found myself staring at the dresser across the room.

I could hear everything going on in the house: my parents watching TV and Sophia talking with them about her classes, though there was a certain distractedness in her voice.

If I could sleep, I would but I didn’t feel tired. I didn’t feel anything, I realized. Even when I moved, it was slow and zombie-like.

At some point the others went to bed, my father opening my door to check that I was still there, but he was satisfied at my limp form and shut it again, continuing on his way. I waited until I heard the loud snores from my parents bedroom and finally got up and crept to the bathroom, shutting the door behind me. I relieved myself, letting out a long sigh as the pressure released and the pain in my lower intestines faded.

I flushed and scrubbed my hands clean before slipping back into my bedroom and stopped as Sophia was sitting on my bed. She looked up as I came in.

I shut the door as quietly as I could and sat next to her. She leaned her head against my shoulder.

“You should’ve just told me,” she said.

“Huh?” I mumbled. My eyes were so very dry and my voice had gone hoarse again.

She held her phone up, open on a message stream. I blinked at the screenshots there, and then snatched the phone from her.

It wasn’t a number in her contacts but I scrolled up to find:

Hello, Sophia. Is Kit with you?

Who is this?

Alisha Takeno

Yes she is but I’m not sure I should tell you anything more than she’s safe.

Understandable. As long as she’s safe. She just didn’t tell me she was leaving.

You guys didn’t talk about it?

It was then that Alisha had sent her the screenshots of my conversation with my father, images included.

“I don’t know why you didn’t just call the police,” Sophia told me. “This is exploitative, you know. And probably illegal somehow.”

I didn’t understand. I stared at that image with the cardboard box. Did Alisha really trust Sophia so much to let her see the potential evidence? Sophia didn’t seem to understand the significance but–

I’m so dumb, I realized. My father had a photo of Tye with a cardboard box. Not us doing money laundering things.

Even if I didn’t see photos of us handling explicitly illicit things it didn’t mean he didn’t have them though.

“You should call her,” Sophia told me. “I don’t mind you using my phone.”

I nodded and hit the phone icon so it dialed the number. I waited, hearing the line ring once, then twice and then finally, Alisha’s voice.

“Hello,” she answered.

“H-hi, Alisha,” I said.

“Kitten?” she asked. “Are you okay?”

I nodded, then remembered she couldn’t exactly hear that and answered, “yes. I’m sorry. I panicked.”

I heard her take a deep breath. “I know you did,” she said. “You should have told me, though.”

“I just… I didn’t know if you would… you know.”

There was silence on the other end. “Are you alone?” she asked finally.

“N-no. Sophia’s here.” My thumb was anxiously running across my cuticles on my free hand, 

“Okay, Kitten,” Alisha said. “Listen to me carefully.”

“Mm,” I agreed.

“Since you’re already there, find your personal documents and get them together. I’ll have someone drop your phone off in a bit but don’t be afraid to get out of there if you need to.”

“But Alisha,” I said. “My father, he might… have more photos, you know.”

I felt Sophia shift next to me, uncertain.

“I know. We’ll take care of it. Will you be able to get your phone from someone?”

“Uhm… I don’t know. My father made me empty my pockets when I got here.”

“Okay, I’ll handle it. Stay safe, okay? I’ll be there soon.”

“Huh?” I asked.

But she was gone, the line disconnecting.

I stared at the dark screen for a long moment.

Sophia put a hand on my shoulder. “It’ll be okay,” she told me. “But it’s good you’ll have your phone again.”

“No it’s…” What was Alisha planning? My father knew her face and it would be simple for him to demand her leave. She wouldn’t have authority on his property and even if she gave me my phone, he’d just take it. Then again, if she had someone like Tye with her she could probably intimidate him down.

But my father had firearms in the house, so that would be dangerous.

“Kit…?” Sophia asked.

I blinked and looked at her.

“It’s going to be okay,” she reassured. “You’re an adult, they can’t force you to do anything. But it’ll be good for you to be in contact with Alisha, okay? Even if you stay here.”

I nodded. 

“What did she mean when she was talking about your personal documents?” she asked.

“Well… I can’t do much without my birth certificate and social security card. I can’t open a bank account or get a new driver’s license or do a name change or anything like that.”

Sophia nodded. “So you need to get them out of the safe,” she followed.

“Yes,” I agreed. That was going to be easier said than done. The safe was in my parents room, where my parents were currently sleeping. There was no way I’d be able to grab them tonight.

I picked up my wallet and opened it, finding my old debit card and license there. My stomach turned, seeing my old photo and the old name, but it was technically a form of identification I could use for some things.

“How about we talk about something while we’re waiting,” Sophia offered.

“Like what?”

“Like what you’ve been up to,” Sophia said. “I know you said you tried out baking, have you been keeping on doing that?”

“Uh… only a little. Things got really complicated after I met her mom,” I said. 

“Right, I remember that. That was an awful thing you had to go through.”

I nodded and shut my wallet again. “It was a bit of a political thing, too. Her mom thought I wasn’t suited to either help with her business or provide an heir.”

“I mean… she’s not wrong I don’t think you’ll be providing Alisha a baby anytime soon. I guess that is the kind of thing rich people have to worry about. But Alisha felt quite down to earth when I talked to her.”

“She has a complicated life,” I said. “I did find out her father was an abuser to her and it left its scars.”

“It sounds like her mother isn’t exactly going to be a lot of emotional support, either.”

I shook my head. “Like I said, she’s refusing to talk to her.”

Sophia nodded. “Are you… her only emotional support?” she asked.

“I think… more or less.”

“And you just ran out on her.”

“It’s more complicated than that,” I defended.

“You should be glad she isn’t pissed. I think most people would be,” Sophia said. “You should’ve talked to her.”

“I’m realizing that now.” I hadn’t been the best partner when I made that decision. Panicked or not, I should’ve told her what I was doing and why, even if I didn’t let her stop me.

At the same time, she had executed someone the night before. Surely she’d understand my anxiety about the safety of my family, especially when it came to Sophia.

Sophia was understanding, at least and despite the fact I was sure she was exhausted, she didn’t leave my side until headlights outside shined through the windows. 

I got up to look out the window and saw the Escapade there, glimmering gently in the streetlight. 

Sophia understood, getting up as I opened my door quietly.

But I heard Alisha slam the car’s door with force and froze. My parents snoring was still audible but the rhythm shifted at the noise and there was a mumbling.

“Kit,” Sophia whispered to me.

I looked behind me and saw Alisha approaching the front door with Matteo, of all people. She had chosen the scariest-looking of her enforcers that I knew of.

“Look,” Sophia said, pointing in the other direction, where there were some shrubs and greenery bordering my parent’s yard and the neighbor’s. I saw what she meant pretty quickly. A small whitish rectangle of a screen was gently waving back and forth.

I glanced at where Alisha was headed for the front door. She was the diversion, I realized.

“Can I see your phone?” I asked and scampered over to turn off the bedroom light, plunging us into near pitch-blackness.

Sophia offered her phone to me and I woke it up to hold up to the window.

“Super covert,” Sophia noted as an individual split away from the shadows and up against the house’s outer wall.

It was then that I heard the doorbell ring, making my father snort awake in the other room. I hurriedly sat on my bed with Sophia as his steps lumbered through the hallway. He stopped to open my door and found Sophia and I both sitting there in the dark.

“Stay here,” he ordered me.

I gave him my best innocent nod and he glared a moment longer before heading to the front door.

My mother followed him eventually and also poked her head in my room, giving me that judgemental look down her nose I had come to know quite well. And then she shut my door on her way out.

I waited until they were both at the front door before making my next move.