Little Tastes of Red Mire

(1) Saving Nila : Quarterback

The entire dedication for Saving Nila goes to TheNightSky7 for creating the perfect cover! Thank you so much! I hope you enjoy!

Nila

It was an innocent mistake, really. Shy girl shows up to a party where she didn't belong, but gets invited to dance by the most handsome boy in school before she gets the nerve to leave; one taste of sweet alcohol on virgin lips combined with a few pretty words and the night turns into a blur -- that is until the shy girl comes to and finds two men undressing her in a back room. The fight is useless and she knows there's no one to help. No one to save her. Nobody to hear her as she cried out for help. And all she could do is wait until it was over and curl into herself. 

But instead of a mistake, maybe it was fate -- though it sickens me to think about that way. But, doesn't Daddy always tell Papa that? Everything happens for a reason, baby. Don't you go questioning God. I can hear Daddy saying this, his big tattooed arms wrapped firmly around Papa's much smaller form, embracing so tightly that I wonder how Papa doesn't dissolve into the larger man. I've heard the statement a million times but I guess I never really understood until now.

You should've known. A voice cries out in my head and I know it's true. I should have known. How could I not have? It was the drink -- the sickly taste of the drug hidden behind the fruity tang of whatever juice they combined it with.  I should never have accepted it, it was the first rule of going to parties; always make your own drink and keep an eye on it. Either way, it's clear that I'm not the first since it was done so smoothly. And somehow they knew I wouldn't raise a fuss, knew I would never report it. That I would never talk about it. And sometimes I wonder why? Why me, why it happened, and how they knew.

But none of it matters.

All that matters is my sweet Cameron.

*
She doesn't look like me save for her skin tone but no one has said anything. They all suspect, I can see it in their eyes as I hide behind my Daddy, refusing to interact with others. Most of them hang back, allow me to keep them at an arms length. A safe distance, no one can touch me if I don't allow them to get close.

Except for Walker.

And I both love and hate it. I can see the want in his brilliant blue eyes, the same desire that used to shine in mine, but now I know all he sees is fear reflected back. He doesn't touch me and for this I'm grateful, no one can aside from my Cammie; even Daddy and Papa approach with caution, barely nearing me before I bolt away like a frightened rabbit. The pain in their eyes is enough to choke me, but I can't help it. No matter what I do, all I see his them and I'm right back in that room, hoarsely calling for help. Pleading for my savior to come as I realize no one is coming.

Nobody came then, and now, nobody can save me.

Walker

She was lost, and it took no genius to see that. It was apparent in the way she stared off into space and held Cammie. You couldn't get too close -- there was a wild look that appeared when you tried, one that warns your good sense to back up. But, I never had much good sense.

And I couldn't allow Nila to stay lost.

Something had happened to her back in North Carolina but she didn't talk about it. She never explained to me the day she came home in tears why she refused to allow me to hug her -- why she flinched at the simplest of movements. And she wouldn't tell me who he was, the father of her unborn child, but I didn't push too much; there was a warning in her gorgeous green eyes that told me to stop -- another that begged me to keep going. And while I wanted to ask again, beg her to name the man who'd gotten her pregnant even though it killed me to think of it, I never asked again. I was too focused on stepping up, helping her. I was determined to fill in the spot that was left gaping. I was going to be at her side every step of the way, even if I had to do it from two hundred miles away. Because, I knew that I was destined to be there for her. Since the first time she smiled at me my eight year old heart was lost. I knew from that day, covered in mud and other bits of muck, that I would marry Nila Sanders. And even now thirteen years layer, I knew that to be true.

But in order to get both her and Cammie into my arms I would have to save her.