Darryl got out from his side of the car and went over to hers, opening the car door. He turned her gently so she was facing him and her legs were dangling out.
‘Hey sweetie, didn’t you have a great time at the party?’ Darryl asked gently but all he got were more sobs and sniffs. Finally, she shook her head from side to side indicating a negative response.
‘What happened?’
Amid sniffs, with tears streaking down her face, Raina told her story. Darryl took out a handkerchief and gently dried her tears.
‘That’s it. It’s okay. At least you gave them a hard time. I am sure none of those boys will come near you again. I am so proud of you.’
Raina sniffed some more but she composed herself. She was feeling better. Her eyes were slightly red but that was no big deal. It was dark anyways.
‘I am sure when get older, you will….um…meet a guy who will treat you way better than those fools. You should have told me earlier. I would have dealt with what was left of them. Right now, I think you should go inside before your parents start to discover you are not home. Do remember to fix yourself up before you go home.’
Darryl went back to sit behind the wheel while Raina re-arranged her appearance back to the way it was. She turned to look at Darryl and for a while she couldn’t speak. He had been so sensitive and caring towards her. She had never seen this side of him.
‘Thanks Darryl. Thank you for everything.’
‘Don’t mention. Anything to make my queen happy.’
Later on Raina would look back on this moment and wonder if those words were what prompted her next action. She did so want a guy to treat her like a queen.
She stared deeply at him and realized for the first time in her life that he was a very cute and cool guy. His eyes were beautiful. His lips were…she leaned in towards him and quickly pressed her lips to his.
Darryl was totally unprepared for the shock of Raina’s sweet and untrained lips on his. He had wondered why she was staring but he had thought she was brooding over her rotten experience. Instantly he froze. He didn’t know how to react. He couldn’t even think.
She started to rub her lips over his, and instinctively, he responded, kissing her back. He kissed her gently, sweetly, for the briefest of seconds and then stopped. He had not forgotten who she was. He didn’t want her to feel any worse than she already was but he couldn’t continue either.
Raina had started it, seeking for something she could not really name. Maybe it was all those novels she read that filled her head with silly romantic illusions. Initially she had wanted to erase the memory of her experience but it had turned out to be something more. She felt moisture between her legs. The kiss had been sweet and she wanted it to go on forever so she found it hard to let go when he pulled away.
Knowing he was going to apologise and go on and on about how it should never have happened, Raina opened the car door and ran quickly home. She felt bad that Darryl would probably be blaming himself right now when all he had ever done was help her out.
Her heart beat wildly as she ran to her room careful to avoid being seen. Luckily, she did not meet anyone. She closed the door quickly and lay down on the bed for a few minutes to slow her racing heart. She then rushed to the bathroom to shower. Undressing, she realized her panties were blood-stained and screamed for her mum.
Meanwhile…………
For the second time that day, Darryl was at a loss. His brain was trying to process what had happened. He couldn’t believe he had kissed his best friends’s little sister. And she was much younger. Goodness! How had he allowed this to happen. He should have known better.
They will have to keep this a secret from Leroy because this was an awful mistake. He loved Leroy like the brother he never had. They had been friends since nursery. By extension that makes Raina your sister, his conscience whispered to him. He shook his head and started the car. He didn’t know how he will act around Raina now. He will avoid going to their house for a few days. Then apologise to her as soon as he was feeling brave. All he had to do was relax and act normal.
* * * * * * * *
During dinner, Leroy noticed that his sister was acting strangely. She was not a fussy eater but this evening she idly pushed the contents of her plate around.
His father did not seem to mind as he thought this was probably a reaction to his refusal. He had expected Raina to at least come and tell him about everything that had happened. Usually, she had stories to tell but she had not done that. Also she was avoiding meeting his eyes. Something was definitely wrong. Maybe the party had not gone well as planned.
‘Leroy, remember to call Darryl and remind him of dinner tomorrow. He promised to be here.’
Raina dropped her fork onto the plate with a loud noise. Everyone turned to look at her.
‘Raina, are you alright? You look pale. You are not eating your food either. You are a young woman now, my dear.’
Raina blushed and bowed her head in embarrassment. She had no idea her mother was going to make a public announcement and that too at the dinner table.
She raised her eyes to see both her father and brother looking at her.
‘Our Raina is now a young woman,’ her mother grinned proudly.
‘That definitely explains your mood tonight.’ Leroy chipped in with a sly grin.
After that dinner continued normally with no further disruptions. After dinner, her parents asked to talk to her. She knew her parents were going to give her sex education now that her menstruation had started.
And they did. It was interesting to see her father so humble and uncomfortable. She would have laughed but she knew she had to keep a straight face. Else, her parents will be suspicious of her. She was not that boy crazy. Not yet anyway. She planned to wait for the perfect gentleman.
Later, as she lay in bed that night, she remembered kissing Darryl and how it made her feel. She touched her lips lightly and whispered his name on a sigh. Too bad she was the wrong age. Those were her last thoughts as slumber overpowered her.
Sunday arrived quickly with the Arthurs going to church. Leroy had been able to remind Darryl to attend lunch during the course of the week. However, he had been unable to meet up with him as they had conflicting work schedules. They got to church early so Leroy hurried to find a place to sit down. He and Darryl usually sat at a particular lane of pews so he was hoping to meet him and exchange a few words before the start of the service but to his dismay, Darryl was nowhere to be found. He began to wonder if Darryl was avoiding him but he quickly shook his head to dispel the thought.
Church came to a close soon enough and finally Leroy was able to finally catch a glimpse of him. He quickly manoeuvred his way through the crowd to get to him.
‘Hey Darryl, where have you been? I tried calling you yesterday but your phone was switched off and I didn’t see you at our usual place today. What’s up?’
‘Um…Sorry about that. My phone’s battery was low, plus I went to bed early. Hope everyone’s alright? How’s the Queens and her subjects?’
‘Ah! That’s exactly what I wanted to talk to you about. Rain’s been acting kind of funny since yesterday. Did anything happen to her?’
‘You should try and talk to her. You two are very close. I’m sure she will tell you.’ Darryl started to move away only to bump into Raina.
They both turned to look at Leroy with guilty expressions on their faces. Leroy regarded them closely wondering what was making him so nervous.
‘One of you should just tell me. I am imagining the worst.’ Leroy looked at both his friend and his sister closely. Neither looked ready to talk. Darryl turned to look at Raina and she in turn lowered her eyes to the ground.
Darryl sighed. ‘Alright. I will tell you. I didn’t know what happened would affect her this way. Really, I am sorry, very sorry for what happened the other day.’
Darryl said this while looking at Raina knowing full well why he was apologising. Then he finally turned to Leroy and said, ‘Raina told me a boy forcibly kissed her yesterday at the party last weekend.’
‘What the heck!’, Leroy exclaimed, drawing the attention of other church members who turned to look at him. His hands were already balled into fists.
‘Hey, at least I managed to give them a few blows thanks to the moves you taught me. I am sure they will never do that to me again. In fact, they may just ran away in the opposite direction.
‘Of course, they won’t. Once Darryl and I go and knock some sense into those foolish boys. We will show them not to mess around with you. Oh Rain!’ Leroy pulled his sister closely for a hug.
‘Here I was thinking I would be the one to give you your very first kiss at a candle-lit dinner with some cool music on a star-filled night.’
Raina met Darryl’s eyes briefly over her brother’s shoulders . Raina then punched Leroy playfully in his abdomen and gave him a big smile. ‘Thanks a lot big brother.’
‘Glad to know this is over. I will be leaving then.’
‘Wait!’ Raina and Leroy both said this at the same time. They turned to look at each other with surprise on their faces This was more evident on Leroy than Raina as she had never heard his sister requesting for a word with Darryl. Not ever, until today. He was beginning to wonder whether what Raina had told him was the full story.
‘Darryl turned to look at the two of them wondering what each had to say.
‘There is something I have to tell you,’ she said softly.
The tone of her voice however did nothing to cool his racing heart. What if she talked about the…………what if ?