Hidden Burdens (working title)

Chapter Sixteen

The rest of Saturday was a chill, lazy day for Kimmy, switching back and forth between YouTube and Netflix. She wished she had her Switch to play on, but that was back home with her mom.

There was the PS4 downstairs, but Ben was outside with Miguel, doing guy stuff. Not to mention, Kimmy could not work up the courage to go out there and ask. It was also why she spent so much time in her room. Unless Claudia was in there. Then she hung out in the loft, on the beanbag chair. Anywhere she could be alone.

No one announced when lunch was ready, so when dinner was announced, Kimmy's stomach was growling so much she couldn't concentrate on the video.

Stella called after dinner. During the conversation, Kayla asked if she was comfortable sharing their faith with Kimmy. So Kayla sat her on the couch in the front living room and shared a book about that Jesus person those vegetables were singing about. Apparently, he was God's son who never did anything wrong and died for everyone who wanted to believe.

Kimmy didn't really know how to respond to the story. Nor did she understand it. Kayla said she could ask any questions Kimmy had, but Kimmy only shrugged, uninterested. All Kimmy could think about was how God was able to have a son with a human being? Stella had already told her where babies came from and how they got in there, and what adults did when they were in love. So, how did a guy who was invisible to people "do it?"

All Kimmy could think of was the story of Hercules, the hero from ancient Greece folklore. There was an adaptation Stella liked as a teenager in the 90s and had collected the entire series on DVD and let Kimmy watch it. In the show, Zeus, the king of the gods, had come down from Mount Olympus and fell in love with Hercules' mother. So, is that what happened between God and Jesus' mother?

Kayla also explained they went to church on Sunday mornings while the kids went to Sunday school so they wouldn't have to sit through a long, boring sermon. That right there was a definite no. Probably the quickest she had answered them so far. Kimmy did not enjoy going to regular school and milked the two days she got off as much as she could. Kimmy didn't want to spend part of her break with more school, even if it was to just learn about this Jesus guy.

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Late Sunday morning, Kimmy and Claudia went with Kayla to meet the others for lunch, then went shopping afterwards. All except Ben, who left to go somewhere from the restaurant. Though he didn't seem thrilled to be going. Kimmy recognized the defeated tone he had when talking to his mom on the phone and, for some reason, it lingered on her mind on the way to Target. It wouldn't be the first time. A lot of stuff Kimmy had witnessed sometimes freezes in her mind and replays over and over. She never understood why things sometimes left an impression. It was as if her mind was a movie projection and she could see things the way it happened in real life, sometimes on a loop.

To and from Target, Kimmy rode in the very back of the jeep, staring out the window, trying to tune out the rock music playing through the speakers. On the way there, she felt something poking her underneath. She checked and pulled out a toy firefighter with large hands and feet.

Kimmy stared at the toy in her hands, moving its hands and feet in different directions and rotating its head as if it were possessed. Playing with the toy helped keep her mind preoccupied.

Besides her video games, Kimmy missed her collection of toys. Her bin of Legos and pile of action figures, and making up pretend scenarios in her head. The lady that picked her and Zach up told them to pack a change of clothes and a favorite toy for now, so Kimmy could only bring Chester. Though, maybe it was a good thing, since there were other kids at the group home who could have stolen her toys. The doors couldn't be locked and the younger kids had a free run of the house. Some of the staff would just sit there on their phones or chat among other adults, and would tell a kid to "figure it out" whenever they tattled on another kid.