Chapter Eight
Kevin quietly opened the door to his room and laid the clothes on his bed. Then finding a piece of paper and a pen, he wrote her a note telling her to call someone and let them know where she was. He also told her he'd be in Howie's room, figuring D was out of the shower by now, and wrote down Howie's room number. Kevin left the note on top of the clothes, grabbed his room key and wallet, and left.
Howie had just settled down on his bed with his favorite Jon Secada CD and a book he was currently reading when the knock came at his door. "Coming" he said loudly, hopping off his bed and going to the door. "Oh, hey, Kev" Howie greeted Kevin, not really surprised at seeing him. Howie held open the door and let Kevin in.
Kevin went and sat down on the bed, sighing heavily.
"Something wrong?" Howie asked, sitting next to Kevin with a concerned look on his face.
"Not really wrong. I'm just worried about Randi, that's all" Kevin confessed, massaging his temples.
"How's she doing? Has she cried again?"
"No, but that is really unusual considering what's happened to her. When Dad died, even though I knew it was coming eventually, I cried for the next week. Randi hasn't cried since we were in the park. It's like she's …I don't know."
"Just not thinking about it?" Howie suggested.
"Yeah, kinda. But it's more of an defense mechanism, I guess. It's not that she's denying it's happened or anything…" Kevin trailed off.
"She's probably still in shock, Kev. I remember when Caroline died, like you with your Dad, it was expected. But the first 24 hours, I just don't remember. I was in shock. I think Randi is too. Think about it- this all happened like 4 or 5 hours ago."
"You're probably right, D. I just wish we could help some other way…" Kevin trailed off again.
"It'll all work out, Kev. With or without our help. There's only so much humankind can do for eachother. The rest is up to God" Howie said just as another knock sounded on his door. "My, my, aren't I popular today!" Howie said in an attempt to lighten the atmosphere. Kevin smiled as Howie got up to see who was outside.
Randi shifted her weight lightly onto her right ankle to test it as she waited for someone to answer at Howie's room. Her ankle still throbbed, but it didn't hurt too much to put some of her weight on it. Randi looked down at her toenails, which she had painted just last night. The blue-green glitter polish glittered as if laughing at her. How ironic that last night all she'd had to worry about was what color to paint her nails! Randi looked up from her bare feet when the door opened. "Hi, Howie" she smiled. Even in her bare feet she was about 3 or 4 inches taller than Howie.
"Hey, Randi. Looks like Kev was able to find you something to wear!" he laughed, opened the door farther to let her in.
"Yeah, he did. Thanks, Kevin" she added when she saw him sitting on the bed.
"Don't thank me" he dismissed. "All I did was find the stuff. Nick had a pair of BJ's shorts in his suitcase and Brian lent you the tank top and one of his dress shirts." Kevin smiled as he sized Randi up. "Looks like everything fits" he commented.
"It does. Who's BJ?" Randi asked, confused.
"Nick's sister. BJ is short for Bobbie Jean. She's a model and is 18" Howie explained.
"Oh" Randi said, feeling stupid.
"D, we probably should go tell the guys to get ready. We gotta leave in 10 minutes" Kevin said, getting up. "And let's see if we can find Miss Randi some shoes" he said, flashing Randi a brilliant smile.
"I can put my tennis shoes back on" she protested.
"With a hurt ankle? I don't think so. You oughta be able to wear a pair of Brian's athletic slip-ons" Kevin said, leading her out of Howie's room and down the hall.