Guardian by Kassandra Kush Page B

anger scare me on this battlefront. “Because,” I said, steeling myself, “I can’t repay you for it. I can’t afford to pay a cell phone bill every month.”
    Just that fast, Rafael’s green eyes were snapping in fury. “Sit down,” he commanded through clenched teeth.
    I began to protest but Rafael pointed to my chair, index finger trembling. “ Sit .”
    I sat.
    Rafael began pacing the kitchen. The way he ran his hands through his dark hair and how sharply he executed his turns at the end of each line of pacing made me grateful for the distance between us. I could never figure out how I always seemed to unconsciously know just what to say to send Rafael flying into a rage.
    “I have watched you being beaten by your mother and father several times,” Rafael began, and my breath caught in my throat. “Before, we were not speaking; there was nothing I could do at the time. We still didn’t know each other. I’m sorry about that, Lyla. So very sorry. But now, much as I would like to keep a set of eyes on you every second of the day, it’s impractical, not to mention quite impossible, as proved by yesterday. Thus,” he turned toward me and moved with that supersonic speed I’d noticed earlier, and was standing directly across the table from me, with the iPhone held up before him, “the cell phone. This is not something I think you need that I went and fetched for you. It’s something I am demanding that you have. Something that I bought and will continue to pay for. You will call me the next time your father or mother attempts to attack you or Colton or Grace. You will call me, and I will come for you.”
    I looked between Rafael and the phone he held in front of him, tears stinging at my eyes and trying to spill down my face. I held them back. I wanted to believe Rafael. I really, really did. Except… so many people had said the same thing. True, none of them had gone to such lengths as buying me a brand new cell phone, but hadn’t I heard the “call me and I’ll come help you” line so many times? I knew it wasn’t right of me, but I was cynical of the whole idea. Even with Rafael. Even with him.
    “Rafael, it’s not your job to keep Colton and Grace safe,” I said quietly. “It’s not your job to keep me safe.”
    Rafael leaned forward across the table, setting the phone in front of me. “I am making it my job,” he whispered back, just as quietly. He pulled out two identical cell phones from the bag, one blue, one pink. They were simple models, ones that only slid up and down to reveal the keypad, nowhere near as glamorous as the iPhone. “These are for Colton and Grace, so they can call you when it starts, should you be gone like last time.”
    I stared up at Rafael, unable to keep my mouth closed. Though I was still doubtful of how long his good intentions would last, it was the two phones for Colton and Grace that finally convinced me to pick up the iPhone from the table. Rafael nodded once as I did so, looking relieved that I had finally given in.
    He pulled a phone identical to mine from his pocket and looked at it. “Now,” he said gruffly, “how do you work these things?”
    I laughed loudly, the tension finally gone from the room. Rafael and I spent the rest of the day getting the cell phones into working order, though I insisted on going to the park to do it. It was just too strange to have Rafael in my sagging little house. I wasn’t proud of it, but I also felt safer in the park, with more people around, just in case. We had fun picking out ringtones, laughing over the ridiculous ones and making sure that Colton’s and Grace’s phones were easy enough to use and programming my number in them first thing.
    I quickly learned that Rafael was sparing no expense where these phones were concerned. When I balked at the idea of buying the ringtone of the newest song that I liked, he grabbed the phone from me and ordered it for me. This phone, he informed me, was mine to do with