My Dawn

Chapter 14

Dawn gagged as she picked it up by the tail.

“Hawkie want the rat?” Dawn strained to say.

“Hawkie?” Mark asked.

“Short for Hawkeye.” Dawn strained.

The hawk had its wings extended. It flew onto the counter near the sink and walked slowly towards Dawn. Dawn slowly extended her hand and the hawk grabbed the rat with its foot. It ripped the rats head off with its beak and then Dawn lost her food, vomiting in the sink. The crunch made her sick. Tate and Mark laughed.

“See, not a bad bone in her body.” Tate said.

Laura looked pale at the way the hawk ate. The boys thought it was cool.

“Do they always eat like that?” Laura asked.

“Worse, they usually eat live animals. Which means it screams.” Mark said.

Dawn was sick again. The hawk finished and walked to her hand on the counter.

“You’re nasty.” Dawn said.

The upcoming days they got used to a hawk flying around wherever Dawn went. It followed her everywhere. When Laura’s birthday came around, Dawn had hidden the hawk in her room.

“Laura! What’s she doing here?” Asked a lot of kids.

“Dawn is my best friend.” Laura said.

Mark heard this with Patrick, Jessie and all of Patrick’s friends. Mark said Patrick could bring his friends over so he wasn’t bothered by all the girls. Mark noticed the other girls singling Dawn out. He suggested Patrick hang out with her just for a bit. And Patrick was happy to. The more that Patrick got to know about her, the more he was intrigued to know about the mystery girl.

“Who’s she?” Oscar asked.

“That’s Dawn.” Jessie said.

Jessie hugged Dawn.

“Why is Dawn not with the girls?” Mike asked.

“Because the girls are jealous of Dawn.” Patrick said.

“Why?” Oscar asked.

“Because Dawn is pretty and funny.” Patrick said.

Dawn shot him a weird look.

“Mark won’t let me play with hawkie so I have to play out here.” Dawn said.

“Hawkie?” Trevor asked.

“Dawn is my cousin. She has a pet inside. Dawn is living with us for a while.” Patrick lied.

“Oh, is it one of the rats?” Oscar asked.

“The rats are there for breeding, for its food.” Jessie said.

“Oh, sounds awesome. Can we meet Hawkie?” Mike asked.

“No, he’s not good with crowds.” Dawn said.

“I knew it was a lie.” Oscar said.

“It isn’t a lie. Hawkeye is aggressive so it’s in her room so no one gets hurt.” Patrick said.

“Can we at least see it from a window?” Derek asked.

“How about, I go inside and sneak it out?” Dawn whispered.

“Dad will be mad.” Patrick said.

“But I need a hug.” Dawn said.

“We will hug you.” Mike said.

“No thanks.” Dawn said.

“Be quick, we can pretend he opened a window to get out.” Patrick said.

Dawn nodded. She walked inside and ran up the stairs. They looked at Patrick smugly.

“DAWN! YOU BETTER NOT BE IN YOUR ROOM!” Mark shouted.

They noticed her running along the gutter outside the windows. But she wore a jacket over her clothes now. And it was obvious she was giggling. Dawn jumped down and ran towards them.

“Hawkie was asleep but he will be out soon.” Dawn said.

“Why did you escape through the window?” Patrick asked.

“Mark saw me.” Dawn said.

Jessie laughed.

“I knew you were a troublemaker.” Jessie said.

A loud screech was heard and the guys hesitated.

“Get back.” Patrick said.

Patrick and Jessie visibly looked scared. The boys listened and stood back. A large hawk got closer to Dawn and sat on her shoulder.

“Meet Hawkeye, Dawn calls him Hawkie.” Patrick said.

“That is so cool!” Derek said.

“He’s aggressive, we can’t even touch him and he’s been with us for a while.” Patrick said.

The Hawk nestled onto her shoulder. Dawn looked at him until she heard the back door open. A very angry looking Mark stood in the doorway.

“Dawn Rivers, you snuck inside to let him out.” Mark said loudly.

He was visibly angry. Dawn walked over, she had her face down to the ground. Her fingers twiddling behind her.

“I’m sorry Mark.” Dawn said softly.

“Why did you disobey me?” Mark asked.

His voice serious still, but he was heartbroken at the fact she was starting to cry.

“The girls wouldn’t play with me and Patrick’s friends wouldn’t play with me so I mentioned I wanted a hug from Hawkie. They questioned us about Hawkie. Patrick lied saying I was his cousin, but that Hawkie was my pet and dangerous so they had to stay back. They didn’t listen. But as soon as Hawkeye came out, they stopped being buttheads.” Dawn said softly.

Mark hugged her while Hawkeye looked at him curiously.

“If you explained that, I would have let you bring him out inside the house. There is just too many kids. If he hurt one, I would get in trouble.” Mark said.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t think about that.” Dawn cried.

“It’s okay. How about you go play on your new equipment while I get you a milk. Then we just pretend this never happened.” Mark said.

Dawn nodded as she cried. Mark walked inside.

“Dad?” Laura asked.

“Your cousin is in trouble for bringing her pet out. But she brought him out because no one would play with her. She’s going to play on her equipment now. Make sure you stay away because Hawkeye won’t let anyone close to her. He will hurt them.” Mark said.

Laura realised that he was making a cover for why Dawn was there. They watched as Mark walked out with a strawberry milk and a chocolate.

“I thought we weren’t allowed the chocolate or milk?” Hannah asked.

“They are Dawn’s. She is amazing. You should watch her after she eats and drinks.” Laura said.

Laura led them outside to watch at the large eating area outside. Mark gestured the boys to go further back into the yard. Jessie grabbed the stereo from the back door and plugged it in.

“Do you need assistance or do you want to do it alone?” Mark asked.

“Alone. I need to get out my frustration.” Dawn said softly.

“You have spare clothes in the room right there. How about you go change so no one see’s up your dress. I told the girls you were going to be out here and for them to not disturb you. Patrick has probably told his friends already. Do you want a CD or a playlist we made for you?” Mark asked.

“Playlist, upbeat. Pop, and rock.” Dawn said.

Mark laughed. He walked to the stereo and plugged Dawn’s phone in with an AUX cord. He turned the volume up. He started to play the music. On cue, the hawk flew to a bird stand that Mark had put in for him. Hawkeye would watch Dawn and screech loudly like he was cheering her on. Dawn came out of the dressing room in short black pants, a tight black singlet with a loose white shirt over it, her hair in a bun and she had small white gloves on.

“Good luck Dawn.” Mark said.