I leaned against the bus window as we came into Detroit.

Yesterday I had learned that my 'mother' had been killed in a shoot up at local store. Evelyn Mercer wasn't actually my mother, she was more like my adopted mother, I'd grown up in the house beside her for years, and she'd taken care of me when my real mother was either drinking too much or she had one of her many boyfriends with her, and then, when I was sixteen and my mom had just up and disappeared Evelyn was the only thing that I had.

I sighed and pulled my guitar closer, hugging it to me as I thought back to the four brothers. First, there was Bobby Mercer, the oldest of the four and the one that got into the most trouble. Jeremiah Mercer the second oldest who was married and had two daughters. Angel Mercer, the third oldest who had just gotten out of the army and then, there was Jack, Jack was the youngest of the four. He was

beautiful, and he was a musician just like me. His band, The Spares, hadn't done as well as he'd hoped though. At least that's what he had told me on the phone when we talked last night.

I was excited to see them again, although I wasn't sure if Bobby was going to show up, he wasn't exactly reliable when you needed to find him, but I did hope he would come for his own mother's funeral, especially for Jack's sake. Jack had been in the system for a long time before Evelyn found him and took him in, I knew that this was probably killing him; it had shown in his voice last night when he called to tell me.

It was hard for him to lose his mother, especially after everything he had had to go through, we'd talked about it quite a lot when we were kids, especially since we were the youngest of the group. Jack was one of those kids that had had shit handed to him and he still turned into someone who cared about you, even if you didn't always deserve it. That's the reason that I had grown so close to him before we both went our separate ways, he didn't care about my past all he cared about was the present.

That was why Bobby had been so close to him too. Bobby had had a rough life to, but he just seemed to really care about Jack, mostly because he was a little naïve.

I sighed and closed my eyes, pressing my forehead against the window.

I walked into my house, seeing my mother's car in the driveway. It was five o'clock and my mother had already gotten into a bottle of Captain Morgan's. I sighed, trying to be quiet as I passed by the living room so I wouldn't be spotted, knowing I probably should have just slipped back out of the house and gone to Miss Evelyn's house for dinner that night.

My mom wasn't exactly a bad person, she was just a little overworked and as a result she always went to Captain Morgan to drown away her worries, the only problem was, alcohol always made her a bit…well, angry. And, being the only other person who lived there, I was usually the one that got the most of the anger, unless the walls got it first.

"Danielle, come here." My mother's voice came through the hallway to where I was trying to slip upstairs.

I sighed and dropped my backpack, walking into the living room to see my mother who was holding a Captain Morgan in one hand and putting a cigarette out into an empty bottle.

"Yes mom?" I smiled at her slightly, testing her mood, hoping that maybe she wasn't as drunk as she usually was at this time.

Unfortunately, for me she was already drunk and I flinched as she stood up and slapped me across the face.

"Where were you it's seven thirty?" She raised her hand again and I stepped back.

"Mom, it's only five." I told her, knowing I should have kept my mouth shut but today had not been a good day for me anyway. I was tired of people telling me lies and I was tired of being treated like a ragdoll.

My mother's face grew red with anger and I took another step back, and got to the door frame before she exploded with anger. She threw the Captain Morgan bottle at me, but luckily her aim was bad and it hit the floor, some of the glass flying off the floor and cutting my ankle.

I cursed, and looked down at the bottle before looking back at my mother who was coming toward me, her face growing angrier now that she had just lost her alcohol.

I bit my lip as she pulled me back into the living room, screaming random things at me as she did so and let her slowly get over her anger.

I looked up from my seat and yawned as the bus came to a stop. I saw Jerry standing outside, a slightly sad look on his face as I stepped off the bus and out into the cold Michigan air.

"Danny, it's been forever girl." We hugged and he helped me carry my bag to his car. I held onto my guitar as we walked toward it, "So how have you been?"

I shrugged, "Okay I guess, I graduated college a month ago and now I'm just trying to get a better job."

"You graduated from college and you didn't call anyone?" Jerry gave me an annoyed look as he started the car and cautiously pulled onto the highway.

I shrugged again, "Actually I did, Jack just seemed to be the only one who decided to show up."

"I never got a call Danny"

"Really, because I sent out some invitations."

Jerry nodded and started driving again, "I guess I just didn't get it, I'm sorry Danny.."

We drove in silence then and I looked out the window as snow began to fall, covering the ground in a fine white powder.

"I hate snow." I said, sticking my tongue out.

Jerry laughed, the sound was strained as if he hadn't laughed in months, "You never did like snow."

I sat in the kitchen of my house crying as my mom walked out, going to work for the night. I looked down at my ankle, seeing the deep gashes and decided that it probably would be best to go over to Miss Evelyn's to see if she could find a Band-Aid or something. I sighed and stood up, making sure not to put too much weight on it as I limped out the house and over to her house.

"Miss Evelyn?" I knocked on the door and smiled slightly as Bobby opened the door. He looked down at me and sighed as he saw the bruise that was already appearing on my arm.

I couldn't understand why he always seemed to be visiting when I came to Miss. Evelyn's for worse things than staying the night. He always seemed to have to be there to see it. The one thing I wanted to know was where Jack was, he hadn't even come to the door to see who was here.

"Come on Danny." He moved to let me in and grabbed my arm lightly as I tripped from putting so much weight on my leg, "Jesus, what the hell happened?"

"I dropped a glass bottle." I shrugged acting as if it didn't matter.

He didn't look convinced, "And it landed behind you?"

"Yeah, it was weird." I gave him another smile and he helped me sit down before going to get his mom.

When she came in she was carrying a large Band-Aid and a pair of tweezers. Miss Evelyn had a worried look on her face as she sat down and demanded to see my leg. She looked at my arm as she pulled some pieces of glass out.

We sat there silently and eventually Bobby came down stairs again, "So, when are you going to tell someone what's going on Danny?"

"What is going on Bobby?" I looked at him and he rolled his eyes, annoyed.

"You can't just keep letting her do that to you."

"My mom's not doing anything. I told you I dropped a glass."

He slammed his hand on the table and I jumped slightly, "Stop bullshitting Danielle. This is serious."

"I'm being serious Bobby, I dropped a bottle."

"Then explain to me the bruises on your arms." Bobby glared at me and I looked away, trying to come up with some kind of excuse.

"Leave it alone Bobby." Miss Evelyn sighed and pulled another piece of glass out of my ankle before putting the Band-Aid on it.

Bobby rolled his eyes but left it alone.

I looked out the window then, seeing some white flakes falling down and made a face, turning to Miss Evelyn.

"So um…Miss Mercer, may I stay here tonight?" I asked shyly.

Miss Evelyn smiled, "Absolutely."

Jerry pulled into the parking lot of the cemetery, Jack was already there, standing amidst a crowd of people with his hands in his pockets. He looked like he'd been crying quite a lot and I felt bad, knowing I probably should have talked to him longer tonight. Bobby was there to, looking just like the same tough guy I grew up with. I got out of the car and walked up to them, hugging Jack immediately.

"Hey guys."I gave them a half-hearted smile and went to hug Bobby.

"Hey Danny." Jack replied.

Bobby gave me the one over, taking in my appearance, I hadn't changed much in the three years I had last seen the guys, but I had changed my hair a bit, adorning it with a couple of multicolored streaks.

"You look different college girl." Bobby said.

I rolled my eyes, "Really Bobby, do we have to start with the teasing already?"

He only shrugged and we began to walk toward the casket, I grabbed Jack's hand and squeezed it reassuringly, and stopped, the large group of people stopping behind us as they all waited for the funeral to begin.

"We have gathered here today to remember one of the most remarkable woman that has ever live." The priest began.

I stared at the casket, the news fully sinking in now that Evelyn was in fact dead, this wasn't some cruel prank that the brothers were trying to play on me. I wiped away some tears with my free hand as I stared at the casket, knowing that the one woman who gave five messed up kid the opportunity to better themselves. The woman that had expected nothing in return from those children was gone…and I'd never even gotten the right chance to actually thank her.

The priest continued talking and then stepped down, letting people go up to speak about her.

Jack let go of my hand first and walked up to the small stage area that had been set up and cleared his throat. He started talking but I could barely hear what he was saying, he wasn't speaking loud enough, even for me being in the front row until someone asked him to speak up.

He got louder and slightly more confident and continued, "…You were hardly given anything to eat. You learn to take what you can get. When Evelyn took me in, it was no different for me. Until she caught me with my pockets all full and she tried to explain to me what it meant to be adopted, and what it meant to have a family, what it meant to have a last name. And, she would say: 'Jackie... there's no reason to steal your own toothbrush anymore.' Cause I would, I would, I would take it, and I would put it in my sock drawer..." He smiled slightly remembering times with his mom and then stepped down, moving to stand next to me again.

"You're turn." He whispered, pushing me toward the small stage. I tripped slightly and walked up there, taking a deep breath.

"When my mom moved here, she instantly made friends with Evelyn, knowing that she could help watch me when she worked all day and most of the night at different restaurants. Evelyn decided to help out my mom and then as I continued to grow up I even became friends with her adopted sons along the way. But she helped me get through the days when my mom was drinking more than she should and even took me in when my mom just disappeared.

"The only thing was, she never had to do that. I was pretty sure that I could make it on my own at first. But I was having problems with things myself. She knew that I wasn't going to spend money on food and she knew that I was going to drop out of school if no one was there to take care of me. Therefore, like every other time my mom wasn't being a mom, she took me in and raised me, becoming more of a mother to me than my own biological one. I never looked for my real mom after she left, mostly because I felt safer with Evelyn and her four sons than I had ever felt with my mother. And, at first, that really scared me, but as the years went on I just stopped thinking about how things would have been different if my mom stayed. They would have been different though and if she had stayed my life probably would have taken a turn for the worst…and because of Evelyn, well, I felt like there was a need for me to survive mostly because she wanted to take care of me, no matter how much I just wanted to be on my own." I touched Evelyn's coffin for a moment and took a deep breath, continuing to stare at for as I thought over everything that she had saved me from.

I stepped down then, my hand coming off the coffin slowly as I did, walking back to stand in between Jack and Bobby, grabbing their hands as more and more people stood up to tell their stories about her. I leaned into Jack slightly and let a few more tears escape as I looked only at the coffin, wishing the Evelyn would just appear and tell everyone to get their asses back home.

Jack shook slightly for a moment and I saw him look down from the corner of my eye. I couldn't believe that this woman brought the five of us together, had brought us together again after years of not really keeping in contact.

I think she would have been happy that most of us showed up though, showed up to give her our love just like she had given us hers.