A Twist of Fate
Hi guys! This is just a one-shot exploring what happened when Kyle and Becky's mum (Lisa Bennett) died and what happened to the siblings after their mum's death too
This is related to my fanfic - Life as a Braxton
Disclaimer: I don't own Home and Away
I really hope you enjoy this and please review with your thoughts!
Summary: A one-shot about what happened on the day that Kyle and Becky lost their mum and what happened in the aftermath of her death (Related to my fanfic – Life as a Braxton)
Fourteen-year old Kyle Bennett yawned as he went into his mum's room to check if she had come home last night. The room was messy, but there was no sign of Lisa Bennett. She wasn't at the flat often and when she was, she was either sleeping or drunk.
Sighing, Kyle went to wake up his six year old sister, Becky, for school. After getting both himself and his sister ready, Kyle entered the kitchen and opened the fridge, examining its contents, there was only a bit of milk left, no bread, no eggs and not much else. Examining the cupboards, there was only some cereal, that was nearly finished, and a few tins. Sighing, Kyle knew that they would have to go shopping soon for some more groceries – he'd have to get the money from his mum's purse the next time she was home, so hopefully tonight, if she hadn't already spent it on booze, cigarettes and drugs.
Kyle lifted Becky up so that she could reach the sink and pour herself some water – it would have been easier if Kyle did it but Becky insisted as she was a 'big girl now'. Placing his sister back down, Kyle reached into a cupboard and brought out Becky's AED's (Anti-Epileptic Drugs) and passed one of the small pills to her. She put it in her mouth followed by the glass of water.
"What do you want to eat?" Kyle asked.
"Chocolate," Becky declared with a smile on her face.
Kyle laughed before saying, "I don't think chocolate for breakfast is a good idea."
"Fine," Becky sighed dramatically, "Please can I have some cereal then?"
Getting out the milk, cereal, a bowl and a spoon, Kyle poured the remaining cereal into a bowl for Becky.
"Kyle, is mum home?" Becky asked innocently as Kyle poured the last of the milk for her.
"No not yet," Kyle replied, as he went to throw the empty cereal packet and milk carton into the bin.
"When is she coming back?" She questioned.
"I don't know," Kyle replied.
Kyle sighed, every day it was the same – not knowing when she was going to come home and some of the time, she was gone for a few days at a time, leaving him to look after himself and Becky – not that he minded looking after his sister, he loved her more than anything, but their mum's unreliability always had him on edge.
"Kyle, why aren't you eating anything?" Becky asked, interrupting Kyle's thoughts.
"I'm not hungry," Kyle lied. He was used to not eating a lot and he was glad that he had free school meals– at least he had one proper meal each day.
"I'm sorry for finishing the cereal," Becky apologised, guilt evident on her face, as she pushed her bowl towards Kyle, "Do you want some?"
Smiling, Kyle said, "No it's fine, you eat it."
Making sure that Becky had enough to eat was a priority for Kyle – with her epilepsy, she needed to have a good balanced diet and if by not eating a lot himself, it allowed Becky to have what she needed then so be it.
"But what are you going to eat then?" Becky persisted.
Grabbing the last apple from the worktop, Kyle showed it to his sister before biting into it. It wasn't the freshest apple, and sure it was a little bruised, but it was better than nothing.
Satisfied that Kyle now had something to eat, Becky finished her breakfast. Kyle dumped Becky's dishes in the sink, grabbed his school bag, made sure that Becky was presentable and handed her school bag to her and they both left the house, Becky's tiny hand in Kyle's.
Arriving at Becky's school, Kyle bent down to her level and reminded her to behave and that he would be waiting for her at the end of the day. Giving her a quick hug and a kiss on the top of her head, Kyle let his sister go as she ran towards the school.
Looking back, she shouted, "Love you Kyle!"
"Love you too Becky!" Kyle replied, with a wave of his hand, which Becky returned before she ran and joined the crowd of children. Kyle watched his sister merge into the crowd before walking away; luckily the walk to his school wasn't too far.
Kyle walked out of the school gates with a few of his friends at the end of school.
"Hey Kyle, we're going to the park, wanna come?" One of his friends asked.
"Sorry guys, got to go pick Becky up from school," Kyle replied.
"Bring her too, she can play on the swings or something while we play football," another friend suggested.
"I might later," Kyle said before saying bye to his friends and walking to Becky's school.
He was lucky that Becky's school finished after his as it gave him enough time to walk there and not be late to pick her up; he didn't like the idea of Becky waiting every day, by herself, for him.
Looking at his watch, he knew that she should be out in the next five minutes. Kyle leaned against the wall, his usual spot, separated from the mums and dads who stood around talking to each other as they waited for their children.
When Becky had first started the school, he had received glances from the other parents, who were wondering why Kyle was the one who dropped off and picked up Becky each day and why they had never seen their mum or dad but now, the parents were used to seeing him here and sometimes he even received smiles from a few of them.
Soon enough, a wave of children came out of the school doors.
"Kyle! Kyle!" A young voice screamed as she ran towards her brother.
"Hey," Kyle greeted with a laugh, as he bent down to her level, just in time as Becky launched herself into his arms, "You had a good day?"
Pulling back from the hug, Becky nodded enthusiastically, "Yeah! We had to do some adding and writing but then we got to draw a picture," as she waved a drawing in her brother's face.
"What is it?" Kyle asked, as he took the picture– examining it.
"That's me and that's you," Becky pointed at the picture, "We're at the zoo, look that's the tiger!"
"That's really good Becky, I love it," Kyle said, smiling proudly.
He took his little sister's hand as they began their short walk home.
"I wish you could come to the zoo with my class Kyle," Becky said.
"So do I Becky," Kyle said, "But you can tell me all about it when you come back."
Becky nodded, "I promise to tell you everything!"
"So you excited about going to the zoo next week then?" Kyle asked, even though he knew the answer. It was worth using the little savings he had (from busking in the streets and park every weekend) to let his sister go to the zoo – it was worth seeing a smile on her face.
"Yeah," Becky exclaimed, "And Miss Robinson said that we have to have a packed lunch so can I have chocolate, crisps and ice-cream?"
Kyle laughed, "Ice-cream? I think it'll melt!"
"But I like ice-cream!" Becky whined.
"Anyway, aren't you forgetting anything else?" Kyle asked.
After thinking for a moment, Becky's face lit up as she said, "Lemonade!"
Kyle shook his head in amusement, "I meant a sandwich and some fruit."
"But that's boring! I like chocolate and sweets better!" Becky declared.
"Yeah but they're not healthy are they?" Kyle said.
"But I like them!" Becky said defiantly.
"I know you do," Kyle said.
"So can I have them then?" Becky asked.
"As long as you have a sandwich and some fruit too," Kyle bargained.
"Deal," Becky said, as she stuck out her hand for Kyle to shake.
They arrived home, minutes later, and Kyle took out his key to open the door.
As always, he walked in first and he sighed at the mess in front of him – the vase had been knocked over, the glass now in hundreds of pieces on the floor. At least he knew that his mum had been home today, but judging by the destruction she had caused, she must have been drunk, and he still didn't know if she was still home – it wasn't uncommon for her to come home, just for an hour or two, and then leave again. He blocked the door to stop Becky from walking in any further.
"Come here Becky," Kyle instructed, holding out his arms to his sister.
"No! I a big girl – I can walk!" Becky argued.
"No, I am a big girl," Kyle corrected.
"No Kyle, you're not a girl!" Becky giggled.
"I meant, you should say I am a big girl not I a big girl," Kyle told her.
"You just said I was a big girl Kyle!" Becky said with a grin on her face.
"Yeah I know you are but if you won't listen, then you can just stay out there until I've cleaned it up," Kyle said.
Folding her arms, Becky whined, "But I'll be careful!"
"No you could hurt yourself. Your choice Becky – you can stay out there or you can come in now," Kyle repeated.
Becky just stared at her brother.
"So are you going to let me pick you up over the glass or not?" Kyle asked.
Becky allowed Kyle to pick her up and she wrapped her arms and legs around him. Kyle placed her on the couch, out of harm's way.
"Can I watch TV?" Becky asked.
Normally, she wasn't allowed to watch TV until she had done her homework and read a book, but today Kyle had to clear up the mess, check on his mum and get some money to buy some food.
"After you've got changed," Kyle told her. She obeyed after the promise that she would be allowed to watch TV afterwards.
He had picked up all of the glass by the time Becky had returned. She ran straight to the TV, grabbed the remote and settled down on the couch. Leaving her with the TV, Kyle went to check on his mum and to get some money for the groceries.
As he opened the door, he felt something wasn't quite right. The curtains stopped the sunlight entering the room that was full of empty glass bottles, needles and cigarette butts and ashes. The bed was occupied by his mother. Slowly Kyle moved towards her.
"Mum," he whispered as he reached the edge of the bed.
"Mum," he repeated a little louder as he gently shook the still body, coming into contact with his mum's cold hand. She couldn't be dead, she couldn't be!
"Mum, wake up, please mum wake up!" He cried as he continued to try to wake her up, even though he knew it was no use.
The sound of Becky laughing at the TV brought Kyle back to his senses. He knew he had to be quieter; he didn't want Becky to come in here.
Taking deep breaths, he forced himself to calm down. He looked back to his mum, lying there. He felt mixed emotions about the scene in front of him – he felt scared because he had lost his mum and he didn't know what to do, he felt angry because she had left him and Becky behind and he felt sick because he had seen, and touched, the dead body but he was glad it was him who had found her, not Becky.
He knew that he had to do something; he had to get himself and Becky out of here before they were taken into care which is something he didn't want to happen. His mum had grown up in care and he knew that she had hated it and he didn't want the same to happen to him and his sister.
Abandoning his mother's side, he looked around for his mum's bag. Finding it on the floor, he took out the purse and took the money in there – he was glad to see that she had collected the welfare money
Pocketing the money, he looked back at his mum and whispered, "Love you mum," before closing the door firmly and returning to the living room.
"Is mum there?" Becky asked.
Trying to sound as normal as possible, Kyle replied, "Yeah she is, but she's asleep so remember, you have to be quiet and you can't disturb her."
"I'm hungry Kyle," Becky said.
Going into the kitchen, he opened a tin of peaches for his sister to eat along with a glass of orange juice. There wasn't much else and it was the best he could give her.
"You don't want any Kyle?" Becky asked.
"No thanks, you eat it. I'm going to get changed."
Leaving Becky in front of the TV with her food, Kyle went into his own room and got changed. He thought about the necessities they needed to take. He took the jar of money, that he had earned playing his guitar, and added that to the other money. The jar didn't have a lot in seeing as he had used some for Becky's trip but it was better than nothing. As he emptied his school bag he heard Becky shout his name.
Rushing out of his room, he thought that she had gone into his mum's room.
"What's happened?" Kyle asked his sister, fearing the worst.
"I… I spilled my juice. I'm sorry, it fell," Becky apologised.
Relieved that it wasn't what he thought, Kyle smiled and said, "Doesn't matter Becky. Just leave it."
Returning to his room, he filled his backpack with some of his clothes, some of Becky's clothes, a few pictures of his mum, Becky and him, a few bottles of water, Becky's medication and a few blankets.
He took Becky's small backpack and placed a more of her clothes in there, not too many as he didn't want it to be too heavy for her, along with her favourite book that she liked to read every night.
"What are you doing Kyle?" Becky asked, as she watched him zip up the two backpacks.
Turning the TV off, Kyle said, "Listen, me and you have to go somewhere, just the two of us."
"What about mum, is she coming too?" Becky asked.
"No she isn't but don't worry, we'll be fine," Kyle reassured her.
"Can I say bye to her?" Becky asked, starting to walk towards the bedroom.
"No, no!" Kyle said, "Remember, she's sleeping."
"Oh, okay," Becky said.
"Look Sniffles is coming too," Kyle said, trying to cheer her up, as he handed her the soft toy rabbit that she had had since she was a baby. He knew that bringing the toy would make it easier for Becky, she couldn't sleep without him.
"Can I put him in my bag? He doesn't like the daytime," Becky said.
Kyle smiled, knowing that she only liked having him at night, and he said, "Yes you can," as he placed Sniffles into the bag and placing it on Becky's bag.
Remembering the rent money that was due to be paid at the end of the week, Kyle took the money from the drawer, glad that he now had more money.
Turning to his sister, he said. "Listen to me, I swear that I won't let them take you and I promise that I will look after you, if it's the last thing I do. It's just the two of us now okay, just you and me."
"Okay," Becky nodded, not really understanding the seriousness of the situation or the full meaning of Kyle's words, "But where are we going?"
Grabbing his own bag, Kyle replied, "Just away okay, we can go to the park first if you want."
"Yeah," Becky said, "So it's like an adventure?"
"Yeah," Kyle agreed, "Just like an adventure."
Holding Becky's hand, Kyle walked out of the flat, looking back one last time at the place where he had spent the last fourteen years, the place where he had grown up, taken his first steps and spoken his first words and he had seen his sister do the same and it was also the place where his mum had died.
Turning away, Kyle closed the door of the flat, closing that part of his life and moving onto the next part of his life with his little sister in tow.
"What you did was stupid, reckless and dangerous. Anything could have happened to you two….." Kyle's social worker, Lucy Thompson, droned on about the seriousness of his actions for about the hundredth time.
Kyle zoned out, he didn't care about what she had to say, all he cared about was getting to see his sister again. They had separated the two of them straight after they had been found, despite the protests from the two of them. Kyle remembered how Becky had cried out for him as he was taken away from her. As he was dragged away, he promised that he'd be back for her.
"Kyle," her tone relenting, "I understand that the loss of your mum must be hard and – "
"If you really knew, you would let me see Becky. She is only six and she must be so scared, first mum dies and now I've left her too. She won't understand why we're not there. Just let me see her please," Kyle said. This was the same argument that he had been repeating for the last week.
"I'm sorry Kyle," she replied, "But like I said before, you ran away with your little sister and you have to understand that we are here to help you and it wouldn't be a good idea for you to see Becky now, because you might just run away again!"
"I won't!" Kyle promised, "Please!"
Lucy looked at the young boy, maybe seeing his sister would do some good. She knew that Becky was having a hard time adjusting in her care home too – she would just ask to see Kyle again and again.
"I'll see what I can do Kyle," Lucy finally said.
"Thank you!" Kyle said, hoping that he could see his sister soon.
"Remember Kyle, don't mess this up," Lucy reminded him as she parked the car outside Becky's care home.
"I won't," Kyle promised.
Following Lucy, Kyle walked into the care home, waiting apprehensively to see his sister.
Lucy greeted Becky's social worker, Alison Jones, who gave a tight-lipped smile to Kyle, she was obviously wary of the fourteen-year old.
"I'll just go and get Becky," Alison said, after showing them into the office.
After what seemed like a long time, Kyle heard a voice down the hall saying, "Is Kyle here? Is Kyle really here?"
The door opened, revealing Alison and Becky. Becky threw herself into Kyle's arms who returned the hug just as fiercely, not willing to let go anytime soon. Kyle gently stroked Becky's hair, reassuring her in a soft tone that 'he was here now' and that 'everything's going to be okay'.
Tears fell down Becky's face so she pulled away from the hug and wiped them.
"Hey, why are you crying?" Kyle asked as she settled herself into his lap.
"Because I missed you, but you said you were coming back – I 'member that!" Becky said.
"Yeah I did say that," Kyle said as Becky set her head against his chest.
"So can we go home now? I don't like it here," Becky said.
"Remember, I told you that you couldn't go back so this is going to be your home now," Alison intervened.
Kyle had forgotten that their social workers were still present – he was too caught up with the reunion.
"But I don't like it here," Becky protested, tears threatening to escape, "They call me Rebecca sometimes Kyle and they aren't nice, please I want to go with you!"
"Hey, hey, it's okay," Kyle reassured his sister; it hurt him to see his sister like this.
"Yesterday, I had a seiz…. Seiz…." Becky struggled.
"Seizure," Kyle supplied, "How's your head?"
"Better now, but it hurt a lot before and they didn't rub it better like you do!" Becky said.
Turning to Alison, he questioned, "Does she take her meds? Did she bang her head on anything? How bad was it?"
"Don't worry," Alison replied, "The care-workers are trained to look after her with her condition and are aware of what to do."
Kyle's dislike for Alison grew as she brushed off his questions.
"Listen, you two can spend some time together while we have a meeting. You'll be supervised by Sarah, she's one of the care-workers here," Lucy told them.
"Thanks," Kyle told his social worker before she left with Alison after the arrival of Sarah.
The next couple of hours flew by, Becky was first reluctant to move from her place on Kyle's lap but after a while, she became more relaxed and enjoyed playing with her brother, who was equally happy.
Alison and Lucy returned and Lucy said, "Time to go Kyle."
"No," Becky cried as she latched herself onto Kyle, "Kyle, you stay here!"
"I'll be back next week Becky," Kyle reassured both himself and his sister.
"No you won't," Lucy said, with a smile.
"What?" Kyle asked, confused, "You said if things go well I could visit her again!"
"You won't be back next week because we have decided to move you into this care home with Becky – but only on a trial basis so best behaviour Kyle. We can see that it's better for everyone for you two to be together. We'll go back and get your stuff but Kyle remember, not a toe out of line. We're giving you a chance here, don't waste it," Lucy said.
Overwhelmed, Kyle said, "Thank you so much! I promise I won't mess this up."
"Well come on then, the quicker we go the quicker we can come back," Lucy said, clearly happy that this had worked out.
"You come back here?" Becky asked.
"I promise," Kyle promised as he gave her a quick hug and a kiss on the forehead.
Alison gave him a stern look before he left to remind him that she was watching him but Kyle was too happy to care.
Lying in his new bed, Kyle stared at the ceiling. He had his own room here, not that you could really call it a room, it was more of a cupboard with a bed squished in it but it was better than the one in his previous care home, he had had to share with Jordan, a twelve-year old who was incredibly loud and he snored, all night long.
He reflected on recent events – he had lost his mum, apparently the funeral had already taken place, but Kyle and Becky weren't allowed to attend, and he had almost lost his sister but thanks to his social worker, he had been given a second chance. The last thing he thought before he fell asleep was that he would look after Becky, for his mum.
A few hours later, in the middle of the night, the door of his room creaked open and a small figure walked in.
"Kyle," she whispered as she tugged on her brother's arm, "Kyle."
Waking up, Kyle looked at Becky and asked, "What's wrong?"
Holding up her rabbit, she said, "Sniffles had a bad dream and he wants to sleep with you."
Shifting on the bed, Kyle gave Becky some space to get into the bed before covering her with the duvet too.
She snuggled up to her brother, with Sniffles still clutched in her hand.
"So what was his dream about?" Kyle asked.
"He can't remember but he didn't like it, he was scared," Becky said.
"Is he still scared now?" Kyle asked.
"No," Becky replied, "He says that you make him feel safe."
Kyle smiled at this.
Becky gave a yawn before saying, "Love you Kyle."
"Love you too Becky, and you Sniffles!" Kyle replied.
"He says that he loves you too," Becky giggled.
Smiling, Kyle wrapped his arm around his sister whose eyes had started drooping.
Planting a kiss on her forehead, Kyle settled down. Shortly after, he fell asleep with Becky still secure in his arms.
Thank you for reading!
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