Four Broken Homes, No Broken Dreams
** Story told by Carlos**
Interview with POP Magazine
"So how did Big Time Rush start? "T he reporter said, "We have 3 hours and would love to hear the whole story."
"You want the whole story?" I hesitantly asked.
"The entire thing" The reporter said.
"Ok…" I said hesitantly.
"Ill start by telling you about the day before we were discovered" I said.
**Kendal**
Kendal had been sitting there on the couch for hours, not wanting to get up. He was out of food and money. His mom had left 2 weeks ago, to the day. She usually left for only a week at a time only to return drunk and hopeless but yet he loved his mom. She never neglected him like this. Usually when she returned (even if she was drunk), she always had enough money for groceries and bills. He never questioned where the money had come from. Even though, he pretty much knew.
It all started 4 years ago, after his father had unexpectedly passed away. His mom started drinking a few weeks after his father's death. Within 6 months she was already starting to disappear a few days at a time but even now, she had never left for more then a week. He was 17 now and he turned 18 in 4 months. But it was this day that his life changed forever. When he woke up that morning he had a knot in his stomach, he had a bad feeling about this day and was already starting to dread it. All the sudden he was startled by a knock on the door. He got up slowly and looked out the window only to see the cops. He slowly opened the door...
The cop asked, "Are you Kendal Knight."
He could already feel the tears building up. "Yes" He said dreadfully
"Kendal we are sad to report..." He cut them off right there.
Suddenly it was as if death had warmed over. His face turned as pail as a ghost. He suddenly couldn't move his body.
He mumbled, "She's dead isn't she."
"Sorry Kendall," The cop said sadly.
He slammed the door shut not wanting to know what happened. He cried for over an hour after that but he finally collected himself. He had been preparing himself for this day for a long time. He got up slowly "Its time to move on," He said to himself softly.
He walked over to the phone and called Logan.
Logan picked up, "Hello?"
"L-Logan" said Kendal trying not start crying again.
"I know Kendal," He said softly, "I saw the cops from my house."
"I know were we are going now," Kendal said sternly.
Logan knew what he was talking about. They had been talking about it for 6 months now. Planning… Plotting… The day they would leave and never come back to this dreadful town.
"I'm going to pack," Kendal said.
Logan giggled, "I packed 3 weeks ago."
Kendal knew he was trying to cheer him up but right now it wasn't working.
"You call Carlos and James and give them the times and place." Kendal said.
Logan agreed and hung up.
**Back to reality in interview**
"So Kendall got over his mothers death?" Asked the reporter, "Just like that?"
I answered the reporters question, "No, Not by a long shot. You know when your dog is seriously ill for weeks and you know that he is going to pass away? It's something like that. You're never prepared for it but you know how you're going to react when it happens"
"Ok, Continue on" The reporter said.
"Logan's day started off completely different then Kendall's," I started.
**Logan**
Logan sat there at his desk reading. He had been sitting there reading for over 8 hours, since he had nothing better to do. He could hear his aunt and her "Significant other" in the other room. "When are they going to stop?" Logan said to himself. He heard them everyday, fighting… like newlyweds! One time he lost his remote and fought with her for over 2 hours about how he set it on the counter and it was no longer there. Sometimes it was over, as Logan called it "Adult stuff". Suddenly there was a bang in the house. Almost like fire crackers but louder. He opened the door and saw his aunt drunker then drunk playing target practice with her pistol in the house. He ran up behind her and grabbed it out of her hand, knowing he was probably going to get smacked. She stood and looked sternly at Logan.
She yelled, "why did you just do that!'
"You're destroying the house!" He said.
She tried to grab it out of his hands but he was too quick for her. He ran into his room and locked the dead bold. Logan was the smart one of the group. He had installed the lock one night when his Aunt went for one of her midnight beer runs.
"Open the door NOW LOGAN!" She yelled at the top of her lungs.
She was kicking the door as hard as she could but she wasn't able to break it. Not after the last time... She had kicked strait through it and then ordered Logan to fix it, so he did. He went to the end of the trailer they lived in and grabbed some metal sheeting and covered his whole door in it. He grabbed some 4 year old paint out of the shed and painted it his favorite color, Blue.
After she had stopped trying to bust the door down he got off the bed and went to his closet were he opened a shoe box. In it, were all the things he has taken out of his aunts hands. He stood there reading the items back to himself making sure they were all there.
"Three knives," He started "One brass knuckles…"
As soon as he said brass knuckles he flashed back to when she had hit him with them. The mark from the brass still on his shoulder .He quickly snapped out of it.
"And finally," He said "One pistol. "
He stood there staring at the items; he had a flashback every time he looked at one of them. Remembering what she was doing when he took them from her.
He was severely startled when the phone rang.
** Back to reality with the interview**
"Well you already know the conversation he had one the phone," I said.
"Continue on, "The reporter said.
"James day started off the same as it always does... yelling at his step mom," I started.
**James**
James sat there at the table eating breakfast when he dropped his spoon on the floor. He closed his eyes and waited for the worst.
"JAMES!" She bellowed from the living room.
The very sound of her voice made him shiver.
"S-Sorry I didn't mean to…" He stuttered.
"You got milk on the floor get down now and lick it up!" She yelled.
"B-b-b-But..." He said starting to shake.
"Do it now!" She yelled.
He got down and licked it off the floor. After he sat back up she made him finish his cereal with that same spoon. After finishing, he got up and went outside to feed the horses. The horses were the only thing in his life that didn't yell at him constantly. As he got back into the house he saw her at the top of the stairs with his packed bags.
"James what is this! Are you planning on running away!" She questioned while yelling.
"No mama," He said trying not to cry.
"Then why is your bags packed?" She asked.
"I was going to try to stay at Logan's tomorrow night, "He said hesitantly.
"AND when were you planning on telling me these plans!" She yelled at the top of her lungs.
"I-I-I, "He started to stutter again.
She ordered, "Go to your room! No lunch or dinner!"
"Ok" He said almost crying as he pulled his bag back into his room.
He got into his room and threw the bag. His dad had left them 3 years ago giving the lady he had to call mom, soul custody of him. He laid there on his bed thinking about tomorrow. He had his escape plan all worked out. As soon as she started drinking in her room he would tip toe down the hall into the 2nd story bathroom. From there he would open the window and throw a rope down he had been hiding from her and climb down. If she heard him he would make a mad dash for it. He laid there for hours thinking his plan thru making it more and more bullet proof. He didn't have a TV or computer or a home phone for that matter. All he had was a trac-phone he had to pay for by himself. It suddenly rang, startling him!
He answered, "Hello?"
"Hey, it's Logan" Logan said
"Hey what's up? You ready for tomorrow?" James asked.
"Cobra…." Logan whispered.
James sat up as fast as he could and listened carefully.
"5 o'clock am, in front of the hockey rink. If your more then 20 minutes late we will come get you and help you out of any predicament you got into" Logan said.
"Cobra…" James whispered back.
Logan hangs up knowing that since James said cobra, he understood the plan.
** Back to reality with the reporter**
"So you guys had code names and everything?" Asked the reporter," Weren't you scared of getting caught, if they called the police?"
"No," I said lifting my shirt, "None of our parents would ever call the police."
I said, "See this mark? This is from my foster mom stabbing me with a fork. Our parents wouldn't call the police or so we thought because we had a lot on them, such as this mark. "
"Oh ok, I get it now, "The reporter said.
The reporter took another look at the 3 inch mark, thinking to himself " #!*% that had to be seriously painful".
"My day started off with chores and then you will see how I got that scar from the fork, "I started.
** Carlos Story**
I woke up and went down stairs. No one was awake yet and I knew if I didn't start chores right away I'd get beat again. See I lived with foster parents with 6 other kids who were abused just like me. I was the same age as the other guys, 17. My parents were killed in a car crash 2 years ago. I got the stairs vacuumed, dishes washes, the fireplaces ashes taken out, and back yard tidied up. The others were just starting to wake up and get there chores done. All six of us knew the routine. As my foster parents woke up, we all started to make breakfast for them. See, we ate last after them. As I walked up to hand them breakfast I tripped over a toy truck and it went all over them.
She yelled, "Carlos! You're about as useless as the others!"
Hearing her say that suddenly made me snap! I couldn't take it anymore!
"I'm not useless! You are! You sit there all day, while we work! You're nothing but a bunch of useless bums!" I yelled without thinking.
She stood up and I glared at her. She took the fork off the table and stabbed me in the abdomen with it. I had never felt pain like that. It started to sting and burn, and then I fell to the floor. The blood dripping down my abdomen... She walked off and yelled "Clean up the mess you made and don't drip any blood on the floor!"
As I pulled out the fork, one of the kids came over to me and took a towel and pressed it against my wound and then the little boy said "Logan's out on the far end of the yard and wants to talk to you."
"Go tell him ill be out in 20," I said trying not to cry.
The little boy ran off to tell him. I stood up still in pain and cleaned up the mess. I then walked out and met him at the fence.
"I tried to call Carlos but your phone is disconnected, "Logan said.
"Yea I know she won't pay the bill, "I said while rolling my eyes.
He told me were to meet and what time. I knew my way out of here. When I woke up before everyone else I'd just walk outside and pretend to tidy up the yard like any other day and then make a dash for it. I wasn't going to take any clothes with me. I didn't want there scent on me since it made me mad and angry. Logan said he would bring me clothes.
** Back to reality with the reporter**
"Wow you guys had it really planned out didn't yah?" The reporter asked.
"Like I said," I said "We had been planning for months. "
"OK now for the good part "I told the reporter.
** The day they had been waiting for***
We all met there at 5 o'clock. Everything went perfectly. It was just getting light out as we walked up the freeway ramp. Only Kendall knew where they were going.
"Kenny, where are we going?" I asked.
"Carlitos we are heading to Hollywood!" Kendal replied.
See they could all sing and sing very well. They were all in the school choir and had been for years. They loved singing together.
"But we are in Minnesota…" Logan said, "How do you expect us to get to Hollywood?"
"Just follow the road," Kendal said "This is our big break guys."
They had been walking for hours.
Logan suddenly asked, "Carlos, why are you bleeding?"
I started to cry as I replied, "She stabbed me with a fork yesterday about 2 inches deep."
Logan didn't ask questions. He just stopped and opened his backpack and pulled out a first aid kit. Logan had been reading for 8 hours for a reason. He was preparing for the worst. He read survival guides and first aid booklets.
I yelped as Logan stitched me up.
** Back to reality**
The reporter quickly asked, "Wait so he gave you stitches on the side of the road without any pain killers?"
"Yes, it hurt a lot but he gave me Ibuprofen afterwards," I said, "It was weird… but after it was closed up it didn't hurt as bad. "
** Back to story**
After that we walked down the road more. All the sudden a limo pulled up next to us.
Her name was Kelly. She was a very cute young lady with a heart of gold.
"Hello, "She said as she rolled down the window.
"HI!" I yelled, excited to see a limo in real life.
"Why are you kids walking down the highway in the middle of nowhere?" She asked.
"We're adults! " Kendal said.
We all knew he was lying but we were all almost 18.
"Ok… Why are you ADULTS walking down the road in the middle of nowhere?" She asked.
"We are going to become famous!" I yelled out without thinking first.
"Oh are you now? And how are you going to do that? Do you have any talent?" She asked.
All four boys stared to sing. Kelly's face lit up like bright summers day and she looked as if we had shocked her.
She motioned for us to get into the limo. At first we were all hesitant but then we did so.
"My name is Kelly, I work for Gustavo Rocque!" She said excitedly.
"Thee Gustavo Rocque!" James yelled out very loudly.
"Gustavo Rocque?" Logan, Kendal and I asked at the same time.
As she explained to us that he was an award winning music producer. We got more and more excited. Then Logan asked why they were in Minnesota. She said they were doing a million dollar tour across the country to find new talent.
After we auditioned he told us he had picked us. We went to Hollywood with him. The tropical weather! The beaches! The awesomeness of California!
We stayed in a hotel named The Palm Woods. This, by the way, had the best pool ever.
All the sudden Kelly walked into our apartment and turned on the TV.
"Four boys went missing in Minnesota today, no leads on the where about of them. The parents say if you see them to please call the police at the number on the bottom of your screen, "Said the news reporter.
"OK EXPLAIN!" Kelly yelled!
I stood up and explained our story to her. "I still have to call the police, "Kelly said. We all shook our heads.
** At the police station**
I told the police I wanted to be the one interviewed since I was good with dealing with the police. The guys shook there heads in agreement and I went into the room.
"Ok so what happened?" The detective asked.
I stood up and took off my shirt. She gave me a weird look until she saw the bruising. I explained to her how I wasn't allowed to come out of my room at night. I explained how they abused the other kids and me. I told her all about the other guy's parents. How I got the fork stab wound. By the end of interview I was screaming and crying. I found myself suddenly, in the corner rocking back and forth. The detective was a girl and I could see the anger built up in her brown eyes, not towards me and not towards the guys but towards the parents.
We were later released into the custody of Gustavo Rocque. He had been in a meeting with them for over an hour. He convinced them that since he was signing us and how he was housing us that it was in everyone's best interest for us to go with him.
When he came out he said, "DOGS! Get up, we are going home!"
Logan jumped with joy, as we walked out of the police station.
** Back to reality with the reporter**
"What happened to everyone's parents?" The reporter asked.
I said, "My foster parents were arrested for abuse and assault and the kids were all adopted out, Kendal got the house through his moms will and later sold it, Logan's aunt was arrested for reckless endangerment and abuse, and James step mom was sent to a mental health facility because they found out later she was insane."
"So after all that, you guys finally got here. You guys currently hold #4 on the charts for your latest song. Are you glad you got out of there when you did?" The reporter asked.
"If it wasn't for these guys I would still be there, we took a risk and went for our dreams." I said, "Most people tell us we didn't do the right thing by running away. But in the end we were the ones being abused not them."
The reporter asked, "You guys are 20 now aren't you?"
"Yes, and you guys are getting this story for the first time." I said
I got up and walked off.
It felt good to finally tell this story. We had been keeping it a secret for about 3 years now. "I'm glad you guys are my friends, "I said as I walked back into the apartment with them after the interview. They just smiled at me as we walked into the room.