Getting there. Getting out.
Hi my name is Naomi and this is my very first story. So English is not my first language, I hope I spelt everything right, I also never went to prison so I have no idea what the real procedures are. This story will contain mostly one-shots covering Emma's time after prison. ABC has not told us enough about her and out of boredom I started to wright it myself. My style may be a little rough around the edges but it'll get better. I hope you guys enjoy it.
Love Maonip.
She has about 4 months of prison left when she returns from the hospital.
The first night completely alone in her cell is hard. Harder than she thought it would be considering she's always been alone.
But still this time it's different, this time she actually has a family member on the outside. Except he won't be waiting for her when she gets out.
He'll be with his own family. And she'll always be alone.
She promised herself to never ever let anyone close again, to never let anyone she the real her. Because the pain that comes with it is too hard to handle.
As she turns over in her bed she hopes he'll understand when he gets older. She quickly wonders if his parents will even tell him that he's adopted.
She prays that he'll understand, that all she ever wanted was for him to have a chance, to have his best chance.
She hopes he'll have friends, tons of them. And that he'll get all the toys he could ever want. She wants him to have a big family, and that everyone loves him.
Her first day back in the community room is weird too. Nobody dares to mention the elephant in the room. But the stares are there.
Some ask her how she's doing, she only mumbles back a soft "Oke".
She just picks up a new book and reads like nothing changed.
The social workers annoy the living hell out of her. They'll just won't get that she doesn't want to talk about her son. And no she won't contact the father. He gave up any right he had to their son when he set her up.
They tell her to think about what she wants when she gets out.
"I don't know" she says, and it's true she doesn't. She has no money, nowhere to go and no one to ask for help.
That's when they mention a between house. A house for people who need a little bit of help to get on their own feet. They offer counseling, courses to get her GED and they'll help her get a job.
It won't be like prison they promise her. She'll be free to go whenever she wants.
"I'll think about it" she promises them.
It sounds an awful lot like a foster home or group house. But instead of children there will be messed up adults.
But maybe she'll give it a try.
Quickly enough she only has a month of prison left.
She's sort of exited to get out, to start her life again. She promises herself that she'll be better.
She's going to finish her GED and try to get a job, first part time and then full time. She'll get there. She's going to try to make friends. Oke maybe not friends, but a few people she can hang out with without getting too close to them.
One thing she knows for sure is that's she'll never get a serious boyfriend.
Sometimes she thinks about looking for Neal, maybe she'll go to Tallahassee just to get a feel of what would have been.
A part of her wants to find Neal, because that part of her still wants to believe that it was all a big misunderstanding. That something went terribly wrong, and it's not his fault.
But then she remembers that he sold her out. That only he knew where she was and that she had one of the watches.
A few days before she's released she finds out they have her car in custody and is waiting for her when she gets out. How exactly it got there no one can say, it's just there.
In her hands she has her release paperwork en directions to the between house she'll be staying. The house is also in phoenix.
She needs to stay there until she's off probation, after that she's free to stay or go whatever she wants.
She's is slowly packing the few things she got in here. Mostly some toiletries and the sonograms and documents regarding her son.
She feels free when she looks at the yellow bug for the first time in almost a year. A part of her is surprised that it's really there.
Only now it completely hers. She'll never share it with anyone again, another silent promise she makes.
She's kind of stunned about what to do next. Out of curiosity she opens the trunk of the car.
She starts to cry at the backpack she finds there. Her backpack with stuff she took when she ran away for her last set of foster parents.
First thing she she's when she opens it is her clothes. Then comes her baby blanket and her binders with papers from foster care. She'll add her sons papers to it.
In the front is $20 and her ID, which she won't need any more as she got a new one. And $20 that probably all she ever was worth to Neal.
It makes her pissed.
Without another thought she gets in the front seat and starts to go over the directions to the between house.
After a 40 minute ride and a cheap MacDonald's lunch paid for with the $20. She gets there.
The women at the entrance welcomes her to her new "home".
"I've never had a home" she admits. "This one time I got close to having one but it didn't work out"
"Well this is the perfect place to start making one" the middle-aged woman assures her.
Emma tries to smiles back, thinking she'll never have a real home.
She doesn't even know what it is.