Cynthia Morris had just gotten off the phone with her mother. She could not believe it. Her damn step-father had put her younger brother in the hospital, yet again. That was the fourth time in just three months. Of course, her mother wouldn't think anything of it because her brother didn't speak so everyone had to believe whatever Cynthia's step-father said happened. He had stopped when he was just seven years old. Nobody knew why, the doctor's couldn't even figure it out. Cynthia felt bad for her kid brother. He was always being bullied at school and then to come home and be beaten by your own father. Cynthia knew there was more to the story, but when her brother not speaking, there was no way she was going to get the story from him.
This was the last straw for her. Standing up, she grabbed her coat and purse and headed down the hall for her bosses office. Without even knocking, she pushed the door open and stepped inside. Her boss looked up in surprise, raising an eyebrow at her for just storming into his office like that. She didn't care though, she closed the door behind her and strolled over to the desk, plopping down in one of the chairs, across the desk from her boss.
"I need the name and number of that lawyer friend of yours." She told him, getting right to the point.
"Melanie Marcus is not a friend." Brian Kinney mumbled as he pulled a business card from his wallet and handed it to Cynthia, "What do you need her for again?"
"My mother just called. Seems my brother is in the hospital again."
Brian frowned, "This is the fourth time, isn't it?"
Cynthia nods, "I plan on getting him out of that house."
"Cyn, he's still a minor. You won't be able too."
"Watch me." Cynthia stands up and marches to the door before stopping and turning back to her boss, "Thank you, Brian. I'll call later if I need some time off."
Brian just nods as he watches her go. Cynthia makes her way across town to the hospital and parks. She knows that her mother and step-father will both be in the room with her brother, she was just glad she had remembered to ask her mother the room number before hanging up from her. Making her way into the hospital, she found her way to the room and stopped at the door. She was going to call the lawyer before but thought she would talk with her parents about it before getting a lawyer involved. She knocked and stepped inside. Sure enough, her mother was sitting by the bed, holding her brothers hand and her step-father was standing at the end of the bed, his arms crossed.
"Cynthia." Her mother stood.
"Mother." Cynthia nods, standing next to the bed, across from her mother, "What's the damage this time?"
"Just a couple of bruises ribs and a broken wrist. The doctor said as soon as he wakes up, he'll be able to come home." Her mother replies, sitting back down in the chair.
"Good." Cynthia nods, turning towards her step-father, "I'm taking him home with me."
"Like hell you are." Her step-father barks.
"I'm not going to allow him to be your punching bag anymore, Craig." She states, "You're not going to stop me or I'll call the police right now."
"You don't have evidence that I've laid a hand on him." Craig growls.
"You don't know shit." Cynthia got up in his face, "Do you really want to gamble with a chance that I don't have anything against you? I could call them right now." She pulls out her cell phone and goes to dial.
"Fine." Jennifer pipes up, "He can stay with you until he is better."
"No. He's going to live with me until he is eighteen and after that, he can decide for himself." Cynthia replies, not taking her eyes off Craig, "Deal or no deal?"
"Fine. You can have him." Craig growls, storming out of the room.
Jennifer rushes to follow him and Cynthia rolls her eyes as she hits the talk button.
"That was quick."
"They agreed to allow him to live with me. I may need a few days off to get him settled."
"How bad was it this time?"
"I guess just a few bruised ribs and a broken wrist." Cynthia runs her hand through her hair and chuckles, "I threatened to call the police and tell them everything I knew."
"Which is... nothing."
"Yeah, but they don't know that."
She hears Brian laughing and then, "Take the rest of the week off. See you on Monday."
"Thanks. See ya Monday, Boss." She hangs up and sits down in the chair her mother had last occupied.
She was completely exhausted now. She looked over her kid brother sleeping and smiled. His blond hair had grown out a little more. The last time she remembered him having hair as long as that, he was a little four year old toddler, running around the house pretending to be Superman. She laughed at that memory. She was just fourteen at the time. She got to spend a good eight years at home with her kid brother before she headed off to college. It was just a year before she had left that Justin had stopped talking and she almost didn't want to leave but Craig had told her she needed to that he was not going to continue to support her now that she was an adult.
She should have known then that something was up with how Craig treated her. He was never abusive to her, but he would yell all the time. If something got broken in the house, even if she was never around said object when it happened, she would get grounded for it. Hell, she didn't even have to be home when it happened, but as soon as she walked in the door Craig would be there to yell and ground her to her room for a month. Her mother had married Craig when Cynthia was just eight years old, only three months after meeting the bastard. Then, a little over two years later, Justin was born. Cynthia loved her kid brother the moment she held him in her arms when he was brought home from the hospital.
He was the cutest baby she had ever seen in her ten years, and she had actually seen a lot. Having a uncle and two aunts on her mother's side of the family all getting married and having children of their own. And then there was her best friend Rachel while growing up. Rachel had four younger brothers and sisters before her family had moved away from Pittsburgh during their freshman year of high school.
Cynthia was brought out of her memories when she felt someone touch her hand. That was when she realized that Justin was awake and staring at her. She smiled and stood up. She sat on the edge of the bed.
"I would ask how you're doing but I know you won't answer me." She frowned, "Listen, Jus. You're going to come and live with me. How do you like that?"
He broke out into a huge bright smile and nodded his head. Just a little over an hour later, Cynthia and Justin were walking into her apartment. It wasn't big but it had two bedrooms so Justin would have his own. Cynthia has gone to her parents house to collect what she could of Justin's before returning to the hospital to pick him up and take him back to the apartment. Together, they took his things into the guest bedroom and started unpacking everything. All his school books were sat on the desk, along with his sketch books. His clothes were placed in the closet and dresser draws. Then Justin started hanging up a few of his drawings from his sketch books so the white walls didn't look so bland. Cynthia smiled and left the room, allowing him to finish himself while she ordered them food.
