Chapter Two.
I don't know how I got here or what had happened. All I know is that I woke up in the police station on a fold up cot with a blanket draped over me. I hear soft voices coming from the other room.
"What will happen?"
"We can set her up at the shelter in Port Angeles for a while."
"What about family?"
"None"
"Friends?"
"No one will step forward to ask her to stay for a while."
"Such a shame"
"I know."
I finally decide to get up and stop the conversation about me. I don't need to hear it. I walk out of the room and see Office Haynes with another officer sitting at his desk. I walk over to them and take a seat.
"Bella, I know this is very hard for you."
"What happened?" My voice was hoarse from all the crying and sleep. I felt like crap and I imagine I looked like it as well. The numbness of my body was coming and I assume in due time. I will be able to feel nothing. The recent events of everything happening to me are only going to bring me down... if I can be dragged farther.
"Tell me what happened" I say staring into my lap.
"Billy told us that Charlie went to his house and forgot his fishing pole. We don't know how it started but the house caught on fire. Charlie's body was found but... I don't think you would want to see it." Officer Haynes explains.
I cry as I bury face in my hands.
"Since he was chief here, the county decided to chip in with funeral funds and so have some of the staff... but Bella, you're eighteen now. You can't go into a foster home, but there is a shelter in Port Angeles that has a spot for you."
I nod my head and wipe away my tears. "Was there anything saved from the fire?"
"No. I am sorry. But, you can have his belongings from his desk."
"Okay." I say looking at them. "I hate to ask but could I get some gas money to drive there? I don't think my truck can make it."
"Of course." He looks at the other officer and they both hand me a twenty dollar bill. So, I have forty dollars to my name. Great.
"Why don't you go and take a seat on that bench over there and I'll get Charlie's stuff together for you and then we can go."
I stand up and make my way over to the bench by the front door and wonder what the hell has happened in my life. Edward left me because he didn't love me and I lost both of my parents within such a short time. What is going to happen to me now since I have no where to go?
One of the police officers walks up and hands me a zip up jacket. I look at the back, "Forks Police Dept." was written across it. On the front on the left side, it says "Chief Swan."
"Thanks" I mumble.
"He never wore it. He just left it here just in case."
"Thanks." I put it on as the officer walks away and then I wait for Officer Haynes to return. Here goes my new life.
When I drive to Port Angeles, it never takes long, but this drive was taking forever. I didn't want to live in a shelter but what else could I do? I was left with nothing. I had no clothes except the ones on my back and no money except for eighty dollars. Thank god for the extra cash I found it my glove compartment for emergencies.
When I pulled up to the small building, I wanted to cry. It was a little rundown and I had a feeling I was going to hate it here. I didn't want to be with a bunch of smelling, drugged out old men. I wanted to be in the warm confines of my bedroom and have Charlie stroke my hair at night.
That was never going to happen. I had to suck it up.
I parked the truck and grabbed my money and the small bag Officer Haynes had gives me of Charlie's belongings and made my way inside the building. I was hit with the smell of diapers and feet. I wrinkled my nose in disgust and made my way to the counter where an older woman sat with big glasses and a bad perm. I felt like I was in slums of a city in the middle of the eighties.
"Hello, can I help you?"
"Yes. My name is Bella Swan. Officer Haynes sent me." My voice was still hoarse from lack of use.
"Oh, of course. I need you to fill this out." She slides me a clipboard with a pen attached to it. "Go take a seat and when you're done, bring it back up and we will get you settled in."
I took the clipboard and my bag and made my way over to a chair. The questions were simple on the sheet. It didn't ask too much background information but I would assume no one here really had any to give.
Some of them were odd, though. They asked if I did drugs and if I did, I had to list which kinds. It asked for bad habits and if I was pregnant. There wasn't much to fill out about me. All I had were dead parents who left me nothing. It wasn't their fault and I will never blame them, but they should have been prepared.
After I finished, I brought it back up to the counter. "Come with me and I will bring you to Mr. Greene." She leads me in the back to a room and knocks once then opens it herself.
What was the point of knocking?
"Mr. Greene, this is Bella Swan." And just like that she left with a click of the door. The man behind his desk told me to take a seat across from him, which I did.
The room looked pretty old and could use some remodeling. If Alice were here, she would have a field day. The room had lots of browns and I think it was from the seventies by noticing all of the décor and it's discoloring.
In the far corner of the room, there was a tiny space heater that produced a lot of heat. I was already sweating bullets.
"Bella, I am Mr. Greene." The middle aged man tells me. "I am sort of like a counselor here. You can talk to me about anything you would like. Can I see that bag you have please?"
I reach for the bag at my feet and place it on his desk.
"What is this?" he asks reaching in. He stops his movement and gives me a warm smile that was probably mean to give me assurance, but it just was down right disturbing. "I have to look at everyone's belongings when they come in here Bella. We can't have you harming yourself or others."
I nod my head and he continues. He pulls out picture frames of Charlie and me, decks of cards that were for entertainment around his office and many other odds and ends.
"Well, I have to take the picture frames from you but you can keep the pictures. You can have them back when you leave."
"Just toss out the frames. I have no use for them. I just want the pictures." I finally speak, clearing my throat in the process.
'Okay. Here you go then." He hands me back my bag and I place it protectively on my lap. "Have you ever been in a shelter before?"
I shake my head.
"Well everyone is different. I'm sorry but there are no separate rooms and we do not have separate rooms for woman and men, either. We do, however have sides. Woman on one and men on the other. We have workers who have the night shift and make sure everything is in order."
"You can stay here for up to two weeks. Any longer and the people here get lazy and try to ride this out. So use your time wisely, Bella."
"What do I do after my two weeks are up?" I ask feeling hopeless.
"That is up to you. You can find another shelter or get a job. This is your life. You're an adult now."
"I'm only eighteen." I say. I feel like im about to hit hysteria.
"Well, you better start growing up because this is your life now."
After sitting in his office that was hotter than hell, he led me to a room where there are tiny lockers in a row from the floor to the ceiling. He gives me my combination lock and tells me this is where I can store my bag.
After we exit the 'locker room', he takes me to the dining hall. This room was very big and it took me by surprise. There were six long tables that had about fourteen chairs each. They were filled with other homeless people I assumed.
I wanted to cry. This was not my life and this definitely was not supposed to be happening to me.
Most of the people here were young and it wasn't like I expected at all. There were a few older people around sexy or so but most were young and had babies. It was so sad.
They all stopped what they were doing as we entered and stared at us. It was Forks High School all over again. I was the newbie.
"Bella, you can take a seat here and you will be served dinner in a few minutes." He then walks back the way we came in and I just stand there.
I look to where he wanted me to sit and I make my way over trying to ignore the stares on me. I take a seat and watch everyone return to what they were doing. It reminded me of school so much as everyone gossiped about the new girl.
A young guy to my left was staring intently at me and it was making me uncomfortable.
"Sorry" he laughed. "You just look so freaked out right now."
"I am." I say.
"I take it you never been to a homeless shelter before?"
"No."
I stare at my plate hoping he will get the hint and leave me alone. No such luck.
"What's your story?" a girl across from me asks. I look over to her and shrug my shoulders.
"Not much to tell" I say.
"Oh, c'mon. Everyone has something."
"My dad died this morning when our house caught on fire. I was out when it happened." I bite my lip to hold my back my tears.
"Tough break, kid" an older man sitting next to the girl says.
I realize they all have probably had hard lives and will take no pity on anyone. I have to fend for myself even if I don't want to because there is no one to lean on in this world. No one will be by my side as I mourn for my parents and cry endlessly for Edward. No one will stroke my hair at night when I have nightmares. I'm all alone.
The conversation shifts to something else and I am grateful for that.
About ten minutes later, a woman scoops something on my plate which resembles mash potatoes and some kind of meat. I take a bite and want to spit it out instantly, but I know that if I don't want to starve I have to eat this crap.
I continue to eat it and surprisingly it very filling. After everyone is done eating we have to go back to our 'bedroom'. This the bedroom in which everyone sleeps. This should be interesting.
Mr. Greene was right. It was one big room with beds aligned along the walls and in the middle were rows of beds as well. I was going to sleep in one big room with guards watching me at night and sharing the feeling with men, woman, and babies.
I take a seat on an empty bed and rub my face with my hands. Today has been an exhausting day and I can't wait for it to be over.
The guy who sat next to me at dinner takes a seat on the bed next to me and I roll my eyes. With both of us facing each other, our knees barely touch; that's how close our beds are. He gives me a smile and extends his hand out to me. "I'm Milo."
I decide it couldn't hurt to introduce myself as well. I shake his hand and give him a small handshake and let go, "Bella."
"It's very nice to meet you, Bella." He grins.
"I wish I could say the same but today has not been the best for me." I say as I lay my head down on the lumpy pillow. Is that a pee stain? Ugh.
"I understand." He lies down as well on his back and turns his head to face mine. "Nobody wants to be here... well they'd rather be here than out there but no one chooses this life. It sort of happens. I know how you feel."
"Do you really know how I feel? Don't try to humor me, Milo." I sternly say and then roll over so my back faces him.
"You don't know how I feel. No one does." I whisper and then I fall into a dreamless sleep.