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My Baby, My Mom & My Friend

"For God's sake, Max. Seriously?"

I waited as my brother vented out all his frustration. In other words, he exhausted every single swear word he knew.

"No Ari, I'm lying," I scoffed. "Duh. Because I make this stuff up for fun."

"Not funny, Max. Not funny at all."

I sighed and leaned against the cold hard wall. I only had three minutes.

"So what are your consequences?"

"Well…I'm not going to another juvenile center."

"Well good for you, Max," he replied, sarcastically. "Now what is it?"

"They're actually- letting me off easy."

"I don't believe you."

"It's true," I persisted. "The court thinks mom might be the reason behind all my…problems."

"And?"

"They—they think it would be a good idea to try the foster care system."

"FOSTER CARE SYSTEM? What the hell, Max!"

Cringing, I pulled the phone away from my ear. "Mom…mom just fell through." My voice cracked and I quickly cleared my throat. "Yesterday. Police caught her with a new supply. Social security got involved and ugh…it's just a mess. But I guess it's perfect timing, huh?"

"Ari?" I asked, making sure he was still there.

I heard him clear his throat. "I guess it's not that big of a surprise now is it?" he asked, harshly.

I bit my lip. "No…I guess not."

"Where's Gazzy?"

"He's—he's staying with Harlow. For now. We're going to get a home together though. Jeb promised. But, you see…I used to know this famous singer. And I was hoping he might let us hang out for a while."

He was silent for so long I began to think he had hung up. "Max—Max you know I can't do that. I just made it big."

I bit my lip and cursed the tears that smarted my eyes. "Yeah. Yeah, I get it, Ari. See ya."

"Wait, Max—"

I hung up and inhaled deeply.

"Max?" Jeb asked, peeking into the room. "Time's up. And someone's here to see you."

The door opened up a little wider and suddenly everything was better.

"Maxie!" Gazzy yelled, waddling towards me on his chubby two year old legs.

Bending down, I waited as he came running towards me. "Oh, Gazzy," I whispered, picking him up and squishing him into a big bear hug. "I missed you, baby."

"Go bye-bye?" he asked pointing to the door, his big blue eyes wide and bright.

"Oh, honey," I whispered, ruffling the little bit of hair he had. "Soon, okay? Is Lowy here? Hm? Did she come visit me too?"

He nodded and told me in all seriousness, "No."

Yeah, we needed to work on his yes/no skills.

"Let's go see, okay?" I asked, propping him onto my hip.

We walked into the waiting room of the jail house where Harlow and Jeb were seated deep in discussion.

They both looked up when we walked in.

"Max," Harlow exclaimed and she rushed over to wrap Gazzy and me into a big bear hug.

"Thanks for watching him," I said.

"Oh, no problem, dear. Wasn't a thing."

Her sweet southern accent was soothing and sincere. She was, by far, the best second mom ever.

"Well, I've spoken to the foster care system, Max," Jeb told me, shuffling some papers together.

"We're together, right?" I asked.

"I took care of everything," he assured me. "You, Gazzy and Harlow will spend the night at your house and get everything packed. You will be on your way tomorrow morning."

I nodded and gave Gazzy a peck on the cheek.

"Give Gazzy to Harlow, Max," Jeb told me. "We have some things to discuss."

Harlow gave me an encouraging smile and took Gazzy into her arms.

"Go on, sugar. We'll meet you at the house."

I nodded and followed Jeb out the door.

"See ya, Bob," I murmured to the front desk guy.

Yep. We're friends.

"See ya, Max. You're a good kid, you know that? I have a feeling you're gonna do something great someday."

The big guy winked, his brown skin wrinkled with smile lines.

I managed a small smile. "Thanks, Bob."

Jeb and I walked through the doors and started for the car. "Hungry?" Jeb asked, unlocking the doors to his Cadillac.

"I've only been in a court room all day," I muttered, getting buckled.

He sighed and started the engine. "What about Redstone?"

I didn't respond.

"Okay, then," he muttered, backing out of the parking space. "Did you get a hold of Ari?"

"Yes."

"What he say?"

"Nothing really. I told him about foster care."

"And?"

"And nothing."

"Come on, Max—"

"It was nothing okay?" I snapped. "He doesn't care."

"Max, he's your brother. Of course he cares."

"Why do you think he left, Jeb? He couldn't WAIT to get away from mom. He couldn't WAIT to get away from Gazzy and I. We wreck his perfect plans."

"Don't be so unreasonable, Max."

"I'm not being unreasonable," I muttered.

"Yes, you are."

I flipped him the bird.

He sighed but got the hint.

We rode in silence for about five minutes before he spoke again.

"We're going to visit your mom after dinner," he announced.

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Max, you can't—"

"Just ignore her? Watch me."

"Max," he began. "Your mother…you have to understand where she's coming from."

"Frankly Jeb, I don't really care."

"Your grandmother was a crack addict. Your grandfather was abusive. Your mother had Ari when she was fifteen. You when she was seventeen. She dropped out of school after tenth grade. Her upbringing hasn't been very…enlightening.

"Are you saying that's an excuse?" I demanded.

"No," he said patiently. "I'm saying it's harder for her."

"Yeah, well try being me," I shot back. "I became a mother when I was fourteen years old. I got a freaking night job when I turned fifteen. I started paying the bills when I was twelve."

"I'm not saying it's been easy on you, Max. But I'm hoping that will change with this new family. Hopefully you'll get a break."

"Maybe," I grumbled.

He pulled into the parking lot and turned off the car but I didn't move.

"Can I make some calls?" I asked.

He glanced at me suspiciously.

See? This is why you don't break the law. Nobody ever trusts you. It's so frustrating!

He handed me his droid. "Five minutes, okay? I'll get us a table."

The door slammed shut and I dialed Ratchet.

"Yo, Maxie! What up? Maya, Holden and I have been waiting for HOURS! What's the verdict?"

"Hey, Ratchet. About that…"

"You're screwed aren't you? Totally screwed. See I told you it wasn't a good idea."

I rolled my eyes. In truth, he did. But he also supplied the key…so you can go both ways.

"No," I answered hotly. "Well, sort of. Ugh…mom and the fuzz had a little show down."

"No crap. Really?"

"Yeah. She's in jail right now, waiting for her court date."

He whistled. "Jeez, I'm sorry, Max. Virtual hug, right through this phone."

I cracked a small smile. "Thanks, Ratchet."

"No problem. So how's my little blue dude? Holding in there?"

I grinned. That was Gazzy's nickname. As crazy as it may sound, Ratchet is kind of Gazzy's father figure. Gazzy adores him so it works out pretty nicely.

"He's good. Harlow, being the angel she is, took him in. Which is another reason why I am calling you…I'm leaving."

"Leaving? Where?"

"Uh…to a foster family."

"What? Why?"

"They—the court thinks it would be good for me to get away."

He was silent. "When ya leaving?"

I bit my lip. "Tomorrow morning."

"Tomorrow morning?!" He yelled.

"Yeah…I'm sorry, Ratchet."

"Hey…hey no big deal. No. It'll be cool. You have my email. We'll keep in touch."

I took a deep breath to steady my voice. "Why don't you come over tomorrow? Give me a little goodbye party."

"Sure thing, Max. I'll be over around seven, sound good?"

"Perfect," I replied. "Thanks, Ratchet."

"Later, Maxie!"

I clicked the end button and got out of the car.

My life sucked, that was for sure. But at least I wasn't starving.

There's an up for every down I guess.

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Peace out ~

d-and-s86