Chapter Two – Thrown Out
They didn't hear Bonnie come back that night, but in the early hours of the morning the toys heard the thumping on the stairs, the shouting, and then the silence. This was usual, if Bonnie was to sneak out. Her mother would often be awake when she got in again, and then the rows would ensue. Tonight Bonnie stomped straight into the room as usual, but in an unexpected twist the toys heard a second pair of footsteps stomping their way tonight.
"Bonnie Marie Anderson! Don't you ever walk away from me when I am speaking to you!" came Bonnie's mothers voice down the hallway as she too, stormed into the room.
"Oh Mom, give over. I went out to party. I had like four drinks."
"You're underage!"
"So? I wasn't the only one drinking."
"I don't care. I don't want you drinking at all while you're under my roof."
"Uh, I wasn't under YOUR roof, Mom, I was at Sally's!"
"I don't care where you were, while you live under this roof, you do as I tell you!"
"Oh my gosh, Mom, please, it's not like I do drugs or even have unprotected sex. I had like a couple of drinks to take the edge off this boring excuse for a life! I haven't done anything since high school that meant anything."
"Well maybe if you stopped partying –"
"Mom, I want to party! I want to live my life. I don't want to end up a bitter old hag with a mortgage and a husband like you did!" Bonnie shouted.
"Right, that's it." Bonnie's mother suddenly flung up her hands and snapped. "I've had enough of your remarks, young lady. I want you to pack your things; tomorrow whatever you don't take with you, I'm throwing it out."
"What?" Bonnie was shell-shocked.
"You walk around this house like you own the place, well unfortunately for you, this bitter old hag helps your father pay the bills and supported you all through high school, even when you didn't get very good grades and were close to not even seeing your own graduation. And now I'm putting my foot down. If you want to stay out late, party, and drink, you do that. But I wash my hands of you as from tonight. In the morning, I want you out."
"Mom!" Bonnie shouted, her eyes desperate. But her mother was unrelenting, and as she left the room, Bonnie flung herself on her bed in tears.
On the shelf, Jessie nudged Buzz. "I told you something bad was going to happen." She whispered sadly.
In the morning, Bonnie awoke, still dressed from the night before. Her eyes were red and blotchy from her crying, and as she eased herself upright, she grimaced, taking out her earrings.
"Great, Mom. Way to put your foot down," she muttered, as she paced across to her closet and pulled out a small bag. The toys recognised it as the case she'd taken when she went to stay with Aunty Kathleen some months back after a similar row with her mother. Only that time, she'd come back home after a day. This time, it was quite clear she wouldn't be returning at all.
Bonnie was throwing clothes in a mish-mash fashion into the case, putting toiletries into a bag, and then picking up other random things. She packed her laptop on the desk, and on her way back over to the bed, she glanced up at the toys on the shelf.
"I don't want to throw you away," she whispered to herself, and a tear rolled down her cheek. She was remembering that summer thirteen years ago, when Andy Davies had sat in the garden with her, and played childish toy filled games with her. She didn't remember anything about her childhood being that way. That one day stood out in her memory, as rare as it was.
She looked at Woody and remembered her promise to take care of him. "I'm not going to just take care of you," she whispered again, walking across the room and touching the cowboy doll fondly.
"I'm going to take care of all of you."
"Charlene? It's Bonnie," Bonnie said into her mobile later that day. She was sitting in her car on the side of the road, boxes and bags piled in the backseat. In one of these boxes sat the nine remaining toys. Woody was peeking through a hole in the box, and watching Bonnie's movements. She had calmed down a lot since the fight, and now she was melancholy but determined. He thought about what she had said, and wondered what was in the young woman's mind.
"Yeah, where is she now? With your cousin? How come? Oh." There was a pause. "What's the address? I'll go around there now. Right. Ok. Thanks Charlene. I'll talk to you later chick. Something big going down here." Another pause. "Ok. 7.30? you're on. See you later."
Bonnie put down the phone, drummed her fingers on the steering wheel a couple of times, before putting the car back in gear, and driving off. She navigated the corners, until the car drove down Wilmington Avenue, and stopped outside number 112.
