AN: BOO YEAH! Not only is this an extremely fast update for me, but it is the longest chapter I've ever written... EVER! Shoutout to the reviewers: TraylorxChaylor, FlipperDoodle, i'moneinamillion, Edward'sBella4eva, iWyatt, History Nerd. Shoutout to all who favorited/alerted me or the story.
Don't expect another update this fast or long again. Just saying
Disclaimer: I wish... because I'd be sitting on a fat 30 mill right now.
Chapter 3: Memories
I walked into my condo and flicked on the lights. Dropping my keys in the dish by the door, I kept walking toward my living room/ common area. I plopped down on the plush white couch and pulled my laptop from my bag. I set the navy blue laptop on the ebony coffee table and picked up my favorite photo, encased in a silver frame. I was fifteen in that picture; Delonte, twenty-eight. We were at DisneyLand theme park and it was two days before the '04 heist, the last day my brother and I spent together before he was arrested. I sighed and leaned back on the couch so I was now reclining. I closed my eyes as I held the picture toward my chest and remembered the fateful day that changed my life:
I had the house to myself, a rarity. It wasn't that 'Te didn't trust me; he didn't trust, and I quote, "those nappy-headed boys I went to school with". Sometimes I wanted to remind him that we had long moved out of the ATL, so he should at least try to blend his southern accent and axioms for more Californian ones; but I digress. I knew the comment about boys was only because he wanted to protect me. That and he would forever see me as the little girl who always wanted to tag along with him and his friends, despite our thirteen year age difference.
I looked into the refrigerator and found last night's leftover fried chicken and macaroni & cheese untouched. I smiled; I didn't have to cook and I got a throw-down southern meal. I placed my dinner in the microwave to be heated and turned on the TV. Despite the fact that I had an entire weekend worth of homework, including an essay, a science project, 30 math problems, history notes, and seven more chapters in the Count of Monte Cristo to read; I wanted to watch the news, and if I caught a couple episodes of "Girlfriends" and Usher on "106 & Park", then I'd just have to deal.
When I turned on the news, it was on the weather. I rolled my eyes, 'Lemme guess… it's gonna be… wait for it… SUNNY!' Luckily for me, I wouldn't have to sit through the 'predictions' of a sunny week or the weatherman's bad comb-over toupee because the microwave beeped. By the time I walked back into the living room with my steaming hot repast the television had switched to covering the heist that had occurred at a local bank. I set down my food and turned up the volume. These were the kind of stories I watched the news for.
The crew was in and out of the bank in less than an hour and successfully evaded security. However, in their attempt to flee on a fire escape, one of the members was shot down by the police. His crew abandoned him. Just when I was about to taste a forkful of macaroni and cheese, the news reporter revealed the name of the fallen robber, Delonte Rivers. I dropped my fork and hoped I had heard wrong. Surely, they weren't talking about my Delonte Rivers, my older brother. Then, they showed his picture. My brother had robbed a bank and gotten caught. 'Damn it!' I thought to myself and walked to the kitchen to throw away nearly all of my dinner. I had lost my appetite. Suddenly, homework and eating were the last things on my mind. As I walked to the back of the house with tears sliding down my cheeks I wondered 'what's going to happen to me?'
The next day they came for me, social services. Obviously, since my legal guardian had been arrested, they had come to put me in a foster home. I didn't know what to expect. All of the television shows, movies, and books I had read polluted my mind about the foster care system, I had hoped that they were wrong. They weren't.
My foster parents treated me less like a child and more like a burden. They kept me just happy enough to keep up with appearances and get that check from the state. Needless to say, I was not happy. My brother and I were living a MTV Cribs lifestyle, which I now knew came from robbing banks, but I had been forced into an Extreme Home Make-over's life, before the house was rebuilt. The three bedroom house contained a total of six foster kids. I was the oldest, which meant I had to look after the brood of ages 12, 9,7,4,2 and 9 months.
Worse than becoming practically the mother of a bunch of kids I didn't know at age fifteen, is the fact that my foster parents abused me. I suffered for the two and a half years I was there. I couldn't even leave, all the other foster kids there said this was the best home they had ever been in. Although, they did admit that it was because of me. I protected them from the worst of the abuse, even if that meant I had to endure it myself.
In the months before my eighteenth birthday, I was on the countdown and so were the kids. For me, it was liberation day; for them, doomsday. They knew their protector would be gone. Sarah, the oldest after me who was now 15, knew that she would be taking over once I left. I remember my birthday like the United States remembers Pearl Harbor; everything about that day has been branded on my brain. I could never forget.
Sarah and I were sitting on my bed in our shared bedroom. I had bought us two half-pint tubs of Ben & Jerry's ice cream, then he came in, our foster father, Drew. "What are you ladies doin' up in here?" He slurred with a slightly sadistic smile. I glanced over at the beer bottle in his hand; he was drunk.
Sarah's fear was obvious as she glanced over at me. She took a deep breath and bravely answered his question. "We're just eatin' some ice cream to celebrate Dee's birthday."
The smile Drew gave me in response to this statement sent chills running down my spine. My skin was crawling. In an instant, I knew the exact thought running through his sick mind. He confirmed my fear with this one sentence. "Oh, right, you are eighteen now." I resisted the urge to vomit when his tongue swiped across his lower lip.
I gulped and closed my eyes, praying that my nightmare wouldn't come true. As Drew walked over to me, I took a deep breath. "Sarah, go check on the other kids."
"What?" Her eyes widened as she rushed to my side and placed her hand on my shoulder. "Are you INSANE? I'm not leaving you in here with him!"
For a split second, the room was silent. That is, until the deafening crack of Drew's hand upon Sarah's vanilla cheek pierced the ear. I winced when I witnessed the action, especially when I saw the tears well up in Sarah's eyes as she reached up to cradle her reddened cheek.
I tried to hold back the tears that were pricking at my own eyes. "Sarah,go." I whispered softly, yet I knew my tone left no room for argument.
She stood obediently and walked out of the room. I was left to face the monster the government considered to be worthy of raising children. I raised an eyebrow defiantly. "Are you happy?"
Drew grinned again and bit his lower lip. "Ecstatic."
I shrugged haughtily. "Hmm, you're smarter than I gave you credit for." I rose to my feet and grabbed the half-empty cartons of ice cream. "Now, if you excuse me I'm going to throw these away and convince the kids to play a game of hide and go seek."
As I tried to walk pass him, Drew trapped my arm in a death grip and threw me onto the bed. "Baby girl, that's cute." He started walking toward me as he unbuttoned his shirt, revealing his rounded beer belly.
"Don't call me that!" I spit the words at him. "You know what get the hell outta my room and go spend time with your so-called WIFE!"
He snorted. "That bitch?" He trapped me between his knees and slid his face close to mine. I held my breath, disgusted by the pungent odor of alcohol and B.O. "Now, why would I want her when I could have a young, sexy thing like you?" He leaned closer to me and I kneed him in the groin. He fell back onto the floor and I made my attempt to escape. I ran toward the door, but he caught me, digging his dirty fingernails into my skin. I winced as he turned me around to face him.
"Oh, so you think you're tough, now? You think you grown?" He threw me on the bed once again making my head hit the rail. I flinched in pain as my hand went instinctively to my head. I hopped up before he could reach the bed and made attempt to reach the door. Drew was blocking the way, glaring at me. "Where you goin' now?"
I had to get out. I couldn't stay in this place any longer. I had sacrificed nearly three years of my life protecting the children on the floor below me, but this time I needed to protect myself. I looked around; I was out of options. Drew was blocking the only exit, his blue eyes blazing with fury. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the one way I could escape. I gave myself a running start and jumped.
The window's glass shattered and lacerated the sides of my body, but I didn't care. I was so close to freedom. As I soared threw the air, adrenaline pumped threw my veins. I flipped in the air to make sure I would land on the grass. Never had I been as grateful of my gymnastics training as when the balls of my feet hit the grass. I took off running. I didn't care where I went, as long as I was far away from that house.
I ran as far as my body abled me, which wasn't that far. The adrenaline was wearing off and I hurt in so many places. Not only that, but I was losing blood. I slowed down to a walk as my eyes fluttered shut. I smacked my face. "Come on girl, wake up." I pressed forward, despite my wooziness, determined to get out of the neighborhood.
I don't know how much farther I walked, but I knew I soon gave up. I rested my hand against a bench and let darkness consume me.
When I woke up, I was sitting in a dimly lit club. I could hear some men whispering. I stayed completely quiet, unsure of where I was exactly.
"We need to get rid of her." One of them said. They had their backs toward me, so I couldn't see who had spoken.
"We can't." One who had a British accent replied.
"Why not? We give her some money and drop her off somewhere."
"We can't put her in that kind of danger. She's clearly a child!"
"Then, we'll call social services and be done with it!"
Someone bent down in front of me and rested their hand on my forehead. I moaned and opened my eyes. My eyes widened and I smiled. "Lily!" I reached out to hug her but I was in pain. I lay back down.
"Dee?" Her eyes widened. She must not have realized it was me. "What happened to you?"
I shrugged. "It's a long story." I looked around, taking in my surroundings. "Where am I?"
Lily paused and looked behind her, unsure of what she should say.
A dark-skinned man stepped forward and addressed me, "Safe." I appraised him and wondered to myself how save I could actually be in a room full of strangers, aside from Lily, my brother's ex-girlfriend.
"What are you going to do with me?" I inquired. I had to know they weren't going to just put me out on the street.
A caramel skinned male with full pink lips rolled his eyes and said, "Get rid of you hopefully," under his breath but I had heard him. I glared up at him.
Lily turned around to glare. "Jesse." She hissed under her teeth. "Jesse" pushed himself off of the counter and walked off. My glare followed him the entire way. He didn't look much older than I was. In any other situation, I would have found him attractive, but his attitude towards me turned me off.
I rolled my eyes and turned my eyes back to the guy with the British accent. "So, what now?"
He sighed. I could see the conflict in his dark brown eyes. "You rest up and we'll figure out what to do with you."
"Gordon," Lily stood and approached him. "She's Ghost's sister."
And just like that, my fate was decided. "She leaves tomorrow."
The sound of my Blackberry vibrating broke me out of my reverie. I quickly picked up the phone and viewed the text. It was from Jesse:
Thinking of you, Babe. Can't wait to see you 2nite
Love you, Jesse.
I smiled. It was hard to believe that at one point in time this man could not stand me. I set the phone back onto the table and looked over at the clock. It was nearly 8:30. I sighed. It would take forever for me to get ready. I lifted my computer off the table, and something caught my eye. I set the laptop onto the couch and picked up the folded sheet of paper. I opened the paper, confused, and read it:
Hey you,
You might want to get a better lock.
The next visitor you get might not be so friendly.
I chill ran down my spine. I felt violated. Someone had broken into my apartment. I stuffed the note into my pocket and headed into my bedroom to get ready. I quickly took a shower. I was now paranoid, who knows what the intruder could've done. As I slid on my fire engine red dress, I thought of all the things the intruder could have done, all the people he… or she could have been. I shuddered. Suddenly, I wished I'd invited Jesse over. I walked quickly back into the bathroom to do my make-up. I rushed through the routine as fast as I could without ruining the make-up job. As I was putting my brushes away, I looked at the object sitting on the counter and sighed.
I shook my head and walked back into the bedroom. I slid on my red strapped heels. I sighed to myself as I stood, and resolved to tell Jesse what I had found. Decided and ready, I grabbed my red clutch and walked out of the door.
