A/N: I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! The next chapter will be up tomorrow. I think the next chapter will be very fulfilling for Braillie fans :)
Chapter 8: Trying to Heal
Callie laid on the hard bed that was in the jail cell. Her eyes were looking up at the ceiling. The incident continued to play over and over again in her head. Yes, Noah wasn't the best boyfriend, but she did love him. She never meant to hurt him.
"Miss Jacobs." A correctional officer who was walking up to her cell called out to her. "You have a visitor."
The teenager jumped down from her bed. Held her hands straight in front of her, so that the officer could place the handcuffs on her. Then followed him out to the area where visitors were. It was just like you saw in the movies, there was a big glass wall, a phone so that they could speak to one another. Part of her hoped it was Jude, she had tried to call him numerous times since she had been locked up, but he was ignoring her. It pained her to think that this was the final mistake that could damage their relationship. They had been through so much together.
It wasn't her brother though, it was somebody worse then him, her biological father. She sat in the seat that was across from him. She gave him a look of disgust, while rolling her eyes, she reached for the phone to hear what he had to say.
"I had to come here myself and see if you were okay." Robert said worried about his oldest daughter.
The last thing she needed was for him to come here with fake enthusiasm about her. "Does your wife know your here?"
He looked up at his daughter who was still upset about the last fight that they had. "No, she doesn't."
"I think you should tell her. I bet she would be so relieved to find out that the bastard daughter that you had is exactly where she thought I'd be!" Her voice raised with every single word.
"Honey..."
"No! Do not call me that! Do not come in here and act like everything between us is okay, because it isn't. You chose your wife over me. Just like you chose your family over my mother. You are a spineless excuse for a human-being and I meant it when I said that I never want to see you again." The teenager hung up the phone on her end and called the guard to escort her back to her cell.
The older man hung up his phone. He watched as his daughter walked away from him in an orange jailsuit and handcuffs. As a father he couldn't help but feel like he was responsible for this...
Robert walked into his house exhausted from the long day of work that he had just finished. He wasn't really excited about being home though, ever since his oldest daughter moved in with his wife and youngest daughter, it wasn't exactly peaceful. There was a lot of estrogen and emotions in the house.
"I can't do this anymore!" His wife came running up to him as soon as he walked inside of the front door. "I can not deal with a child that is not mine."
He looked at his wife with defeat. Everything seemed to be going good in the beginning, but Callie wasn't exactly fond of the way that the wealthy lived. It was new for him and his family. "What happened?"
"She was late to her tennis practice again today Robert. That wasn't even the worse part. I went up to check on Sofia after dinner and she was in there showing our daughter how to dance! Not like a slow dane, but a hip winding, simulating sexual acts dance! She is undoing all of the years that I put in to make Sofia a nice respectful girl." His wife complained.
"That is the way that the kids dance these days, sweetie." He said to his wife as he walked into the massive kitchen to get some leftovers.
"I can't do this anymore." She repeated while nodding her head no and following her husband into the kitchen. "I understand that you feel somewhat responsible for her hard life, but you had no clue that she was even alive until a couple of months ago. It is too late to fix her! She is clearly trailer trash!"
"Hey! Do not speak about my daughter like that!" He turned to face his wife. "She is just a teenager who enjoys herself! I for one think that is what Sofia and this entire family needs." His eyes were stern with her.
His wife placed her hands up in defeat. "I didn't want it to have to come to this. I really wanted you to see what I see in that girl. But you are so wrapped up in some teenage love or lust that you had with her mother. And I feel like you are cheating on me!"
"What?"
"Oh, come on! All you two ever talk about his her mother. You make it seem like if you had known her mother was pregnant, you would have never married me." She placed her finger to herself. "I can't take it anymore. You have to choose. It's either me or her. And I advise that you think long and hard about that decision, because I am up to my ropes end."
As Mrs. Quinn was walking out of the kitchen, Callie came walking down the steps. The house was huge, but the open concept of the first floor made it very easy for people on the second floor to hear what was going on clearly. "What have I done to you?" The teenager asked as she stepped closer to her stepmother.
"Excuse me?" She asked stepping back from the young lady.
"Ever since I've been here all I have tried to do was be nice to you. I cooked when you asked me too. I cleaned when you asked me too. I have never raised my voice to you, but all you can ever seem to do is scream at me. What is it?"
Robert heard his oldest daughter voice and quickly walked out of the kitchen to find the two women facing one another. He knew this was going to be bad.
"The fact that you can even come up to me and ask me that kind of question is what is the matter with you. Where I come from children stay in a child's place. I get that you were raised differently-"
"Trailer trash? Isn't that the way you put it to my father?" She asked looking at the older lady. She had held her tongue back for too long. It was as if she were cinderella in this house. Her father was gone most of the time and her evil step mother was the one running everything while he was away. And to say that she ran them unfairly would be an understatement.
"Now you are listening in on grown people's conversation..." She turned to look at her husband. "Do you see what I mean about the respectable thing?"
Callie looked up at her father who seemed to be at a crossroad. "I just want to know why she hates me so much?"
"I don't think you should speak to your stepmom like that..." He began to look at his daughter. He could see her demeanor change. There was a look of hurt in her eyes.
"Are you really going to take her side?" She asked completely astonished by this. "Do you know the way that she treats me when you aren't here?"
"I am not choosing a side, I am just saying you aren't an adult, yet. She is right. You should stay in a child's place. I will handle this."
"No, you won't. You have been saying that since I first moved in here. It keeps getting worse." She looked at her stepmother, then back up at her father. "She is right about something. You are going to have to choose. Because, obviously we both can't stay inside this house."
Robert looked at his wife and thought about all of the years he had with her. Then he looked at his teenage daughter that he barely even knew. "If I have to choose...then I would have to choose my wife..."
Foster House:
Stef hung up the phone and walked into the kitchen where her wife was sitting feeding their baby. The entire family decided to take off from school and work for a couple of days so they could deal with their emotions about what happened to Callie. The murder of a drug dealer by his teenage girlfriend had become headlining news in San Diego.
"I just got off the phone with Robert Quinn." Stef said as she stood over her wife who was placing a spoon full of baby food into Emily's mouth.
"Really? What did he say?"
"He said that he would pay for her lawyer. So it seems as though we can keep the money we have been saving for Mariana and Jesus' college fund." She smiled about the good news, but still there was a long process ahead before there would be a victory.
Lena smiled and continued to feed her daughter. She had checked up on all of her children, but they all seemed to be doing fine. "Do you think we have started to become lazy when it comes to parenting?" She finally asked as she looked up at her wife.
"No, what would make you say that?" Stef sat down beside her.
"There was a time when we knew everything that happened in this house. Our children would come to us and tell us things. We even knew about their sex lives, something most parents are completely in the dark about." She looked up at her wife. "They stopped telling us stuff Stef. We let Callie stay with an abusive ass for months."
The blond sat down next to her wife. "We did the best that we could do. We begged her to come home, but she didn't want too. We couldn't force her because she is eighteen. Maybe our communication has been off with our kids for a little bit, but we are only two people. You had a difficult pregnancy with Emily, then we had a new born, and I had to take on some extra shifts because feeding all of us isn't an easy task."
"I know, but I just feel like they are hiding things from us now. I don't like it one bit."
Stef scrunched up her nose and let out a small chuckle. "They are teenagers. They are entitled to have their share of secrets. It's not like they want to bother us with all of their problems. They are growing up! Do you want them to call us when they are thirty, like 'Hey moms...I just had sex with my wife.'"
The brown-skinned woman laughed at the thought. "You're right."
"Plus, since we don't have to worry about all of their drama all of the time..." Stef moved her hand to her wife's thigh, "we can have more alone time to ourselves."
"Hey, not with Emily here." She said playfully back.
Just then Jude walked down the steps. He walked over to his moms, "is it okay if I go to the movies with Connor?"
The two women looked at each other, then back at their son. "Yeah, sure." Stef said a bit skeptical about this.
"Are you sure your okay enough to go out?" Lena asked the question that she knew they were both thinking.
"I am fine. I just want to get out of this house." He said nonchalantly. "Do you have like twenty dollars?"
Stef got up and got some money out of her wallet.
"Do you need a ride to the movies?" Lena asked as she watched her wife hand him the bill.
"No, Connor's older sister is going to take us. Thanks." He smiled at his moms and was about to walk out the door when he heard...
"Be back before dinner!" Being called after him.
"Okay." The young man walked out of the house and secretly walked down the block to meet up with his friend.
"I'm sorry to hear about your sister." Connor stated as he gave his friend a hug.
"Yeah..."
"Are you sure that you want to do this?" Connor asked looking up at his friend. "I mean we can really go to a movie if you want. I think there is a trolley that can take us there."
"No, I want to do this. I just want to try and see why everybody does this." Jude said as he looked up at his friend. There was a moment when they were just staring at one another.
"Okay, let's go then. Bobby is waiting for us." The two young men walked a couple of blocks down. They entered this house that looked as though it was supposed to be in Los Angeles, not San Diego. Once they entered there friend was already rolling a blunt filled with marijuana.
"There is no turning back once we do this." Connor said as he looked over to his friend.
"Good." He smiled.
An hour later a high Jude and Connor walked to a nearby school, hopped a fence, and were playing on the playground.
"I see why people do this now." Connor stated as he looked around. Everything seemed so euphoric. "It is actually a little fun."
"Yeah..." Jude watched as his friend swung on the swings. He just sat on the concrete and looked up at the sky. "I just wanted to see why my sister got so hooked on doing this stuff. I get it now."
The brunette boy stopped swinging and sat next to his friend. This was the first time that he had opened up about his sister, since the arrest.
"It's like when your high, nothing really matters. It doesn't matter that my biological sister and adopted brother slept together behind everyones back, or that she is on trial for murder and can be behind jail for the rest of my life..."
"I didn't know your sister and Brandon slept together." He looked over at his friend who seemed to be more out of it then he was, but that could be because he was high too.
"Oh, they were sleeping with one another. It happened more than once." He looked at the boy who he felt the closest too. "I guess I never told you that I found them having sex before too."
Connors eyes widened in disbelief. "No! Why didn't you ever tell me that?"
"Because it is this big secret that they didn't want anybody to know." He began to laugh. The marijuana definitely made him feel happier about what he knew and saw.
"Is that why your sister left the house?"
The real reason as to why his sister left the house popped into his mind. "I'd rather not talk about that." He looked over to his friend. "You know, you are the only person that has never let me down in my life." Jude placed his hand on Connors leg.
They both stared intensely into the others' eyes.
Slowly, Connor leaned his head toward his friend. And a soft feeling was on his lips. It was only for a second and he was so high off of the marijuana that he almost felt like it was a dream.
Jude walked into the house coming down from the high that he had almost two hours ago. His entire family was inside the house having dinner.
"I'm glad you made it to dinner on time." Stef said with a smile. "How was the movie?"
"It was good." The teenager said as he walked inside of the kitchen. He was actually really excited to see food. He sat down to eat, when the adverse effects of the weed began to hit.
"Are you okay, honey?" Lena asked as she saw her sons eyes begin to widen.
"Yeah, I am fine. I just think I need to go to sleep." He stepped down from the table. "Thanks for dinner."
Brandon looked at his brother. He knew what the downside of weed looked like, and he sure knew that was what was happening to him.
A couple of minutes later, Brandon walked into the room that his brothers' shared. "Do you really think getting high is a good idea?" His voice was thick with emotion. "Did you not just see what drugs did to your sister!"
Jude stood up. The high was wearing off. "Don't you dare come in here and lecture me about what I do. Especially, when it comes to my sister!"
"I get it, okay. I get that you are going through a lot of shit. We all are! But the last thing this family needs is another drugged out teenager!"
"It was my first time. It was only for fun." He said back. "Don't act like you never tried weed before."
Brandon placed his hands on his hips. "I have, but I sure as hell wasn't hurting when I did it. That's the difference between me and what happened with Callie. And right now you are hurting, just like she was hurting when she started experimenting with weed."
Something snapped inside of his head when he heard Brandon say his sisters name. This anger arose in his body and before he could control it; he lunged at his older brother.
The oldest foster defended himself without hurting his younger brother.
"You are apart of the reason she started doing drugs! You have no right to ever say her name again!" He screamed as he began to punch the guy. It wasn't all of Brandon's fault, but since he wasn't able to hit his sister, his older brother was the next best thing. "I hate you! I hate her! I hate you both!"
The dark brunette continued to let his brother hit him, until he heard the screams turn into cries. He wrapped his arms around the young boy and held him.
While still crying he said, "I know she doesn't do these things to hurt me..." He muffled into his brothers shirt. "I just want her to be okay. I just want us to be able to a family."
A sharp pain filled Brandon's heart. "I know, buddy. I know."
