Teagan laid on her belly and curled her arms around Randy's pillow. Tears wanted to fall from her eyes and she knew a few escaped before she could make herself hold it in. She felt so horrible and had finally become what her father always said she was.
The door opened and Randy jumped from the bed, but Teagan was too tired to move and she closed her eyes, not wanting to see who had interrupted them, sure it was Bob or Patty who would kick her out immediately. Or maybe it was her father who would rip her from the bed and beat her, maybe to death and she did not care. Randy didn't care for her and he never would. He had only used her which he had made clear the moment he had spent himself.
She opened her eyes, but she was still unable to handle whatever was coming, but she found Roman standing and staring.
"Be cool about this, Roman." Randy slipped on a pair of jogging pants, but acted like nothing was out of the ordinary.
"You're sick." He gazed at Teagan who could not make herself move and she was having an even harder time keeping her eyes open, but she knew what he was thinking. Roman knew that Randy had used her and he would make sure the entire school knew about her humiliation. He turned and walked out of the room and she could not fight any longer. She closed her eyes and was soon asleep, exhausted from the experience that had left her thighs aching.
She awoke early, before anyone else and found she was still lying naked in Randy's bed with his blanket only covering her bottom. Her thighs still hurt and Randy was not in the room. She looked around, unable to think of what to do next and her head still felt cloudy from the illegal drug she had let Randy breath into her body, but she would not let the fact that she ahd been high excuse her actions. Part of her had wanted to stop him, but another part of her just wanted to know what it would be like to be with him. At the same time she had stopped caring. What was she saving herself for anyway? No one really cared and she had already been punished for she had done with Randy, she figured she might as well experience the moment that was supposed to make it worth it. It had felt nice and she had never felt anything like it and she knew she would
never forget it.
She peeked out of the room. Everything was quiet so she hurried into the bathroom and found her clothes were still there. She slipped them on and went into Teagan's room and laid Teagan's sleeping bag on the floor and zipped herself into it. Again, exhaustion and stress overtook her and she gave into sleep again even though the sun was already rising.
"Katie!" She awoke to her shortened first name. Her father had made her go by Teagan, the name she ahd been named for his grandmother, a name that he had wanted to be her first name. Her mother always called her Katie and no one else had in a long time. "Oh, baby." Teagan opened her eyes to see her mother rush into the room, fall to her knees and kiss her forehead.
"Mom?" Teagan sat up and threw her arms around the woman she had longed to see for so long and she let all her emotions escape. She sobbed into her shoulder wishing she could blurt out everything, including what she had allowed Randy to do the night before.
"Strangest thing." Bob leaned against the door frame with his arm around his wife. He wore a big grin as he told his story. "My landlord was out of town and he called me late last night when he got my messages. Who would have guessed that your mom was right across the street."
"Oh, I can't believe it." Diane sobbed. "I was offered the bigger house because the owner wanted to renovate the one I was living in." she explained, then she got to her feet keeping Teagan close. She hugged both of Andy's parents. "Thank you so much for taking her in. I don't want to think what could have happened."
"It's no problem, Diane. I just wish we knew she was your daughter." Patty told her and laughed.
"Roman? Do you want to stay a little while longer?" her mother asked and Teagan was horrified, figuring out that her biggest bully had been her stepbrother all along.
"No." Roman stared with angry eyes. "I guess it really is a small world after all." She heard him growl to Randy as he followed them out the door. He wasn't happy about what he had learned about her and she could only imagine how he would threaten her to keep her relationship to him a secret. There was getting to be too many secrets and she began to hate the social elite. She had always disliked them, but she had never despised. Now, her school life would be ten times worse, but her home life would be better. Even with Roman constantly around to bully her. None of his teasing would be worse than what she had endured living with her father. He had said some cruel things, but he had never struck her and that she could live with.
But all of her confused thought floated out of her mind the moment her mother took her home and showed her into a bedroom that had always been then for her. Her mother had never forgotten her. She had always been part of her life even though she had never been allowed to visit her. The door may have always been shut, but it was there just the same.
"I've updated it a few times." she admitted. "I just hope that you still like zebra's."
"I do." she said in awe of the room that was decorated in zebra prints and pink. Her favorite stuffed animal as a child had been a stuffed zebra and she had never gone anywhere without it until her father had made her throw it in a trash can.
Her mother had gone overboard decorating the room. The bed had a zebra print comforter, trimmed in pink with matching throw pillows. All the furniture was black and including a desk with its own pink cordless phone. Everything coordinated well and it looked like it had been taken right out of a decorating magazine. There was zebra printed love seat with a matching ottoman and the wall décor matched as well. It was perfect. A dream, but her mother's happiness was clouded by something and she cried as she stared at bruises the tank top she wore exposed.
"I'm so afraid he's going to come and snatch you away again." she sobbed, hugging her tightly. "I just can't stand knowing that he will eventually. We never did know how long, did we?" It was true. Her father had left her behind before, once for a year before he had come to jerk her away in the middle of the night. But she had been six then and she hoped her age would make it more difficult for him to do it again.
"Get a lawyer." Roman came in and flopped down on the sofa and kicked his feet up on the ottoman. "She's old enough to tell a judge where she wants to be. It would be easy."
"It's more complicated than that Roman, darling."
"No, it's not. You need to stop being scared of him, Mom." it hurt Teagan that he called her mom and it made her feel jealous of him having her mother for so long while she suffered. "He's not going to do anything. People who threaten are always all talk. It's the one's who don't who are dangerous." he shrugged. "Besides, you have protection. This place has a great security system and you have dad and me. No one is going to do anything."
"you're right, kiddo. I am sick of all of this. It's time I fought for what I want, no matter what happens. I love you, Katie." she cried. She was much stronger than she remembered her mother being and she was grateful for the man she had married who had given it to her. "My family will not be broke apart ever again. I promise." She gave her daughter another hug. "Well, it's time we started living our lives, isn't it? Now that our family is whole." she went over and picked up Teagan's bag and began to go through it. "I was going to wash these, but I think I'd rather throw them in the trash." she laughed. "First, we are going to get that wrist looked at, but I think I want a lawyer first because I'll be damned if social services is going to get involved this time. They are not going to take you from me again."
The lawyer her mother's boss recommended was a very busy man and had to stop by to talk to them in between meetings, but he was very understanding and gave them both hope. However, he asked to see the bruises, wanting to take pictures to document the torture she had endured and Teagan nervously unbuttoned the shirt she had borrowed from her other and dropped it, careful to hold it close to her bosom. She wished Roman had not been lurking in his bedroom door, listening to every word, because it was another humiliation she did not want the world to know about, but after she revealed her injury, the look on his face was one she had never imagined she would see on him. He seemed honestly sickened, closed his eyes and turned away.
After seeing her and hearing her mother's worries, the lawyer called his office and had his next meetings rescheduled. He wanted to accompany them to the hospital and by the time they had arrived, he had already had an emergency custody hearing filed and scheduled. Teagan was in awe of the way he worked, giving no excuses and working quickly to make sure Teagan would be in a safe environment.
But no one could stop the doctor's at the emergency room from calling social services and a case worker entered her room before her ex-rays had been seen by a doctor. They had decided to place here entire body into a machine that scared her, reminding her of a coffin, fearing she may have internal injuries. Luckily, there were none, but she had a cracked rib that she had thought was only bruised.
The social worker introduced herself and then Teagan was forced to tell her story yet again, but all she did was write on her notebook and nod.
"Well, this is what we have to do." she spoke with no feeling. "Teagan will have to be placed into a foster home until we can inspect both homes and analyze where she would be best cared for."
"What?" Diane almost screamed. "Isn't obvious where she would be safest?"
"Ma'am, for all we know, the child may be safer in the state's care."
"No." she began to cry.
"You haven't done anything to fight for the right to even see your child and that could be deemed as a form of neglect as well."
"Now, wait a minute." The lawyer spoke up. "Teagan is old enough to make some decisions. She knows where she wants to be and this young lady wants to live with her mother. There are regulations to follow in this type of situation, but that is a lot of extra paperwork for you, isn't it?" he sounded sarcastic. "but I do remember reading one of your manuals and I do remember it saying that an abused child may be temporarily placed with a close relative if one is available. Well, one is available and willing. A custody hearing has already been scheduled, so the way I see it, you were just saved a very long ride to the foster home."
"I – I." she straightened her jacket and regained her composure. "I guess you also read that that decision is left to the sole discretion of each individual case worker and I'm afraid that I don't like to do things that way. There have been too many mistakes made in the past and I won't be responsible for one of my cases dying. I have no way of knowing if this woman won't let this child go back into the hands of her abuser."
"I guess that means your institution is running low on funds again. I remember the last time you people took every child into foster care immediately. Social services get a check for each child you hold in your facilities and I'm guessing you're superiors have talked to all of you. You're doing nothing but collecting kids. I did my research. You haven't given one child to a family member in over a year and you have prolonged every case. Your lawyers have asked for extensions on most or you have rescheduled them multiple times, but only on the cases were the defendants were likely to gain custody. Lady, if you take this child today, your entire organization will be looking at a whole lot of trouble."
"Excuse me." She went outside and Teagan saw her talking on her phone. After a few moments she came back and said she would allow her to go home with her mother and she would come by at an undertermined time to inspect the living conditions before the court hearing, then she left.
"I told you every thing would be okay." Their lawyer winked. "Say hello to Jacob for me."
"I will." Apparently, the lawyer knew her stepfather, who was away on a mandatory annual business trip. It was another coincidence in her life where everyone in it seemed to be connected to someone else.
That night, she slept in her own bed and in a safe place. It was the first time in a long time that could be said and yet, she couldn't stay asleep long. Her mother had stopped by the mall on the way home and had bought her a whole new wardrobe and a new pink laptop that matched the pink in her room.
She had tried to protest the extravagance of her mother's spending, but her mother would not hear of it, claiming that money was not a big issue in her life anymore. She had a good job and so did her husband, but still, she didn't feel right having so much spent on her. But at the same time, she could not wait to get up and apply the new make-up she had gotten.
She sat up and turned on her laptop and made herself a profile on a popular social network and an email account. It was another thing she had never had and before she could finish filling in what she wanted people to know, a gently tap on her window made her nearly jump to the ceiling.