Now You Know
"What did you just say to me?" Punk shook his head, taking his hand from the door handle as he looked across at Bob.
"What?" Bob shook his head, trying not to draw much attention to what he said.
"What did you just say? Repeat it. Every word." Punk nodded, walking back into the room as Bob just shook his head.
"No, I was just-" He sighed, "Angry outburst." He nodded.
"Say it. Again." Punk nodded as Bob looked across at him.
"No, you know what… none of this was my place. I was just trying to do the right thing for everyone but… I should have just done nothing. No wonder I had a heart attack." He attempted to joke as Punk looked across at him.
"You know where my daughter is?" Punk questioned as Bob looked down, "Bob." Punk said in a serious tone, "Do you?" He screwed his eyebrows as Bob nodded.
"Yes. Yes, I do." Bob nodded calmly, "I have since she was… five." He gulped as Punk tilted his head.
"No." Punk shook his head in disbelief, "No, you wouldn't… that's not fair on me and April. You wouldn't do that." Punk shook his head.
"Only because of how I found her-"
"What? You-You found her? What the hell does that mean?" Punk shook his head, "This has gotta be the drugs talking. I mean… how much are they giving you." He walked over to the bed, looking on at the board with all of Bob's information.
"Phil." Bob sighed, taking Punk's arm, "I'm sorry but it's true." He nodded as Punk ripped his arm away, "One day she… she came into the store. She had no shoes on, she was hungry and… cold." Bob nodded whilst Punk shook his head, "That's when I knew she… she hadn't been adopted. Not like you and April thought."
"You're up early." Bob nodded as he watched a twenty-three year old Punk walk into his store, his blonde hair now turned black, tied back in a bobble with a cap on his head, "Normally you sleep late on Sundays." Bob said as Punk walked over to the desk.
"I got that new job starting today, don't I." Punk reminded him, "The garage across the road." He said.
"Oh, of course." Bob nodded, handing him a bottle of water, "Well good luck. Don't fuck it up." Bob smiled as Punk chuckled.
"Yeah, I'll try not to." Punk shook his head, "Might even start making enough money to move out. I bet you'll like that, huh?" He nodded as Bob laughed.
"Hey, you aren't that hard to live with." Bob shrugged, "Although… bring home different girls which I have to make breakfast wasn't part of the accommodation deal." He raised a brow.
"Hey, I can't help that I'm afraid." Punk shook his head.
"No, but the other night you brought home two." Bob said, "I mean, there's a line we have to draw."
"I know what I'm getting you for Christmas this year." Punk nodded as Bob shook his head with confusion, "Some big ass headphones. Problem solved." He tapped the desk as Bob rolled his eyes.
"Get out of here." Bob told him as Punk chuckled, sitting down the money and leaving the store.
"Sorry, sweetie." Punk dodged his way around the little girl walking into the store, almost knocking her out the way, rushing out of the store and down the block to start his new job.
Bob put the money in the till, looking up as he noticed a small little girl walking into the store, unaccompanied, dragging her teddy bear by the arm as he watched. He noticed she had no shoes on and was looking at all the snacks.
"Hey there." Bob got her attention as she turned around, "Hey." He waved as she waved back, "Where's your mommy? Or your daddy?" He asked as the little girl walked over to the desk.
"I ran away." She whispered to him as Bob nodded, suspecting that. He only had to take one look at her and notice she perhaps didn't have someone taking care of her properly. She had odd socks on, her t-shirt was dirty and her hair appeared to be all tuggy and tangled.
"Ok." Bob nodded, "Come here." He lifted her up onto the desk as he watched her smile, "What's your name?" He asked her.
"Reylissa." Rey whispered, playing with the ears on her teddy bear as Bob looked at her closely.
"W-What?" Bob shook his head.
"Reylissa." Rey nodded, "My register name is 274Brooks." She told him as Bob shook his head, looking out the store window across at the garage as he watched Punk walk on in, turning back to Rey.
"Uh…" He swallowed, "Your register number?" He questioned.
"Where I stay." Rey nodded to him, "With the other kids." She said as Bob shook his head, realising who this little girl was and where she still lived. She hadn't been adopted like Punk and AJ were told she would be, she appeared to still be in a foster care home, and it looked like they weren't taking care of her the way a little girl like her should have been.
"I'm really hungry." She nodded to him, "Can I have just a little something?" She wondered, "Please." She said as Bob nodded.
"Yes. Yes, you stay here." Bob told her, "Stay right there." He said as she nodded.
He rushed out from behind the desk and ran out of the store, stepping one foot onto the road before pausing, watching as Punk was walking around the garage with someone. He took a deep breath, placing his hand on his forehead as he looked back to the store, watching Rey play with the chewing gum stack on the desk. He knew running over to Punk and claiming his daughter was in his store just wasn't the right thing to do.
He walked back into the store, looking over at Rey and sighing.
He grabbed some food for her, a sandwich, a drink, some snacks. He also grabbed a brush and some wipes, walking back over to the desk.
"Is that for me?" Rey asked quietly as Bob nodded. He couldn't believe it was her. He was lost for words.
"Y-Yeah." Bob nodded, "Here you go." He said, opening up the sandwich for her and sitting it down with the other snacks as Rey dug in right away.
He walked around the desk again, smiling as he watched her pretending to feed her bear, swinging her little legs back and forth as she sat on the desk.
"Thank you." Rey smiled to him as Bob just nodded. As he realised who she was, he began to notice how much she looked like her mother. The dark eyes and the dark hair. The caramel skin, the small little nose but the edgy little smile.
"That's ok." Bob smiled, "Why did you run away, sweetie?" He asked her, taking the brush out of the packaging whilst she ate her sandwich.
"Don't like it there." Rey told him as Bob nodded, beginning to brush the tugs out of her hair.
"Why don't you like it?" Bob asked her.
"Mean people." Rey whispered, "And I have no friends." She told him as Bob sighed. It was breaking his heart, because he knew if Punk or AJ knew this, they'd be devastated, but something was telling him not to say anything. They'd shut that part of their life off. AJ had moved away, he saw Punk starting to do good with himself, he just didn't know how to bring this up.
"Sometimes we struggle making friends." Bob nodded, "I know I do."
"You do?" Rey asked him, "Like me?"
"Yeah, just like you." Bob smiled, "But there will come a day and you'll have a great friend, or more than one great friend." He assured her as Rey smiled at the thought.
"I'd like a friend right now." Rey sighed.
"I'll be your friend." Bob nodded as Rey turned to him, "Yeah, any time you need something, you come here, to this store." He said as Rey smiled, "But you shouldn't run away. It's too dangerous out there for a little person like you."
"I do it all the time." Rey shrugged as Bob watched her, finishing her sandwich and moving onto her snacks, opening them up whilst Bob continued to brush out her hair. He knew he had to call her foster home, but a part of him really wanted to just take her in. He felt like he needed to. He thought about what Punk would think, if he'd handle it well.
But he knew the decision Punk and AJ made, was the most difficult thing either of them had done, and he felt like to bring it all back would have been wrong of him, but he couldn't help worry about this little girl.
"How was the sandwich?" Bob asked her after brushing her hair out.
"Nice." Rey nodded.
"I'm gonna call the people at your home now, to let them know you're here." He said as Rey just nodded.
Bob remembered the foster system which it was, and called them up to let the know he had Rey, which they told him they would be along to pick her up right away.
"What's your name?" Rey asked him.
"My name is Bob." Bob said as Rey nodded.
"Bob." She hummed to herself, shaking her head from side to side as Bob smiled.
He chatted to her until a social worker appeared. He watched Rey smuggle the rest of her snacks in her pocket quickly, jumping down from the desk.
"I'm terribly, terribly sorry." The social worker appeared, taking Rey's hand as Bob just nodded.
"It's alright. Maybe a change of clothes would be good for her. Some bigger meals too." Bob suggested as Rey stood still.
"Thank you." The social worker nodded bluntly, "Let's go, Reylissa." She tugged Rey's arm as Rey left the store, waving to Bob on her way out as Bob smiled, waving back as he watched out the store window as she was put into the car, appearing to be getting yelled at and told off for running away. He noticed Rey make a face behind the woman's back when she turned, smiling to himself.
He watched as the car pulled away, sighing to himself.
"You never thought to tell me?" Punk shook his head, looking across at Bob after he explained that day he first met Rey.
"I was going to. I planned to but… you came home that night and you were so excited about this new job. AJ wasn't there, she was long gone, and I didn't… I didn't think it'd be worth bringing it all back up for you." Bob said as Punk placed his hands though his slicked back hair.
"They… They told us she'd be adopted right away." Punk shook his head, "Why was she still in foster care?" Punk shook his head, "Why was she never adopted?"
"I don't know." Bob shook his head, "I don't, and she doesn't either."
"Wait you… you're still in contact with her?" Punk shook his head, "Right now?" Punk asked him as he nodded, "All this time?"
"Yes." Bob nodded, "I figured if I couldn't tell you or AJ then I would just keep an eye on her, help her if she needed it." He said as Punk shook his head.
"I don't believe this." He shook his head, feeling his insides shaking. It just wasn't what he was expecting to hear at all, "You knew all this time and you never, ever said anything?" Punk asked.
"Phil, I didn't think you'd wanna hear it." Bob said honestly.
"You didn't think I'd wanna know that my daughter was out walking streets with dirty clothes and… and no real family?" Punk shook his head as Bob sighed, "Of course I'd wanna know that. If I knew that's what was going to happen to her… me and April would never have gave her away. They promised us she'd be adopted to a nice family. Parents who were ready and wanted her. That was the whole point of this-"
"Well it never happened. She moved around foster homes and schools. She never got any family to take her in." Bob said.
"Ever?" Punk asked.
"No." Bob shook his head as Punk shook his head.
"And you knew and you never said a damn thing!" Punk yelled angrily.
"Don't get angry with me, boy. I was the one feeding her and looking out for her." Bob warned him.
"And all you had to do was sit me down and talk to me. We could have gotten a hold of April. The whole point of what we did, was because we thought she would get more from a different family. We thought we had nothing to give her and it turns out she ended up… she ended up getting nothing from no one?" Punk's voice broke as Bob looked up at him, "You should have fucking told me!" He pointed at Bob, about to leave the room.
"You've met her." Bob nodded as Punk turned around, "Sarah." He nodded, "That's not her name." He said as Punk shook his head, "Her name is Reylissa."
