Disclaimer: The 7th Heaven characters aren't mine. I'm just borrowing them to tell a story. Please don't sue. All non 7th Heaven characters belong to me.
Don't forget the feedback/review!
Witness
By Dark Inzanity (c) 2002
Chapter
Home Coming
The house looked the same from the outside, and I knew what to expect on the inside. Mom likes things a certain way. The furniture hasn't moved since the day we moved into the house.
Davey and I were nine. Matt, Mary, Lucy, and Simon were long gone. Ruthie technically lived with us still. She had a room in the new house, but it was really just a place to keep her things. We never saw her. Davey and I felt like only children. Really we felt like orphans.
In a way we were orphans. Dad had another heart attack, and stroke after that which left him partially paralyzed and unable to talk or feed himself too well. Mom tried to take care of him, but after a few weeks she put him in a nursing home. Ruthie took us to school and brought us home. She usually just dropped us at the door and we let ourselves in. Mom was never home, either with Dad or something.
Davey and I used to talk about how the house felt like a prison. We were trapped there, until we were older. Ruthie could get out because she could drive. She worked after school to save up enough money to buy a car. I think Simon helped her, but she never said. She never talked to Davey and me. Aftr Dad got sick, Ruthie got real distant, like she couldn't stand to be around us anymore.
I don't think it was us, really. She couldn't stand to be around the new house, which wasn't the house she grew up in, and Dad wasn't there. Ruthie was always closer to Dad. Mom was always a hard person to feel close to. She and Ruthie fought all the time, about everything from school to clothes and the friends Ruthie hung out with. Ruthie never brought her friends to the house, and neither did Davey or me.
I never had many friends. Mostly it was just Davey and me against the world. Sometimes we felt like we were up against our mother as well as the world. But Davey had other friends. He talked to them on the phone, sometimes he even went to their houses. I never went anywhere. Until I went to college.
I would never forget the looks on their faces, Mom and Davey, when I told them I was going to school in Texas. Mom looked like she wanted to cry, and Davey looked like I hat punched him in the stomach. I guess in a way that's exactly what I did. They both tried to talk me out of it. Surely I could still get on at Crawford and go to school with David. We could live at home another year or two...
I'm not sure David ever forgave me for going away. Like I did it to punish him for some terrible crime he didn't even know he had committed. Davey never did a thing wrong. I didn't mind that he had friends, I didn't mind that he didn't always want to spend time with me. He always felt guilty about it. I could never make him understand sometimes I needed to be alone, away from him, out of his shadow.
*.~.*
I got out of the car slowly, as if I could delay the moment. This didn't feel like a homecoming. It felt like walking out to the gallows, or taking my place in front of a firing squad.
Mom didn't offer to help me with my stuff. Not that there was much, and I didn't really even need any help. I took my time getting it out of the trunk. And then I went inside.
The way the house was set up, we used the back door more than the front. I found myself in the kitchen, which looked exactly the same as it always did. Not a thing out of place, and the floor shined so bright it looked clean enough to eat off of.
I trudged my way to the front of the house and up the stairs to my room. Davey's door was closed. I looked at it, at his 'Keep Out' poster, and I felt a strange pull in my gut. I wanted Davey to come out of the room and take me in his arms, hug me, and tell me it's okay, he would take care of me and everything would be okay, just like he used to.
I shook my head at myself and went to my room. I dropped my stuff beside my bed. I caught my reflection in the mirror and just stood there staring, wondering who I was staring at. It looked like me, but I barely recognized myself. How had my life gotten so messed up? I never meant to get so far out of control.
I closed my eyes and saw the house. I could hear the glass shattering as rocks flew through the windows. The Rick and Quinn talking through a plan of attack. Suddenly we were in the kitchen, and Quinn told me to search the master bedroom. I tried to protest, but Quinn silenced me with a look.
I made my way to the stairs and creeped up to the top. Bobby and Sam followed, with their orders to search the other rooms. I knew Rick and Quinn stayed downstairs to make sure I didn't get out if I decided to try to make a run for it.
"Sam." Mom's voice pulled me out of the memory. I opened my eyes and looked at her. She looked so old, and it seemed more lines had been etched into her face just since we came home. "I don't want to talk about what happened. Do you understand?"
I nodded, what else could I do? I couldn't argue with her. No one ever won an argument with my mother. Better to keep my mouth shut and let her say her peace. And she did. She told me five times I was not to speak to anyone, except my lawyer, about my time in Texas.
I sat down on the bed. Mom stayed on her feet near the door. I felt like I didn't know her anymore. I could see the same thoughts running around in her mind.
"I'm going to be honest with you, Sam. I am so upset and disappointed right now I almost left you in that jail cell. Don't make me regret my decision to bring you home."
She turned on her heels and walked out. I just sat there for a long time staring at the open door.
*~.~*
That's all for now. Please read and review so I know what you think. Thanks so much, I appreciate each and every review. :)
Don't forget the feedback/review!
Witness
By Dark Inzanity (c) 2002
Chapter
Home Coming
The house looked the same from the outside, and I knew what to expect on the inside. Mom likes things a certain way. The furniture hasn't moved since the day we moved into the house.
Davey and I were nine. Matt, Mary, Lucy, and Simon were long gone. Ruthie technically lived with us still. She had a room in the new house, but it was really just a place to keep her things. We never saw her. Davey and I felt like only children. Really we felt like orphans.
In a way we were orphans. Dad had another heart attack, and stroke after that which left him partially paralyzed and unable to talk or feed himself too well. Mom tried to take care of him, but after a few weeks she put him in a nursing home. Ruthie took us to school and brought us home. She usually just dropped us at the door and we let ourselves in. Mom was never home, either with Dad or something.
Davey and I used to talk about how the house felt like a prison. We were trapped there, until we were older. Ruthie could get out because she could drive. She worked after school to save up enough money to buy a car. I think Simon helped her, but she never said. She never talked to Davey and me. Aftr Dad got sick, Ruthie got real distant, like she couldn't stand to be around us anymore.
I don't think it was us, really. She couldn't stand to be around the new house, which wasn't the house she grew up in, and Dad wasn't there. Ruthie was always closer to Dad. Mom was always a hard person to feel close to. She and Ruthie fought all the time, about everything from school to clothes and the friends Ruthie hung out with. Ruthie never brought her friends to the house, and neither did Davey or me.
I never had many friends. Mostly it was just Davey and me against the world. Sometimes we felt like we were up against our mother as well as the world. But Davey had other friends. He talked to them on the phone, sometimes he even went to their houses. I never went anywhere. Until I went to college.
I would never forget the looks on their faces, Mom and Davey, when I told them I was going to school in Texas. Mom looked like she wanted to cry, and Davey looked like I hat punched him in the stomach. I guess in a way that's exactly what I did. They both tried to talk me out of it. Surely I could still get on at Crawford and go to school with David. We could live at home another year or two...
I'm not sure David ever forgave me for going away. Like I did it to punish him for some terrible crime he didn't even know he had committed. Davey never did a thing wrong. I didn't mind that he had friends, I didn't mind that he didn't always want to spend time with me. He always felt guilty about it. I could never make him understand sometimes I needed to be alone, away from him, out of his shadow.
*.~.*
I got out of the car slowly, as if I could delay the moment. This didn't feel like a homecoming. It felt like walking out to the gallows, or taking my place in front of a firing squad.
Mom didn't offer to help me with my stuff. Not that there was much, and I didn't really even need any help. I took my time getting it out of the trunk. And then I went inside.
The way the house was set up, we used the back door more than the front. I found myself in the kitchen, which looked exactly the same as it always did. Not a thing out of place, and the floor shined so bright it looked clean enough to eat off of.
I trudged my way to the front of the house and up the stairs to my room. Davey's door was closed. I looked at it, at his 'Keep Out' poster, and I felt a strange pull in my gut. I wanted Davey to come out of the room and take me in his arms, hug me, and tell me it's okay, he would take care of me and everything would be okay, just like he used to.
I shook my head at myself and went to my room. I dropped my stuff beside my bed. I caught my reflection in the mirror and just stood there staring, wondering who I was staring at. It looked like me, but I barely recognized myself. How had my life gotten so messed up? I never meant to get so far out of control.
I closed my eyes and saw the house. I could hear the glass shattering as rocks flew through the windows. The Rick and Quinn talking through a plan of attack. Suddenly we were in the kitchen, and Quinn told me to search the master bedroom. I tried to protest, but Quinn silenced me with a look.
I made my way to the stairs and creeped up to the top. Bobby and Sam followed, with their orders to search the other rooms. I knew Rick and Quinn stayed downstairs to make sure I didn't get out if I decided to try to make a run for it.
"Sam." Mom's voice pulled me out of the memory. I opened my eyes and looked at her. She looked so old, and it seemed more lines had been etched into her face just since we came home. "I don't want to talk about what happened. Do you understand?"
I nodded, what else could I do? I couldn't argue with her. No one ever won an argument with my mother. Better to keep my mouth shut and let her say her peace. And she did. She told me five times I was not to speak to anyone, except my lawyer, about my time in Texas.
I sat down on the bed. Mom stayed on her feet near the door. I felt like I didn't know her anymore. I could see the same thoughts running around in her mind.
"I'm going to be honest with you, Sam. I am so upset and disappointed right now I almost left you in that jail cell. Don't make me regret my decision to bring you home."
She turned on her heels and walked out. I just sat there for a long time staring at the open door.
*~.~*
That's all for now. Please read and review so I know what you think. Thanks so much, I appreciate each and every review. :)