Chapter Eight

Eight-year-old Trey Benton sat outside his spacious North Carolina house and played in the sand box his dad had built for him when he was five. He had always loved to be in the sand and today was no exception.

"Vroom, vroom," he said as he pushed the toy John Deere tractor across the sand. Some people may have said that he was just a little too old for sandboxes and toy tractors, but when you were an only child and the closest kid in the neighborhood was four blocks away, you had to do something to occupy your time.

"Trey," his mom called out from the backdoor. "Lunch is ready, sweetie."

Trey's head snapped up from the sandbox and he immediately looked toward the back of the house. A huge smile crossed his face as he picked himself up from the box and ran toward the house as fast as his little eight-year-old body would carry him.

Once he was inside, he almost tripped over his Pit Bull-Boxer mix dog, Skipper.

"Sorry, Skip," Trey said as he stepped over the dog and headed toward the kitchen table.

The dog raised his head in acknowledgement before laying it back down on it paws.

"Here you go, sweetie," his mom said to Trey as he climbed into his chair. Before him sat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with no crust, just the way he liked it. He wasted no time in digging into the sandwich and smearing peanut butter across his face. Jelly slowly dripped onto his pants, but he made no complaints.

Behind him, his mom was loading the dishwasher. "Don't make a mess," she said softly, without looking at him.

"I won't," he replied before giggling.

Once the sandwich was finished, he gulped down the cup of milk.

"All down," he stated proudly as he sat the cup back down on the table.

His mother turned from the dish washer and looked at him for the first time since he had started his lunch. A smile crossed his face.

"I thought you said you wouldn't make a mess."

A giggle escaped from Trey. His mother tucked a strand of red hair behind her ear before wipping off the peanut butter of his face.

"Now, go upstairs and get change. After that we'll go up to the park so you can play."

Before her sentence was complete, Trey had bolted for the stairs. He could barely contain his excitement. His feet carried him quickly into his room, where he changed his clothes in seconds flat. As he exiting his room, something caught his eye in the tall mirror on the back of his closet door. Trey slowly walked up to the mirror and peered into it. It was then that he noticed something that he had never before noticed. A questioning look grossed his face before he continued his previous path and walked out of his room. He went down the stairs, slower than he had gone up them and entered the kitchen quietly.

"Mommy," he said to his mother who was still loading dishes into the dishwasher.

"Yes, sweetie."

Trey was slightly disappointed that she didn't look up at him.

"Why do have red hair and I have blonde?"

The sound of a plate dropping onto the kitchen floor filled the room. His mother looked up at him slowly. Tears filled her eyes slowly and Trey felt ashamed for asking the question.

Jazz walked into a run down restaurant that she had found while driving around for hours. It was around six in the afternoon and her stomach felt like it was about to implode.

"What can I get ya?" a waitress asked not seconds after she slide into a booth that was close to the door. She sat to where she was facing the door. A habit that she had picked up in her early teens for some unknown reason.

The waitress looked rather mean and held her notepad so that she could barely see over it. It was clear that all she wanted was to get Jazz's order and then leave.

"Do you guys sell peanut butter and jelly sandwiches?" she asked, in a small voice.

The features on the waitress' face softened a bit and she lowered her pad and paper. For the first time, the waitress looked at Jazz. Her hair was pulled up haphazardly into a pony tail and her eyes were a little red. She looked like a train wreck that was for sure.

"No, we don't."

Jazz's head sunk a little bit, and her eyes dropped down to the cracked linoleum floor. Today just wasn't her day. The waitress bent down and whispered into Jazz's ear.

"But I can make ya one, if ya want."

A small smile showed on Jazz's face.

"Anything special ya want done to it?"

"No crust, if it's possible."

"I think we can pull that off, sweetheart," the waitress said as she laid a hand softly on Jazz's. The contact caused Jazz to jump slightly.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's all right." Jazz's voice was a little hoarse. For what reason, she was unsure.

"I'm going to go get your sandwich."

She watched as the waitress walked off. A sad sigh escaped her lips before she laid her head down on the table that had seen better days. The only thing she could see from where her head was laid was the table and the cracked red leather booth that she was sitting in. A shiver ran through her body and she began to realize just how alone she was.

"You sure this is what you want to do, Sonja?" Leon asked for the billionth time as they drove toward the house of the family that would adopt Trey.

After several months of screenings, Sonja was convinced that she had finally found the right family for Trey. They were upper middle class citizens and she couldn't help but be intimidated as Leon pulled into their driveway.

The Bowen's were their name. It sounded like a good, respectable name. Like a family that would take care of her son the way she had never been able to.

Seventeen is just too young to have a kid, she told herself over and over again as she climbed out of Leon's car. You're doing the right thing.

"I sure hope so," she said out loud.

"What was that?" Leon asked as he neared her. He could sense her nervousness. It was radiating off of her in waves.

"Nothing, Lee."

He wrapped an arm around her waist and gave it a little squeeze.

"You're doing the right thing, Sonja. This is what Trey needs."

Sonja laid her head down on the crook of Leon's neck and sighed. "I don't know what I would do without you, Lee."

The two stood in front of the Bowen's two-story North Carolina house and looked over it. It had been Sonja's idea to fly out to North Carolina and see the house that Trey would grow up in. The Bowen's graciously paid for her and Leon's ticket. Now that she was at their house, everything seemed so final. Before the trip, she always knew in the back of her head that she could stop the adoption. That she could change her mind if she wanted to. But now that she was here, she knew there was no turning back. After giving Trey up, she would never see him again.

"Come on. Let's go up and ring the doorbell," Leon whispered into her ear.

Sonja nodded and stepped out of Leon's embrace. The two walked across the concrete sidewalk that led up to the French doors at the front of the house. She raised a timid hand up to the doors and knocked softly. Her lungs seemed to stop working as she waited for the door to open.

"All right, one peanut butter and jelly with no crust. Hope you don't mind, I grabbed you a coke," the waitress said as she laid Jazz's order on the table. She lifted her head and peered up at the lady.

"Thank you so much," she replied before running a shaky hand through her blonde hair. Memories that she had tried so hard to suppress over the years were coming back ten-fold and she could do nothing to stop them. The only option she had was to let them run their course and reek what havoc they decided to make.

Her heart ached. It ached for the little boy she lost so long ago. It ached for Tommy, despite all of his bullshit. It ached for Leon and his unconditional friendship. It ached for Dom and her mixed up feelings for him.

The waitress walked off and Jazz couldn't help but let a stray tear fall down her cheek. That was all the emotion she could afford for the moment. Anymore and her life would be turned upside down.

That couldn't be done again…