Rowenna had never gotten to take care of Serenity, or make quite as strong a bond with her as she did with Joey. The two years she'd spent in her mother's home were rocky, and she often spent most of them on the streets, because her mother threw her out so often. That, and there wasn't really much to protect Serenity from. Like her father had said, her mother loved Serenity. There was nothing wrong with her, except her eye sight, and that made her their mother's 'poor-little-baby'.
Now wasn't much different. True, their mother was still a mentally abusive drunk, but Serenity could take care of herself, and when she couldn't, she called Joey. Joey took care of her just like Rowenna had taken care of him, just like she was still taking care of him. She smiled to herself, chuckling somewhat. "Siblings just can't resist the temptation to take care of their younger siblings, can they?" She said.
She looked at the clock, sighing. 4:30. "You've spent an hour reading your stupid poetry, you dumb blonde. Go to bed. If you thought today was bad, just imagine tomorrow, without any sleep." She reminded herself. "You have to go to the D.S.S. office at seven tomorrow morning."
She shook the memories from her mind, and put the song book back on it's shelf, clicking off the light as she walked towards her bedroom. Tomorrow was going to be one hell of a day.
---Skippy Skippy---
"Hullo?" The sleepy voice on the other end of the receiver mumbled.
Rowenna laughed. "Mornin', Joe."
"Do ya know what time it is?"
"6:30."
"Did ya sleep last night?"
"Not really."
"Fight wit Mom again?"
"Yeah." She smiled, taking a sip of her coffee and pulling in front of their father's apartment complex. "I'm outside, I have donuts, and coffee. We have to go to the D.S.S. office. Get dressed and get out here as soon as possible."
"I'll be right out." He said, and the line went dead. She clicked off her cellphone and turned off the car, sipping her coffee slowly and staring out in front her.
Unfortunately, she hadn't slept much last night. She'd had multiple dreams about her parents, and none of them had been all that appealing. If this is what was going to happen every time she opened a song book, she'd never open one again.
"Mornin'."
Her thoughts were interrupted by the harsh voice of her little brother, who was standing next to her van, running a hand through his dirty blond hair and smirking sleepily at her in the morning sunlight. She chuckled and motioned for him to get into the passenger's seat. "Morning, sleepy head." As he got into the car, she handed him a coffee, and he grabbed a donut, putting on his seatbelt.
"I still don't understand why I had ta start living wit Dad again." He grumbled, looking pretty ruffled and leaning against the window.
"Well, Joe, I think that D.S.S. might have a problem if I'm trying to take you out of a home that you've already illegaly moved out of." She said, sighing. "I know you don't want to live with Dad. But it really shouldn't be much longer. They're reviewing the case today, and they said they should get back to me within in a week or two. You can spend most of the nights at Yugi's place, but when they go to inspect, you have to be there."
He nodded. "So why do I have to come wit ya?" He said, swallowing a rather large chunk of a boston creme donut.
"You need to...make a statement that you're unhappy living with Dad." She said gloomily, turning on the car and driving off towards the building they were headed to. "Tell them about his drinking...his um...abusive habits."
"Are ya sure they're gonna let ya take me?"
"Not positive...but there's a good chance. Generally, they like to have you with a relative, and since I'm old enough to take care of you.."
"You don't turn 18 until December, Ro. Are you sure?"
"I can do it. I'm in college, I live on my own. I'm way ahead of most people my age. They know that. They've already reviewed my file."
"Did they like your file?"
"Some of it, they didn't like." She muttered.
"Like what?"
"Well...when I was living with Mom...when I was in middle school...I broke a girl's nose, and some other kid's wrist...and they didn't like how much I moved around when I was younger."
"That wasn't your fault!" Joey shouted so loudly that she almost ran a red light.
"Calm down, would you?" She said, turning to face him. "Listen, they'll review the case, and they'll let me take you. There's no way they'll leave you with Dad."
"And what if they send me to Mom, like they did with you?"
She turned away from him, staring at the light, determidely. "They won't."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes." She lied.
The truth of the matter was that she was completely terrified because of how she acted when she was younger, they were going to send Joey to thier mother's house. All night, she'd been weighing out the pros and cons in her mind. The good that would come of it was that he'd be away from their father, and he'd be there to take care of Serenity. But on the other hand, their mother also hated Joey, and she would treat him like dirt, and damage him mentally, instead of physically. It would just be transferring him from one abusive environment to the next. Then what would the point be in that?
"You aren't sure, are you?" He muttered, taking a particularly large gulp of his coffee as they pulled into the parking lot.
"No. I'm not." She said, parking the car and taking off her seat belt.
"So what happens if they do?"
"Then you live with me anyway."
He smiled at her, and nodded. "Let's go."
"You sure you wanna do this?"
"I'm gonna make one helluva case, and they'll never be able to send me ta Mom's."
She laughed at him and they both got out of the car, walking towards the ominous brick building in front of them.
--Skippy Skippy--
"Now, Mr. Wheeler, you need to come inside this room with me and make a statement about your father. Your sister can wait out here." The secretary said, somewhat aggravated. The woman had been very snappy towards Rowenna, as she seemed to think that a 17 year old trying to take custody away from her parents was very, very disrespectful, and frowned upon it. Assumably, the woman had also looked over Rwoenna's own case-file, and therefore the coldness in her tone was likely directed towards a large part of that.
Joey looked at her with a questioning look, but she nodded at him and took a seat in the nearest chair. Joey walked into the room with the woman, and shut she shut the door behind them, glaring at Rowenna the whole time.
Now, to wait. How long this was going to take, she wasn't sure, but she wasn't going to get up and leave while he was in there, leaving himself vulnerable to those people. She was going to wait for him to get out of there, so that she could take him out to eat or something, make him feel better, take that look out of his eyes.
"Ms. Wheeler, I'd like to have a small discussion with you."
Rowenna blinked, looking up. There was a very official looking man standing in front of her, and he was holding her case file. He smiled very nicely at her, and motioned for her to get up. Feeling rather nervous, she obliged, standing up and following him through a door, adjacent to the one Joey had just walked through.
The man shut the door behind him, sitting down behind a cluttered desk. "Please, sit."
Still feeling uncomfortable, she sat on the edge of the seat and looked at the carpet. Realizing that this was not the most adult way to present herself, she looked up at him, trying to look more composed.
"Hello, Ms. Wheeler. My name is Mr. Hidaka. I've been reviewing your case-file for the past few days now. Now, I hear that you've filed for custody of your younger brother?"
"Yes, sir." Rowenna said, relaxing slightly. Mr. Hidaka had a very nice tone in his voice, and he didn't seem like he was trying to argue against her case.
"Would it be too personal to ask you why?"
"Not at all." Rowenna replied, smiling a bit. "If you've looked at my case file, you'll notice what type of a person my father is."
"Yes, Mr. Wheeler seems to be a bit of a recurring problem, doesn't he?"
"Yes. My brother, Joey, has been living with him for the past fifteen years, and I'd rather not have him in that environment anymore. It's not a safe one for him to be in."
"Ah. I see. And you object to him going to live with your mother, I see?" Mr. Hidaka took out his glasses and looked down at the papers in front of him. He looked up at her, expecting an answer. She nodded. "Is there any particular reason why?"
"Well, again, if you've looked at my case file, you'll notice that my mother didn't generally get along with me, either. When my parents got divorced, my mother only wanted my younger sister, Serenity. She gave my Dad full custody of me and Joey, and didn't ever really attempt to see us. She was extremely unhappy when I was transferred there through D.S.S. when I was ten. She said that she had wanted to send me to live with another relative. I'm almost positive she has the same feeling with Joey's situation."
"That makes sense." He said, smiling at her and nodding. He put down her case file and sighed, removing his glasses. "Now, Rowenna, do you realize how odd of a case this is?"
Startled that he was using her first name, she nodded. "Yes, sir. I do."
"Do you understand what your chances are of gaining custody of Joseph?"
"Yes, sir. I do."
"And do you understand what this is going to do to your relationship with your parents, and your reputation with the people in this office?"
"Yes, sir. I do. I'm willing to take that risk."
With a twinkle in his eye, the man in front of her chuckled. "Very good then." He smiled. "Between you and me, I think that you've got this one in the bag, if that interview goes all right."
Relieved, she smiled at him. "Thank you sir."
"Now, Ms. Wheeler, I think you should go sit in the waiting room. Your brother should be done very shortly."
Understanding when she was dismissed, Rowenna stood and walked out into the waiting room, where Joey was waiting for her, sitting in one of the chairs. He looked horror struck. The secretary was sending Rowenna death glares, but, choosing to ignore them, Rowenna motioned for him to stand up. "Let's go." She said, sighing. Joey nodded, standing, and exiting the building with her.
)(Yeah, 'nother chapter of this senseless dribble. No memories, in this one. XD I thought I'd give you a break. A few more chapters of this should do it, and then you'll get to find out if Joey gets to go live with Rowenna or not!
YFFSM,
Pengwinn)(