Disclaimer: I know I forgot it in the last chapter! None of these characters are mine… Well restricted to Katey Miller, Jeannie Miller, Bert Miller, Suzie Miller, Javier Suarez, Carlos Suarez, Chabe Suarez, Rafael Suarez, Mrs. Suarez, and if I forgot anyone I'll add them later.
A/n I know the last one was really short. Sorry about that. It is my first thingy-ma-babber…STORY!..maybe this one will be longer
It's been four years since Katey left Cuba. Four years, 3 months, and 7 days. A lot has changed for her. She had been kicked out of her house shortly after she got back. Not because of the daring move she did as they were leaving. It was because of the daring move she did on New Year's Eve. That night had some dire consequences.
Katey found out, she was pregnant. The only person she told had been Suzie. She kept it a secret. Then the morning sickness just got worse and worse. Jeannie began to worry. She scheduled an appointment for Katey at the doctor's office, without Katey's knowledge. She sat there in the office waiting for the doctor to be over with the examination. He walked out and whispered something into her ear. She looked at him and then pushed her way into the room.
"HOW COULD YOU DO THIS! It was with that Cuban boy… the one I never approved of, I KNEW that he would pressure you into this. And look he's not here to claim his kids… look who saw this one coming…" she rambled on and on then she stopped and looked at Katey. "It was the night you didn't come home…the night of the revolution!"
Katey looked down absorbing the blows from her mother's wrath. There was nothing she could really do. Her mother came up to her and slapped her. "Are you listening to me? What are people going to think? I can only see them now. 'Oh look there's Jeannie, the horrible mother, who couldn't even keep her oldest daughter from getting KNOCKED UP by a POOR CUBAN POOL BOY!'"
Katey couldn't take this. She could take the abuse only so far. She could not let herself hear her mother talking about Javier that way. Not like that. As her mom went rambling on she slipped out of the room and began walking home. She had mixed emotions. Every morning she woke up thinking about Javier and how she never should have left. Then her common sense would kick in, bringing her back to reality, she had to leave. She had no choice. Now she will have a constant reminder of him. Whether she wanted it or not.
She walked up the stairs of the house and onto the porch when her father came out. He grabbed her arm, and pulled her towards the car. In the background you could hear her mother yelling random things, and glass breaking. When Katey got in the car Suzie came out with a bag full of Katey's things. Her father took them from her and put it in the trunk.
"I grabbed whatever I could. I had a feeling she would find out. I grabbed all the film, the picture, your dresses, and of course your clothes. I didn't want her to burn them."
"Thanks Suzie."
"Suzie go back in the house." Bert said quickly.
"But Daddy, you can't leave me with her."
"Suz, I need you to stay to make sure she doesn't hurt herself."
"Daddy…"
"Suzie, please…just do this for me."
"Where will you take her?"
"I don't know, but when I find somewhere I will tell you where it is. Sound good?"
" I guess it will have to."
"Thanks Suzie." He kissed her on her forehead. CRASH. "Okay now go inside." Suzie hurried inside and her father got in the car and started it. They drove away, once they were safe in the next neighborhood, her dad parked the car. He took out the keys and put it in between them and rubbed his eyes. Sigh "Katey, I am not saying that what your mother is doing is right, but because she is your mother, and I must agree to what she is doing…"
"She's kicking me out." She said without even looking at him.
"Yeah, yeah she is." Katey swallowed hard. "You know what you did was wrong. Katey you could have ruined your future by being with that boy…" Katey went to talk, "I am not saying that Javier was the problem, he was a nice boy, and to be honest, if my daughter had to get knocked up from someone, I would have wanted it to be him." Katey looked at the window, and softly let out a laugh as she wiped away a tear. "You know, from now on life isn't going to be easy. I will try to help you out as much as I can. I will pay for your apartment, of course it will be something small, maybe a little run down, I am going to do this so your mother doesn't see any substantial loss of money. I will send you $100 dollars a month, and I will pay for your hospital bills. I am sorry that I could not do more, but I have to think of your mother and Suzie too…"
"What you are doing is fine Dad. I mean, you could have left me with nothing." He put his hand on the back on my head, and rubbed it a little bit. Then he took the keys from the seat and put them into the ignition. He started the car and headed towards town. He stopped at a small place that was horribly run down.
"You will be staying here." He parked the car and got out. He opened the trunk to get out her bag. Katey slowly got out of the car. She looked hopelessly at the building, and followed behind her father. Her father went up to the landlord and gave him the first and last months rent. The landlord gave her father the keys and lead them up to an apartment on the fourth floor. Her father opened it up and looked inside. "It's not bad." He said as he picked off an inch of dust from the counter.
"Dad…"
"Look, I can't do much tonight. I brought a few blankets. I know we have some old furniture in storage. I will be back with Suzie tomorrow while your mother is at the country club. We'll make it more like home. I have to go. I'll see you tomorrow Katey." He gave her a kiss on the forehead and then left.
Katey looked around her new house. Definitely not what she had expected. She began to look through the closets. In the one by the door there was a broom and a few hangers. She went into the kitchen and opened up a few of the cabinets. Nothing. She stood up and leaned on the counter. Where to start, there was so much to do. The apartment wasn't really that big of a space. There was one bathroom, 2 bedrooms, and a living room that connected with the kitchen. None of the floor was carpeted, just hardwood. This was never really going to be a problem for Katey, she didn't like carpet anyway. She thought again about what she needed. Towels. If she was going to stay there, even if it was for one night, it sure as hell wasn't going to be like this. She went into the bathroom and turned on the shower. Nothing. Well isn't this just lovely. She looked at the mirror. It wasn't in terrible shape it just needed to be cleaned up. She turned on the sink and a murky water came out. Gross.
She walked across the hall to one of the neighbors and knocked on the door. A stout woman answered. "Hi, I am Katey I just moved in across the hall. I-I kind of found myself in a jam. I was wondering if you had any towels I could borrow."
"No." With that the lady shut the door. Katey was taken back a little bit. She looked up the stairs, took a deep breath and went on her search. By the end of her quest, she had a bucket, 3 towels, hand soap, and a twenty dollar bill (someone paid her to go away). She went into the apartment and set the supplies down.
"Well, this is never going to work." She went over to her bag and grabbed her purse. $30 dollars. She began to open up her bag, which was the bag that she used when she was traveling over the summer. She knew that she always kept some cash hidden in it, incase she wanted to buy something that she saw. $40. So when she put all the money together she had $90 dollars.
She took the keys and headed out. She headed down the stairs and saw the landlord there. "Hi there, I'm Katherine, You can call me Katey, I just moved in…"
"Yeah, you're the daddy's girl." Katey just backed away. "I am Robert, you can call me Robert." He extended his hand. She took it and shook it hesitantly. "If you need anything, just ask."
"Actually, do you have a pen?" He paused for a moment. "I just need to run some errands, I need to make a list." He went digging in his shirt pocket and pulled out a pen. "Thank you. I'll give this back to you…"
"Keep it."
"Thanks Robert."
She went outside the building and looked at the washed out flyers on the wall. She took one down and began to draw out her apartment. She roughly sketched out what it would look like and the supplies she needed. She went walking around the town looking for basic supplies. She bought some real soap, some books on plumbing, a dust pan, a rug, and the cheapest plates, utensils, and cups she could find. Then she thought about the next morning, food. She bought just enough. She bought a small thing of orange juice and saved a little bit for a diner that was not that far down from the apartment.
When she was completely honest with herself, she could see that the apartment wasn't that bad of a find. True, there were some that were better, but its location was nice. It was not that far from the stores, and it was near a park.
She went into the apartment and started to sweep the floors and mop. Then she started to wipe the counters off. Not realizing how late it was or how tired she had become. She fell asleep on the floor of the kitchen.
