Sorry that the previous chapter was so slow. It was like, two in the morning, and if I had been caught on the computer, that would have been the last time you ever heard from me. EVER.
Disclaimer- Your mom.
"This isn't permenant, Gabriella." She and I finally made up. We were sifting through the things in my house, deciding on the things that I should take and leave. "I'll be out of your place in no time."
"You're not a burden or anything." she shook her head, lifting a a T-shirt out of my dresser.
The doorbell rang. "Be right back." I left the room and went to answer the door. My heart lifted into my throat. "Dad... you can't be here." I attemted pushing the damaged door shut, but he held it open with his foot.
He reeked of body odor and weed. "It's okay, Tay, can't I see my little girl?" he pressed all of his weight against the wood and forced the door open. I stumbled backwards. "What, you don't wanna see me? After the way you got me kicked out of your mom's hospital room, you owe me somethin'." he laughed and ventured into the kitchen.
"Mom's not home, Daddy." I immediately regretted saying that. He looked up from the opened refrigerator. "You need to leave."
"Mind if I wash up, then?" he slammed the door shut. "I haven't had a shower in weeks, girl. And what has that woman been feedin' ya? All I see is green stuff in that fridge." he shook his head and laughed again.
"No, you can't shower here. Get out." I pointed to the door. "Now."
"You can't talk to your daddly like that, girl." he slurred. "Can I at least borrow a few dollars? Man's gotta eat." he shrugged.
"How did you find us anyway?" I felt like crying. This was turning into a disaster. I just wanted that bad influence out of the house before Gabriella saw him, or worse-my mom. "If I give you money, will you leave?" But I didn't wait for an answer. I quickly hastened to my room and pulled out my pocketbook.
"Who was at the door?" Gabriella asked, folding blouses and laying them on my bed. I ignored her and yanked a twenty dollar bill away from my savings.
I crumpled the dollar up when I reached the hallway and saw that my father was in my mom's room. "Get out of here!" I shouted, seeing him lift two necklaces off of my mother's dresser. "Dad!" I wailed, "Put those down!"
He didn't listen. He started towards the door. "I'll sell them and make a few bucks of my own." He snatched the dollar ball out of my hand and swung open the door. "Thanks, Tay Tay. You really are my little girl."
"No!" I reached for the fist holding the two necklaces. My mother was going to kill me.
"If you know what's good for you, you won't tell your mother about this." he smiled grimly. "Love you." he grinned before strolling down the front steps.
"I hate you!" I shouted after him.
"I'm really sorry, Taylor." Gabriella frowned. "I should have noticed the really bad smell wating through the house." she shook her head.
I couldn't open my suitcase. I just couldn't bring myself to do it. For a reason I can't explain, I felt as if opening my suitcase would seal the deal, and I would never see my own home again. Suddenly, the sound of pebbles hitting glass sounded at Gabriella's window. And guess who it was...
"That's way too Romeo and Juilet for my taste, Chad." I rolled my eyes and leaned out of Gabriella's window. "What do you want?"
"You sort of left school in a hurry. And you're always here. What's up with that?" he craned his neck to see me in the second story window. All of my worries suddenly melted away, and all I wanted to do was talk to Chad. Too bad I couldn't really tell him what was going on, because I would lose him, just like I almost lost my mother and how I lost my home. "Can I come up?"
"No, I'm coming down." I moved away from the window and smiled to Gabriella. "Don't wait up."
Chad's fingers laced in mine as we walked next to the creek behind his house. "It's getting really dark." he sighed, "Maybe I should take you home. It's only a few blocks from here. We can make it before night."
I stayed silent as the sun began slipping past the tall trees, sending streaks of pink and orange across the evening sky. "Taylor?" Chad stopped walking. "What's been going on lately? You always say everything's fine, but after the day you left school early..."
"You really want to know?" I raised my eyebrows in surprise. "My dad. That's what's been going on lately. It's hard to explain, and once I spill the beans, you'll scram, just like everything else."
"I want to know." he pulled me close. "Because I really want to help. How is your father an issue?"
"He's on every drug you can ever imagine." It was like an out-of-body experience, actually telling someone what's been going on. "And just this afternoon, he showed up on my doorstep. He stole a few of my mom's necklaces, and he says he going to use the money to eat, but we all know he's just going to buy alcohol with it." I shrugged. We began walking on the water's edge again.
"So that explains it." Chad said.
"That doesn't even begin to cover it, Chad." I told him. "Are you sure you want to hear about my past?"
:Flashback:
"Give me another one, Daddy." I laughed from the backseat. I gripped my pencil with no eraser and limp piece of notebook paper.
"Hmmm... okay... 3296 divided by twenty-six." he called from the steering wheel.
My pencil flew across the paper at a surprising speed. Only seconds later, I shouted out, "One hundred twenty-six and eighty-five hundredths!" I giggled, "Again!" My parents found it amazing that at seven years old, I had a passion for solving math problems. They never showed it, but they were guilty beyond belief that they couldn't give me better. We lived out of our van, and seeing running water was rare for us.
So when we pulled into a gas station, you could probably guess how ecstatic I was to dunk my matted hair into a sink filled to the brim with warm water and anti-bacterial soap. We were always given strange looks, but honestly, I didn't care. It wasn't like I would ever see those people again.
I spotted my dad stuffing a few candy bars into his jacket pockets and making his way out the door without getting caught. To us, it wasn't a crime. It was a way of surviving.
:End Flashback:
"Oh, God, Taylor." Chad sounded concerned. We sat on the soaking wet grass as I continued.
:Flashback:
Red and blue lights flashed against the metal of our van door. I curled into a small ball in the backseat as Daddy was pulled out of the driver's seat and slammed into the cop car, not even being told his rights.
And time moved on. Mom drove the van, and I never saw my father again. Stops at gas stations reduced and finding refuge in local shelters became the best thing ever. But my mother frequently made us leave, as she didn't want to be called a 'charity case'.
"Can you give me a math problem?" I asked her quietly one day in the van.
:End Flashback:
I leaned into Chad and he wrapped his arm around my back. "Thanks for listening." I whispered.
:Flashback:
Mom shook the pinched lady's hand. "It was really nice doing business with you." she smiled before handing over the keys to the one story house behind us. I turned to it, filled with a new hope. This was my home.
But there was no real family to fill it.
"We're going to have to work extra hard, Taylor, to keep this place." she squeezed me as we looked at the plain white house.
:End Flashback:
"Why do you think I'm always striving towards getting good grades? It's not just because I'm smart, it's because I was told to work hard."
:Flashback:
Freshman year hit me like a ton of bricks. "You're going to do really well, Taylor." Mom smiled in the rearview mirror. "I know it." She suddenly let out a squeal and slammed her foot on the brakes as a man rolled out onto the street.
He stood, blood trickling from his nose onto his dirtied white shirt. He held Mom's gaze until she pressed her palm on the horn for as long as it took him to get a clue and move out of the way. He gave a yellow smile and waved before stalking onto the other side of the street.
It was my daddy, looking as worse as ever.
:End Flashback:
By the end of my story, Chad was holding me to his chest, letting me sob. His chin rested on the top of my head. "It's okay," he whispered, "I'm here to help."
Wasn't that SAD? AWwwwww... Anywayz, please read and review!