"Basically, you've taken care of him since he was born." The agent said.
"I really am sorry about what just happened… no wonder my dad didn't want me and my siblings near our grandfather." Carly replied as MJ was content with a teething ring in his mouth.
"Carly, are you going to eat?" Victoria questioned.
"Is this green paste a special pââte?" William questioned.
"No, it's guacamole." Ginger replied.
"What is that?" William questioned.
"I've made it with avocados." Blake replied.
"In a bit, Grandmother." Carly said before turning back to the agent. "We haven't seen them since we were little, MJ's just meeting them." She replied as she put MJ to her shoulder and patted his back after removing the teething ring, MJ letting out a loud burp. "You liked that chicken, kiddo?" She asked.
"Is this french cuisine?" William questioned.
"No, it's Mexican food, Grandpa." Ginger replied.
"MEXICAN?! Well, excuse me while I have my stomach pumped!" William shouted.
Juana turned infuriated at William's racism while MJ cried at the loud noise, Carly cradling him to her as William glared at the small boy.
"That child needs to be punished for crying out loud. You…" William said, before pointing to Juana. "I need a gin and tonic with the zest of a three day old lemon." He requested.
"I'm not a bartender and you don't terrorize a little boy, it's you who needs to be punished." Juana growled, the woman agent guiding Carly and MJ upstairs.
"I am so sorry about this." Carly said once they were in her room, which was quieter as MJ calmed down. "I'm sorry he insulted you, buddy, that was out of line for him." She whispered, smoothing MJ's short black hair back and kissing him on his forehead.
"I've been told and called worse in the past. A lot worse…" Juana responded, glancing back towards the dining room, before she muttered. "Doesn't mean that if the younger ones weren't here…"
"Blakesleigh, who is this maid that you've hired? I request her to get me a drink and get me something else from the menu, she doesn't listen." William questioned.
"She's my friend and Carly's friend, you old racist bastard!" Blake shouted.
"Blakesleigh, such language." Victoria said in an admonishing tone.
"Sorry, Grandmother Victoria." Blake apologized.
"Mental home for your grandfather…" The agent said before seeing that Carly's right eye was slightly swollen. "Young lady, did someone hit you?"
"My mother… she was drunk last night and I left after the argument escalated. When I got back, she assumed I was out partying and hit me." Carly answered nervously.
"Tell me, is she the only one beside William Rose who've hit you? What about your other siblings? Tracey, Jimmy, Blake, Ginger or maybe MJ?" The agent questioned.
"I haven't seen Mr. Rose since I was five… Jimmy doesn't care most of the time and Tracey just screams the whole house out, then dresses up for a night on the boulevard whenever she gets angry. The thing is, my mother knows that Trace does that, yet flies at me when she only suspects me of doing the same. Only time she even shouts at my sister is when she tries to bring a guy home…" Carly responded, finding that the more she said, the more control she lost of the words until a brief gap in knowing what to say gave her the chance to regain control. "No… none of my siblings have ever deliberately hurt me."
"Or anyone?" The agent asked.
"Never seen them get angry enough to… MJ doesn't even cry all that often, which worries me. Toddlers are supposed to cry. That's how they tell us what's wrong or hurting them." Carly said, looking at her sleeping brother before putting him in his crib and on his side. "What happens now?" She asked quietly.
"I still need to speak with your father or mother about this, and then I'll be on my way." The agent explained, before Carly's phone rang and seeing Michael was calling.
"Hey, Dad." Carly said quietly. "MJ's asleep… and it got crazy here." She whispered, brushing her tears away.
"Shit, okay I'm almost home. I was in traffic when a taco truck and a bus got into an accident head on. I managed to get us 12 tacos to let you know, since the driver was knocked out in this truck." Michael explained.
"Is he alive, are any of them alive?" Carly asked.
"They're okay… sorry about all of this, kiddo." Michael said.
"It's not your fault Mom knocked herself unconscious… just be safe getting home." Carly replied.
"I will." Michael said before they hung up. When Michael reached the house, the agent was outside. "I am extremely sorry about tonight, ma'am." He said in a contrite tone, the agent nodding as she knew it was true.
"Well, somehow this was a very interesting evening meeting your four youngest and Miss. Juana in there with the grandparents." The agent explained. "May I speak to you in private about this?" She questioned, before Michael nodded and walked with her.
"That's it, we're gonna get separated and sent to a group home!" Blake sobbed as Juana and Ginger comforted her.
"Aw, Blakesleigh, it would be better for you, since your mother and father lied to you all your life." William said.
"You are no help, Grandpa." Ginger said angrily.
"Respectfully as an elder of society, sir…" Juana said, stepping over towards William. "Maybe now you'd be best to call it a night, go back to your hotel room where you can enjoy the evening away from 'annoying kids, middle class families and Mexicans'."
"I'm sorry lady, I don't understand that accent of yours. Maybe you should keep to bringing me my drinks- which reminds me, another one please…" William responded.
Juana turned and grabbed the whole bottle, placing it down on the table loudly in front of him. "Then less respectfully, understand this…" She leaned over to his ear, and whispered to him. "Get the fuck out of here in the next 10 minutes. If you don't…" She put on an 'upper class' accent similar to his. "I shall have to get the jolly good folks in blue to remove you. And we wouldn't want to walk the path of violence now, would we?"
William left abruptly, Victoria staying behind and Juana going to check on Carly, who had gotten ready for bed and was letting the tears fall. Juana walked over, sat down and pulled Carly into a hug.
"That old git has gone for the evening… 'I have a jolly good way with language, young lady'." Juana said quietly, putting on the accent again in the second part.
Carly sniffled and glanced at MJ, who was blissfully sleeping.
"I don't want him to grow up like I did… but I don't want him growing up away from his siblings and dad…" Carly said.
Michael walked into the house, hearing the agent slap Amanda.
"Don't ever put your hands on your daughter again!" The agent growled, herself having been a child abuse victim.
Amanda turned around with a smug smile. "The day you or anyone else can teach those little bitches and bastards to respect the woman who brought them into this world, I'll lower my fists."
"Oh, you're gonna damn well lower them. I'm recommending that Carly, Blake, Ginger and MJ be put with Michael and that your parental rights are stripped! Carly is more of a mother figure to MJ than you!" The agent responded, Amanda turning livid.
The next morning, Carly helped get MJ ready for daycare and Michael took him. When she got ready to go see Johnny and talk to him, Amanda accosted her and threw her into the mirror.
"You screwed everything up, bitch!" Amanda seethed.
"What, you're gonna say I should've kept quiet? I wasn't going to anymore!" Carly yelled.
"What the hell's going on?" Blake questioned after running downstairs with her hot styling iron, having been straightening the ends of her short black and teal hair. "Cause I'll use this as a weapon." She said, her iron in hand but the iron off.
"She's pissed because everything she's ever done to me is out. And you know what, Bitchmanda? I feel relieved that it's out because it can't be ignored anymore!" Carly responded, readjusting her straightened light brown, violet and silverish purple hair back into its ponytail.
"What are you talking? You've finally confessed?" Blake questioned.
"Yes… there's only so much hell that anyone can take." Carly said before turning to leave, ducking a vase Amanda threw at her and turning back. "You blew it! You had one job, to be a decent mother and you blew it!" She yelled.
"Here, ever hear of Too Faced?" Blake questioned, handing Carly her hot iron. "Don't worry, I'll buy another one, since Amanda and Tracey can't afford one for themselves.".
"They rather buy their next set of $100 high heels than what they really need, then whine to others about their own screwups." Carly responded, turning and spinning the iron in her hand.
Carly headed upstairs to let it cool before putting it in a bag along with some clothes. She needed to clear her mind and ended up in the Blaine County area… before a rusted Bodhi stopped near her.
"No… I don't know you anymore." Carly said when she saw Trevor and turned to leave, Trevor getting out and running to her.
"That's what you say after this long?" Trevor asked.
"You fucked off… and then you just randomly stop your truck and run over to me like I'm that kid? Anyway, I have a friend I'm gonna go stay with." Carly responded, Trevor seeing bruises forming on her shoulder blades.
"What… bastard laid their hands on you?!" Trevor responded, Carly giving him that look of not getting anything out of her. "Okay, how about this… I've raised a perfectly healthy teenage girl over the past few years, helped her recover from a bigger trauma than you can imagine. She's in my caravan in Sandy Shores, I'm sure you'd love to pay her a visit."
"I'll think about it but don't push me into anything, Trevor. Are we clear?" Carly replied, Trevor nodding. "Good… because I feel like hell and I need to be around my friend." She said before leaving.
The campground was quiet as Johnny was fixing a window… and then he saw Carly, put the hammer aside and walked over, carefully hugging the bruised teenager as she finally broke down and cried.
When they were in the caravan, Carly explained everything to him and Johnny handed her a glass of water for her to drink, which she did.
"With it all out… is it wrong to feel better about it?" Carly asked quietly.
"Not at all… I'll tell you now, as you recover more you'll start to realise that a large part of the pain and anger was caused by not letting it out in the first place." Johnny responded, lightly rubbing his hand up and down her back.
"I just hope they don't separate MJ, Blake and Ginger from my dad…" Carly said as she leaned against him tiredly.
At the same time, Trevor walked into his caravan and Sam looked up.
"What happened?" Sam asked.
"That family has… changed. I decided to not barge in on them… though I ran into Carly again. She was very stressed… maybe I'll set something up like meeting them on a day out or something." Trevor explained.
"Maybe that'll be good for all of us… K8lynn said once that she saw Carly with a swollen and split lip but Carly didn't tell her what happened…" Sam said.
"That was probably Amanda… she was raised the same way, hit when out of line." Trevor responded.
A few hours later, Sam decided to find The Lost MC campground… and found Carly and Johnny near a bonfire with Terry and Clay.
"Wait, where is he anyway, did Logan leave Liberty City?" Carly asked after Johnny had told her about Logan.
"Around 2004, he left and signed up with the army… 2006, he was injured in the field, vehicle crash. PTSD took him over… I don't know where he is these days." Johnny explained.
"If he ever shows up again, we should get her to meet him… might bring the old Logan back." Clay said.
"He was a good man in the day… bit reckless, maybe less informed on the value of making things last… but when it came to the grit and friendship that made us all a family, he was the keystone to the bridge." Terry responded with a nod.
Carly sat back in the chair, feeling the calmness of being around her friends set in… and then Sam walked over.
"Can I talk to you?" Sam asked, Carly nodding and following her.
