Chapter 5

To Be Unwanted

"Ok, what the hell is she doing up there?" Bobby tossed his fork onto his plate and gestured towards the stairs.

"Bobby, don't-"

"I know, I know. Sorry, Ma, but the silence is just getting to me. No one is that quiet!"

"Arlyn is." Jack didn't look up from his food, like usual.

"Oh really? Well, Jackie what is the kid doing? Hibernating?"

Evelyn looked at Jack curiously. Even Angel took a break from shoveling food down his throat to hear the answer. Jack took a swig of orange juice before answering. He picked up his empty plate and headed towards the kitchen. "She's waiting."

"Waiting?" Jerry glanced at his mother who only shrugged. "What for? Jack! What is sh-"

Just then, the girl in question suddenly appeared in the entryway. Angel glanced up and nearly jumped out of his seat. She hadn't made a sound coming down the stairs. She eyed him for a moment before turning her attention to the food on the table. She looked it all over, rather disinterested and completely ignored everyone at the table.

They couldn't ignore her though. All eyes were fixed on her small frame. The same thought crossed both Jerry and Bobby's minds. It was worse that their mother had described.

Bobby hadn't really gotten a good look at her face upstairs. Her presence had been enough of a shock, but this was totally different. She had a giant black eye, and the rest of her face was a tye-dye of gray, purple, and her own pale skin tone. Her lip was busted and her nose looked swollen. There was also a gash running diagonally across her right cheek.

She didn't seem to notice or give a shit that people were gaping at her. Jerry put a hand over his mouth and looked back down at the table, but Bobby's eyes traveled down her body, taking in the rest of the visible damage. Sure enough, there were hand print shaped bruises wrapped around her neck. They were probably the most striking of her injuries. They were black and purple against her skin. She was wearing a simple gray t-shirt, showing that her arms also had a few handprints though they weren't as dark. There were also several scrapes and gashes along her arms. She still wore the baggy cargo pants, but everyone assumed there were bruises there as well.

Evelyn jumped up. "Arlyn! We were wondering when you'd come down." She smiled nervously and walked around the table to the girl. As she reached out to direct her to a seat, Arlyn smoothly slid around the older woman and started walking backwards into the kitchen.

"I don't do breakfast."

Her voice was unusual. It was somewhat low and quiet, but it had a slight lilt to it. It was hard to say where she was from.

Looking a little hurt, Evelyn said, "You really should eat something, dear."

Arlyn stopped and grabbed a green apple from a bowl on a side table. When she faced them again, she slightly held it up and said, "Something." Her gaze then went around the rest of the room until it rested on a painting behind Bobby and Jerry.

Evelyn mistook her actions as waiting for introduction. "Oh, silly me. These are my boys."

Arlyn looked away from the painting with the same bored expression. She did however lean against the wall and acknowledge that Mrs. Mercer was speaking.

She cleared her throat and moved around the table, placing a hand on each of the boys' shoulders in turn. "This is Angel. He lives here with Jack and I. I think you know Jack."

The girl nodded, twirling the apple by it stem in her hands.

"Yes, well, this is Jeremiah.. Jerry." He waved lightly, but she was looking down. His hand dropped limply to the table and he looked and Angel who was still staring at her face.

"And last but not least here is Bobby Mercer." Evelyn smiled.

Arlyn actually looked up at Bobby. She seemed to recognize his name and looked him in the eye. That's when he noticed the color of her eyes. They were a surprising dark blue and held some of the deadness his mother had mentioned.

Jack walked back into the room, and Arlyn turned her attention towards him. "Oi…" She reached into her pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. "Found it."

Jack took the paper and said, "Thanks. Never could find the place."

She gave him a nod, but then she tilted her head towards the kitchen. He nodded this time, and, without another word, she walked quickly into the next room. Jack slid the paper into his own pocket and started to follow her when Bobby stood up and asked, "Where's she going?"

They all heard a car door slam followed by the screen door in the kitchen opening and closing. Evelyn gasped a little and rushed into the kitchen. Jerry rose and pushed past Jack with Bobby. Jack only rolled his eyes and sauntered after them. Feeling left out, Angel grabbed a piece of toast and followed the group.

"What's going on? What are we looking at?"

Evelyn was standing at the screen door fidgeting with the doorknob, unsure about whether she should follow Arlyn. Bobby and Jerry were leaning over the sink to look out the small window, and Jack was just lurking like usual.

"Who is that?"

Evelyn pointed at the car Arlyn was currently rushing towards. It was a small four door car with a bad red paint job. A man was grabbing something out of the backseat when the teenage girl slid up beside him. He jumped and she laughed. A young blonde woman got out of the passenger seat, but Arlyn wasn't paying attention to her. She hugged the man.

"Jack, where's she going?" Evelyn looked almost accusingly at Jack, but he almost laughed to himself.

"She's not going anywhere." He hopped onto the countertop and glanced outside.

"I'll say she's not going anywhere…" Bobby moved to go outside, but Jack interrupted him.

"No, no. That's just Louis."

"Louis-?"

"Louis Rivera. Her social." Evelyn looked a little relieved. "He shows up all the time, a least for awhile."

Jerry faced Jack and eyed him. "How do you know so much about this girl? She ain't exactly friendly."

"She was at Central when I was... and juvie."

Bobby raised his eyebrows and muttered to Jerry, "The fairy was in juvie?"

Jerry shrugged, and Evelyn took one last glance outside before announcing, "Come on, let's all go back in the other room. They'll think we're staring."

"We are."

She pushed Angel back into the other room, and the other three boys soon followed. They all sat down and waited for what seemed like twenty minutes.

"Ok, this is so not working for me. I'm out." Angel hopped out of his chair.

Evelyn looked up at him sternly. "Angel, sit. Now."

"Mom, come on! She's weird, I got it. She doesn't want to be here and at the moment neither do I."

Jerry tried to silently tell his brother to sit his ass down, but he wasn't getting the message. Evelyn rose. "Angel! You do not know where that girl has been. Of course she's not a bag of smiles right now. She will be living in this house, and you will be polite. Now, sit down right now."

Angel sat, but continued, "Did you see her eyes?"

Bobby glared at his brother. "Yeah, they're blue."

"No, no, man. She looks at you funny. It's like-"

"Is this a fucking JOKE?!?!?"

They all turned as the screen door burst open, and Arlyn stalked into the house. She was followed by a short, middle-aged, Hispanic man in a heavy brown coat. His dark hair was thinning, and he carried a large briefcase in one hand and a stack of manila folders in the other. Louis shook a little snow off his jacket and rolled his eyes.

"Language."

She ignored his comment and started pacing briskly around him. He looked at her calmly as he done a million times before, but she started muttering under her breath, aware of the fact that everyone was listening to her.

"It took them how long to show up last night? Then they ship Ashley off right away and stick me with those incompetent ass wipes for a couple hours. Then, I get sent off with Grandma Cookie-Cutter, and now you send me THAT!!" She pointed at the blonde woman who was slipping her way up the stairs.

She proceeded to go on muttering in fragments of angry Spanish, but Louis sighed and walked past her into the dining room. "Mrs. Mercer. It's good to finally meet you. My name is Louis Rivera."

Evelyn jumped forward to shake his hand and smiled. "Pleasure…"

Bobby watched as Arlyn continued to fume in the kitchen. He noticed that she wasn't limping or wincing. She actually didn't seem to be in much pain at all. She certainly wasn't self-conscious about her injuries either and had made no attempt to cover them. Her hair was pulled back, and she wore nothing over t-shirt. When she saw the blonde woman enter the kitchen, she stomped into the dining room.

Without turning around, Louis said, "Be nice."

She glared at his back and said, "You shouldn't have brought her. I don't like newbies."

"Wasn't my choice. Sit." He turned to face her. "Now."

She slowly walked around the table and sat next to Jack. Louis smiled and said, "Hello Jack; you doing good?"

Jack nodded and Arlyn just glared. The blonde woman timidly hovered up behind Louis.

"Ah, this is my colleague Calissa Conroy. Calissa, this is Mrs. Mercer. She-"

Quite the eager-beaver, the suddenly brave blonde leaned across her superior and grabbed the older woman's hand. "It's so nice to meet you. You've really got quite the reputation, Mrs. Mercer. What you do is so generous and..."

Mrs. Mercer smiled understandingly, but eventually she was forced to yank her hand back from the rambling blonde. Jack chuckled lightly under his breath, and Arlyn never wavered from her cold glare at Louis as he continued.

"Yes, well, down to business." He dumped the manilla folders onto the table with a loud thump, and pulled out a chair for himself. He turned his tattered briefcase towards him and popped the clasps open, lifting the lid. "Before we-"

It was then that Louis looked up and took notice of just how many people were actually at the table. His gaze swept quickly down the line before turning back to Mrs. Mercer questioningly.

She smiled and sat up straighter. "I don't keep anything from anyone in this family." She reached for Bobby's hand, and he gently squeazed back.

Louis turned back to Arlyn, his hands still frozen over the contents of the briefcase. He looked at her intently, and she calmly stared back although she had taken to strumming her fingers along the table. They sat there for at least a minute, and tension built in the air. No one moved, but Angel and Jerry glanced at each other across the table. Calissa looked between the two, trying to understand.

Just when Bobby was seriously considering throwing a fork down the table to break the silence, Arlyn plastered on a fake smile, tilted her head, and cheerily muttered, "The more the merrier."

She was apparently planning on completely ignoring Calissa's prescence as she had yet to acknowledge that she was in the room, but the blonde laughed nervously and began fidgetting with her hands.

Louis held their gaze for a minute longer before he turned back to Mrs. Mercer. "First off, we can't thank you enough for showing up so late last night, ma'am."

"Oh, it was nothing; I-"

"It really wasn't nothing, ma'am. Given Arlyn's background and the gravity of last night's situation, I'm shocked that she's not still down at the station. The situation wasn't handled well by anyone but you. She won't thank you, but I certainly will."

Modestly smiling now, she said, "I do what I can."

Bobby glanced over at Arlyn and observed that she was now looking down at the table where her right hand was twitching. Some of her hair had fallen into her face, obscuring her expression.

Louis went on, grabbing a pen and a few documents out of his briefcase. "Indeed. I would have been there last night, but I wasn't informed of the.. incident until this morning. Given the gravity of it all, we can't expect you to do more than you signed on for. As I said, we're more than grateful that you've offered to look after her on such short notice, but we have been able to produce some more permanent arrangements."

Bobby was still watching Arlyn's fingers. At first her hand just seemed to be twitching or shivering, but now it was apparent that it was playing some sort of invisible piano. They moved in deliberate movements, and she only stared blankly while her other hand rolled the apple back and forth. 1-2-3...1-2-3...

"Permanent-?"

"Yes, Garrison's is prepared to take her in as of Friday."

The piano playing stopped, and the apple ceased rolling. Jack turned to Arlyn; she had tensed up, but never looked up. She seemed frozen. Bobby wasn't even really sure she was breathing anymore. Who could blame her though?

Most kids prayed for juvie over Garrison's when they went to court. Bobby had narrowly missed a second trip there when her was 17 by taking an obsene amount of community service and counseling. Picking up trash and scrubbing mold out of vents for a year was nothing compared to what Garrison's had thrown his way, and from what her heard, it had only gotten worse. It was the last resort when they just didn't have much hope for you anymore. It was run harder and tighter than most jails, and it made bootcamp or prison sound like heaven for most kids. No one came out unscathed, and none were ever "rehabilitated" as was supposedly intended.

Louis seemed severley uncomfortable, fidgetting with the papers in front of him. He was purposely not looking at Jack or Arlyn, and Jerry detected even a hint of guilt in his voice. Mrs. Mercer was beyond shocked at what she was hearing.

"Why on earth would you send her there?" Her voice was barely above a whisper and strained with anger and shock. "Are you cr-?"

"The situation is complicated." Louis closed his case again and lightly banged the palms of his hands against the table. "It's our last resort, and it was likely that she would be returning there shortly."

"Returning?" Mrs. Mercer was thoroughly puzzled now. How on earth was she to understand how this waif of a girl was not only headed towards that awful place but was apparently a repeat visitor?!?

What the fuck did she do? Angel thought.

Louis ignored the question and continued. "Arlyn has some pending charges against her now. In addition to violating her last court sentence regarding school attendance, she has managed to be involved in an assault case. It's fairly serious, and this might be the last straw with the judge. All previous foster homes and facilities have made it.. clear that they are incapable of fitting her into the system at this time. Garrison's is an unfortuate, but perhaps, inevitable solution."

Mrs. Mercer put a hand to her mouth and closed her eyes. This was bad, very very bad. I've never given up on a child before. Never. But how can I...?

She was pulled out of her thoughts when Bobby reached over and patted her hand. She opened her eyes, and a scratching sound came to her. Looking up the table, they noticed that Arlyn had apparently scratched through the plastic table cloth and scraped the wood with her nails. Her right hand now formed a fist, and it was really shaking. Her fist released and clenched again before disappearing under the table. Jack leaned forward and hesitantly grabbed her shoulder.

Calissa at this point looked at Arlyn as if she were some sort of animal about to leap across the table to rip her splean out. Louis finally manned up and looked at the teenager.

Her body was hunched forward and leaning harshly to the right, her eyes closed. When they opened, Louis resisted the urge to look away. Chandler can manipulate and fuck with you to hell and back, but it's really when she's genuine that she kills you. This hurt. He knew what Garrison's meant to her. Hell, he'd been in the goddamn courtroom trying to get her out, but what else was there...?

"You said... you promised-" Arlyn's voice was strained and weak. It cracked and she couldn't finish the sentence.

At some point she'd pulled her hair loose. It fell messily around her face, and while it normally made Louis notice how fair she really was, now it only brought out how bruised her face was. Part of the huge gash across her face was covered. Must be where-

"Don't-" Arlyn's whisper was cut off by Mrs. Mercer's clear voice.

"That won't be necessary, Mr. Ruiz." She was sitting up straight now with her hands folded in front of her. Any of the boys at the table could have told you that she meant business. Bobby closed his eyes, and Jerry leaned back in his chair. Angel was beyond uncomfortable at this point, but he was hardly surprised when his mother spoke.

Arlyn, Louis, and Calissa all spun sharply to stare at the kindly older woman. Calissa's mouth was wide open, and Louis was trying to assess the situation. "Mrs. Mercer, I'm not sure that you understand the-"

"I understand." Her voice was unwavering. She opened her hands and never looked away from Arlyn. "You're welcome to stay here, Arlyn. For as long as you want."

For the first time, Mrs. Mercer saw something behind those startling eyes. There was surprise and more than a little apprehention, but there was a sense of gratefulness coming out. The last thing she saw was a wave of sadness rush forward before the walls came crashing back down.

Arlyn looked down again and leaned back into her chair. Jack's hand was still on her shoulder, and she fiddled with something under the table for a moment. With a quick glance at Louis she said, with her normal voice, "Well, I guess that takes care of your problem now doesn't it?"

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A/N: I am so so so so sorry that this took so long. I've just been having all sorts of issues, including a prolonged state of laziness. Senioritis maybe? Anyways, there it was. I think it's pretty long, so maybe that makes up for it...

I can't promise the next chapter will be up right away, but I do know that it will be lighter, and humor will rear its happy head again.

Thank you all so much for your reviews. It means a lot, and it's a total ego-boost.

Ophelia, you're reviews kick so much ass and totally brighten my day. Princess, I hope I didn't disappoint. I hope you liked it Rogue, and Feeling, that is a totally cool compliment that I'm not sure I deserve. :)

Thanks so much & stick around!