Secret of the Willows.
Warning: Boys love (Breldon), bruises, blood, child manipulation and child abuse. Please tell me if I miss any, I don't want to trigger anyone.
A/N: After almost two years, I have updated! Sorry about that everyone, life happens XP
Now before you start reading I need to make something perfectly clear. I am in no way trying to show Islamic people/Muslims to be evil or bad people!
A lot of them are awesome people and the people I've met have always been awesome people.
But in this story there is a portrayal of caucasian muslim man who is manipulative and abusive, this is not reference to anyone and it is just for the sake of the fan fiction and will not be mentioned much; I mean absolutely no offense if you are Muslim/Islamic, I do not think any of you are like this. If you do not like this then please do not hesitate to click away, I don't want to anger anyone.
Brad woke up as he looked around the room; his beady, sleepy eyes quickly widened as he realized two things at once; it was morning already and today was Saturday which meant no school. Quickly enough Brad got out of bed, or at least tried to; his face quickly met the ground in a loving reunion.
"Ow…" He softly muttered before his blanket decided to tumble down onto him, covering him up from head to toe.
"Bradley, are you alright; I thought I heard something." His mother's voice came from outside with a soft knock; she would come in even if he replied. Brad quickly clawed his way out of his blanket and looked around, he spotted the bracelet he'd been making for Shelby and grabbed it as his bedroom door opened. He hid it under his bed as he looked up at his mother, smiling innocently at her. "Is everything okay, Bradley?" She asked as she looked concerned for her son; she always wondered what was going on in his head. Brad just smiled up as her and nodded, despite knowing that something was up, she smiled and left. "Breakfast is in ten minutes."
"Alright mom." Brad replied and waited until the door closed before moving, he got up and made sure she wasn't around before ducking back down, and grabbing the bracelet. He looked at it, it was only half done yet he was happy at how it was coming along.
The bracelet consisted of three thin tightly braided strips of dark brown leather, he'd done his best braiding them as he knew girls liked cute stuff like that. It had a few rainbow colored beads on them and a red flower shaped bead he'd braided into the bracelet, it rested right in the middle. The other half of the bracelet was undone, he moved it onto his bedside table before getting up, the red head stretched and yawned.
He started getting his bed fixed up, his mind filled thinking about the Shelby. He wasn't sure why his young boy mind was filled to the brim thinking about her, it was just so strange...Maybe it was because she was weird. Why had her mother been so angry, why did Shelby have to leave, would he see her again, what if he never got to?! The thoughts rushed through his head and made a headache started to form, he groaned and rubbed at it. "Bradley, breakfast."
Brad sighed and looked over at the bracelet before picking it up and placed it under his pillow, and covered it up with his blanket. He made his way downstairs and was surprised to see his father there, what was he doing back? "Dad?!" He exclaimed, he hadn't seen the older man in almost six months.
The man looked away from the hushed conversation he was having with his wife to look at his son, he smiled and walked over to Brad, he swiftly picked the younger boy up. "Hey, sport." His voice was rough and he smelled like gunpowder and smoke, Brad didn't like it but hugged him back tightly. "I'm back but it won't be for long, why don't we do something after breakfast; just the two of us!" This made Brad perk up, he almost never got to do things with his dad and quickly the blond nodded. "Good." He placed the young boy down before walking off, Brad smiled happily but as he turned around it fell at the way his mother looked.
"Mom, are you okay?" He asked. She looked unhappy clutching the frying pan a little too hard, knuckles starting to turn white, and her eyes glaring daggers into her husband's skull, but after a few moments she relaxed and sighed. Finally after a few long moments she nodded, smiling slightly at Brad. She turned back to cooking her recently turned scrambled eggs, Brad watched her for a moment before walking to the sink and washing his hands. "Why is dad, back?" He got a shrug as she dumped the eggs onto a plate and tossed toast and bacon on there as well.
Brad decided not to push the subject anymore, he just took his plate and walked to the living room; this was the best way to eat breakfast. Cartoons and food, it seemed today would be a good day! Breakfast was finished quickly enough, he was a growing boy after all, and he headed to his room, he needed to change out of his pajamas and get ready to leave with his dad. As he was getting ready he heard it and stiffened a little, loud angry voices; he was quiet for a moment and hoped it wasn't his parents. They usually argued, Brad had gotten use to it by now, it sometimes scared him but in the end they always ended up okay...well they looked and acted okay so that meant they were okay, right? After a few long seconds he sighed as he could pick out his father's booming voice.
Brad finished getting dressed and decided to wait out the arguing, his mom never liked it when he got in the middle of it after his dad accidently elbowed him in the face once, and gave him a bloody nose. Brad sat down on his bed before looking around for something to do. As he did he noticed Shelby's bracelet, he quickly grabbed it and decided to finish it up; humming softly to himself as all he had to finish doing was braiding the other half.
"Brad, Brad the smart. His hair is fair and tidy, whoever loves you will...kiss...you..." He sung but trailed off, he quickly realized he could almost hear Shelby's voice in his ear; her silvery, whimsical voice singing among the sound of rustling willow trees. Brad shook it off before going back to braiding. Finally he finished it and fastened the braid at the end; he was done! He held it up testing to make sure the braided leather would hold and had to admit, he did a good job. The smooth dark brown leather braided tightly, a bright red wooden flower bead; three glass rainbow beads rested on either side of it.
He jolted and almost dropped it when the front door slammed shut and pretty much shook the small house, he looked at his door before hesitantly getting up and peeked out, it was so quiet as he crept down the hallway until he got to the kitchen, his father was gone and his mother stood against the counter clutching her cheek. "M-Mommy?" Brad said softly and moving closer to her, she quickly looked up at him; her messy red hair making her look wild and almost scary but also hurt. She rubbed her cheek lightly before pulling her hand away to reveal a large red mark, it looked like a hand and he was sure he knew who it belonged to. "A-Are you okay, do you want me to get you some ice?" It was all he could think about doing, when a kid at school hit him in the eye the nurse gave him ice and it made it all better. His mother gently shook her head but after a moment sighed and nodded, Brad smiled weakly before going to the freezer and getting one of the animal shaped ice packs his mom always kept in there for his bumps and bruises, he picked out a cute yellow duck and wrapped it up in a paper towel before going back to her side. She had moved to sit at the table, her eyes watery and red as if she was trying to hold back her tears. Brad was careful push it against her cheek, trying to ignore how she winced at the gentle pressure before placing her hand over his.
"Thank you, my big strong boy." She whispered, her voice was so soft but rough, Brad hated how it sounded; nothing like his normal mommy. Not happy or full of life, not cheerful and teasing him about his TV crushes; she almost didn't sound like his mommy. "I don't think you'll be able to go out with your father today, he left a little while ago..." Brad already knew, he didn't want to go with his father anymore; he was being a big meanie! "Why don't you go play with your friends, like that Shelby girl you told me about; she must be a cutie to catch my little Bradley's eye." There is was, just a flicker of his old mommy in her blue eyes and it was enough to make a weak smile spread out on his lips, he knew she just wanted some time alone or possible invite one of her friends over and just spend time with them; he wanted her to be happy again.
"She's nice and she speak ara...ari...arbif..." He struggled before huffing lightly and looked at his mom with a pout, she smiled and chuckled.
"Arabic?" He quickly nodded and smiled. "That means she's from the Middle East, did she tell you what part she's from?" Brad thought a moment on his mother's question before lightly shrugged and shook his head. "That's fine, as long as she is nice to you then I don't care if she's from the moon; well except if she tries to eat your brain just like this!" She quickly grabbed Brad and lifted his up, faking bites against his skin, blowing raspberries. "Argh! I'm a scary moon beast, I'm going to eat your brain and pinkies!" She roared as she kissed at the squirming boy's cheeks and head, sometimes getting his hand as she faked a bite to it. Brad squealed pushing against her cheek, feeling the coldness of the ice seeping into his skin.
"No, don't eat me; I'm just bones and toes!" He yelped out as the cold pack pressed to his neck, he shifted around trying to stop his mom. She did as she kept laughing, hugging her little boy close, she smiled and looked at him, Brad did the same before gently running his hand over the bruise that was forming on her cheek and frowned. "I love you, mommy...You're the prettiest girl in the world to me." Tears slowly filled up her eyes before smiling weakly and turning to kiss his little hand.
"I love you, my brave man. " She echoed before pulling his hand away and kissing his forehead, she hugged him and just shut her eyes. Brad didn't fight back as he just kept hugging her, they needed this. Sometimes it was all the needed to make things just a little bit better. After a few quiet minutes she finally let go and placed him back down. "I shouldn't keep you from your friend, go on; and get your shoes on; go out and play with her...I think I'll make you both a picnic, doesn't that sound fun?" Brad perked up hearing her before quickly nodding, that would be perfect. The clearing was nice and flat and it was bright and sunny, the last two times he hung around with Shelby she never ate nor did he; which was weird seeing as he ate like a horse. Brad was careful, but happily kissed his mom on the cheek before scrambled off to go find his shoes.
By the time he found them and came back his mom had a an old lunch box looking cooler filled up with food, from sandwiches to chips to bottles of juice. "Wow, it all looks awesome!" He exclaimed looking through the cooler, he was kind excited to go see if Shelby was at the clearing; it made him a little worried she wouldn't be there. His mom turned around holding a plastic Tupperware container and Brad looked up at her with a wide smile, she really was the best. In the container was two nice big slices of his mom's white chocolate and raspberry Oreo crusted cheese cake, it was amazing~
"Here, for desert, you better share with her, Bradley." She warned him before placing it into the cooler among enough food to feed a small city, he nodded happily and smiled at her. "Also tell her that this food is suitable for vegetarians, so not to worry while she's eating it." Alright that made Brad a little confused, was Shelby vegetarian? And if she was, how did his mother know; he didn't even know!
It seems his confusion was written all over his face because his mother softly chuckled. "You said your friend Shelby spoke Arabic so she is most likely from an Islamic country, people from places like that have a different diet then we do. They can't eat pork, so no toasty bacon or pepperoni pizza." She explained, Brad watched her with curious eyes, soaking up all the information she gave him. "They also cannot drink alcohol and the meat they do eat has to be...prepared in a certain way. Vegetarian options are their best choice if there isn't a store that sells Muslim approved food." She didn't want to say the words 'killed' or 'slaughtered' to her seven year old so alternatives!
Brad didn't know any of that, his mother was so smart. He chirped an okay and looked into the lunch box, he noticed things like baked potato chips and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches; nothing had meat in it which he was glad. Even if he could eat meat, he didn't want to if Shelby couldn't. "Alright, I think you're all set now, Kiddo." She said as she finished cleaning the cutting board, she turned to Brad and smiled at him. "I'm proud of you, Brad. You're such a good boy, don't let anyone change that about you." With that said she smiled and walked out of the kitchen, leaving Brad wondering what was so good about him. His attention span caught up to him and he snapped out of it in favor of going to get the bracelet, he hurried to his bedroom but stopped when he found his mother in the room holding the bracelet. "Bradley, this is amazing. You made this?" She looked shocked, her seven year old son made something this pretty not to mention well made. "It's very beautiful."
"Mom, you weren't suppose to see it." He whimpered slightly as he went over and wanted to get it back, his mother chuckled before handing it back over to him. He pouted and stuck it into the front pocket of his jacket with a gentleness that was usually only reserved for his mother; breaking it again would be the worst! "I better go mom, I'll come back before the street lights come back on." With that said he waved goodbye before running off, he didn't want to miss seeing Shelby. He picked up the lunchbox before heading out the door, he was excited and he couldn't stop himself from running. It didn't take long for him to enter the willow forest, he slowed down until he finally stopped running and started walking until he got to the clearing, there she was. Back turned to him, sitting on the edge of the stream dressed in lilac and green, Brad walked out into the clearing and snuck up quietly behind her. "Hey." He chirped cheerfully and she turned around to face him, her eyes fearful before realizing who it was and smiled, but now it was Brad's turn to be scared. "What happened to you!?"
Shelby's eye was dark purple and red, and kind of yellow as well, it was swollen to the point he could barely see the light brown color; but that wasn't the only thing. Her lip was also busted and she had bruises on her throat and shoulders, well all he could see her top covered up the rest. It kind of made sense now her reasons to be wearing a long sleeve shirt and pants today, Shelby's smile fell and turned away as she hugged herself close. "My...My dad found out I left the house without his permission so when I came home he beat me, my mom tried to stop him but my older brothers held her back." She admitted in a small soft voice, she sighed before throwing another rock into the water. "It's doesn't feel as back as it looks." Shelby muttered as she knew he was looking at the bruises that snuck up her back and peeked out the back of her shirt, Brad didn't know what to make of this, he wasn't sure what to do or say.
"Are you hungry?" Yeah, not really the best thing to ask but it was all he could say, he was seven; he didn't know how to handle this. Shelby slowly turned around to look at him and gave him a confused look. She lightly shrugged. She hadn't eaten yet so maybe eating would be a good idea, she slowly got up without wincing too much and walked over to him before sitting on the ground. Brad perked up a little and sat down on the ground in front of her, he opened the lunch box before pulling a plastic wrapped sandwich, he held it out to her. "Mom told me to tell you it's suitable for vegetarians. All the food is, she packed it especially for you." He could see Shelby's eyes widen a little before smiled weakly as she looked down at the sandwich.
"Thank you...When you return home, please tell your mom thank you." With that said Shelby unwrapped her sandwich before taking a bit, her smile grew. "Peanut butter and jelly, I haven't had one in so long." When she looked up she could see Brad staring and blushed at the attention to her, this time it was a look of shock and surprise to what she said. "Well two of my older brothers are allergic to nuts and my dad hates the stuff, so I don't really get to eat it unless it's one of those crust less sandwiches, the ones that come in the little packages." She informed him before going back to nibbling away at her sandwich, her body still tensed up. "I don't really like those package sandwiches, they don't taste as good...These are really yummy." Shelby smiled a little, she glanced up at Brad before quickly looking back down and brushing her hair over the black eye.
"You...You should tell someone about your dad hurting you, especially if this isn't the first time he's done this to you." Brad finally said as he could tell she felt uncomfortable about her black eye, he did as well but for a different reason; he hated seeing anyone he cared about suffering. The red head nibbled on his bottom lip. "You don't hurt the people you love, especially your family...If he hurts you again please call 911 or something." Silence settled over them, Shelby just kept eating until she ran out of sandwich. "Do you want some fruit juice?" She nodded and Brad pulled one out of the lunch box before holding it out to her, she took it and took a few sips.
"I can't tell anyone...I don't care if he hurts me as long as he doesn't hurt mama, she needs the medicine he gets her. If the police takes him away then he can't get her the medicine and mama will...she will die. He told me the first time he hurt me, my school friend had let me borrow a doll and when he found out I had it; he beat me. After he finished I called the police and they came, but when they arrived they didn't believe me. He made them go away and after they did he beat me again, he told me if I tried that again they would take him away and then he couldn't give mama the medicine." She told him while staring down at the juice in her hand, a soft sigh slipped out. "I don't mama to die, I know she's weak and ill but if she keeps taking her medicine then she'll get stronger and better. " Brad listened to her before smiling a little, she really care about her mom, it was nice and sweet.
"I understand...I love my mom too, I don't want anything bad to happen to her as either." He thought back to this morning and sighed, he should have said something; anything about the mark on her face after his dad left. "Do you want another sandwich?" Brad didn't want to think about it anymore, his mom was fine and once he arrived back home he would tell her. Shelby shook her head, she looked better now; more alive. Brad stayed sitting, it was a strangely nice day; he wanted to just lay back and soak in the sun or maybe strip down to his shorts and play in the stream; maybe they should do that. He glanced over at Shelby who was just ripping out blades of grass and making a little pile, her hair pushed in front of her black eye. Brad wanted her to relax and try to forget it, he sighed before thinking what he could do; he got a idea! " Shelby Shelby elkhinday-" He started to softly sing, he was pretty freaking sure he was singing it wrong, he didn't really remember the words but just kept going as he moved a little closer to her. "-Shadrock ak wad we mena-" Brad was right in front of her sitting on his knees, still singing and leaned in a little closer. "-Whoever loves you, will kiss you." He leaned in and lifted the hair out of her eye, and kissed her on the forehead right above her hurt eye. Shelby sat there quietly, she could feel her cheeks spiking up in color and looked away when Brad pulled away. "Better?"
Shelby lightly nodded before turning back to him before smiling and giggled slightly. "You sang it wrong, I'm going to have to teach you." The cheer in her voice was back and soon enough she got up and started cleaning her pants off, Brad chuckled and followed suit. "You need to learn how to say the words better, a lot of those weren't even words." She pushed her hair back as she started to lecture him about how to sing in Arabic, it would be tricky but with practice he could do it!
"That reminds me-" Brad cut her off as he started talking, Shelby looked at him curious as to what he was going to say. "-Where are you from, you said your ancestors were from Assyria but where are you from?" He had been curious but if she didn't want to tell him then she didn't have to.
Shelby was quiet before finally answering. "Egypt, my mom is from North Egypt." She said happily but quickly added on. "But my dad isn't, he's got light skin and blond hair which is why I don't have tan skin like my mom but I did get her brown eyes and black hair." She tugged at her hair, it almost seemed like she was getting better.
"Cool, I think my grandfather was Irish or something, other than that I don't really know; my mom doesn't really talk much about this." He replied before shrugging, he stuck his hands into his pockets and felt something; he quickly realized what it was. Brad gently grabbed it before looking up at Shelby. "Hey, I have a surprise for you; close your eyes and stick one of your arms out." He smiled and leaned back on his heels as he waited for her to do so, Shelby gave him a confused look as if about to ask but quickly held her arm out and shut her eyes. "Alright, don't open them until I tell you to, okay?" She nodded and placed her other hand over her eyes, Brad pulled the bracelet out before carefully putting it on her wrist; it looked a bit loose. "Alright, open your eyes!"
She pulled her hand away and looked down at the bracelet, Shelby couldn't believe it. "Oh wow, it's beautiful. Where did you buy it?!" She was practically yelling, the black haired girl slowly ran her fingers over the beads before tracing the flower shaped one, Brad puffed up proud of himself; she liked it!
"Actually, I made it for you. Yesterday after you left I accidently stepped on a bracelet you let out here, it broke and so I decided to make you one to replace it." He replied before lightly kicking at the dirt under his feet.
"Really!?" She exclaimed and kept smiling. "It's amazing, thank you, Brad." She turned around and hugged him, holding tightly onto him; Brad was a little shocked by it but gently hugged her back. They stayed like this a little longer than normal, it was nice to feel being held and neither wanted to pull away. But finally Shelby shifted slightly and pulled back, Brad let her go as they separated. "I can't thank you enough, I love it even if it is a little big." She moved it around on her wrist before getting an idea.
She pulled off the long sleeve shirt she was wearing to reveal a black tank top under it, she tied the shirt around her waist so it looked kind of like a skirt. She didn't waste a moment and pushed the bracelet up her arm until it was a makeshift armlet. "Perfect, now I really do look like an Egyptian queen!" She laughed as she twirled around and the 'skirt' rose up a little, Shelby stopped dead and looked up at Brad.
She hadn't really thought this through, as she stood there her friend could see all the bruises that decorated up and down her arms, as well as her chest and back. Shelby quickly realized this wasn't a good idea and started undoing the shirt, she didn't want Brad to look at her like this.
"How may I serve you, my queen?" The red head said as he gave a deep bow before her before peeking up at her, he smiled as he waited for her to say something. Shelby's face could split from the huge smile, she tightened her 'skirt' again before standing straighter before him.
"Your queen wants another peanut butter and jelly sandwich, get it for me" She said before smiling slightly as she held her arm behind her back and rocked back and forth on the heels of her feet.
"Yes my queen!" Brad said before standing up and quickly going over to the lunch box, he opened it up and pulled out a sandwich before going back over to her; he bow and held the plastic covered sandwich over his head and up to her. "Here you are my queen, is there anything you want?" He couldn't stop snickering, this was actually kind of fun.
Shelby took the sandwich before looking down at Brad. "Only one more thing. Share this sandwich with me while we watch the fish in the stream." She slowly sat down on the ground before opening the plastic bag, Brad chuckled and replied with the same 'Yes my queen' before sitting down next to her. She handed a triangle of sandwich to him before turning to look out at the stream, Brad kept watching with her as it felt rather...Nice and peaceful; he wished he could just freeze time right now. Shelby glanced over at the red head before shifted slightly and rested her head on his shoulder, the horrible sadness she felt before was gone all thanks to Brad; he was almost like a security blanket for her. "Thank you for everything, Brad."