"You got people asking all types of questions coming around my place, looking around. You crazy? Huh?"

-June Bailey; from the 2013 film "Gimme Shelter"

"Ms. Hisakawa, we'd like to talk to you for a moment." A doctor sat down, mere feet away from where Cassidy Hisakawa was. Cassidy, only sixteen, had taken herself and her two and a half year old son to a nearby clinic so she could get an ultrasound done. The young girl had suspicions that she might be pregnant again, and the blood work and ultrasound proved her right. Cassidy Hisakawa was expecting her second child. That realization alone made her stomach churn, causing her to almost throw up. Her heart hammered painfully in her chest, though Cassidy tried her best to hide her fear. She couldn't afford to let anyone see she her in such a condition.

"About what?" Her response was clipped, her tone harsh.

"Your pregnancy."

Cassidy snorted in response. She had a pretty good idea on where the conversation was going. Doctors had talked to her when she was pregnant with Kai, her son. They had suggested aborting him early on, but she managed to get out before anything could happen. Cassidy went through her entire pregnancy with Kai without going to another doctor visit, and she ended up giving birth to her son at her uncle's house. The last place she wanted to give birth. "Is there a problem?" she snapped. "Are there any deformities?"

"No," the nurse who took the ultrasound answered. "The fetus is growing normally."

"It's your age, Ms. Hisakawa," the doctor added. "You've already given birth once before at a very young age. Keeping in mind that you may not have insurance or any kind of steady income, how can you manage to take care of a toddler and a newborn on your own?"

Glaring up at the nurse and doctor, Cassidy felt her blood boil. "I'm not aborting the baby," she said in a low, dangerous tone, "and I'm not putting it up for adoption. It's my baby."

The doctor took off his glasses, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. "Ms. Hisakawa, you need to keep in mind the options available to you," he said.

"Mama," Kai whispered, though his voice was still loud enough for the doctor and nurse to hear. "Something wrong?"

Looking down at her son, Cassidy tried for a smile, hoping it'd look convincing enough. Brushing some of her son's copper brown curls out of his face, Cassidy turned her gaze back to the doctor and nurse. "I don't need your help," she said sharply. "I'm keeping this baby. You have a problem with it? Too bad."

Grabbing her son's hand, Cassidy shoved her way by the doctor as he tried stopping her. She didn't care if they were trying to be helpful, there was no way in hell Cassidy would give up her unborn child or abort it simply because she was underage. She managed to raise Kai pretty much on her own. The most important thing for the young girl to do at the moment, though, was for Cassidy to get herself and Kai out of living with her uncle. She couldn't stay there any longer.

~. . . .~

Cassidy Hisakawa had been born to a Brazilian mother and a Japanese father. Her parents were never officially married, which probably meant that Cassidy was considered a bastard child, though her father, Akihito Hisakawa, hadn't been married to any other woman at the time. Cassidy's mother, Géneviève Oliveira, had emigrated to Tokyo from Salvador, Brazil, in hopes of starting a new life. While Japan was certainly a big leap in hopes of gaining that better life, the young, ambitious Brazilian woman believed she had a bright future living in Japan. But after a brief romance with Akihito, only months after arriving to Tokyo, Géneviève ended up pregnant. Akihito didn't stick around. Géneviève didn't take the abandonment well.

Once Cassidy had been born, Géneviève was experiencing a rapid decline, both mentally and physically. Géneviève had become spiteful and bitter, turning to drugs and alcohol to numb her pain. There had been a belief in the young woman's head that she and Akihito were going to get married. Géneviève had the wholehearted belief that Akihito would marry her, that he would be there to raise their child, and they'd be able to have that "happily ever after" life. Cassidy Oliveira-Hisakawa had been born healthy — seven pounds, four ounces; crying and screeching since the second she came out. Cassidy's mother was less than thrilled. While Cassidy had her mother's hair, eyes, and a lighter skin tone compared to Géneviève, there were plenty of traits she inherited from her father. Things Cassidy's mother hated.

Géneviève's substance abuse started when Cassidy was four. The single mother had ended up living in the bad neighborhoods of Tokyo, getting kicked out of apartments after apartments for not paying rent or for picking fights with the landlord. Cassidy remembered vividly a time where her mother brought over countless numbers of people to get high with. The next day, the landlord kicked the small family out. Géneviève was being more childish than her young daughter at the time.

When they couldn't afford any apartments, thanks to Géneviève's growing drug and alcohol problem, the small family would live in shelters. Even the shelters would kick them out, thanks to all the commotion the young mother would cause. Thankfully, though, someone actually had the decency to call the authorities on Géneviève, which led to Cassidy being taken from her. Cassidy had gone in and out of foster care for a couple years before she was sent to live with her father's brother, Eiji. For Cassidy, it was strange. She had never met her father, so having to live with someone who claimed to be related to her mother's ex was more than just odd. Eiji Hisakawa had been kind at first, he gave Cassidy plenty of food and toys, he didn't yell at her or hit her like her mother did. Once it became clear to authorities that Eiji was a suitable caregiver for his niece, and started paying less attention, that was when his attitude changed.

And that was what eventually led to Cassidy's pregnancies.

So, while Cassidy stood on the outside of her uncle's home, she felt a feeling of disgust rise in her. The one person who was supposed to take care of her, to be the positive influence the young girl initially lacked, had ended up abusing her in more ways than Géneviève did. Cassidy hated her uncle. She loathed him.

"Unca Ji gone," Kai pointed out. It was true. Eiji owned his own business, which required him to be gone for most of the day. Which gave Cassidy the perfect opportunity to get her and her son out of that environment.

"How do you feel about a trip, Kai-bear?" Cassidy asked, looking at her son with wide eyes. "A nice, long trip?"

"Yeah!" The toddler looked thrilled at the idea.

"We have to leave now, though," Cassidy said, lowering her voice. "We have to pack as many things as we can and leave before Uncle Ji gets home."

Kai's brows furrowed. "Why?" he said.

"Because this is for us." Cassidy kissed her son's forehead. "He doesn't need to know where we're going." The look remained on Kai's face, even after the discussion came to an end. In the young girl's mind, it didn't matter if Kai was confused or upset by the matter, the only thing that mattered was getting him out. Him and the unborn baby. Those were Cassidy's top priority.

(A/N):

What do you guys think? If you've got any ideas on how to improve this chapter, don't hesitate to let me know, OK? I'm all for constructive criticism. Also, I've started community college last week, and I'm working part-time, so that means my schedule is a complete mess until I can figure out a balanced out way to distribute chapters while getting homework done.

OHSHC does not belong to me. All I own are my characters and the subplots I put in.

Thanks a bunch.

Willow