Chapter 2 – Holding Back the Years
Deputy Wayne Unser had a slow, measured way of talking and moving. It calmed Nelly down. He also managed to find her a lollypop in his truck, which made things a little better. He took Nelly to her house, only to find it locked up and empty, her father nowhere to be found. Same happened at the aunt's house, and Unser, instead of calling Child's Services, decided to look for aunt Linda at Sam Crow clubhouse.
Nelly watched curiously as the patrol car crossed massive metal gates of the compound, and drove up to triple garage door. She saw bikers in black leather come out to meet the cruiser. Deputy rolled down the window and greeted the man at the forefront. "Hey Clay, I'm looking for Linda Thornton."
"Linda, eh?" The man called Clay scratched his thick chin, large tattoos flexing on his arms. "Must be Simon's old lady, but she ain't here. What's the trouble?"
"No trouble, but I have her niece in the back seat. Her daddy forgot to pick her up from school and Linda is the only contact we have."
Clay peered into the back of the car, where Nelly held her breath and listened. He then turned back to the cop and said, " Leave the girl here, she can play with the boys and Gemma will look after her until we find Linda."
He pointed to three boys about Nelly's age, running around with toy guns, ducking between motorcycles parked in a neat row. Two of them had blond locks reaching their shoulders, one being smaller than the other, and the third boy was taller than the two, with short-cropped brown hair. Nelly didn't like playing with boys and she shrunk into her seat, wanting to disappear. She hoped and prayed that the Deputy wouldn't leave her here in this strange, scary place. She was relieved at the cop's answer.
"I'm afraid I can't to that, Clay, but thanks for the offer." He closed the window and made a three-point-turn. Before heading out, he turned to Nelly. "Let's swing by your house again, maybe your daddy's home now."
This time they got lucky. The Deputy walked her to the front door, where a haggard man was sitting on the porch with a beer in his hand.
"You Troy Hathaway?" Deputy Unser asked without a greeting. When he got a nod in reply, he continued with steel in his voice, "You forgot to pick up your daughter from school, sir."
"I thought she'd come home on her own. The school's not that far."
"She's eight years old and new in town," the cop continued his scolding, "You make sure this doesn't happen again or we'll be forced to call Child's Services."
"Yeah, whatever." Troy scoffed, and reached out for the girl. "Go on inside, Nelly."
Wayne Unser watched the girl as she slowly made her way to the front door, her steps heavy, her head lowered. He wondered how could a child so young feel so burdened by life. The cop etched her name and address into his memory and made a mental note to keep an eye on her in the future. By the looks of it, Nelly would need all the help she could get.
The next day the story repeated itself with a different ending, as Nelly was left in the care of her aunt. She kept being shuffled from her aunt to her dad, and back again, never sure if she'd be sleeping in her own bed that night. Nelly got a house key from her dad and learned the short route from her house to school. Through it all, Donna kept her mother updated, and Sue kept an watchful eye out for Nelly. After about a month of trying to find her chance, Sue spotted Nelly being picked up by a scruffy-looking, tall man. The matching colour of their hair was a clear indication that they were related. She approached him quickly, before he had a chance to leave. As she addressed him, she hoped to keep judgement out of her voice, "Hello, are you Mr. Hathaway? Nelly's dad?"
"Yeah, what of it?" The man's eyes were guarded, almost hostile.
"I'm Sue Parker, Donna's mom. Our girls have become good friends."
"Ok." Troy looked at her uneasily as he herded Nelly into the back seat of his beat-up Olds.
"Do you mind if Nelly comes to visit sometimes after school?"
"I don't mind, as long as she's home before bedtime. The girl has a house key now, she can come and go as she pleases."
His careless attitude shocked Sue, but she bit back a reproach and just said, "Let's exchange phone numbers, so we can keep in touch."
The numbers were exchanged, but needlessly. Troy was never home, and Sue stopped calling after a few tries. She would just pick up Nelly along with Donna and Danny and take her home for the evening or the weekend. Troy never bothered finding out if his daughter was safe.
The Parkers had become a foster family of sorts to Nelly over the months that followed. Donna's mom was a cashier at the local grocery store, and worked only while the kids were at school, while her dad worked for the county on road maintenance. The family wasn't well off, but there always enough food to go around, nothing really lacking when needed, and they were never short on love. It was Nelly's favourite place to be. Even though it hurt sometimes to see the way Donna's mom fussed over the kids, the way their dad teased them playfully, between her own empty house and her aunt's busy life with a biker boyfriend, she would rather stay with her best friend. Nelly realized she could deal with the pain if it came with the comfort of a real family. In her head, she sometimes believed that Donna and Danny were her siblings, that their parents were her own. And they liked her well enough to make her feel like part of their family.