Chapter 10

Jodi: I didn't want to go home. I knew that mom and dad would be there and have stuff to say about me being home so early. So after buying more cigarettes at the off licence, I went and stood outside Andy's class. I managed to get his attention and he must have asked to go to the toilet because he came out with a hall pass. I explained to him what had happened and he gave me the guys to his pick up. I couldn't drive, he was just giving me them to sit in his car out of the way.

Eventually the end of the day came and the rest of the guys piled into the car. John went to Claire's so it was just me and Andy left in the car.

"You sure you don't wanna come to mine?" He asked.

"No it's fine. You need to study."

"I have plenty of time for that Jodi. Are you mad at me?"

"What? No of course not, I kinda thought you were mad at me."

"Why would I be mad at you?"

"Because of all the shit with my dad. You shouldn't have to deal with it."

"I don't have to, I want to. I want to help you okay."

"Okay." I smiled and got out of the car, waving to Andy as I walked into my house.

John: I came home at 6, Claire needed to study and I was meant to go to work at 8. I walked straight into an argument with mom and Jodi. They were both shouting at each other, I couldn't work out what it was about. Suddenly, dad walked in. He slammed the door shut, stumbling in with a bottle of whisky in his hand. Great. Here we go again.

Jodi: Mom and I stopped arguing when dad came in. We all looked at him. He walked up to mom and told her to make him food. She said there was nothing here and he slapped her across the face.

"Stop it!" I shouted.

He turned his attention to me. He walked towards me but John pushed him out of the way before he could do anything.

John: After I pushed him he came up to me and stared at me. His face was so close to mine. We just stood there for a moment before I pushed him out of the way. He threw his bottle against the wall. It shattered and the smell of whisky filled the room. He pushed me up against the wall and Jodi tried to pull him away. He shrugged her off and mom slapped her in the face. Dad punched me in the stomach and let go of me. I sank to the floor.

Jodi: Dad turned back to me but there was a loud knock at the door. We all just stood there at first but the knock continued. I walked over to the door and opened it. Two policemen stood there looking at me. They said that they were called by neighbours about a 'disturbance'. They must have phoned when me and mom were shouting. I told the policemen to come in and they followed me into the lounge. John was sat on the floor against the wall, dad was stood in front of him, and mom was stood in the doorway of the kitchen. They could see the glass all over the floor. Our house probably smelt like dope and alcohol. One policeman asked to speak to dad while the other one helped John up, making sure he was okay. I could hear dad talking to the policeman, he was getting angry. The policeman searched him and must have found something on him because he ended up arresting him. While dad was being handcuffed, mom started screaming and the other policeman had to restrain her. I stood by John and he put his arm around my shoulders. The policemen called for back up and told us everything was going to be okay.

John: Two more policemen arrived with some woman. They put mom and dad in a police car each and then came to talk to us. They explained that dad was being arrested but mom was just going with them for 'further enquiries'. The woman said she was a social worker.

"What are your names and how old are you guys?" She asked, with a forced smile.

Jodi looked at me. "I'm John and she's Jodi, I'm 17, she's 15."

"Okay well because you're both under 18, you can't stay by yourselves tonight-"

"Can't we stay with a friend?" Jodi interrupted her.

"Uh no. I'm sorry, you're going to have to go and stay with an emergency foster family tonight, and then tomorrow we'll discuss a short term placement."

We both looked at her and then at each other.

"I know this is strange but it's what has to happen," she looked at Jodi, "there's no need to be scared."

"She's not scared. She's pissed off." I said.

Jodi: The woman told us to pack a small bag of 'essentials' for tonight, we could come back and get more tomorrow. All my stuff was essential. I didn't have a lot, neither of us did. I picked my school bag up and emptied my books out of it. I searched my box of clothes and found a clean set of clothes and underwear. I shoved them into my bag and opened my bedside cabinet. In the first draw was my favourite lighter, 2 emergency cigarettes, and a small bag of dope; only enough for one joint. I put them all into a plastic bag and rammed that into my school bag, hiding it under a t shirt. In the middle draw, there was my sketchbook and a pencil. I debated taking these for a while but I didn't really have room, and I'd be coming back tomorrow. So I opened the third and final draw. This draw looked empty because there was a fake bottom to it. I removed the fake bottom and found my most precious things. A family photo from before things went bad, a photo of me and John about a year ago, a photo of all of us from Claire's house party. I moved them and looked through the rest of the stuff. I picked up a sock monkey. It was old and worn but it had so many memories. It was given to John by a neighbour on his second birthday. Later that day, when I was brought home from hospital less than a day old, John gave it to me. And I've kept it ever since. The woman asked if I was ready so I told her I'd be one minute. I put the sock monkey in my bag and grabbed one last thing out of the draw. A t shirt Andy gave me, it was huge on me but I loved it. So it went in my bag and I walked back into the lounge. John and the woman were waiting for me. She told us her name was Diane before leading us to her car. The police had gone but some of our neighbours were still outside, eager to know our business. We drove off and I looked back at our house. Please let everything work out alright.