AN: Please remember, that you already know how Callie's search for Jude goes (that is if you have read the two sequels that I have written in this AU). Also, Callie doesn't know/hasn't met Stef, Lena or any of the Adams Foster clan kids.
Hope you enjoy :)
Callie POV
Juvie in a way was like a pot of treasure. Not literal treasure, of course. Information treasure.
You can meet different kind of people in Juvie. A lot of girls I met in Juvie, were foster kids, like me. Many, same as me, were bouncing around foster home, until they got themselves arrested. Some of the girls were arrested for minor, petty crimes – stealing food, tagging, being with the wrong crowd at the wrong place. Others, like me, were in there for much more serious crimes – gang related, property damage, drug related, assault etc.
But no matter the reason they were there – they still were a source of information for me. And I gathered all the information I could get, for later use. For a while, I kept the addresses written down on a piece of paper, but after a while, I figured it would be smarter to memorize them. You know, just in case. So I did just that. And good thing that I did, because I lost that piece of paper few weeks before I got released. It probably got mixed up with bunch of the papers I had for the school in Juvie. Maybe I, myself, threw it out. However, the point is, I'm glad that I got them memorized.
Jude and I have been separated for 4 years now. And in these 4 years, I haven't had a breakthrough any in finding him. I have tried pretty much everything – no luck. For all I know, Jude could be bouncing homes like me. One month he could be living in one foster home, where he is the only kid, the next month, he could be sharing a house with 4 other foster kids, where not everyone was friendly.
Now, once I am out of Juvie, I can finally put the information I gained in the Juvie, to use. My new foster parents ground rules or, in fact, the lack of them, gives me the opportunity to look for my brother without any worry.
On a break after the second class, I went to the library to look up few of the addresses that I was given by a fellow inmates while in Juvie. After I had pin pointed few of the addresses on a map, I picked out two that were in the same region. They were both pretty far from where I was now, that's why I decided to leave as soon as possible. I saw that Markus was keeping an eye on me on the lunch break, so I waited for the next class to end, before I leave. I walked out of the school little after 1.
Because I actually used the lunch money Amy and Aaron gave me for lunch, I didn't have a lot of pocket money left. That's why couldn't take a bus to get to my first destination. It took me about 3 hours to get to the house. As time went on, I got slower and slower as I grew more tiered with every mile.
The house wasn't located in the worst neighborhood. I have seen others much more. But the house, that had the street number, which I was looking for, wasn't in the best state. The yard was full of junk. There was an old, rusted car by the front of the house, which I was sure, is not working. The grass around the house, was looking like it hasn't been cut for a month or so.
Just when I thought about the uncut grass, I heard someone trying to start up what sounded a lot like lawn moaner. The sound came from behind the house, from the garage, that stood next to the house. After few tries, the person finally started up the machine.
I stood by the path, that leads to the house and waited till the person, that operated the lawn mower, came to the front of the house. A moment later, I heard the sound getting closer to me. A young looking boy, he couldn't be older me, came out from behind the house, pushing the lawn mower. The boy was thin, my height and by the looks, he had greasy hair.
When he saw me standing there, watching him, he stopped in his tracks. I smile at him, showing I mean no harm. The boy resumes to mow the lawn as he comes my direction. Once he was up to me, he stopped the lawn mower, so we could talk.
"Can I help you?" he asks, without taking his hands of the lawn mower handle
"Do you live here?" I ask pointing to the house at the end of the path
"Yep," he kept his answer short
"I'm looking for someone," I shift my weight to my other leg "My brother!" I glance to the house before I point to it "This is a foster home, right?"
"You're a foster kid?" He asks me instead of answering my questions
I glance down to my hands "Yeah. For few years now,"
When I look up, I see the boy nodding back knowingly "What's his name?"
"Jude...Jude Jacob,"
"Sorry, no one by that names lives or has lived here," He replies without much thinking, but he sounded certain
"Are you sure?" I re-ask just to be sure
"Positive. I have been living in this shithole for some 3 years now. No foster kid with that name has ever come by," He scratches his temple and glances to the house "But the family have been foster parents for longer than that. If I'm correct then some 5 years..."
"Have...they adopted you?" I ask curiously
The boy laughed back "No," he said flatly, stopping the laughing suddenly "Then they won't get the money for me,"
The front doors were opened suddenly. They banged at the side of the wall. A man walked out shouting at us "Eh! What do you think you are doing! I told you to mow the lawn, lazy!"
"She was asking for directions," the boy responds calmly, obviously used to being treated like that and used to lying "I was just helping out," he said and reached for the handle, which you need to pull to start the lawn mower
The man stopped at the end of the path and glared at me "Did you got your directions?"
I nod my head back and reply quickly, wanting to avoid any confrontation "Yeah..yeah, I got them,"
"Why are you still standing here then? Leave!" He says loudly and gestures down the street, before the boy starts the engine
"Thanks," I mouth to the boy, before I turn and walk away. He returns back a small smile as he resumes to do his chores.
In some half and hour or so, I arrived at the other foster house that I looked up. This house had a white picket fence around it. And unlike the previous one, it looked well maintained. As I walked down the path, that lead up to the porch, I glance to the driveway. A brand new, black Audi stood there. I would even say that it shined, maybe it was waxed. I have to admit, this doesn't really look like a foster home to me.
I stand in front of the door for few seconds, thinking about what I am going to say. Before I ring the bells, I rub my now sweaty hands up against my jeans. I don't have to wait too long for the doors to be opened. A woman, who looked to be around late 30, friendly looking face was looking back at me.
"Hi!" her voice was cheerful "Can I help you darlin?"
I froze. The little speech that I had prepared in my mind – gone. I even forgot how to form words. And I don't even know what brought it on. I wasn't scared before...can't really say that I am scared now. Maybe, I was just taken by surprise by how friendly she seemed.
"Are you okay?" she asked taking a step through the doorway, closer to me
"I..uh...I'm..." I stuttered as I took a little step back
"Yes? Go on," The woman encouraged, looking down at me worriedly
"My brother..." I stuttered out warily
"Is your brother hurt? Do you need any help?" She asked, when I hadn't gotten any words out for few seconds
I shook my head "No...no, I'm...I'm looking for him," I established eye contact with the woman "Is he here?"
The features in her face saddened "I'm sorry, honey. We don't have any kids. No one beside me and my husband live here,"
"You...you aren't foster parents?" Maybe I had the wrong address
"No," she shook her head "Can I ask, what made you think that we were?"
I look down to my shoes and reply quietly "A friend gave me this address. She said she used to live here with her foster parents,"
"We just moved in here. Few months back. It could be you are looking for the previous owners," The lady explained
"Oh," I breath out sadly as I rub the bridge of my nose
I started to back out "I'm sorry for bothering you,"
"No need to apology," she said in a sweet manner. The woman looked out to the street "Did you walk here all by yourself? Where are your parents?"
"Once again, I'm sorry," I said before I turned around and walked out of her sight as fast as I could
I don't even know what time it was, when I got back to my current foster home. All I know is that it was dark. I was extremely tiered and sore. My ribs reminded me of them, every few steps I took. All I wanted was to fall down in a bed and forget about how bad the day went for me. I didn't get a single clue about Jude's whereabouts.
When I closed the front doors behind me, Aaron came running down the stairs "Callie! Oh thank God it's you!" I was taken aback by his sudden appearance. My back hit the back doors and I remained as still as possible.
Markus came running down the stairs a moment later, but he remained standing by the stairs.
"Are you okay, Callie?" Aaron asks coming closer to me. I hadn't expected him to look so worried. Actually, I hadn't excepted them to notice that I was gone for few hours at all.
Aaron stopped in the middle of the hallway, when he saw that I got scared of him. I don't answer his questions, I simply watch him, wondering what he will do. When he raised his hand up to his ear, I realized that he was holding a phone in his hand.
"Yeah, it's her. She's home!" Aaron looked me up and down before adding "She looks to be unharmed," he nodded his few times "See you in 5!"
Aaron shoved his phone in his pocket and asked "Callie, where were you?" the concern in his voice didn't go unnoticed by me. Aaron wasn't yelling at me. He still looked worried and at the same time relieved to see me. There was no sign of anger.
"Do you know what time it is?" he asked me next, when I hadn't replied. I reply by shaking my head at him. Aaron took a deep sigh and briefly looked back at his son.
"We were all worried that something had happened to you! You scared us. All of us!" Aaron stated in soft tone
"Not cool," Markus commented quickly and quietly
"We will talk more about this, when Amy gets back!" Aaron informed me in more firm voice, telling me I don't have a choice about it
Aaron ran his hand over his face and then through his hair. He pressed his left hand to his hip, while with his right he gestured towards the kitchen "You probably haven't eaten anything since lunch. Come on, I will make something for you, while we wait for Amy to return home,"
Amy barged though the front doors, when I was in the middle of eating my second sandwich that Aaron had made me.
"Are you okay? Are you hurt?" she asked, when she appeared in the kitchen.
It seemed to me, she wanted to come closer to me, but she refrain herself from coming over to me and giving me a hug, knowing that we are not on that good of terms. She remained standing two steps away from me, with worried facial expression. It sounded like she was breathing a bit heavier than usually, like she had literally ran inside the house.
This family seemed to be more concerned about me than any other foster family has. No one else would have made this huge alarm about me missing hour of my curfew. Aaron told me that Amy had been out looking for me ever since they learned that I had skipped school. That's hours. Amy has been driving around the city, looking for me, for hours! Not to mention, how worried Aaron and Markus seemed, when I came back. No one else would have batted an eye at me missing school and being late for curfew.
And now this. The first thing Amy asks, same as Aaron, is – am I okay?
I slowly lower the sandwich, that I was holding up to my mouth ready to take another bite from it, down to the plate and finish chewing the food in my mouth. When I finally swallow the food, I reply quietly looking right at Amy "I'm okay,"
Amy breathed out relieved. She pulled out the chair at the end of the table and sat down. Once she is sat down, Aaron hands her a plate of two sandwiches.
"Milk?" he asks her. Amy nods her head back right before she lifts one of the sandwiches up to take a bite. After Aaron pours the milk for Amy, he takes a seat at the opposite side of the table from me. While Amy was chewing, she extended her arm to Aaron and handed him the sandwich. Aaron took a bite of it and handed it back to her.
Neither of them were saying anything, so I resumed eating the sandwich myself, but I kept my eye on both of them. I don't have the slightest idea what they have in mind for me. These guys were a mystery for me.
When I ate the last of my sandwich, Amy stood up and left the room, leaving me alone with Aaron. She returned, when I had finished drinking the milk. Amy pours out one pill from each of the med bottles and places them in front of me, while Aaron gets me a glass of water.
Once I had taken the medicine and drank the water Aaron gave me, Amy spoke up "We need to talk about what happened today, Callie!"
I don't say anything back. My eyes kept darting between them. I wasn't quite sure of which I was scared the most. Amy the cop, or Aaron the big guy.
"Can you tell us where you went today?" Amy asks, her voice soft and calm, yer firm. Both of their eyes were on me. It was more than intimidating. They both waited for an answer or explanation.
"Nowhere," I say quietly, when I look back at Amy
"We all know that's not the truth Callie," she replied and glanced to Aaron
"I went for a walk," I change my answer
"I spoke to your teachers," Aaron spoke up, while looking at Amy, but then he returned his gaze back to me "You were absent from your last 2 classes and came home some minutes after 8, hour after your curfew. That gives you more than 7 hours of walk," Aaron pauses and points to me "With broken ribs," Not once did Aaron raised his voice
"What can I say," I said giving them back a bit more attitude, challenging them "I was all pent up in the 3x4 cell for months, I wanted a walk!" Usually for this sort of comment I would hear yelling back, maybe a hand slam to table and rhetorical questions - are you joking right now-, worst case if the foster parents was drunk - a slap to my face for that attitude
Aaron and Amy share a look after my answer. A small chuckle escaped from Amy as she scratched her brown. Aaron smirked back at her, shaking his head slightly. I doubt that they believed that I wanted a walk, but my answer sure did amused them for some reason. Them not being angry at me right now for my attitude, was the biggest surprise to me right now.
"I like walks," Amy smiled at me, when she glanced back to me "Maybe we could go for a 7 hour walk together sometime," I only glared back at her, without saying a word. There is no way, I will ever want a walk with her.
"You want to tell me where you really went?" Amy asked, when she leaned a bit closer to me. I bit my lip, stared back at her as I remained silent, continuing to challenge this woman even further. For some reason, silence pisses off a lot of foster parents. They hate that they can't pull the answer out of me.
"Okay, well, you aren't going to tell us that, obviously," Amy said calmly as she pressed her elbows on the table "Callie, do you know why we are having this conversation right now?"
When I don't reply, Amy answers it for me "Because you did few things, that...well, weren't the best decisions on your part,"
"You can't skip school Callie," Aaron lectured as he lightly shook his head "After 3 month of Juvie, you are behind other kids already. We don't want to see you fail in school, sweetie! School is important...education is very important, Callie!"
"When Aaron went to pick you up from school, like we talked about in the morning, you were not there," Amy explained further "He looked everywhere for you and when you were nowhere to be found, it got us all really, really worried. We didn't know where you were. We didn't know if you were alone or with somebody. We had no way of finding you. We had no idea if you were safe or maybe hurt," Amy paused and reached over the table for Aaron's hand
They squeezed each others hand and Amy continued "We were scared that something had happened to you. We don't want anything bad happening to you, honey. We are here to take care of you, to watch out for you and we couldn't do that, because we had no idea where you were," Amy paused for a moment, letting the words sink in. I did thought about what she was saying, but it made no sense to me, why they would be so scared of me missing. I'm just a stupid foster kid they met few days ago. They shouldn't care about me at all.
"We understand that you would want to take a walk to clear your head or just go to the park and do nothing for few hours. You can do that, but you have to inform us before you do, so we would know where you are, when will you be back!"
"Please don't scare us like that again, Callie," Aaron added. It felt like they were expecting me to say something back. But because I had no idea what they wanted to hear, I didn't say anything.
They shared another look again, but this time Amy nodded her head to Aaron. He cleared his throat and returned his look back to me "Do you remember the ground rules that we talked about, when you first came here?"
I nod my head back slowly, while watching both of them closely
"You missed your curfew today, Callie. We talked about the consequences as well. Do you remember what Amy and I talked to you about?"
I swallow the lump that formed in my mouth before I reply "Grounding or chores…or both!" I wish these rules have not changed
"That's right. Clearly you are well enough to take a walk for 7 hours," Aaron says and then pauses for dramatic effects, before he tells me the verdict. I even held my breath as I waited. "So, you can probably do dishes for one week!"
Dishes! Ha! Easy- I almost snorted out. This house was so easy. The punishment was no punishment at all. I could do anything I want here and not get in any real trouble. Compared to other foster homes, it seemed like they have no idea what they are doing. They gave me a lecture instead of punishment. Looks like I'm going out to look for Jude tomorrow as well.
"This was your first time getting in trouble," Amy pointed out "So we are going easy on you. If this ever happens again, you can expect to be grounded. Is that clear? And, Callie, we don't want this to happen again!"
I nodded my head back, showing them that I understand what they were saying to me, so they would leave me alone sooner.
"Okay, well," Aaron leaned back in the chair "You have your dishes here!" He gestures to the two plates and three glasses on the table "Some are still in the sink for when Markus ate," he points over to it "You should get to work!"
Aaron stand up and walks to the sink "Dishtowel is here. Glasses go there, dishes there!" He points to the cupboards and then taps on the drawer "Tableware here! Any questions?"
"No," I shake my head as I push the chair back getting ready to do my chores
"I will come check on you in 5!" Aaron says before he walks out
"Homework afterward!" Amy reminds me as she stands up and pulls her police uniform shirt out of her pants. I nod back as I grab the plates and walk to the sink to get started. Amy stays by the doorway and watches me for a moment, before she leaves the kitchen and leaves me alone to do my chores.