Chapter 2 – Life at Home
The bell rang soon and Richey and I headed to our separate classes. As I headed out of the cafeteria, I couldn't believe that I had just made a friend. After eleven years of having no one, I finally had someone I could call a friend.
But what did I know about being a friend? What if I blew it and Richey didn't want to be my friend anymore? What if I moved away and he was left here by himself with no one to hang out with? I pushed those thoughts away before they could take over. It made no sense to psych myself out over something that might not even happen. I just needed to focus on being a good friend to Richey now and worry about the future later.
I went through the rest of my classes, thinking of things I could do with Richey. We could pretend we were knights or play games or something like that. I had never done any of those things with anyone before, but it was what I had always imagined doing with a friend if I ever had one. Now that I did, I wasn't sure what friends were supposed to do together. Maybe he would have some ideas too. I would have to ask him tomorrow.
"How was school today?" Mum asked as she picked me up at the end of the day.
"It was good," I said. "I made a friend."
"That's wonderful!" she said. "What's his name?"
"Richey. He lives here with his dad."
"See, I told you that this school wouldn't be bad. You just had to open yourself up to making a friend."
"Mum, can I ask you a question?"
"Sure, honey. What is it?"
"How long are we going to stay here?"
"I don't know. Why?"
"Now that I've met Richey, I don't want to leave too soon."
"I can't make any promises, you know that," she said. I could tell that she wanted to say something that would please me and I appreciated that. "We'll stay as long as we can, but I have no idea how long that could be."
"I know," I said. "But I think I might like it here."
"I'm glad. It's time you finally found somewhere you liked."
I spent the rest of the day at home, Mum in her room, making the drugs she would eventually sell, and I kept myself busy with my puzzles. I always liked solving riddles and in my free time, I solved as many as I could. Maybe tomorrow I could hang out at Richey's house. I needed to get out of this place and I couldn't invite him over here. What if he found out what Mum was doing and told the police? Although we were starting to be friends, I still didn't know him that well and didn't want him to know that part about me. Not yet.
For dinner, Mum scooped some meat out of a can and plopped it onto the paper plates in front of us. It wasn't much, but it was all we could afford. The drug making business wasn't a very reliable income. But at least we got to use all the money Mum made on food and clothes. She never wasted money on rent and utilities and stuff like that. We would stay here as long as we could and if the cops didn't catch us first, we would head out of town before we were evicted. I had once offered to help Mum make more drugs so we could earn more money but she had vehemently refused. She said that she didn't want me to get mixed up in this life and go down the wrong path. I thought if she truly believed that she would find a real job, but who was I to judge? As soon as I was old enough, I would get a job and help Mum. Maybe that way we could afford to pay the rent and stay somewhere for a little while longer. But that was several years down the road and there was nothing I could do about it now. All I could hope was that somehow we could stay here for a long time. I was the first place I felt like I could make a home and I didn't want it to end sooner than it had to.
That night I fell asleep excited to go to school the next day. I finally had something to look forward to. I no longer dreaded going to school or feared what the kids might say to me. Sure, they still might say mean things, but somehow having Richey as a friend made it seem more bearable. Maybe what I couldn't face alone we could face together. But I knew this happiness couldn't last forever. One day Mum would tell me that it was time to move on and I would never see Richey again. I dreaded the time when that day would come, but I planned to enjoy this happiness as long as I could. It wasn't every day I got to feel this way. I knew I would be hurt again, but maybe if I didn't think about it, it wouldn't happen. At least that's what I told myself to make myself feel better.
The next morning, I bolted out of the car as it pulled up next to school.
"Bye!" I yelled and raced into the school. In my first class, I found where Richey was sitting and sat down next to him.
"It's good to see you again," he said.
"Yeah, you too. I told my mum that I made a friend and she was really happy."
"Yeah, my dad too. Hey, do you want to come over after school? I asked my dad and he said it was okay if you asked your mum."
"I'd like that," I said.
For the rest of the day, I couldn't stop thinking about going to Richey's house. I had never done that before and I didn't know what to expect. What would his house be like? What would we do? My whole life, I had never been able to hang out with anyone. I had always went back home. Mum was scared that if I socialized with anyone, I would accidentally tell them what she did for a living and she would be in trouble. Which was really ironic; she always wanted me to have a friend. And for so long I had accepted her conditions. But not today. Today I would be my own person and make my own decisions. She might be mad at me, but I could deal with her later.
At long last, the school day ended and I followed Richey to where his dad's car was waiting.
"Shouldn't you tell your mum where you're going?" he asked.
"No, she's fine with it," I said.
After a short ride, we arrived at Richey's flat. It didn't look much different from mine and I was glad. If he had lived in a grand house with lots of nice things, I wouldn't know how to act. I could handle the simple life.
Richey and I disappeared into his small room where he had a collection of action figures and cars. It wasn't much, but it looked perfect to me. Mum never wasted money on "silly" things such as toys. Sometimes, if I was lucky, she would buy me a new book of Sudoku problems but most of the times I just erased the numbers and started the puzzle again.
"Do you like it?" Richey asked.
"I love it! I've never seen so much stuff before."
"Well let's play with it. And if we're lucky, Dad will let you stay for dinner. He makes the best macaroni and cheese."
I smiled. No one had ever treated me this kindly before, not even Mum. Sure, she raised and fed me, but in her mind, I could fend for myself and didn't care about being treated nicely. But Richey treated me like I really mattered to him. Like I was special.
We played with his toys for a few hours then his dad called us to dinner. I was happy that I would be able to stay. I was starving and I knew there wouldn't be much food at my flat. We walked into the kitchen and when I saw the table, my jaw dropped. Compared to what I would've received at home, this was a feast. There was chicken, bread, green beans, and macaroni and cheese. I didn't think I had ever seen this much food before in my life.
Still in shock, I took a seat at the table and helped myself to a little bit of each item. I didn't want to appear too greedy after everything Mr. Brooke had done.
"Please, take as much as you like. There's plenty."
I thanked Mr. Brooke and added some more food to my plate. It was the best meal I had ever tasted. And there was so much of it! I could never imagine having this much food at home. Even when Mum was able to make more money from her drugs, she always saved it for later. She always told me that one day we might not be as fortunate as we were then and we would need the money. Although I tried to understand, my grumbling stomach never did.
Although I didn't think it was possible, I was full and refused any more food that Mr. Brooke offered.
"I hate to see you go so soon, but I should probably get you back to your mum before she starts worrying," Mr. Brooke said.
The three of us piled into Mr. Brooke's car and in between giving Mr. Brooke directions, I talked to Richey.
"Thank you for letting me come over today. I had a lot of fun."
"Me too. Hopefully you can do it again sometime."
"Yeah, I'd like that."
I had Mr. Brooke drop me off a few blocks from my flat. Although he seemed like a nice guy, I didn't want him to know exactly where I lived. Whether it was from shame or from fear of him telling the police, I kept my true residence a secret.
"See you tomorrow, Richey!" I shouted as the car turned around. As I walked back to my flat, I couldn't believe what an awesome day I had had. I had gotten to know Richey better and gotten away from the house. I knew I wouldn't be able to do that every day, but it would be nice every once in a while.
I stepped into the flat to find Mum sitting in the floor, her hands covering her face.
"Mum, are you okay?"
She turned and I could see she had been crying. She jumped up and ran to hug me. After a few moments she released me and her face grew stern.
"Where the bloody heck have you been?" she demanded.
"I was at a friend's house," I stammered.
"And you didn't think to tell me? I waited for you at school and when you didn't come out, I got worried. I came back here, hoping that you would be here but you weren't. Do you know how worried I was?"
"If you were so worried, then why didn't you call the police?"
"You know I can't do that!" Mum yelled. "I would be sent to jail and you put in some boy's home. How would you like that?"
"If you really cared about me, you wouldn't care about the consequences. You would only care about finding me."
"How dare you!" she said. "You have no right to say that. Go to your room for the rest of the night. And if I see your face, I swear, you wished I hadn't."
I stormed to my room, angry at how little Mum seemed to care about me. If that had happened to Richey, his dad would be looking for him, no matter the consequences. Did her drugs matter so much more than me? I'm sure that if I hadn't come back, she wouldn't have looked for me. And that was fine by me. If she didn't want to care about me, then I wasn't going to care about her. I would avoid her as much as I could. And I knew she wouldn't come looking for me if I was never around the flat. Tonight had proved that. I just needed to find something to occupy my new found free time. Maybe I would find something at school tomorrow. But for now I was going to work on my puzzles and try to forget the look on Mum's face when she threatened me. I didn't need that in my life. Not now, not ever.