Chapter 6.
Callie
That night, Sophia put her plan to get Stef and Lena to love us into action. After dinner, Stef made popcorn, and everyone gathered in the living room to watch a movie. Apparently, it was Jesus's favorite movie, and he knew all the lines. He repeated them out loud along with the characters, just to annoy everyone. Finally, Mariana threw a pillow at him to shut him up. I'd never laughed so hard in my life.
Instead of snuggling with me, Sophia sat next to Lena. As the movie played, I noticed her lay her head on our foster mom's shoulder. Yawning, Lena wrapped her arm around my sister and stroked her hair. I felt a twinge of sadness. She wanted so badly to be loved by them, but I knew she was only setting herself up for heartbreak. I had a feeling that when this foster home came crashing down around us, it would be the hardest one to lose.
When the movie ended, Stef clicked off the TV. "Okay, my loves. Time for bed. All of you. You have school in the morning." The next day, Sophia and I would start school at Anchor Beach. It would be our eighth school in six years.
The others headed up to their rooms after kissing their moms goodnight. When they were gone, Sophia wrapped her arms around Lena and gave her a quick, shy hug. "Goodnight, Lena."
"Goodnight, sweetheart," Lena said, returning the hug. "Sweet dreams."
"You ready for your first night in your new room?" Stef asked her excitedly.
"Yeah," my sister nodded. "It's really great." Timidly, she hugged her. "Goodnight, Stef."
"Goodnight, honey," Stef replied. "Sleep tight. Don't let the bedbugs bite." She approached me next, studying my face carefully. "Goodnight, slug-a-bug."
"Goodnight," I nodded. I wondered if she was going to hug me, too. And even though I told myself I didn't want her to, I was happy when she did.
"Goodnight, Callie," Lena smiled. "See you in the morning."
"'Night," I said, before following Sophia upstairs.
Stef
"Sophia's a sweet kid," Lena mussed, putting the pillows back on the sofa. "So loving, and polite."
I crept down and starting picking popcorn off of the rug. Mariana had knocked Jesus's bowl off his lap when she threw a pillow at them. "She's a little love," I agreed. "And Callie is so kind to her. I wish our kids got along half as well."
"I just feel so sad for both of them," Lena said, a sentiment she had repeated several times. Her dark eyes were damp. She looked down into her lap.
"I got Callie to open up a little today," I confided.
"You did?" Lena joined me on the floor and waited expectantly for me to go on.
"She told me that it was her last foster father who beat her. And that he died. He was driving drunk and he got into an accident."
"Wow," said Lena, shaking her head. "That's a lot for a kid to take in."
"Something about her story didn't feel... right, though," I admitted. "Like, getting her to tell me was almost too easy?" Callie had made it clear from the start that she wasn't a sharer. What would make her change so suddenly?
"You think she'd lie about something like that?"
"I don't know," I shrugged. "I had a feeling that at least some of her story was true."
"Why do you think she felt the need to lie?" Lena wondered. Sweet, trusting Lena, who always found the best in everyone.
"I think she's protecting someone," I told her plainly. "I don't know who, though. Or for what reason."
"You've got your cop face on," Lena teased. She gave me a sober look. "Just don't scare her, honey. The one thing we do know is that she's been through a lot."
"Do you think I have a history of scaring children?" I asked, giving her a playfully insulted look.
"I'm just saying... you tend to be... harsh," Lena said, walking on eggshells. "And you might want to tread carefully with this one. She's not familiar with your idiosyncrasies like we are."
"I promise not to interrogate her," I vowed. To be honest, my feelings for sad-faced, withdrawn Callie were quickly growing. I'd seen how she'd responded to the little bit of affection I'd given her at the doctor and at the store. She craved love more than she was willing to show. And she reminded me a little of myself at that age. I could feel the tentative bond between us. "I just want to get through to her, let her know she has people she can trust."
"We could always talk to Bill as a last resort," Lena suggested. "If anyone knows what really happened at their last home, it would be him."
I nodded. "Now who has their cop face on?" I tossed a piece of spilled popcorn into the air and caught it with my mouth.
"Stef!" Lena cried. "That's disgusting. Do you know how many dirty feet have been there?"
"Five second rule," I said, popping another piece.
She gave me a grossed-out look, and we burst into giggles.
Callie
I lay in the dark, brushing my finger across the bridge of my nose. Truth be told, I missed sharing a bed with Sophia. There was something comforting about knowing she was next to me, listening to her breath. If I had a bad dream, she was right there to snuggle with.
She must have been thinking the same thing. "Cal?" she whispered from her bed.
"What, baby?"
"I miss you," she said quietly.
"I miss you too," I admitted. "You want to get in with me?"
I heard her covers rustle. "Stef and Lena bought us these brand new beds. They might get mad if we don't sleep in them."
"I guess so," I sighed, a little disappointed. Then, an idea hit me. I rolled over and turned on the lamp. "We could push our beds together?"
Sophia smiled. "Yeah," she agreed. I noticed her new Barbie was tucked under her arm instead of her stuffed horse. We got up and shoved the beds together until they met, making one big bed. Then, I turned off the light and crawled back under the sheets, feeling better knowing my sister so close and I wasn't alone.
"So, " I said, staring up at the ceiling. "How did your talk with Lena go?"
"It was okay," she told me. "She gave me medicine to make me feel better. And she's gonna get me a bra tomorrow."
"My little girl is growing up," I teased, my voice tinged with a hint of real regret.
"It's weird to think I can have babies now," she confided. Her voice sounded faraway.
I blinked against the dark. "I'm just glad we don't live with Brian anymore."
Sophia felt between us and took my hand. "What do you think our new school will be like?"
"I don't know," I said. "I hope it's better than the last one." Our seventh school was in a bad neighborhood. There was a growing gang presence in the high school, where I went. And there had been a drive-by shooting near the middle school not too long before we started there. There was nowhere for us to feel safe; not at home, not at school.
"I know it will be," Sophia told me, enthusiastically. "Because we'll be in the same school this time. So we'll probably see each other a lot. And Lena is the vice principal. She said it's right on the beach. And Stef got us all those new school supplies."
A lot of people don't realize how much simple things can mean to foster kids. Things other kids take for granted, like sneakers, backpacks, even underwear. We don't always have access to those things. But they're things we need every day. Knowing we'd at least be able to go to our new school prepared, my little sister's optimism began to rub off on me. "We better get to sleep," I said. "Big day tomorrow." I rolled over and kissed her cheek. "Goodnight. I love you, Sophie bug."
"I love you too, Callie," she told me, wrapping her arms around my waist. "Goodnight."
Down the hall, I heard Stef and Lena's soft voices. The door to their room opened and closed as they headed for bed. Now that it as quiet and I was alone with my thoughts, I willed myself to replay the events of the day instead of the awful details of that night. The good parts of the day; the shopping trip, Sophia getting her Barbie doll, Stef's hugs. Anything to the tame the butterflies in my stomach that always came with starting at a new school.
To Be Continued