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When Saturday rolled around, I was finally feeling like myself again, despite my hangover earlier in the week. It was my brother's death day. I was just happy no other messages had been left for me and life seemed to be going on as it should have been. I begrudgingly got out of bed and got myself ready for the antique store. I’d heard the desperation in Talia's tone when she called on Tuesday; I decided to go in and help out.
It wasn't that I didn't like working there. I’d wanted to in the first place, but I’d also told Linc that it was getting to be too much for me and decided that it was best to quit. Just after I received my first paycheck of course. Great worker, I was. Quitting after a few weeks. Anyway, after her call, I realized that I couldn't quit. I was going to grin and bear it and save up as much cash as I could get my hands on so that I could buy my own car.
I showed up at the store expecting to work hard but... plans had changed between the time Talia had called and what was actually happening today. Me, stuck in a moving truck, with Tucker's grandmother and heading toward a prospective gold mine. Those were Granny's words, not mine. Along the way and Granny coached me on what to look for and on how to bargain; basically, to keep my mouth shut. Ultimately, we were looking for old mirrors, toys, certain books with first addition marks, trunks, jewelry and paintings. Mostly knickknacks that we already had around the store. But if I found anything that caught my eye, they said that I should speak up. Even if it was covered in dirt and grime. Because that's where the best things are found, beneath years of dust and dirt. Even with everything they were telling me, I still only had a vague idea of what it was that we were doing. Or more importantly, where we were going.
After an hour of driving, we turned down a long dirt road toward a manufactured home off the beaten path that had junk litter all over the property. What was Tucker's grandma thinking? I glanced over at her and saw the glint in her eye as her excitement picked up. We parked in front of the modest home, and my eyes were drawn to the huge building behind it. Were we going to riffle through that?
The three of us we got out of the truck and walked up to the door. Grandma Betty knocked. We listened for footsteps until the door opened, revealing an older woman. “There you are,” she greeted with a smile on her lips. “I almost thought you got lost. Are you here for the stuff in the back?” she asked.
“Yes, of course,” Grandma Betty answered cheerfully. “We're quite excited to see what you have.”
The two women shook hands, and then Grandma Betty introduced us and proceeded to ask the older woman how she came to have all these antiques. The lady explained how she’d collected all sorts of things, but her more interesting items she’d collected was when she rummaged through an old orphanage that was scheduled to be destroyed.
“What happened to all the kids?” I found myself asking. I couldn't help it. I wanted to know.
“They moved them,” she answered quietly. “To the city. They renamed themselves Sun Shine Kids. Dropped the orphanage part because I guess they thought it was a more appealing name with the adoption agency," she explained.
I grunted, and eyes turned my way.
The old lady frowned, eyebrows shooting upward at my unladylike display. “You have something to say, girl, you need to speak up,” she demanded.
My stare hardened toward the owner of the broken down house. “It doesn't matter what name you stamp on an orphanage or foster care place. If a couple wants to adopt you, they’ll adopt you. But society's views on foster children are pretty harsh. Couples only want babies. Not kids with trouble attached to them. They want someone they can mold, a baby they can start fresh with, not some broken kid,” I ended my speech harshly, glancing up to see three very appalled faces, and I was ashamed.
I really couldn't explain my outburst. Where did it come from? My mouth snapped shut as Grandma Betty glanced at me worriedly. “Seems like you speak from experience, child.”
I shrugged, slipping a glance over toward Talia whose face seemed to whiten.
I didn't know what to say, so I didn't say anything at all. I just put my lips together and kept quiet. They must have known by the look in my eyes that what I had so boldly blurted was an impulsive reaction and one that I didn’t actually want to talk about. No more words were shared until we arrived at the building doors. The large roll up door gleamed at me as the three of us stood around while the owner opened it.
“There's a lot of nice things in here to sift through. Some of the items have been given to me while other things, like the items from the orphanage, I collected.” The owners eyes slanted to mine briefly then glided back to Grandma Betty’s. “Just look around and set aside what you think you might want for your little shop, and we'll make a deal.”
When the door rolled up, I couldn’t contain my gasp. There was a ton of stuff in the old building.
The old lady chuckled. “I guess it’s safe to say that it might take you a while.”
There were pictures, toys, furniture: everything you could ever think of, both old and fairly new, if you counted things from the 80s new. Just eyeing everything, I found stuff that I thought I wanted but didn't really need. Things I thought looked cool. Talia touched me with her shoulder before leaning in and whispering, “I think we hit the jackpot.”
“Talia,” I leaned in closer, “I think you mean we found the Holy Grail of antiques,” I breathed, not even realizing what I was looking at.
She gave me an excited glance, and I couldn't help the small chuckle that escaped. The tension that once resided between the three of us diminished, and we all quickly started making a pile of things that would once again become someone else's treasure.
After an hour, Grandma Betty stopped and leaned back against a dresser with perspiration gleaming on her forehead and announced with a smile that we were done. For an old woman, she sure could work.
It was interesting to see the old lady and Grandma Betty go back and forth bargaining and haggling. At some point, I actually thought that things could get ugly but it all worked out, and a few more things were added to our ever growing pile. In fact, I had wondered how we were going to get some of the big stuff into the truck when there were only us, but when it came time to load everything up, I didn't have to wonder any longer.
I knew who was coming to help when a familiar racing car pulled up right beside the moving truck. “Talia,” I complained, bumping her harsher than she had done to me before.
“Hey,” she smarted, glancing my way. “Why did you—Oh.”
I twisted my lips as she took notice of my distress. “Uh, yeah. ‘Oh’ is right. Why didn't you tell me Tucker was coming?”
Talia gave me what I was sure was one of her winning smiles and shrugged. “I didn't know.”
Glaring at the sports car, I exhaled harshly when I took notice that it wasn’t only Tucker that stepped out. Van had graced us with his presence as well and... Mall Girl? Now that was a real surprise. How did they know Mall Girl?
“Yeah!” Talia said excitedly as she ran over to mall girl, tackling her into a hug.
Grandma Betty leaned over and whispered, “That’s Marissa White. She and Talia have been friends for years. You'll like her.” She patted my shoulder before she moved forward to greet her grandsons.
When Tucker saw me, a huge grin spread across his face. He held out his arms as if we were long-lost friends and then came rushing toward me. “Rella Bella!” I braced myself for impact as I was caught up and spun around by the dork before he finished off with a big, huge, whopping kiss on my cheek.
I wanted to hit him. The sneaky arrogance... Ooo! And I couldn’t properly hit him because his grandmother was right there! I frowned, glaring at Tucker, because the situation was quite brilliant. I had to admit it. Van just gave me a small wave as Tucker set me down.
Talia came over with Marissa, smiling and waving off Tucker’s friendly advances. “Daniels, this is Marissa.”
“Hello again,” she smiled, holding out her hand being friendly, but I could tell she was hesitant as her gaze wavered between Tucker and me, most likely wondering if we were dating. I smiled, refusing to acknowledge anything different and promptly shook her hand. “Hi.”
“Come on, boys,” Grandma Betty called out. “We don’t have all day!”
After we had finished loading everything into the truck, I was ready for a drink, despite the cool weather. I had worked up a thirst.
Heading over to get into the truck, I hadn’t expected Marissa to be in my spot and Talia in her spot leaving no room for me. My brows furrowed, wondering if somehow this was a planned event.
“I'm sorry,” Talia said, leaning down with a twinkle in her eye. “I guess we're all full in here. You don't mind riding with Van and Tucker, do you?”
I wanted to shout yes, that I did mind, but pressed my lips together, glaring at her instead as Grandma Betty announced that a sweet girl like me wouldn't mind driving with her handsome grandsons. I gritted my teeth, reminding myself that I had to be respectful. I gave a tight smile before angrily stomping over to their vehicle.
I opened the back door and slid inside, slamming it shut. Two black heads of hair, that I definitely didn't want to be around, turn toward me with a confused look.
Then Tucker had to go and bristle my already agitated nerves. “So we got you, huh?”
I ignored him as I buckled up and folded my arms, looking out the window.
“Unfortunately,” I stated.
I never thought that I would be in a position where I was in the same car as Tucker or Van. In fact, I never thought I'd be in the position where I was in the same car with Tucker AND Van. But I was.
I muttered in my head as we drove out of that dusty dirt lot and back toward town, grumbling about how I was never going to go anywhere with again.
As they drove, I started realizing we weren’t going straight back to the shop like I thought. No, instead they went a different way than we had traveled in the truck.
I decided it was time to text Tyler about where I was just as we pulled into a diner I wasn't familiar with. My phone rang and I briefly saw Tyler's name before I answered. While I was trying to explain the situation to Tyler, I opened the door as Van walked up to the curb of the sidewalk, and Tucker came around the other side, almost as if he was afraid I was going to bolt.
“What in the hell are you doing in a car with Tucker?!” Tyler burst out. “I should have known this was coming.”
“What? You should have known? It’s not like I wanted to be in a car with him!”
“Hand the phone to Tucker, now,” Tyler growled, and I did it willingly, and Tucker smirked, taking it.
“Call your guard dog, did you?”
I glared at him, brushing past Van before heading inside with Grandma Betty, , and Marissa.
My life was not fair, and I was not happy. Whatever happened with Tucker and Tyler on the phone, they must have settled their differences because Tucker came back inside not as happy or amused as he was before. He handed my phone back to me and folded his arms as he sat. “You ride back in the U-Haul,” he muttered, obviously agitated.
A small smile played on my lips as I wondered what Tyler had said or threatened for that to happen. I shared a glance with Talia and Marissa. Talia seemed disappointed while Marissa looked content. It was enough for me to know at least someone was on my side.
Van ordered us drinks and offered food, but I declined. From there we sat down and waited for their orders to arrive. We all listened as Grandma Betty talked about all the antiques we had found and where she was going to put them.
I shared several glances with Tucker, and he shared a couple of glances with Marissa. That made me wonder if there was something there, but I dismissed it. He probably thought of her as a kid sister because she was Talia's friend, but then again maybe not?
I peered over at Van, who was staring at his drink the whole time, not speaking. A moment later I saw it. His eyes ignored me and his Grandmother, who was still talking, to take a quick glance at Marissa, but then after, his gaze landed on me, and I smirked as he threw daggers my way. Van had the hots for Talia’s best friend. That in itself was blackmail worthy.
They finished up their drinks and food, and I made my way toward my original seat in the moving truck. I waved to Marissa as Talia and Grandma Betty got in. Marissa would get Tucker off my ass. That alone was reason to like her.
The car ride back wasn’t as pleasant as it should have been. Things actually became a little more unpleasant.
“Daniels, I know you haven't been with us long,” Grandma Betty started out, “but what you said back there about being a foster child and being adopted”—I gave her a look—“Don't give me that look, child,” she chided me. “I just want to let you know that it’s not fair for someone as good as you to be in that situation, wherever or however you were put in it. I know how hard it is having your family taken from you.”
“Grandma,” Talia interrupted.
“No,” she said to her granddaughter, pointing a finger at her, “You and your brothers know about loss and how it is to be alone. You had me, but Daniels had no one.” Grandma Betty turned her attention briefly toward me as she drove. “I just wanna let you know that you are a part of our family no matter what, Daniels. You have worked your way into our hearts, whether you become a couple with Tucker or not. In the short amount of time you've been here, you’ve shown me that you’re a hard worker and a great friend to my Talia, and if you're ever in need of something, I’m here. Even just to talk. Now with that said, I have a confession.”
I tensed up, wondering what else she could possibly say that she hadn't already.
“I looked you up,” she stated bluntly. “I looked you up, and I found what you're all about. What you went through, child, that was not fair. It wasn't fair for them to falsely accused you...”
My body tensed as she kept talking and then I’d had enough. “You don’t know what it’s like!” I shouted, wanting her to stop talking and trying to claim she understood. “You have no idea what it's like. To wake up from a beating that you never once thought your father was capable of.”
“She’s just trying to help,” Talia murmured as she tried to wrap an arm around me, but I shoved her off. “Just because you have experienced loss doesn't mean you understand my loss. I thought I killed my father. Did the papers tell you that? That I held the guilt inside me before evidence showed otherwise? So no, you don't get to say you know how I felt or feel. You have no clue. If you walked a mile in my shoes, you'd realize that there were no shoes left to walk in; only bare feet remained. Today's the anniversary of my brother's death. Not only that, a few days ago it was the anniversary of the day that I lost my parents. So don't go telling me that you know, cuz you don't.”
After my big speech, I kept my mouth closed, looking out the window and feeling anger. The quiet stretched between the three of us. And after a while, I felt bad for yelling.
We got to the antique shop and went inside. I went straight to my locker, which had my check in it, and picked up my purse. When I turned around, Grandma Betty was closing the door that led back out to the store. She took a deep breath and held my stare. “I love how strong you are. You would have been perfect for either of my grandsons, but”—she gave a small smile—“I can settle having you as another granddaughter. As a sister to them instead, because Faith, believe it or not, you are now part of my family.”
“Family?” I scoffed leaning back against the lockers. “Family is earned not given, and right now, I don't know you.”
She looked sad and upset, and I wasn't one to make people upset, but anger and humiliation swirled inside me. Two emotions that fed off of each other. I started to feel bad for my outbursts and for the way I treated her. I sighed, my shoulder slumping. “I am sorry...” I started off, but Grandma Betty just shook her head.
“No, Faith, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have assumed that our situations were the same, because you're right, they aren't. I may not know what it's like to kill my father, but”—she leaned in and whispered her eyes flashing—“I know what it's like to kill a man. Emotional pain, no matter where it stems from, it's still pain. I have it. My grandkids have it too. The weight of loss is not easy, but we grow stronger and move on. We never forget. It's not easy losing a loved one, no matter how you lost them.” She put her hand on my shoulder and when I didn't shrug her off, she drew me into her arms like a grandmother would. She was the grandmother of my enemy, and she was hugging me. I wasn't sure how I felt about it, but I knew it felt good. It felt right. She smelled of cookies and baking, and I desperately wanted to stay there in those wise and comforting arms. I wrapped my arms around her and sunk into her soft grand-motherly body and almost resisted when she pulled back. I was so messed up.
“Family is earned,” she recited, her eyes glistening with tears, “but know this, you’ve earned a spot in my heart already. Love is infinite, and you have mine, no matter if you can stand my grandsons or not.”
I chuckled, pulling away. “How long have you known?”
She grinned, her eyes wrinkling at the corners. “I saw you. Watched you, and I knew you were not for my grandson, but it wasn't from his lack of trying. So,” she said as she stood up straight, releasing me all the way, holding my arms and giving me a stern look, “are you going to quit?” I gave her my best smile and told her honestly that I wasn't sure.
She nodded. “Well, here’s some advice. Quit.”
I looked at her utterly confused, and she gave a laugh. “Honey, I know what you do. I know you work at SSK, and I know that you are needed there.”
I was shocked. “How?”
Her eyes twinkled with a secret. “Don’t you know? I have eyes in the back of my head. I have eyes everywhere.”
“Even on Roxie?” I challenged her.
She pursed her lips, her eyes glowing. “Now that’s something my grandson needs to solve on his own.” She patted my cheek. “You're good, you’re family, and you need to visit often. Don’t let those McGuire boys walk all over you, and don't take this the wrong way, but you're fired.”
I laughed and nodded, heading out into the shop, wondering how she knew it was not just Tyler. “Sorry, but I think I already quit.” Laughter rang out as I headed out the front door. Who knew that I would have gained a grandmother of one my enemies. Bet Tucker didn’t.
I headed out to the car where Tyler was waiting and felt a weight lift off my shoulders. She knew that I wasn't interested in Tucker, and she knew I was with Tyler. Even after all of that, she accepted me. It was all so confusing as to why she accepted me as one of her own. Then I got to thinking, turning back to look at the antique store door, who were her eyes and how long had they been watching me?
I turned back to Tyler’s truck and hopped in. He gave me an exasperated sigh. “Faith, what am I going to do with you?”
Warmth filled my soul as I chuckled and announced I had quit.
Tyler dropped me off at home and promptly left, saying he had something to do. I walked back into my house, glad to be home. I was greeted by my old friend, HotShot. He too was once my enemy, but now I relied on him. I smiled. I knew Brady was home as well as Sarah, but neither one came to greet me. I could hear their voices once again, but this time they seem to be laughing instead of arguing, and it made me smile.
I snuck upstairs with HotShot at my heels and entered my room, only briefly glancing toward my desk where my only family photo sat before plopping onto my bed.
That may have been my only family photo, but I did have a family, and I wasn't alone anymore. Even though the people around me weren’t blood-related, they’d become my family nonetheless.
I took some of my books out of my bag and did what any teenager should do: studied. I felt happy on the inside, getting down to my equations. That was simple stuff and most of the time predictable, but everything else, I was getting there.
HotShot nibbled at my feet after I took my shoes off. I was sure he was threatening to take one of my socks again. I just wiggled my foot around to using the rhythm to zone out into my new ‘normal life’ that not so long ago wasn't quite so normal.
***
The weekend went by quickly, especially since I didn't have to go to work at the antique store anymore. When Monday rolled around, Brady promised me that he'd take me to the bank to start an account. I guess it was one of those growing up things. That night, I received my first paycheck from SSK. It was weird because it almost felt wrong taking money for what I was doing there, but I couldn't help but feel a sense of pride when I looked at my paycheck.
Wednesday was when things took a turn for the worse. I had just arrived at SSK and grabbed Sonya, who was in the play area, and was headed back out to get Bates, when I heard a commotion down the hall.
I softly moved closer to whomever it was, hearing low arguing which was usual in a place full of kids. Passing the staircase, the arguing escalated. It was two kids, I was sure. One of them cried out, and a scuffle started. This wasn’t good.
I turned and hurried toward the kitchen. But when glass shattered, I froze in the hallway as I was sent back to that night.
“Why?” I heard my father rage from above while I cowered in my bedroom. “Why, did you have to pick up your damn phone!”
Tears blurred my eyes as the echo of my past haunted me.
My father hit me. His fists pounding into my flesh. I moved away, but he followed.
“I’m sorry, Daddy!” My pleas went unheard. “You’re drunk. Stop! Stop, please! You’re hurting me!”
“Why?! Why! You killed him! You—”
Feet thundered my way as a teenaged boy tore down the hall, slamming into my side, and I turned, shielding Sonya from the kid and the floor. My breath was knocked out of me, and we all fell to the floor. The kid scrambled to get up. I groaned as his knee pressed on my lower stomach in an attempt to try and right himself, and then Sonya started to cry. Never in my wildest dreams did I think my day would end up like this.
“Get off me!” I growled, shifting, but the boy froze. His head dropped to mine so I could stare into the eyes of the selfish prick, Dwight.
“Perry!” I yelled, annoyed when he didn’t move. I let Sonya go so I could push him away, but he caught my hands and held them above my head. For such a puny kid, he was strong and the position I was in made me weak.
His lips curved and his eyes darkened as I pulled my head back to slam it into his in an attempt to get away, but I wasn’t quick enough and his disgusting mouth that reeked of cigarettes and something else invaded my own. I gagged, bucking beneath him, but he just laughed. It was then that I started to panic.
“Perry!” I screamed as he pulled my lip between his teeth and bit down. It stung as tears gathered at the corner of my eyes.
I kicked and twisted until I got a hand free. I hit him. Hard.
My heart pounded as adrenaline raced. I could hear Sonya crying, and my own heart was breaking too. I wrestled with him, trying to escape. Shouting came closer, and he scrambled up and dodged away from me.
I turned on the floor trying to grab him—I wanted to beat him—but I was too sluggish in my response, and he got away, darting down the hall.
“Hey!” I heard Perry yell. “Oh no!”
An alarm rang out. I pulled a crying Sonya to me as I sat up and rested my back against the wall.
My energy was zapped, my lip was bleeding pretty good, but I didn't care; Sonya needed me. Tears fell as I held her close, and people started to fill the hallway with questions. Someone reached for Sonya, but she had already quieted, sucking her thumb. I didn't want to let her go, so I hugged her, burying my face into the crook of her neck and breathing in her baby shampoo.
“It’s ok.” Mr. White’s pale face swam into view as he crouched down. “Faith, let me have her. You're bleeding.”
After I explained what happened to Mr. White and Mrs. Snow, the director of SSK, the police arrived. I shouldn't have been surprised to find that Brady had shown up with the group.
He met me at the steps outside the home with Bates and Sonya attached to my side. It was dinnertime, but they refused to leave me. When Mr. White tried to pass them onto Perry, Bates began crying of control, which set off Sonya.
Brady sat down beside me with Bates on one side and Sonya in my arms. Perry was kind enough to bring food out to the kids and me while we waited, before heading back inside.
“You ok?” Brady asked, eyeing the kids and me as we sat.
I swallowed hard. “Yeah.”
“W-who a-are you?” Bates asked, his eyes going wide, taking in Brady’s police uniform.
Brady squatted down beside me, ruffling Sonya’s hair, making her shy away into my chest as he answered Bates. “I’m Dan—”
My body tensed. “Faith! Faith... Pops.”
“Y-you’re Faith’s p-p-papa?” Bates questioned his eyes going wide. “Like a p-p-policeman p-papa?”
Brady’s lips pinched, and his eyes narrowed at me before glancing back to Bates with a smile. “Yes, I’m a policeman and Faith’s...” he choked on the last part. “Papa.”
I grinned, watching Brady interact with Bates’s blatant curiosity as the kid tried to figure us out.
“C-can I-I s-see your badge?”
I muffled a snort.
“Sure ya can, kid.”
“His name is Bates,” I informed Brady. “And this is Sonya.”
Brady gave me a pointed look before turning back to Bates with a smile. “Bates and Sonya. Those are pretty neat names. How about this, why don’t you and I sit over there”—he pointed to another spot on the wide steps—“while Faith talks to some people about what happened, and I’ll show you my badge.”
“Dwight hit her,” Bates said plainly, without hesitation. “H-He b-b-broke a”—he took a deep breath—“a-a window i-in the k-k-kitchen then he was mean t-to Faith.”
“I know kid.” Brady lifted his hand to ruffle his hair but Bates flinched away, and Brady dropped it. “Sorry.” Bates nodded. “So you want to take a look at my badge?”
Despite Bates’s hesitation, he went with Brady as I held on to Sonya, who was sleeping. Mr. White, Mrs. Snow and another police officer came over shortly after. The officer spoke first. “Alright. Tell us what happened.”
After I got done explaining everything, the officer assured me that they would find out where Dwight had gone. He ask me if I wanted to press charges.
I started to shake my head no, but then... “If you don't mind me asking, how old is Dwight?”
Mr. White spoke up. “I’m sorry, Faith, we’re not allowed—”
“Fourteen,” Mrs. Snow interrupted him, her eyes sharp, “He’s fourteen. And we’re not letting him get a free pass on what he did here. He needs more help than just a home. He needs to be placed somewhere that caters to his desperate cries for help. And we will make sure that happens either way.”
I took in her words and remembered what he had done. I tucked Sonya a little bit more into me. “Yes.”
The officer nodded. “Ok then, I’ll just need you to write a statement, and have your dad sign it as, well.”
My brow scrunched up. “Why does Brady need to sign it?”
The officer was a little confused by my calling ‘my dad’ by his last name, but he must have known something because Brady and I didn't have the same last name. “It’s protocol.”
He went to turn away, but I stopped him with a hand on his arm, Sonya resting on my shoulder, “It’s protocol?” The cut in my lip ached from talking, but I needed to know.
He turned back with an incredulous look on his face. “Yeah, Protocol. Like a parent has to be with the minor when we question them.”
My heart was pounding. I felt so stupid, “Is that just a state law?”
“No, it's a federal law.”
I swallowed, taking in that new information, nodding almost as if I was in shock again. “Thank you.”