I tried to keep it together as the police questioned me about exactly where I was when I first noticed that Evan was gone. Three different officers asked me the same questions. I guess they wanted to see if they could shake me. The thing was, I did not understand why they were being so mean to me. I did not want this to happen. I guess they were trying to find motive because one officer grilled me and asked if I was excited when I found out my dad was having another child with someone else.
Trying to stay calm but being honest, I answered, “No.”
“So inwardly you were ecstatic when your stepmother asked you to watch him, because if he got lost it would be one less problem you’d have to deal with,” the officer prodded.
“Okay, sir, you’re twisting everything around. First of all, she’s not my stepmother yet. And second, I’ve grown to love Evan. Just because I wasn’t overjoyed to find out he was on the way doesn’t mean I’m not grateful he’s here. Why are you sitting here talking to me about nothing, sir? You are wasting time not looking for him.”
“Oh, there are people looking for him.”
My attention got diverted when I heard Samantha call out, “Calvin.”
My dad was here. This was real. I had lost my little brother.
Samantha pointed in my direction, “He was with your daughter. I just went to the restroom. I asked her to take him to the toy store. When I got to the toy store, I couldn’t find them. I started walking back to the entrance when I saw Ella running toward me. I realized right away that Evan wasn’t with her. Then Eva walked in and tried to tell me that Evan was at the back of the store. Calvin, I’m so scared. He’s gone, and your fast-tail daughter told me some lie.”
I looked over at my sister talking to another officer. I could see in her eyes that she was devastated. Hearing this lady belittle her and not having her father defend her was very hurtful.
I felt the way Eva felt times two. Listening to Samantha bash me cut to the core of my heart, but I couldn’t be offended. I had lost her son. If something happened to him, I would never forgive myself.
“You told me to trust her. You told me to give her a chance. I was trying and look where it got me. My baby’s gone!” She hit my father in his chest.
“Ma’am, ma’am, we need you to give us a detailed description of what your son looks like,” the policeman said to Samantha. “Do you have a photo on your cell phone?”
My dad came over to me. I was ready for him to bite my head off, but I guess he could see I’d already beaten myself up. So he just held me. It was the first time in years I’d ever had my dad comfort me when I was frightened.
“It’s going to be okay, Ella. We will find him.” Then I pulled away, realizing I did not deserve his kindness or support. He might not ever see his son again because of me. My irresponsibility was unacceptable.
I said, “Samantha is right. She did trust me. Dad, I was fussing with Eva. I wasn’t paying attention to him. I wasn’t taking care of Evan the way I should have been. He was pulling on my leg. I knew he wanted to go to the toy store, but I wanted to get an outfit. Oh, Dad, it’s all my fault. You should hate me.”
“I’m not saying you shouldn’t have been more responsible, Ella, but that boy is definitely my son. Every five minutes he is running off somewhere. Last week she lost him in the grocery store. Two weeks before that he ran away from me at the park. As parents, she and I are going to have to tell him he cannot just go where he wants to. She should have told you to watch, watch, watch him.”
“Don’t blame Samantha, Daddy.”
“I’m not blaming her solely. But we all need to share some of the fault. It’s not just on you. Right now we need to hope and pray all will be okay. We must stay calm and let the police do their job.”
I hugged him so tight. Suddenly, we heard the best sound we could hear.
“Mommy,” my little brother screamed, wriggling out of the policeman’s grasp and running toward his mother’s open arms.
I was so happy everything was going to be all right. Evan was back, and it appeared he didn’t have a scratch on him. He was only missing a shoe. What a blessing.
Then I saw two cops bringing a big guy into the mall’s security office. My heart sank as I realized it was Leo. What was going on?
One cop said to the sergeant, “We caught this man in the parking lot attempting to leave the mall with the boy.”
Leo defended, “I was not leaving. I was going to my friend’s car to get my cell phone.”
I rushed over to them and said, “Leo, you had Evan?”
“Yeah, I was in the mall. He was crying and looking for you guys. He remembered who I was, and I told him we’d search for you. When I couldn’t find you, I knew I needed to call. I left my phone in Amir’s car. I couldn’t find him either, so I was hoping the car was unlocked. Lil’ man and I were headed to the car when these cops just seized me,” Leo explained.
“Could you let him go?” I cried.
My dad came over to the sergeant and said, “Sir, I think there must be some mistake. We know this young man.”
“No, we have to take him down. You are not able to leave the premises with a child,” he stated to Leo. “This boy is not yours. You could have taken the little boy to mall security or used a store phone to call the cops.”
I said, “He wasn’t going to do anything to hurt Evan.”
My dad helped me by saying, “Yes, sir, I can vouch for this young man. He’s a football player up at Lockwood High School.”
“I don’t care if he plays for the Falcons,” the stern officer preached to my dad.
“He wasn’t gonna hurt Evan. Didn’t you just hear him say he was tying to call me? Evan was comfortable with him. He just told you he calmed him down,” I said.
A policeman stepped in front of his sergeant and said, “That’s how kids get lured to go with an abductor. It’s someone they know. It’s someone to keep them calm and not make them think anything is wrong. It’s someone they like. To take a child off the premises is a crime.”
Leo voiced in frustration, “Whatever! Just do what you gotta do.”
“No!” I shouted. “I know he wouldn’t hurt him.”
The sergeant finally started listening. “How do you know that, ma’am?”
Laying it all on the line, I said, “Because this guy you wrongfully have in handcuffs is my boyfriend!”
“Sir, is that true?” the sergeant asked my father. “Were you aware of this? And if so, are you comfortable with your daughter’s boyfriend having your son?”
My father paused. He looked at me and could see Leo had my heart. My dad looked at Leo and could tell Leo truly cared about me too. He looked over and smiled when he saw his happy son in one piece. He looked back at the officer and said, “Honestly, I’m completely fine with my daughter’s boyfriend being with my son. No problem here, sir.”
“Just remember,” the cop said, uncuffing Leo, “it is not okay to remove a child from this site when they are not directly in your care.”
Leo rubbed his wrists and humbly said, “Thanks. I gotcha.”
I hugged him, and we both went over and watched Evan wipe the tears from his mom’s eyes. Not having a clue about how worried we all had been, my brother was laughing. My dad told him how scared we were and how important it was for him to never wander away from us again.
“Your boyfriend?” Leo whispered in my ear.
“Yeah, your boyfriend?” my dad asked, coming between the two of us. “Thank you, though, for keeping my boy safe. Take care of my daughter so I won’t have to hurt you.”
“Yes, sir,” Leo replied as they slapped hands.
All was now really right with the world. I’m not saying going through all that was worth it, but in the end Leo became my guy, so it was definitely a nice reward.
I looked around to thank Eva, but she was gone. I wondered what that was about. However, I was too happy to get upset.
It had only been a couple days since the mall incident. Although in the end things with Evan turned out right, I sensed in Samantha’s mind things were still drastically wrong. My dad had already gone to work. She was taking me to school.
On the car ride over when Evan fell asleep, she said, “You know you’re not a little girl. As much as your dad would like to try and make up for the time you guys missed, those days are gone. I’m sure you’ll agree.” I said nothing. “You don’t have to respond,” Samantha said firmly.
What did she want me to say anyway? I’d apologized to her profusely, I might add. I know this was her son, and I couldn’t imagine as a mom how devastated she must have felt going through the whole ordeal. However, it was over. She needed to let bygones be bygones. She would not let up though.
“I’m going to talk to you woman to woman, Ella, because I think you understand more than your dad cares to admit. There’s been tension in the house since you have been here. After all you put me through losing my boy, you owe me. I’m pregnant, trying to prepare for this wedding, and I really think it would be best if you moved out.”
“What!” I yelled, not realizing that I might wake up Evan.
He immediately started crying. Samantha shot me a look of disgust. I looked away.
“See, this is what I’m talking about. You have no regard for how your actions affect those around you. You think you can do whatever you want. Go on back to sleep, honey,” she said to Evan.
When he heard her reassuring voice, he drifted off to sleep. As kind as she was to her son, she was equally hateful to me. Apparently, I was causing her big problems.
“Have you talked this over with my dad?” I asked her, knowing she hadn’t. She said I was a lot smarter than she was giving me credit for.
If she ran this by my dad, he would be discussing this with me, not her. She was trying to get me to cut out on my own so she would still be the hero in his eyes. It would be much better for her than my dad thinking she had kicked me out of the house.
“Since you have been here, your father and I have been arguing more. But I can put things back together if you’d just go back over to your mom’s. I can make sure we pay you guys a little bit more than we have been. More than what he is supposed to,” Samantha stressed.
“You think all I want is money?” I asked, truly upset by her insult.
I didn’t know Samantha’s story or where she came from. I did not know if her parents were part of her life … If she could even understand how drastically hard it was without both of your parents living under the same roof. I adored having my own room and bath—basically my own space to be left alone—and not worrying about what was in the house to eat or if the lights were going to get turned off. However, I realized I did not want to be someplace where I was so detested.
“I got you,” I sighed.
She said some more junk as she took me to school. She said she’d make sure my clothes got home. Also she said I did not have to talk to my dad because she would explain things for me.
She said she knew this was the best thing for everyone involved. Then she stuffed some bills in my hand and turned away from me.
I could not get out of her car fast enough. I put up a wall around myself as I went through the motions at school. I did not speak to my sister or my friends. I was not rude. I just did not hang out where we usually did.
When I got to chemistry class, however, it was hard to shake my partner. We had a lab to do, and Leo could tell I was distant.
“I’m here, just so you know that,” he said.
Just as class was ending, it was announced over the intercom that because a severe storm was headed our way, all after school practices were canceled.
“Do you need to go somewhere and talk?” Leo said.
I knew I had the $150 in my pocket that Samantha had given me that morning. There was a hotel down the street, and I impulsively asked Leo to meet me there. I got there first and texted the numbers 2-1-2. I thought maybe I loved him. I did know I cared so much for him and that I wanted him to be my first.
When he came in the door, I immediately jumped on him, put my lips to his, helped him take off his jacket, and lifted up my shirt so I was only in a bra. We made our way over to the bed. He was on top of me, but then he stopped. Leo Steele had a reputation of being a lady’s man, so I knew he wasn’t scared. Why did he stop?
“Is something wrong with me?” I asked, getting the pillow and covering myself up.
“Ella, you are beautiful. Trust me, the last couple of hours all I been thinking about is getting to this hotel and knocking boots with you. Now that I’m here, I see how vulnerable you are. You are breaking in my arms. That’s not what I want from my girl on her first time. What’s wrong?”
I just broke down and cried. I told him everything that was going on in my world. Then he held me with such care. He made me feel like he wasn’t going to let me break anymore. I actually was not the only one who was dealing with heavy stuff. He opened up to me and told me that the reason why he’s been homeless was because his mom just took off and moved to New York to be with some guy. She left him here to fend for himself. Since he was now eighteen, she felt he could do it. Crazy thinking! He had no job.
I said, “We both understand selfish parents. For my mom to let some joker use up money intended for me and my sister was unthinkable.”
“I never had a girl that cared for me like you do, Ella. I want to be here for you. You called me your boyfriend and saved me from being arrested. You stuck your neck way out there not knowing how your dad would react.”
“I know. That was pretty risky, huh?” I joked. “I didn’t even give you a chance to let me know if you really wanted us to be an item.”
“I’m not old-fashioned if that’s what you are eluding too. I’m not the one who has to ask. If you need to hear me say I want you to be my girl, then there, I said it.” He kissed my lips gently. “We’ll have our time to take our relationship up another level. Right now it’s pretty clear we need to relax and not be stressed. Come here, you!”
Leo brought my body to his. I was so into him. We cuddled under the covers and dozed off.
About an hour later, I woke up and saw him at the desk studying. Bless his heart. He seemed so unsure of what he was doing. I went over and looked at the math and gave him some tips.
“I get what you’re talking about,” he said after we worked on the problem for a while. “Let me do a couple more problems. Write ’em down; write ’em down.”
Leo was so excited that he was getting it. I put my hand over his neck. I was happy. Though my life was not perfect, I had a perfect relationship built on the right thing: truth. I cared about a boy, and I was helping him to be better. Because of my feelings, he could have taken advantage of me, but he was helping me be strong. Maybe I did love Leo Steele. Maybe? Probably. Wow!
I woke up at 10:59 p.m. I was still in the hotel bed. I did not want to move because I was in Leo’s strong arms. We both were fully clothed. After we studied, we talked, ordered pizza, and fell asleep. I could not hold back the tears from falling because I thought I had nowhere to go.
I knew my mom practically hated me because I had gone to live with my dad. My dad was probably thrilled that I willingly left his place so I would not continue to cause problems in his life. Where exactly did that leave me?
Well, I now had a boyfriend who I knew would do anything he could to protect me. Problem was, he himself was living with another family. Neither of us had a car. Neither of us had a job. I did not know exactly what I wanted to be. However, I knew I was going to somebody’s college, and I had worked hard enough to be able to get a scholarship. Problem was, how I was going to live in the meantime? College was a year and a half away.
I did not want to wake up Leo. I could only imagine that it had to be stressful living with the Strongs. Coach Strong, our head football coach, was known as a tough guy. His son, Blake, used to date my girl Charli. Blake was tired of holding hands and basically found someone else who was willing to give it up. As soon as he broke it off, Charli moved on with his cousin Brenton, who was a super-sweet person. Blake wanted her back. Thankfully, my girl did not choose the smooth operator. Instead, she chose Brenton. She has been happy ever since.
High-maintenance Blake Strong was probably making Leo’s life impossible. I had been so busy talking about what was going on in my world that I hadn’t asked Leo how he was. As I thought, I moved gently to get out of the bed. He was so in tune with me that he grabbed hold.
Leo said, “You okay? I’m not leaning on you too hard, am I?”
He was six three and a half, two hundred twenty-five pounds. He was heavy, but he wasn’t hurting me. It was so sweet that he cared.
“Wait, are you crying?” he asked.
“I’m okay.”
“No, you’re not, Ella.”
“You know it is eleven. Coach Strong is gonna kill you for being out this late,” I said. Leo sat up in the bed and crossed his arms. “Leo, why don’t you talk to me about what’s going on.”
“I’m straight. I got it.”
“No, you listened to everything I had to say. Now it’s your turn. This girlfriend thing is new to me, but I wanna be the best one I can be and not one who you think is so weak that you can’t lean on her.”
“Blake totaled his car the other night. We don’t know if he was drinking or if he fell asleep or what. His car smashed into a tree.”
“Omigod! He’s okay, right?”
“Yeah, his mom just thinks I’m a bad influence.”
“What? What do you have to do with Blake’s crazy ways?”
“I know, right? They didn’t tell me not to come back, but I gotta figure out something else. I just wish I could take care of you,” he sighed.
He wanted to kiss me, but I knew I had been eating pizza from Papa John’s with the garlic sauce on it. The last thing I wanted was to steer him away with my ugly breath. I turned my head away and rested it on his chest. Both of us just lay there quiet for a minute.
I knew he was thinking what was next for him. I was doing the same. He was eighteen, and I’d be seventeen in few months. Maybe all we needed to do was quit school and get jobs and try and live.
I blurted out, “We need to get food stamps and subsidized housing. We can make it if we have a baby. We really can.”
“I’m not playing. We can figure this out. We can’t go back to the school and crash. I ruined that by letting Coach know what you were doing,” I conceded.
“You saved me by letting Coach know. I’m going to college on a football scholarship, and you’re going on an academic one. We can do this. We’ll figure out a way to hold on. I’ma go to the front desk and see if they have any toothpaste and toothbrushes ’cause I want a kiss,” he said. Then he hopped up, put on his shoes, and headed out the door.
I looked over at my phone. It was on silent. I did not realize I had several messages. Reluctantly, I pushed play.
“Ella, this is your father. I’m on my way to your house. I understand you went back home. I wish we could have talked about this. Just when I’m excited to get close to my little girl before she becomes a grown woman, you’re gone. Call your old man back.”
I saved that message and went to the next. I heard my mom say, “Ella, where are you? Your dad’s here with your clothes. He said you moved back home. It’s seven o’clock, but I’ve not seen you. Where are you, honey? Call us!”
The next was Hallie. “Ella, girl, where are you? Your mom called me. She’s even talked to my dad. Do you need to come over here and stay with me? I saw you in school today, and every time I walked your way, you went the other way. Call me, girl! Wherever you are, I’ll come get you.”
My dad called again and said, “Ella, I’m just leaving your mom’s. I waited for an hour. I’m real concerned. Tell us something. Nobody’s heard from you.”
My mom sounded really upset in the next voice mail, “Ella, baby, it’s nine.” She called again. “Ella, it’s ten. I’ve been driving around. I’m going crazy. Where are you?”
When Leo came back in the room, I said, “My mom is looking for me. She really sounds panicked.” I played her messages for him.
Leo said, “You need to call her right now. And I can get outta here so she won’t trip about me being here.”
“No, you are going to be safe and stay here tonight. I can have her meet me down the street.”
Thirty minutes later, I got in the car with my mom. I was waiting for her to yell and scream and go off. She just held me tight.
“Why didn’t you call me?”
“I didn’t think you wanted me, Mom!”
“I might get angry with you, girl, but I’ll always want you. Now let’s go home,” she said.
My mom hugged me. I had put up barriers that were not there. Inwardly, I felt joyous. Things with my mom were solidly intact.