Black

chapter five.

Song for this chapter:

Lost Stars by Maroon 5

Obsessed with this song at the moment.

I jolt awake at the sound of a slight banging in the apartment.

Along with the banging comes moaning and I groan.
Fredrick and Jackie are at it again.

I glance at the alarm clock on the bedside table. It's nearly 2am and they're having sex.

I flip over and face the ceiling, staring up at it. How did I get here? My life is so dull, so...lifeless.

Sometimes I wonder what it'd be like if my father would've never left me alone that day. Where would I be?
With him?
Would I have gone to a different school? I probably wouldn't have been this me. I would've never met the lovely people who raised me. I would've never met Jackie and Fredrick, my two closest friends.

And I wouldn't have experienced what I felt that day when he drove away from me.

I would've never felt so alone.

I could've been happy.

                          •••

"How?" Naomi asks, her hand covering her mouth in disbelief.

I stand still by the door of the living room, making sure they don't see me.

"He rammed the SUV into a tree. It wasn't an accidental incident. There was a brick on the gas." Officer Wilkins says.

"We believe he was hesitant about his death so he placed the brick so he would go through with it." Office Peters says quietly.
It's quiet now as Todd and Naomi look at each other. What happened? I want to know.

Is it my daddy? Did something happen to my daddy?

"What about her mother?" Naomi asks.

Officer Peters shakes his head.

My mother. I never knew my mother. Everyone at my school had mommys but I didn't. I remember I asked daddy if I had one and he said no. I asked again and he was angry.

Is that why he left me?

"According to records, she died during childbirth." Officer Wilkins explains.

I did have a mom. But why did daddy say no?

"Where will she go?" Naomi asks hesitantly.

"We'd have to put her in the foster care system. She has no relatives on file. Most are either dead or just not on file." Peters explains.

Naomi shakes her head and looks to Todd.

"Naomi." Todd says.

"Todd, she can't live jumping from home to home. That is never good for a child especially a five year old." She takes Todd's hands in hers. "She literally walked into our lives. We both know I can never birth my own child." She sounds like she's crying but I can't tell.

Todd looks down at their hands and takes a deep breath before he looks back to Naomi.

"You really want to?" He whispers with a small smile on his face.
She nods, matching her smile to his.

"Okay." He whispers.

"Okay." She says. Her hands find his face and she kisses him.