Maybe You'll Live For Me Sometimes- Adopted by the Killjoys

Part Nine

The new witness, Livie, took a deep breath in as everyone directed our attention to her. "Dani and I were best friends when she was alive. We spent every school day together, and she was the brightest and kindest person I knew," she got choked up, "Once I knew what Blake and Donna were putting her through at her own house, when we were ten, I let her stay in my place for weeks at a time to avoid them."
          "You were a great friend, Livie," I told her. "Did she ever get caught spending that much time with you just to avoid them?"
          "The last time we stayed together, yeah. She was yelled at to go 'home' over the phone and to never come back here. Then when she and I were on the phone two days after that at one in the morning, where she told me they locked her inside the house." She took a deep breath in, "and two days after that, I heard that she killed herself."
          Dad, Kristin, and I brought her in for a group hug. "Addy, if she was still alive, your big sister would be so proud of you," Livie sobbed.

The sappy talk continued for a little while more, then Dad welcomed her into the family. The only two blood-related people in this big family of ours are Dad and Gee, but I couldn't get enough of the endless family love all of us were feeling in that room. At first I only needed just one person to care about me, but now I have... let's see... Dad, Kristin, Vada, Genessa, Livie, Gee, Frankie, Ray, Grace, Dr. D, and my therapist all there for me.
          "By telling your story and bringing us all in here to share ours to get us all justice, Addy," said Livie, "you are changing lives."
          I smiled at her, about to cry happy tears. "That is something I thought I wouldn't even be alive to do or hear from somebody else."
          A big family hug followed, then there was a knock on the door. An aggressive knock. Ray went to the door and opened it to the ones who always ruin the moment as an attempt of trying to ruin my life. And the judge that tried to make me go with them.
          "How the hell did you know we were all here?" Ray asked them, getting furious.
          "I heard all your voices talking bad about us!" exclaimed Blake.
          I saw something glowing on Donna's wrist. I stared at her in confusion about the device. "What's that on your wrist?"
          "It's how we found y-"
          "You weren't supposed to say that!" interrupted Blake to Donna.
          "So..." I said, "you've been tracking me?"
          "How long have you guys been doing this?" asked Dad.
          The judge chimed in. "I wanted them to at least know where miss Adeline is after they lost her so they can really get the win they deserved all along."
          "So it's been for weeks now that this has been going on?" asked Kristin.

Blake looked at Genessa and Livie with the most telling, angry glare. "So you two made connections with her now?"
          "You guys still exist?" added Donna.
          "Y'know," mentioned Frankie, "your lives would have been so much better if you just left us alone."
          "But knowing how you guys are now and how many people you have hurt," said Gee, "everyone has to know about it."
          "They wouldn't hurt a fly," the nonchalant judge replied.
          "Why can't you just arrest us now if you want us in jail so bad?" asked Donna.
          "Because I think everyone should be there to see your downfall," I answered with a sassy smile.
          "A week from tonight, at the desert. You should see a big stage in zone six," said Dad.
          "Public execution!?" exclaimed Blake.
          "No, something different," I answered, "you'll find out when you get there."
          "So you might as well just wait it out a little bit," said Vada.
          "Okay then," Donna shrugged. "This is the one thing Adeline actually invites us to after all these years of not inviting us to anything?" I heard her whisper to Blake on their way out.

The week ahead was spent preparing for the big concert night, with all of us performing practicing and improving our songs. Dad, Gee, Frankie, and Ray are performing four songs together (giving Grace the position of their first official drummer), I have three songs myself, Vada has two songs of her own, I have one song with Vada, and I also have a duet with Dad.
          Other than that, there's a few former Killjoys whom we didn't really get to know well but did sign up to showcase. From what I do know about them, they seem pretty cool. Kristin isn't going to perform, but she will be helping out backstage and hosting the show.
          My therapist agreed to come watch the show, also. I had a conversation with her yesterday that opened my eyes on confidence earlier today: "So, you'll be performing some of your songs for a crowd in a few days, I hear?"
          "Yes, and I have a feeling that... they... will show up."
          It's at the point where she knows exactly who I'm talking about when I mention them. "Knowing them now, I wouldn't be surprised. But my best tip for you would be to perform as if they aren't. If you perform fully aware that they're there, it may hinder your performance."
          I was confused. "I can't just pretend they're not there."
          She hesitated, thinking. "Understandable. Perform it as if they are there, like you're angry at them and are letting out all of your rage on them."
          I nodded and smirked at the advice. It would feel nice. "I like the sound of that."
          "I do too," my therapist laughed along for a short time. "Will Sheriff Dr. D be there?"
          "Yes, definitely. And I just know he will arrest them as soon as the night's over."
          "As he should."

Got it: perform it with the knowledge that they're there, and that's why I'm letting all my rage out on them. It's the easiest way I know to let my feelings out: through art. So by the time concert night came, I was ready. I gave myself affirmations in the mirror as Kristin did my hair after I had just done my makeup.
          "You are looking amazing, Addy," said Kristin. "Ready to kick ass?"
          "Absolutely," I nodded with a smile. "And thank you. I know I look amazing."
          "That's my kiddo."
          My face lit up. As soon as Kristin called me her kiddo, I knew her as my mom. Dad walked over and took a look at me in the mirror with Kristin. "We're so proud of you," he said. "You know that?"
          "We're such proud parents," Kristin added. Then she and Dad each put an arm around each other. Then they quickly kissed.
          "Oh?" I asked, acting surprised with a chuckle. "I'm just kidding, I saw something between you two from the first time you guys met at the phone store."
          "You knew?" asked Dad.
          "I did. I can always tell."
          They looked at each other with loving eyes, which made me smile even more. I have a mom now. I went over to Vada in awe about the news.
          "They're so perfect for each other," she said. "I could always see it in their eyes that they were meant to be together."

I decided to save my power-pop-rock song that would expose Blake and Donna for the very last act just to make them wait excruciatingly long for their downfall to come with them knowing it's coming. The crowd otherwise was surprisingly huge and excited. Dad's band with Gee, Frankie, Ray, and Grace opened the show with an energetic rock song about the revolution.
          I went on after two more songs to sing my song with Vada, which kept the crowd up on their feet with Vada's guitar and my bass. The stage fright I once had was gone at this point, and I was living my dream as the big star I wanted to be since I was a kid.

The fun night went by quick, as I performed my songs and watched everyone else perform theirs, hyping up every one of them. Then came the time for my last song to put my abusers in jail. Sheriff Dr. D was sitting behind the crowd near Blake and Donna's seats in the back, prepared with the handcuffs and his car parked behind them.
          I took a deep breath in and out, holding hands in a circle with Dad, Kristin, and Vada. "You got this, bestie," said Vada.
          "You got this, Addy," said Dad and Mom simultaneously.
          "I do," I nodded with another deep breath and a smile.
          "Kill it, sweetheart!" Dad quietly exclaimed as I ran out to the stage to the front-and-center microphone with my guitar.
          I started out the sad beginning of the song, surprising the crowd with the transition into the powerful, angry rest of the song. Dad played the bass parts for me, Grace played the drums, and Ray provided an extra guitar part.
          "I hope you suffer for the rest of your short life," I ended the song with. "I would like to dedicate that last song to a certain couple of people sitting in the back! You know who you are and you know what you did to me and many other people."
          "Burn in hell! Burn in hell!" chanted the rest of the crowd and the people backstage to Blake and Donna.

I watched in satisfaction as Sheriff Dr. D handcuffed my abusers, threw them in the car, and drove them to prison. The night ended in endless cheers, love, jumps for joy, and hugs.
          And a few days later, I got the news that my abusers both died in their prison cells. Mom and Dad gave me the news, and I had never felt more free or healed in my life before. They brought me in for a group hug and took us out to dinner that evening in celebration. Sweet, sweet revenge.

A good life of overall happiness (despite my bad days every now and then), a loving family I have and feel so safe with. Dad and Mom eventually tied the knot and got married, I got to celebrate birthday parties and holidays with all my favorite people to change the past memories of those into more positive ones.
          I made sure to never take for granted what I have. I hugged Mom and Dad extra tight every night before I went to bed and made sure to give other people the undying support and love Mom and Dad always give me. I'm a proud kid with proud parents who are proud of who I actually am, not for who I used to pretend to be.

The End!