Before The Dreamer - The Rookie

Eleven - Jana

Tim just told me I can always stay with him, and Lucy and I know I am 16, so I am dependent, but having a kid living with you is a big change, especially if both people have busy schedules.
"Are you sure Tim, I mean both Lucy and you are busy people, so I don't want to intrude. I'm sure that when you are done with work you just want to relax and not have to worry about me."
"Yes, I am sure Jana, I mean come on, I care about you, and I would do anything to make sure that you are safe, no matter what. That is a promise that I made to you when we went through putting your mom in jail, remember? I'm not just going to break that promise. I'm here for you."
"Yeah, I remember now."
"Look, Jana, we have got this, we are going to get through this together. I'm not going to let you do this alone, I mean what kind of person would I be if I did that? Just leaving someone that I care about to struggle. That's not how I do things."
"Yeah, I guess you are right. Can I not go to school tomorrow."
"Of course, you can stay here. I have the say off anyway but that doesn't mean that I won't get called in. Would you be okay here if I did?"
"Yeah, as long as you don't take Kojo with you."
"That's what I thought I didn't want to assume though."
That's when I felt a buzz right next to me. It was like a notification on a phone had just gone through.
"Speak of the devil, will you be okay here with Lucy, they need me at the station. I will try to get back as soon as I can."
"Yeah, go ahead Batman. Gothman needs your help."
"Ha, Ha, so funny."
With that, Tim grabs his coat and walks out the door. Then there were three, just Kojo, Lucy, and I left.
"Jana, I have a question for you, and you don't have to answer it if you don't feel comfortable."
"No, go ahead, what's the question?"
"Well, I was wondering what your home life was like, I mean Tim talks about you non-stop so you must be over here a lot, I mean he has so many amazing and sad stories to share. Though again you don't have to answer though. It's all up to you. I don't want to force you to say anything."
"It's okay Lucy, I don't feel forced. I want to tell you anyway. Tim has told you bits but not the whole story."
"Yeah, I mean he has only told me bits and pieces. He said that if you wanted me to know that you would tell me yourself and he doesn't want to betray your trust."
"Well, it started when I was born, I had an older brother named Chris, I would say that we had a nice childhood, I mean there wasn't anything special about it."
"Yeah, I know. I mean I know mine wasn't special either."
"On Chris's 15th birthday, he had told me that he was gay, that he likes boys, and I was there for him. I mean I supported him; it was our little secret. My mom has always been religious and trying to push her beliefs onto us."
"Yeah, I know what that feels like. My parents are like that too."
One of those beliefs is that women can only marry men and the other way around. However, that is not how my brother and I saw it. We saw it as someone who can love anyone that they want to because it's love."
"Yeah, people should love whoever they want to."
"Anyways on Chris's 17th birthday, he has finally come out to my mom because he was sick and tired of trying to be perfect to her and hiding who he truly was. Then there were some slaps."
"No, that is not okay. She hit her kid?"
"Yeah, and my mom called the police on my brother because she claimed that Chris was a danger to me and her. However, that was not true. Then Tim responded to the call. He automatically knew that what my mom had said wasn't the truth. "
"Tim always knows how to figure out the truth even when people are lying. That is one thing that I love about him."
"Yeah, me too, after that my brother ran away then Tim arrested my mom, though she easily got out on parole. She was only gone for 2 days and for those days I stayed with Tim."
"Yeah, Tim told me about that. I ended up staying with a friend that week. Not because you were there but I needed some space, and I didn't want to make you feel uncomfortable. But I also didn't know how you felt about me at the time."
"I know, I tried to convince him that you can stay at your apartment, but he said that she was okay at her friend's house and that she needed a weeklong sleepover. I'm not blaming you. I mean after dealing with Tim for so long I would need one too."
"Definitely."
"Anyways, after that, I got back with my mom. In the beginning, she had pretended that she was sorry and that she loved me, but the more time passed the more she didn't care where I was or what happened to me."
"Wow, I don't like her. How could she do such terrible things to such a sweet girl?"
"I have no idea, but I hadn't gone home in a whole week, and she didn't say anything about it and now, I'm not even gone for 24 hours, and she sends out a Missing Person's report and blames Time for kidnapping me. I mean how messed up is that?"
"That is messed up, I don't even know how that works. I mean our system is so messed up."
"Yeah, but again, I'll probably get placed back with my mom and the cycle will continue."
"Our system is broken where it shouldn't be. We shouldn't have to go to great lengths to protect children who need it."
"Yeah, it's not like we can do anything to change it though."
"I am willing to try though. Try to at least fix it a little bit. If we get that far then we can fix it all. Then we would be the luckiest people in the world because we finally changed something for the better and that's all we ever want to do."
This is when I realized that Lucy and I's relationship was going to grow strong. Like mother and daughter. I didn't say that out loud though. I mean I don't want to scare her off.
Believe it or not, I need her. I need a mother figure in my life. Since my mom wouldn't be one for me then I knew that Lucy would always step up and take the role with no questions asked.
"Lucy?"
"Yeah, Jana?"
"I'm sorry if I fall asleep. I feel like I have had a long day and I feel exhausted."
"Don't be sorry Jana. I know it has been a long 24 hours for you. Why don't you sleep?"
"Can you stay here with me? I feel safer with either you or Tim right by me."
"Yeah of course I can stay with you. I wouldn't have it any other way."
"Thank you, anything for you Jana. I care about you."
That was the first time that I ever realized that someone loved me and cared about me. I mean besides my brother and Tim. Though it's hard for him to show love. It's weird.