Run

Chapter 1

October 1977

Salior closed her eyes, letting out a breath as she heard her parents yell at each other. She hated when they would fight, always has. When she opened her eyes, she looked over at her little brother, who was just smiling back at her.

"How do you feel about going to Mrs. Lanes tonight?" Sailor asked, a small smile forming on her lips as she looked at her brother.

Salior had to be at the high school in an hour, for a football game. She didn't want to leave her brother with her parents, knowing that the fighting could last a few more hours. She also couldn't bring him to the game because it'd be too cold.

Mary Lane usually is the one to watch him if Salior couldn't, and sometimes she would just offer to watch him, telling Salior to go out and have some fun, knowing the girl needed it.

Mary also didn't mind watching the young girls brother. She loved kids, and Salior never looked at the lady differently because of what happened to her daughter.

Sailor packed up a diaper bag for her brother, then got dressed in her cheer uniform. Once she was ready, she slung her backpack over her shoulder and then the diaper bag and then picked up her brother and walked out of her room.

As soon as she walked out of her room, she got knocked with the smell of cigarettes and alcohol. She shook her head and made her way to the front door.

"Where do you think you're going?" Beatrice Kalivoda asked, looking at her daughter with her arms crossed. Salior let out a breath and turned to her mom.

"I have to be at a game, and I'm taking Simon with me." Salior said calmly, but Beatrice just shook her head.

"No, I will not have my baby boy out with you while you go whore around!" Salior just shook her head, this wasn't the first time her mother acted like this.

"Mom, for the last time I'm not whoring around." She replied rolling her eyes. "Now I have to go." She went to leave again.

"Then what are you doing most nights, huh?" Salior just kept walking, but her mother followed. "I'll tell you what, you're out sleeping with anyone you can!" Salior unlocked her car and put Simon in his car seat, trying to block out her mother's words.

After she made sure he was in safely, she  closed the door to be face to face with her mom.

"Mom, I need to go." Salior said, trying to go around her.

"Not with my son, you're not." Salior let out a humorless laugh.

"You're son?" Salior asked, causing her mom to nod.

"That's right. I'm his mother." Beatrice said, pointing at herself. "Not you." She added, pointing at her. Salior was quiet for a second, then she let out a laugh.

"But you're not." She replied, and her mother looked shocked. "You see, a mother is supposed to take care and love her kids, but you don't do either of those things for him. I do. Tommy does. You only want him when you know I'm taking him somewhere. Guess what mom, one day, I'm going to get custody of him. I've been working on it and there is nothing you can do about it." Salior went to say something else, but that's when she felt a sting of pain across her face.

"You bitch! You can't take my son!" Beatrice yelled, getting in her face. Salior just stood there looking at the ground as her mother yelled at her it wasn't the first time she hit her.

Salior finally broke out of her trance and shoved her mother away from her and walked over to the driver side, and got in and drove off.

Little did she know a certain redhead was skateboarding up and down the road, listening to the whole thing.