Fast Car | Escapes #1

Chapter 23: Jenny

If anything in my life could have been described as awkward, it was those first few hours I was alone with my mother. After two years, I was finally getting some answers, but not ones I liked or even wanted to admit were true.

I had a half-brother, someone I had no idea existed for the last two years. A brother who's father I had never met. A man that had secretly gotten my mother pregnant while she was still pretending to be with my father for my sake. 

How much did my dad know about?

Mom and I sat in silence for a long while after Brayden left. She didn't show me to a room, and I didn't ask. The dog didn't move. Kyle kept playing with his blocks for a little bit before going to his mother. She picked him up and played with him affectionately, kissing his head and nuzzling his face, bouncing him on her leg - all things I remembered her doing with me. Seeing her now doing all of this with another child was strange. 

"Do you want to hold your brother?" she suddenly asked me.

My eyes went wide. I'd never held a child before. Still, I nodded. She got up and sat him on my lap. He looked up at me and stuck his thumb in his mouth. His expression was curious, as if he was trying to figure out who I was. "Hi Kyle," I said dumbly. How did you even talk with kids? "I'm your big sister." I took the hand that wasn't in his mouth and shook it. His brow furrowed and he tried to climb off my lap. Terrified he was going to fall and get hurt, I grabbed him around his waist and hugged him to me. "You can get him now," I told Mom, who had been watching the exchange with a weird look on her face.

She took him back and finally looked over at my things. "Is that all of it?" she asked, concerned.

"That's all I brought with me," I said defensively. Which was everything I owned minus a few little trinkets. I even had my corsage from prom in there. It was securely tucked away, though. She just didn't need to know that. I never had money for things, so how could I have more than that? I didn't even own a suitcase - I only had that one thanks to Brayden. 

Wait - did I ever thank him for getting that suitcase? I don't think I did. That night everything went wrong for me and ended up being a complete mess. Most of my interaction with him was a blur. I didn't know what was said, but I had a feeling it wasn't all nice. Being grilled by the police for hours never made anyone happy.

"Well, try to make yourself at home here," Mom said. "I think you're going to like Wen. He's kind and has been wanting to meet you since we fell in love. I couldn't introduce you back then, but I'm glad you're finally getting the chance now."

I wasn't sure how I felt about everything, but I gave her a smile. "I'll do my best. Where's my room? I want to put my things away."

"Oh, it's this way." She stood and slung Kyle onto her hip. I grabbed my suitcase and followed her deeper into the house. We went down a hallway and she opened a door about halfway down "You can stay in here." She walked into the room and flicked on the light. The room was yellow with a fluffy comforter on the bed and lots of decorative pillows I knew I would just throw on the floor. "There's a lot of closet space, but we're low on hangers. Just let me know if you need more than what's in here. I'll just run and get some tomorrow."

"That should be fine," I said when she opened the door to the closet. There were about five hangers in there, and I only owned three dresses and not enough dress shirts to worry about hanging any of them up. 

Mom gave me a sad look before walking back out into the hallway. "This is the bathroom here." I followed her out in time to see her walk into another room next to mine. "You can find everything you need in here. Towels are on the rack, extra tissue is under the sink, along with some feminine hygiene products. You never know when someone will need them, so I keep these as extras." The room was deep blue and decorated in an ocean theme. Everything was a creature or showed pictures of them. I wasn't sure I like it. "If you need anything else, let us know. I'm afraid I don't have any extra toothbrushes or anything like that, so we can go to the store if you need that kind of stuff."