"Brea!" Jayden runs up to me with papers fisted up in his hand. "Hey bud," I scoop him up in my arms. He smells like crayons and jelly. He squirms in my arms and I set him on the ground. "I made you this." He thrusts a scribble in blue marker on pink paper in my face. "You made this?" He smiles proudly and nods furiously. "This belongs in a museum," I say, and he turns bashful. He plants a wet kiss on my cheek, and I pick him up and place him on my hip. "You ready to go?" He shakes his head and leans back, making my legs stumble toward the door so he doesn't fall out of my arms. "I want to show you something." I walk into the room, and it's a whole different world. Kids are running everywhere, paint all over the tables, and everything is smaller. I set Jayden down, and he grabs my hand and starts pulling me toward different things. I see the teacher, and she waves at me, sprinkling dirty paint brush water all over herself doing so. He runs over to the play area, nearly yanking my arm out of its socket. I trip over some blocks and almost land on the spongy multicolored carpet. "Brea, this is Crystal." Jayden is standing next to a girl with long red hair in two braids. She has a sprinkle of freckles across her nose, and she's missing a few teeth. "She's almost five." Jayden's eyes goes big as he watches her twirl her hair in a nervous matter. "That's very impressive," I state, and she blushes. "I am also in love with her." Jayden holds his head high and latches on to her arm. She rests her head on his messy mop of blonde hair. I chuckle and say, "How'd you two meet?" "He gave me the green paint Harvey stole from me this morning." Crystal's eyes gleam as she tells me the story as Jayden stands as her knight in shining armor, watching her with something that looked like love all over his face. "Okay, bud, we got to go. We're gonna be late." His face falls, but only for a second. "Bye, Crystal." "Bye, Jayden." They share a short hug, and he takes my hand. We start to walk out of the room when he stops and squeals. "Jayden!" A girl takes him out of my grip and swings him around. His laugh is so loud that every kid drops what they are doing and turns to stare at the commotion. I can't see the girl's face because Jayden is blocking my view, but I do see long blonde hair and her skin is evenly tan. "Meet my sister!" He says, and she turns around with him in her arms to greet me. "Hello," Becca says, smiling at me, but her eyes are hard. "This is Becca. She's my friend," Jayden beams in my direction, and I know me knowing her will crush him. "Hi, I'm Brea, his sister." I hold out my hand to shake hers, and she places her warm hand in mine. She has small hands, and clean nails. She pulls her hand out of mine before I am ready. "Okay, I'll see you tomorrow, alright Jayden?" He nods, and she pulls him into a hug. She sets him down and he scampers to my legs and clings on. "Oh, Rebecca!" The teacher runs over to her and gives her a side hug. "Brea, this is my niece I was telling you about. She's great with Jayden, if you haven't noticed already." Rebecca is biting the inside of her cheek, and when she is praised, she blushes hard. "So if you need her anytime, just call her alright?" I nod and Jayden starts pushing me towards the door. "Okay, we'll see you tomorrow!" The teacher calls out, and I wave to Becca. She waves back, but I can see her fire is burned out.
The diner is slow tonight. No new people, no new orders. Lyra is sitting at the counter with Jayden pouring sugar into the containers. Hannah walks in late again, her uniform reeking of cigarette smoke. "Your car is in my parking spot," she says to me, her eyes glazed. "Sorry, I wasn't really paying attention tonight." My mind is elsewhere tonight. Becca has changed since I yelled at her in the hallway. Well, of course she has. I humiliated her and myself. I am still in shock that she talked to me in the recent days. The old radio in the diner is screaming out classics, and Queen comes on. "Brea!" Jayden jumps off of the counter and starts dancing toward me as I fill up the one customer's water glass. I laugh as he twirls around the tables with sugar sprinkling after him like glitter. He takes my arm and starts tugging me toward him. "Jayden, I'm working." I try to make my voice as stern as possible, but he doesn't seem to be effected by it. I put the water down at an empty table and pick him up. He starts thrashing his head around to the beat. "Okay, Freddie Mercury, eat your dinner." I set him down at the counter where Sophie had made him chicken tenders and French fries. I go to the back and bring him an apple juice. "Brea, can I have a soda?" He glances up at me with his big eyes hopeful. "No, bud. You can have soda tomorrow." His shoulders slump, and my heart falls with them. My hands are itching to get him a small cup of Orange soda when Sophie puts an arm around of me. "Don't falter in his cute little act. He's getting cookies later." She goes over to him and slaps a kiss on his cheek, leaving a lipstick stain. He looks so happy munching on the dinner he hasn't had in the last few days. As I start to wipe down all of the tables, Lyra pours out the tips. Only a few coins and dollar bills spill out. She frowns, and then starts to count it all up. She makes two piles and grabs her coat. "I gotta run, babe. I'll see you tomorrow!" She runs up to me and crashes into me with a hug. "I got a date!" She squeals into my ear and flies out of the door into pitch blackness. I stay later than I had planned; George wanted to show Jayden how to make a perfect pancake. I got stuck with cleaning up their cooking mess. "Brea, look!" I turn to see Jayden right next to the stove, shoving a spatula under some batter. "George, watch him!" It scares me out of my mind whenever there can be even a small chance that Jayden can be in any harm. With Carol as a parent, I try to protect him as best as I can. He flips a circle of batter, and he turns back to me, flour on his cheeks and nose, smiling brightly. He has ketchup on his button down, and I can see the rest of my night consisting of scrubbing that stain out. "Brea, can you come here for a sec?" Tyler calls out to me, and I follow his voice to the cash register. "Here," he hands me the pile of dollar bills. The tips. "No, Tyler, this is supposed to be split up." He places his hands on my shoulders. "Brea, we all decided that you need it most." No one knew about my home situation, but they knew we were always tight on money, seeing it on my hand me down clothes and struggle to just stay awake every day. "Please, just take it." I open my mouth to protest, but George calls out, "Brea, seriously, just take it! No one wants the gold today." I frown as I stuff the bills in my back pocket. Correction: My night will consist of laundry and feeling guilty. By nine, everyone is ready to leave. Sophie hands Jayden a big tin of cookies, and George ruffles his hair. They call out goodbyes as I buckle Jayden in the backseat.
He fell asleep, so when I get home, I have to carry him in. I unlock the door after the third time and keep it open with my foot. I shove my body in, back first, and close the door when Jayden is in. The house reeks of weed, and I know she's home. I curse under my breath and carry Jayden to his room. I place him in bed and brush a kiss on his forehead. He shifts, and I take off his button down. I roll it up in a ball, and close the door behind me. I walk to the kitchen and see more bottles of liquor had been emptied throughout the day. I sigh and start to gather them in my arms. I dump them in the trash and go to the washer. I start to load it up with his shirt, and the dirty clothes in the hamper. Some of the clothes are stained with various food and drinks. Half of my mother's clothes smell of smoke, and the other half are falling apart. As I turn the machine on, I hear the front door open. Someone burps and stumbles into the kitchen. They keep hitting the wall, and finally flick the lights on. I squint in the harsh light and see him, ripped up jeans and a black hoodie. "Oh, I didn't know you were home." "I didn't know you were alive." I shoot back, and the young boy flinches. "Yeah, Jeff said I should come here. Carol is having a break down and needs her meds." Shawn starts opening up the cabinets and slamming them. "Jesus, could you shut up?" I hiss at him, terrified of Jayden waking up. He throws a glare at me, but quiets his actions. Shawn is Jeff's son from a different girlfriend. He is a few years older than me, drinking age. He chucks something at me. I catch a new pack of Camels. "Thanks." He nods at me and moves around me to the washing machine. He stops the cycle, and before I can scold him, he starts to undress. He strips down to his boxers and throws them with the load. I can see the scars on his back that I never asked him about. He is filthy, and when he turns back to me, I can see blood on his chest. "Are you alright?" I ask, and he shrugs. "Just another fight. Can you sew me up?" I can't see any cuts on him, but I nod. I go to the bathroom and get the ancient first aid kid we had. I walk back and see him lying out on the couch. "I need you to sit up." I shove his feet down and sit next to him. This is not the first time I have to sew him up or bring him ice for a sore limb. I give him a wet paper towel and he starts to clean off. "So what happened?" I look in the kit for thread. "Just this douche that was beating on his girlfriend at a party I was at." That was the difference between Shawn and his father. Shawn had no tolerance for violence towards women, whereas his dad has beaten up me and Carol multiple times. I see the cut on his stomach and I tell him to apply pressure on it. "So you beat this guy up?" I wipe his cut with an alcohol wipe and he hisses. "Well, first, I told him to back off. Then he told me it was none of my business and pushed me away. That's when I noticed that I knew his girlfriend. Do you remember that girl that used to come over here and she played chess with you, and she let you win the first time?" I remember her. She had short black hair and a tattoo on her shoulder of a frog. She promised to tell me the meaning behind it the next time she saw me, but Carol never let her back in the house when she found out we had a relationship. "Yeah, she was pretty." She was; she had these green eyes that turned gold when she cried. She had cried on Shawn's shoulder that day, and I never had found out why. "She's changed. I almost didn't recognize her." I push the clean needle into his flesh, and he grips his hands on his knees. "She told her boyfriend to leave it alone, but then he tried to push me again. That's when I broke his hand." He smiles through the pain of a needle in his side. "Then who hurt you?" "He had a group of friends. One had brought a knife." I snort. "Who brings a knife to a party?" Shawn is silent, and I know to stop talking before I let my mouth get me into trouble. I sew his cut shut, and cut the thread with the small set of scissors. "There you go." He looks at the wound and smiles, satisfied. "Thanks, kid." He pulls me into a side hug, and I put my hands on his chest to stable myself. His heart it beating fast under my palm, and he kisses me on the forehead. "I'll see you later." He jumps up from the couch, and I fall onto the cushion he was sitting on. "When can I shower?" He asks, and I respond. He nods and asks to stay for a bit. I nod and he smiles, goes into the kitchen, and comes back with two beers. He hands me one, and turns on the TV. He lays on the worn couch, his legs splayed on my lap. I thumb the top of the can, not caring for beer at the moment. I put it on the floor by my feet, and slide into the body imprint that was made from years of people sitting. The heat of the room and the quiet fuzz of the TV make me realize how overly tired I am. I slump into Shawn's legs and close my eyes. The top of my head had met Shawn's fingertips, and I felt him playing with my hair. "Goodnight, Brea."
YOU ARE READING
Heart Burns
Teen Fiction"Your perspective on life comes from the cage you were held captive in."
