Learning To Live Again

Chapter 1

Yelling, crying, crashing, fighting, banging, screaming, smas-

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“Malia! Pay attention!” Mrs. Kim said, snapping me back into reality

“Sorry.” I said.

“Now as I was saying, we’re leaving today to go to Springcreek so I can bring you to the Kents. They already called the local school and have you registered to start on Monday” she said.

“Ya ya” I said lazily.

“Malia, they’re good, nice people, you’ll enjoy it there” replied Mrs. Kim.

“Have you heard from my mom?” I asked.

Mrs. Kim sighed “Malia, sweetheart, no one has heard from your mom in 17 years. She doesn’t want to be found.”

I just looked down.

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Two hours later we were in the car on our way to Springcreek leaving the group home that I had only been in for a month. Eight hours into the drive I started to get antsy.

“Mrs. Kim, when are we going to get there?” I whined, and she said it would be another hour.

“Mrs. Kim. Look around there is nothing but farms and forests all around what kind of place is this! You do know that this is the kind of place where people get killed and the body doesn’t get found, and as my social worker you are not allowed to put me in any kind of dangerous situation!” I ranted.

At this point Mrs. Kim was just looking at me with a smile on her face. “Malia, it’s just a small town, you won’t die.”

“Ya well tell it to the jury.” I shot back.

The last hour of the drive I stayed quiet and stared out the window. When we started to pull through the town I couldn’t help but get nervous. I mean I’ve been to many foster homes and group homes before, but for some reason I couldn’t help but feel nervous. We finally pulled up to a small one story house and I saw two people standing outside. I stayed in the car for a minute as Mrs. Kim and the couple talked. As I finally started to get out of the car Mrs. Kim and the couple walked towards me.

“Malia, this is Susan and Daniel Kent, your new foster parents.” Mrs. Kim introduced.

“Oh Malia, it’s so nice to finally meet you. Mrs. Kim told us so much about you. Come inside and I’ll show you your room while Daniel gets your things.” Mrs. Kent gushed.

As we walked through the house towards the bedrooms Mrs. Kent was telling me where what was in town and where the best places to go to. When we stopped outside of a door she asked me if I was ready to see my room, when I nodded she opened the door and stood back so I could take a look. It was a pretty simple room.

The walls were a blue/green color, with a bed pushed in the corner with green bed sheets and a pile of clothes on the bed and some pairs of new shoes. Under the window was a desk with a computer and across from it was a dresser. All in all it was really simple but compared to what I was sleeping in at the group home, this was more than enough.

Mrs. Kent started to ramble, “there’s lots of green. Mrs. Kim said you liked green. I also got some new clothes and a pair of shoes for you. If you don’t like it we can change the room and exchange the clothes.”

I told her it was fine. Just then Mr. Kent walked in with my bags and set them down by the dresser.

“We’ll leave you to unpack while I start dinner.” Mrs. Kent said as she and Mr. Kent were leaving the room, closing the door behind them.

 As I started to unpack Mrs. Kim came in to say goodbye.

“Malia, you know you can call me for anything right. I’m just a phone call away if something is wrong.” Mrs. Kim said.

“I know.” I replied without looking up. Mrs. Kim patted my shoulder and left.

As I continued to unpack I pulled out a photograph from when I was younger….

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 The atmosphere at dinner table was tense. The only sounds were from the utensils scraping on the plates and the sound of the thunder from outside. At the table there was a young lady, a man, and a young child. As the child reached across the table to get the salt, a cup of water was knocked over. Everything went silent as the cup hit the floor and shattered into a million tiny pieces. As the man began to rise from his seat the young lady began to plead.

“Please Charles, the child didn’t mean to. It was an accident.” She said in despair.

“Quiet Mary.” He snapped back.

As the man began to advance towards the child he said in a menacing tone “you’re going to regret that m”-

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I was startled by a knock on the door.

“Malia darling, it’s time for dinner,” called Mrs. Kent through the door.

“Coming,” I yelled back.

 After dinner I went back to my room to finish unpacking. Considering I didn’t have a lot of stuff I was done pretty quickly, so I decided to go to bed early. As I was getting ready for bed I was wondering how long it was going to be before I got shipped of somewhere else. My only thought was that I shouldn’t have unpacked my stuff as I drifted off to sleep.

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The next morning I was woken by someone gently shaking me. As I opened my eyes I realised that is was Mrs. Kent.

“I made breakfast for you and I was wondering if you wanted to come to town to get some stuff with me,” asked Mrs. Kent.

“No thank you,” I replied in a sleepy voice.

After breakfast I went back to my room and decided to go on to the internet. And that is where I stayed for the rest of the weekend, through Mrs. Kent did remind me to be ready by 7:30 tomorrow for my first day of school and to get my papers from the office.

I settled into a dreamless sleep.

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When my alarm woke me on Monday morning it took me a few minutes to remember that I was starting school today. Looking at the clock I realised I only had an hour and a half to get ready and eat breakfast so I quickly hoped in the shower. When I got out I dried my hair and put it up into a simple ponytail. I dressed in a pair of dark skinny jeans and a grey and white V-neck sweater, and the new boots the Mrs. Kent bought me. I grabbed my bag and headed to the kitchen. Mrs. Kent was already there cooking breakfast.

“Where’s Mr. Kent.” I asked

“He’s already at work. He works down in the salt mines.” She said.

As I sat down, Mrs. Kent placed a plate of eggs and bacon in front of me. Though I asked if I could have toast instead since I was allergic to eggs.

“Oh goodness dear!” cried Mrs. Kent. “I completely forgot,” she said as she switched the plate for a plate of toast.

 As soon as we were done breakfast we got into the car and started the short drive to the school. As we were driving, Mrs. Kent let me know that she would pick me up after school ended. We pulled up to the school. There weren’t many people since it was still early. I thanked Mrs. Kent for the ride as I got out of the car. As I looked at the building I didn’t notice Mrs. Kent pull away. As the nervous feeling came back I just stood there and thought that my life couldn’t get worse.