The Five Times Leo Valdez Almost Died and the One Time He Did

A New Foster Home

Abused, beaten, and curled up in the closet.

That's how they found him.

Days, no, weeks. That's how long he was locked up in there. He had little water, little food, little light. He had a bruised body, a broken rib, and a fractured arm. He had been tormented to near death by his foster parents. And he couldn't be more than ten years old.

The paramedics slowly picked him up, not wanting to hurt him anymore than he already was. They laid him out on a stretcher and put him in the back of an ambulance before quickly driving away. His foster parents stood leaning up against a cop car while handcuffs were put on their wrists. They tried to fight it. Tried to say that it wasn't what it looked like. But what could be said? It was exactly what it looked like. A pair of foster parents neglecting a chid because they only wanted the money. Except this time it was more than just neglect, it was abuse.

This had been Leo's second foster home. The first one didn't work out either but it wasn't as bad as this one. At least the last one never hurt him. The day he was given to these parents he knew he was in trouble. The dad was an alcoholic who didn't care, he was barely home. The mom was just downright crazy, often drunk and hopped up on drugs. How was it that they even passed the background check to become foster parents?

The dad had dark hair and a stubbly beard with eyes the color of dirt. The mom had blond hair that was often pulled back into a slick bun with eyes as steely as the moon. They day Leo walked in and sat down was they day his life had gotten that much worse. He had already been through a lot and now he was put with two parents who just didn't care. When the parents went to pick him up they had a nice smile on their face, a welcoming one that seemed happy to have Leo. As soon as they walked through the door into their house the smile disappeared. They shoved him forwards into the dimly lit area.

"This is your room," the woman said with a voice as cold as ice. Leo looked in to see a tiny area with gray walls and a small gray bed. It had no tv, no video games, no toys, no space to play. It looked more like a jail cell than a bedroom. That night they sat at the small, round, glass dinning room table and ate quietly. Leo was shaking with every bite he took, trying to be as quiet and as perfect as possible. He didn't want to mess this family up.

"Leo," the woman said sharply looking up at him. He quickly put his fork down and looked back at her, giving her his full attention. "I know about your fire, Leo. I know what you did to your mom." Leo stared back at the woman terrified. "We took the precaution of putting any matches and lighters away so that you can't have anything to start a fire with. With that being said, there will be no fire in this house, understand?"

Leo nodded his head vigorously, his eyes wide with fear.

"Good," the woman nodded promptly seeming satisfied with the talk. "Now go to bed."

Leo looked down at his food. He wasn't done eating but he wasn't going to argue. He quickly scooted back and ran off to his new room. When he got there he pulled some pajamas out of the drawer which were just as gray as the room. He changed into them and laid in his small bed, staring at the ceiling. He shivered from the cold nights air that seemed to be leaking in through the window. Nothing about the room was warm. It was freezing and Leo just happened to be the opposite of freezing. He needed warmth, he needed fire but he wasn't aloud to even make a spark. Not to mention, he didn't really want to after what happened with his mom.

So Leo laid there under the covers trying to get warm as the night went on.

Things went as smooth as it could possibly go for a while. Weeks had gone by with no outbursts, no throwing or screaming or cursing. Things were going pretty smoothly. Then one day the foster dad came home with the smell of alcohol stuck to his breath like never before.

"Leo!" he barked. "Get your butt over here!"

Leo quickly ran over to find him wobbling by the door. "Yes?" Leo asked politely.

"Yes, sir," the man corrected.

"Sorry," Leo mumbled.

"Here, Leo, take this," the man said handing him his jacket. "Hang it up somewhere, I don't care where." Leo nodded and ran off to hang it up in the mans closet. He was shutting the door when he heard more yelling.

"Leo! Where are you, boy?" the man shouted again.

Leo quickly ran back over to him. He was now sitting on the couch looking dazed. "Yes, sir?" Leo asked getting it right this time.

The man smiled in acknowledgment of the 'sir'. "Leo, hand me a beer from the fridge please," he ordered putting his feet up on the coffee table.

Leo nodded and rushed off to the fridge. He opened the heavy door and grabbed a brown bottle and quickly ran back over to give it to him. The man looked down at the beer and frowned. "No you idiot. I want the other one. The green one!" he yelled shooting Leo a disgusting look and thrusting the bottle back in his hands. "You do know what the color green is right?" Leo nodded and quickly ran back to he fridge to grab the other bottle. "Where's your whore of a mother, huh? Where is she? Out with some other guy again? Not even here to welcome me home."

"S-she went to the store," Leo stuttered grabbing the green bottle.

The man laughed a deep, bitter laugh. "The store! Ha! That's what she always says. I hate that woman. Leo, do you have that beer yet or are you too stupid to find it?"

"I-I have it, s-sir," Leo said throwing the fridge door shut and running over to the man. He gave him the bottle and watched as he chugged it down swiftly before tossing the bottle off to the side of the couch.

He looked over at Leo and coughed before talking. "Leo, get me another one." Leo nodded and ran back over to the fridge to grab another one. He was walking back when he tripped on the carpet sending the bottle out of his hands and crashing to the floor in front of his foster dad, making the glass break and the beer get all over him. The man looked at Leo so angrily Leo thought he would kill him with just his eyes. "YOU IDIOT!" he yelled at Leo angrily, while holding his sopping wet shirt out from his body as much as possible.

"I-I'm s-sorry-" Leo whimpered. The man grabbed the empty bottle from the couch and lugged it at Leo. Luckily, he was so intoxicated that his aim was terrible and missed Leo.

"Come here, boy!" the man shouted at him reaching for him.

Leo quickly shot up from the floor. "I-I'll get you another one-" he said quickly but was grabbed by the man.

"I knew we shouldn't have gotten you! You're not worth the money we're given!" he spat at Leo as he shook him angrily. Leo squirmed as he tried to get away from the clutches of the man. "Don't try to run away from me! You're not going anywhere!" he shouted bringing his hand back and running it across Leo's face leaving a red mark. Leo yelped and squirmed some more. "I said stop trying to run away!" The man yelled doing the same thing. Tears were starting to make their way down Leo's face. "Oh, you're crying now? How pathetic," the man spat, throwing Leo on the ground. Leo landed on his right arm and yelped in pain as he felt it shatter. The man kicked Leo in the side repeatedly before going over and grabbing his belt. "I'll teach you, you little idiot!" The man shouted bringing his belt down on Leo. The belt whipped Leo in many places leaving bruises everywhere it touched. Leo's whole body stung in pain as he cried. He just wanted it to stop. Finally the man threw his belt down and picked up Leo by the collar of his shirt. Leo didn't know where he was being taken but he was glad the beating was done for now.

The man walked downstairs into the basement and opened up a small, windowless closet with nothing in it. He threw him in roughly. "You can come out when you've learned your lesson," and with that the man threw the door shut leaving Leo cowering in the dark room by himself.

He now laid in bed hooked up to a monitor as a doctor assessed his injuries. It was decided that he would stay at the hospital until he was well enough to leave. From there he would go back into the foster care system where they would try to give him to someone else.

Leo didn't get a choice on this. It just happened. That's how things worked. But that wouldn't change the fact that those many nights locked up scarred Leo and left him broken on the inside and in desperate need for just a little love.