Unbroken

Children Surrender

(ASHLEY’S POV)

I was shocked.  Carter has never talked about her dad before.

“Really? Was he a mechanic?” I ask.

“No, it was a hobby of ours.  We restored a 1980 GMC Sierra Long bed truck together before-“she broke off.

“Before?” I ask.

“Before he d-died,” she says, whispering the last word.

“Oh,” I say, shocked.

“Yeah, he was an electrician.  He would take me on service calls with him.  The weekends were the only times we had to work on trucks, so I tried to learn as much as I could,” she said while poking around inside the hood.  She checked the oil and didn’t find anything unusual.  “He dressed just like me when he was a teen.  We used to joke that I was a female version of him.  We both loved the same things.  He got me started on what my mother called ‘butt-rock’.  Me and him would listen to Black Veil Brides, Metallica, Slipknot, you name it.  He got me hooked on WWE as a young child.  We both really love animals.  He died in an accident after a drunk driver crashed into his truck.  He gave me Oli when I turned 13, the last birthday of mine he spent with us.  He always called me his ‘success story’ because I was always helping with my siblings and got really good grades,” she said, walking away from the car.  “Looks like the battery is dead.”

“Can you fix it?” I asked.

“Yeah, but we need another car or truck and some jumper cables.”

“Uh, what?” I asked, clueless.  She sighed and walked to the trunk.  She pulled out a cord that had two clamps on each end, one black, one red.  “Oh,” I said, still confused.

“Is this your parents’ only car?” she asked.

“No, but don’t expect us to be able to help once they get here, we are clueless in this area,” I say, grabbing my phone to call my parents.

“Don’t worry, I have been doing this since I was nine,” she said, smiling.

***

“They will be here in an hour and a half,” I tell Carter as I get back in the car.

“Okay,” she responds.

“I didn’t know you had siblings,” I say, curious.

“They live with my grandparents,” she said.  I gave her the look for ‘why?’  “When my dad died, my mother started abusing substances.  We had to live with my dad’s mom and dad for a long time.  From the time I was thirteen to when I was fifteen.  My mom called me on my fifteenth birthday, telling me she had changed.  I went and stayed with her for a year, thinking she really did.  I wanted to go first so my siblings didn’t get hurt.  After my sixteenth birthday, I started getting abused by her.  Mentally, physically, and emotionally.  I refused to let the boys and my sister come to see their monster of a mother.  I dealt with it until I met you.  She had said that if I tried to run away or tell anyone, she would go after the kids.  I couldn’t let her.  I l-love them and haven’t seen them in forever.  I helped my parents raise them! I m-m-miss t-them!” She started to cry and buried her head in my shoulder.

“Shh,” I said, stroking her head.  “What are their names?”  I asked.

“Mellissa is my sister, she is 7-no! She is 8 now! That means the Mordechai and Britton are 6!” she says, shocked.

Just then, there was a tap on the window.  Carter fixed herself as my parents positioned the cars.

“Okay, perfect!” she said.  She then walked over to each car and hooked them up, using great care when doing so.  “Okay, I’m going to go and revv the engine and hopefully this will go smoothly.”

**10 minutes later**

“Okay, all done!” she says, slamming both hoods.

“Thank you so much, Carter!” my mom runs up and hugs her.

“N-No prob Mrs. Paws,” she says.

“Please! Call me Linda! And this is Tomas!” She says, gesturing to my father.

“Oh, uh, okay,” Carter responded, laughing nervously.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

EDITED 9/29/14