Eight Counts

Chapter 6

"I was a terrible child at your age. I swear, Miss Kym was about ready to kick me out of class. I remember there was one day right after our golden retriever Shaina had puppies and Mum said that she was going to sell them because we didn't have enough money or room for them. I was so upset because at that point in time I thought that they were my best friends, so I hid them in my bag and took them to dance with me. The only problem was, I had to take all my shoes and everything out so they would fit. I tried to explain to Miss Kym how I left them at home but she decided that she had to go look for herself just to make sure and Mozart, Tab, Apollo, and Peanut decided they wanted to jump out and play. Needless to say, Miss Kym was not pleased, but she let them stay and watch class, even though Mozart would howl every time she played our music."

I laughed. She wasn't hard to picture as the wild child back in Australia. "Anyway, my point is if Miss Kym never gave up on me, nothing you could say or do will make me give up on you. Understand?"

I nodded. There was a wave of silence, short lived as I finally spoke up. "She held a gun to my head. She used to love me but something in her just changed. I like to think that she was drunk, but there was no alcohol on her breath. She told me it was my fault my father left us. She said neither of them could stand me. She said maybe once I was dead she'd finally be able to be happy."

"Your Mum is a bloody liar, Ana. You're an absolutely amazing girl, and anyone would be lucky to have you in their lives. Whatever was making your parents such miserable human beings had nothing to do with you."

"It doesn't matter anymore. She still got her way. Not in the way she intended, but she still took my life from me. Eventually Child Protective Services is going to come for me and I'll get taken away from school and dance and you and any shred of happiness I might have managed to salvage and placed into foster care."

"Ana?"

"Peta?"

"I filed to adopt you today."