Believe in Me

Chapter 1:

            The rained poured down on my back, as if the clouds were weeping. I jumped at the sudden crack of thunder, my bones shaking as the sound vibrated through me. I had just been kicked out of my last foster home and I wasn’t quite sure if I was delighted or pessimistic about the situation. They handed me a bank card and an envelope filled with enough cash to buy me a small, dingy apartment. They then continued to tell me they put enough money on the card to get me through college and to feed me. How much that is, well they never said. A car raced passed me on the street, splashing water all over my clothes. I wiped my sticky, brown, wet hair out of my eyes. Holding back a sob. Don’t cry Sam, it’s not worth it. Don’t cry Samantha. Don’t do it. I kept repeating this over and over again. Praying and hoping that I didn’t break down and cry- which was exactly what I wanted to do.

I kept on walking until I came upon a small, run down motel. The big sign out front was lit up, well mostly lit up. The ‘E’ and the ‘O’ were flickering on and off. As soon as I stepped into the lobby the smell of alcohol and smoke filled my nose, making me cringe in disgust. I walked up to the receptionist’s desk, which was a dark brown with yellow stains all over it. It smelled a little like dog pee.

“Hello? I need a room please.” I said with a slight hint of revolt lacing my words. I hear a loud thump from behind the desk and jump. A women in her mid 40’s jumps up from behind the desk, her hair disheveled and her clothes crooked. She was a larger women with straggly blonde hair and a permanent frown etched onto her face.

“What do you want? Couldn’t you tell I was busy?” She glares at me, lighting a cigarette in front of my face.

“I just need a room.” I said as bluntly as I could. She thought that she’d be able to get rid of me. Well she was wrong because I was not going to sleep outside in the pouring rain. The name on her shirt read, ‘Mildred’.  “Look, Mildred. I’ve been walking for hours. I’m soaked if you can’t already tell” I say while looking pointedly down at my clothes. “and I just got thrown out of my foster home, Oh, and by the way, it’s my birthday. So, If you wouldn’t mind doing your job for 5 minutes and just check me into a room that would be much appreciated.” I glare at her, putting both of my palms onto the front lobby desk. Mildred starts to type furiously onto the computer, with each passing second her typing gets harder and harder until she finally sticks her hand into the drawer and grabs me a key card.

“Here, room 108.”

I grab the card and smile, lacing each word with as much fake kindness as I possibly could. “Thank you ever so kindly.”

I walked towards room 108, looking down I noticed that there was a giant hole in my old shoes. That’s not surprising though, I’ve had those shoes since 5 foster families ago; that family was one of the nicer ones, they actually bought me clothes that would fit me and bought me new things every once in awhile, I always enjoyed those days. They used to say that they only did that so that I wouldn’t embarrass them whenever we went somewhere, but thinking back I realize that we NEVER went anywhere.

I step into my room and look around; dark mauve curtains hung against the single long window, one bed that looks like the last person who slept in it was an overweight, greasy man, and a bathroom that smells and looks like its never been cleaned. I stood in the middle of the doorway, “This is your home now, Samantha. Don’t expect anything better because it won’t happen.”

I threw my old duffle bag onto the floor and collapsed onto the bed, facing up towards the yellow ceiling. My eyes slowly started to shut. I welcomed sleep like it was my hero, for it truly carried away the pain that held my heart hostage.