Scarred

Chapter 10

I dialed Sam's number on my phone. He picked up almost immediately.

"Hey, Quinn," he said.

"Hey," I said back. "How was work?"

"Good. I'm heading home right now. You want to meet me there? I'm sure Mom and Dad would love to meet you."

"Sure," I said. "I'll see you there." I hung up the phone and began the walk to Sam's house.

As I walked, I lit a cigarette. When I got there, it smelled strongly of smoke - and not because of me. I frowned and rang the doorbell. A moment later, the door opened to reveal a middle-aged man smoking a cigarette. He wore a stained wife beater t-shirt and cargo shorts.

"You must be Sam's little whore," the man said. I scowled at the comment, puffing smoke in his face. "A smoker? I like her, Sam!" he called.

"Can I come in?" I asked with attitude.

"Well, sure, Little Miss Smoker," he said. As I walked in, the man picked up a bottle of alcohol and took a drink, grimacing at the taste. Sam came rushing down the stairs.

"Dad, stop drinking around my girlfriend," Sam said.

"Don't tell me what to do," Sam's dad said. He raised the empty bottle like he was going to hit Sam, but Sam quickly grabbed it and smashed it onto the floor. I just watched, not knowing what to do. "You better be careful," Mr. Johnson warned. He then left the room.

"I'm sorry you had to see that," Sam apologized.

"It's okay," I said.

"Do you want to meet my mom?" he asked.

"Sure." I followed him up the stairs and past three doors, stopping at the last one. He knocked. No answer. He slowly opened the door. I saw a women lying unconscious on the bed with a syringe lying next to her.

"Shit!" Sam exclaimed, rushing over to his mom's side. He grabbed the syringe and saw that it was empty. "Shit, Mom, why now?" He grabbed his cell phone and dialed 911.

"What the hell is going on?" I asked.

"She overdosed on heroine," Sam explained. The 911 operator picked up. Sam shouted some things at the operator, including the situation and his address. A few minutes later, paramedics arrived and started performing CPR on her. I stood behind Sam, clutching onto his arm. He stood crying. The paramedics hauled his mom off to the hospital. Sam grabbed my hand and followed them downstairs. Suddenly, his dad came into the room with a police officer, handcuffed. "What-"

"He's being taken for possession of drugs," one of the officers said. "I'm not surprised to see you here, Miss Torres," he scowled. I recognized him from my time in the police station a few weeks ago. He took Sam's dad while Micah and Kyle entered the room crying. Both Sam's mom and dad went out, Sam watching.

"I can't believe this is happening," Sam said. I leaned against him, trying to comfort him. But it was no use.

***

Sam skipped community service the next day.

I waited for him for twenty minutes, but he never showed up. I eventually just entered the park and began picking up trash. It was just Andre and I (because Paige had finished her time), so it was pretty boring.

When our time for the day was up, I quickly dialed Sam. It went straight to voicemail. I biked over to his house. No answer. Where is he?