Solstice Howl

07

Growing up, I was tossed from house to house.

And, considering my options were limited due to the sparse number of people there were, you would think that someone would have enough sympathy to take me in for good, to provide a home for me.

But, I was tainted. I had psychological issues, I was angry all the time, and I disrespected adults. Everyone was just too busy to worry about a child that wasn't their own.

All except one, Karen Tucker, the only person akin to being a mother figure for me.

She was a young doctor-in-training, and I was her first step to becoming independent.

At the time, I couldn't have been older than 9. I was a wiry, tall brat with a tendency to get myself into trouble with any superior I came across.

And she? Well, I hated her guts.

She had a face that screamed something was missing, whether it be that all her facial features were pinched to one place, or her nose was too round for her angular jaw. Her hair was long and platinum blonde, various braids she strategically placed throughout.

I never learned to braid, I never did anything with my hair, nor would let anyone touch it.

Except her.

The first thing I had done when they introduced me to her was smirk and insult her face.

The thing about Karen, she was kind and patient, a small, knowing smile always on her thin lips that never wavered.

I had hated her with a passion, doing everything in my power to get her to be rid of me.

But, she was adamant that I was good, that I was worth keeping. The only people left in her family were her ancient grandmother who could barely blink her eyes open, her sick mother who she doesn't talk to due to a past conflict that was never elaborated on, and unfortunately for me at the time, a younger brother by the name of Carter Tucker.

I remembered before Karen left for her doctor training every morning, she'd drop me off with her half-asleep grandma, and I'd become so angry. It were as if I was watching the grandma instead of her watching me. She was an irritated old woman who despised children, specifically me, and yelled at me for every little thing I did, demanding me to clean around her small shack-house.

Sometimes, Karen's little brother would be there to watch over the nearly dead grandma. He was scrawny for a 12 year old and we'd chase and pick on each other, I mainly picked on him for his height considering I was younger and taller than him.

Carter and I essentially did not like each other at first, but he was something to do to prevent boredom.

There's this one distinct memory where we combined our mischievous forces to accomplish a childish prank. His grandma had fallen asleep while watching us and we had gone to the nearest trading center to trade a few cents Carter had earned from carrying supplies from the supply truck every time they came back. We had bought a can of icing and giggled the whole way back to her house. We then proceeded to use a quarter of the can to smear the delectable chocolate icing across a dirty, sodden sponge. We put the sponge that looked like a cake on a chipped plate and sat it next to the sleeping old woman, so she'd have something to eat when she woke up.

As she bit into the sponge, me and Carter couldn't hold back our giggles as she realized that it wasn't a small cake. Her face had turned an ugly shade of red and she exclaimed my name in pure outrage. As punishment, she made us finish the rest of the can, and that didn't sound much like a punishment at the time, but I had a bad tummy ache for days after.

When Carter wasn't there with me,  I'd run away from her small hell  because it wasn't as if she could chase me. People had come to know me as the troubled child I was, and would call Karen, so she could take me back to her Grandmas because Karen was the only one I'd let escort me.