The Sweetest Devotion (The Affair Series Book 2)

Nevada

10 1/2 years old

STEF POV

"Girl get out that car and help me with this stuff! Can't your dumb ass see I'm struggling! Hurry up!"I heard my mother scream from outside our beat up station wagon as we had just gotten to our new place in Nevada. It was must have been nearly 1000 degrees as the sweat was dripping down my vanilla face, neck and arms. Never did I know heat like this for each place we lived in during the last few years was nothing like this heat. Nothing I thought as I quickly grabbed my mother's cigarette from the car astray and took puff. It had been almost a year since I learned that my aunt passed away along with Debbie and since then maybe I changed. Even if I had a hard time believing her and had tried to call the number a few times to find it disconnected and no longer in service. My time with her seemed so far away now and some nights I found myself still having nightmares. Her face I no longer remembered what it looked like or the sound of her voice or anything. Nothing as I wondered if she was in heaven how upset she was with me. How everything she taught me was out the window and I had forgotten all of it. Most of it and it was being filled more and more with bad habits that I was picking up from Sharon.

It was hard not to change because part of me just didn't care about anything anymore. School, whether Sharon beat me or not or myself. There really wasn't much she could do to me at this point that she had not already done as it seemed I was growing more and more bold with her lately and had mouthed off to her a handful of times during the ride.  The busted lip she gave me was soon healing  as I took another puff and got out the car shielding my eyes from the sun.

The landscape was dry, dryer then anything as my bare feet stood on the hot desert sand.  Nothing about this place was any different then where we lived before as it was  filled with old trailers surround by old couches, dead cars and trash. Some dogs ran around and our trailer wasn't much better as the door hung off one of the hinges and the screen ripped from edge to edge.

"Would you hurry up! And stop smoking my damm cigarettes before I start charging you! Don't think I don't know you taken

 them girl!" She said grabbing it out of my hand as it soon dangled out of her mouth.

"The door is broke mama."

"What door?"

"The door on our trailer. Hanging off. Look." I pointied as she placed a box in my arms and looked to where I pointed.

"Well shit now. Someone gonna have to come and fix that up! I won't have someone taking my shit and robbin me. Christ sake!"

"I thought you weren't supposed to use his name in vain?" I asked in a sarcastic smart ass way.

"Girl don't you go sassin me. Been too much of that from you lately.  NEver learn! Now go on and bring this stuff on inside while I find someone to fix up this damm door! Fucking ridiculous shit paying all this money for a broken door!" 

Watching her walk off in her heels and tight shorts  I carried our boxes and trash bags inside the trailer and it was pretty shitty. The kitchen was smaller than usual and was filled with rust and grime as I saw a few large roaches crawling in and out of the sink. There was old couch which I figured would be my bed with an old TV and torn off wallpaper and torn up tiles. The bedrooms sat empty and I was surprised to see two of them as I looked into one of them maybe hoping it would be mine.  But with Sharon I wouldn't count on it for she probably was going to rent it out or have one of her men friends stay.  As if I didn't know what that was at this point because I knew my mother was a tramp. Everyone knew it because I heard her making those noises in the room whenever they were over.

As I ran back outside to grab more of our things I soon finished up and walked off a bit to see the rest of the place. It really wasn't anything to write home about as my feet kicked back and forth on the dusty path but I was hoping we would stay put just for a bit. It got real tiring moving all the damm time as we had gone from West Virginia, to Oklahoma, Nebraska, Tennessee, and Pennsylvania.  I didn't get why my mother couldn't stay in one damm place.

"You get back here you little shit! You get back here if you know what's damm good for you! Get over here!" Hearing someone screaming I looked to the left of me and saw an older black man with a belt in his hand chasing after a girl who looked like my age. She ran so fast out the trailer with bare feet like me almost like she was running for her life as she ran passed me. "I said to get back here girl! You better you can't hide all day!" He yelled  and heading back inside slamming the door. With my eyes going back to the direction she ran in I soon followed behind only guessing in which direction she went. Since this trailer park was filled with so many hiding spaces I didn't know where she went as I went further down the path soon hearing something move.

"He's gone you know. He can't get you." I yelled out as I saw tiny brown feet sticking out of a nearby bush that was rather far from the trailers.

"I promise he's not here. He went back inside. I swear." I said once more and walked closer to where I thought I saw her as her foot soon moved. Turning the corner there she was crawled in a ball as I took a seat beside her and she nervously looked up at me moving away. "I won't hurt you. I just wanted to make sure you were ok."

"Leave me alone." She said sadly and tucking her head down as she kept sniffling. I knew her father was probably beating up because her face was all red and she had a scar across it just like many scars I had too. Seeing that she was scared and didn't want to talk to me I got up and looked around for something I could give her. Anything as I soon found a little pink flower that had been growing among all the ugly weeds which the place seemed to be full of. I remembered my Aunt Fran had given Debbie flowers alot and they seemed to make her smile. Yanking it out the ground I walked back over to her and sat  right in front of her.

"This is for you. I don't know if you like pink." I said as she soon lifted her face up and it was covered in tears. But she soon wiped them as she studied the flower and her eyes looked into mine. "It's for you. You probably have to water it. It needs water to live." Holding it out to her dark eyes eyes looked hesitant and conflicted as I moved it closer to her. "Do you want a different color? I can look to see if they have something else."

"No. Thank, thank you."

"You're welcome." I said as she gently took it from my hand and I smiled softly at her and she returned it. "My name is Stefanie but you can call me Stef. What's your name?"

"Diane." she said and I could tell she was really shy but she was pretty like my old friend Amanda. Even prettier as her black hair was in two long puffy braids and a yellow bow at the top of each.

"That's pretty. I like it. And I like your hair. Did you do it?"

"No my auntie.

"Oh it's nice."

"Thanks." 

Getting up I sat beside her as she continued to sniffle and I gently wiped her tear with the back of my hand. Looking into my eyes she seem worried but let out another small smile at me as I couldn't help but hug her.

"Don't cry. It will be ok Di. I'll be your friend." Wrapping my arm around her she rested her head on me as I had no idea that I would meet the love of my life right on the floor in that trailer park.

-------

Well that's how Stef and Diane meet.