Talking Loudly

Chapter 4

Beth was enjoying the party with her family all of them not minding about having to sign most of the time.

Beth remembered the day when she met her foster mother.

Beth laid in the bed and all she could hear was nothing. But how could one hear nothing? When she was hearing there was always white sound. Someone fiddling with something, a fan, the heater, or even the wind which was just air and essentially nothing but it was always making sound somehow. What made Beth even more nervous was the fact that she couldn't even hear her own breath. Was she breathing? She sees movement in the corner of her eyes and watches as a couple walk in. They looked older than her parents. Easily in their early fifties.

Beth was scared. Who were these strangers? Why couldn't she hear. The man looked familiar. The lady looked excited though and her husband who was smiling wide was holding her down from bouncing all over the place.

"I can't hear!" Beth panics yelling loudly. She still could talk clearly. She talked slowly feeling the words in her mouth and using them wisely. She felt like she was a kid again not really having a clue to what the words were coming out of her mouth, but when she was little it was because she didn't know what they meant. Now the game has changed...

The man walks towards her nodding with a white board in his hands. He writes on it telling her everything.

She's been down for a few days sleeping. A lot of it had to do with the shock of the blood coming out of her ears. Then she had to have surgery to see if they can do anything. They couldn't. They also have been trying to contact her parents. But it seemed like they just dropped off the earth. Beth wasn't surprised that they left her. Their constant search of protests. They were terrible hippies. Beth had seen better hippies that were kind and caring wanting the best for their children letting them have their own beliefs and wanted them to have a great time at school as they traveled and protested. One of her friends parents who had a home, but still were hippies. Even though they had jobs which was something that apparently devoted hippies couldn't have. Her parents just didn't care about her. Difficult was the only word she could use to describe her parents. They barely remembered her birthday.

Until the authorities find your parents you are going to stay with us. We all are going to learn sign language. You are safe now.

I had to stay in the hospital another day because I apparently was coming down from an addiction. An addiction to a drug I didn't know I was consuming.

The cop and his wife, Dean and Liza, came to the hospital the next day with a speech therapist. Who would also spend the next two years teaching me American Sign Language. The cop and his wife treated me like I'm fragile at first. But they were patient and loving. They took turns keeping Beth, who didn't know she was screaming in her sleep, calm. When one of them was next to her she slept peacefully. Then Beth met my two older foster siblings. The oldest was their son, Leland who was twenty-two; and their daughter Francis who was twenty. The two siblings absolutely took the small, fragile, red-head in.

Leland taps Beth on her arm and signs to her what one of their dads friends was saying. He signs the entire time not pausing and his movements fluid. After all of their dad's cop friends had left they all sat down in the living room watching a movie.

"Lee," Beth whispers. Beth was willing to talk around the family. Leland looks over to his sister who was starting to fall asleep. He reaches over and taps on her hand.

"Stay awake," he signs to her with a huge smile on his face. He keeps Beth distracted while their mom sneaks into the kitchen and grabs a present. Then all the sudden Liza is in front of Beth with a box. It had drawled the entire family's attention. She looks at everyone confused. Dean and Liza watch nervously from their seats.

"Open it," Liza signs to Beth. Beth carefully unwraps the present and opens the box. She looks confused as she sees blank paper.

She picks up the paper and sees that it was thick stack of paper. Leland reaches over and flips it. Beth reads the top.

Adoption

Beth's eyes read over the word multiple times. She looks up panicking. Dean walks over and kneels in front of Beth.

"We want to adopt you. Since we already think you are our child," Dean signs. Beth was crying.

"Wow!" Beth exclaims out loud. Dean smiles softly.

"Yes, I love you dad," Beth signs. Dean immediately pulls Beth into his arms crying. Liza had rushed over and was hugging the two as well. Francis was crying happily that her sister was actually going to be her sister.

Everyone pulls apart and Beth laughs a little as she wipes her tears from her eyes.

"I still think our present to you is better," Beth signs to him. Dean laughs and shakes his head.

Francis walks up to her father and hands him a fancy small box. He laughs and opens it and smiles widely.

"To Finland?" he signs to his children in disbelief. Leland smiles and wraps his arms around his sisters shoulders.

"Yes, believe it," Francis signs showing that she was feeling sassy. Dean starts shaking his head.

"I think Beth saying yes to being legally part of our family is the best retirement present I'll ever get," Dean tells his family.

Everyone exhausted after laughing and crying so much decide to go to bed. Leland wakes up to a sound of someone crying.

Beth. He rushes out of his old room and into his sisters room. Francis was behind him. They both see her asleep, but crying. Francis is already gently waking Beth up gently.

"What's wrong?" Dean says sticking his head out of his bedroom.

"Beth is having a nightmare, Francis is already slowly waking her up. Go back to sleep dad we got it," Leland says to his dad. Dean nods his head and goes back to bed. Beth gasps and opens her eyes to see Francis brushing hair out of Beth's face. Then she sees Leland walking to the room with a wet wash cloth. Beth sits up and takes the wet cloth from Leland's hand. He walks to the other side of her bed and gets in.

"What happened in your dream?" Francis asks Beth taking the cloth from her. Francis dabs Beth's neck softly trying to cool it off.

Beth hesitates and then tells her sister, "You guys left me." The family that Beth was getting adopted into all had dark brown or black hair. Naturally tanner skin and brown eyes.

"Never," Francis signs as she gets up. She takes the cloth and puts it in the laundry basket in the bathroom and then gets in bed with her two other siblings. Leland already was asleep, Beth was dozing off, exhausted. Francis gets in and waits for Beth to fall asleep before she does herself.