Skye Brooke: The New Star

You Don't Have to Run Anymore

I was in Mari's room. Her aunt lives in California so that's exactly how she got here. I looked around her room. There was pictures. Pictures of me and her, pictures of her mom and mostly...her dad. She never talk a lot about him. She came back in the room. I looked at her. She smiled shyly. "Sorry, my aunt needed me for cooking." She said. I nodded in understanding. I sat on her new bed. It looked pretty cool like mine. Her walls are painted blue. I painted mine's green. It reminded me of when we giggled that our colors are the face of the earth. Blue and green. "Your room looks nice." I said. She giggled. "Thanks! It's great being here! You get to do whatever to your room!" She said. I chuckled. "We always dreamed of having bedrooms together." I said. She nodded. "Yup! How do yours look?" She asked. I smiled. "Mine is sick! It has a window where I could see the whole neighborhood!" I said. She laughed. "My house is close to where the beach is." She told me. Wow! Cool! Just hope the shark won't catch her. "Careful! There is a mad shark in the ocean! No joke!" I joked. We laughed. I raised an eyebrow. "No really! A shark almost killed me and my friends!" I said. She was confused. "Friends?" She said. I nodded. "I seriously made new friends and I'm not even popular." I said. She chuckled. "What are their names?" She asked. "Demi, Selena, Miley, Kendall and Kylie, William and Hakeem. Plus Justin...my boyfriend." I said. Her jaw dropped. "Oh my god. My Skye has a boyfriend?" She said. She screamed happily. I laughed. She hugged me tightly. "I'm so happy for you! Is he cute?" She said. I scoffed. "Very cute!" I said.
She cheered. I giggled. "Whoa. I missed out on a lot. Have you heard of Hollywood Arts school that's around here?" She said. I nodded. "Yup we go there." I told her. She cheered. "Yay! I'm thinking of enrolling!" She said. I fake smiled. Enrolling, after I tell the gang the girl with the jewelry box is alive. "Um, Mari? Why did you run away? Was life worth living if you could just run from it all?" I asked. She sighed. "I can't lie to you." She mumbled. I nodded in agreement. "Of course you can't. We're friends." I said. She crossed her arms and sighed. "Friends don't stop contacting each other after a whole year or two." She said. I scoffed. "It doesn't matter! A whole year or not I'm still your best friend always. No distance or running away could ruin that." I said.
She took a deep breath. "Ok, the reason I ran away in the first place...was to get away from my parents." She admitted. I looked at her confusedly. "Your parents? Why? What did they do?" I asked. She took a deep breath. "My dad was a drunk. He used to always get high, go out to the bar and come home drunk. He has anger issues when he drinks. He would force my mom to do the dishes, clean the rooms and wash the clothes. Sometimes she would say no...and he would hit her. Slap her. Or punch her. So...I chose to do all the chores to keep her safe. But that didn't work. He would still force her and force me to keep doing school. One day, he came home drunk and admitted he slept with a woman from a bar. Then she got pregnant. My mom didn't want me here when he's here so she'd send me to my grandma's or I could come see you. Other day, he came back though Mom threw him out. He told me that he wants to talk in my room. But he closed the door and he- I cut her off. "Touched you?" I whispered. She nodded. Tears formed in her eyes. "How many times he did it?" I asked. She sniffled and wiped her eyes. "Only one time. I smelled alcohol in his breath. He walked out leaving me helplessly on the bed. That was when I lost my virginity. He left before my mom came back. With enough courage, I literally told her everything at night. She was still mad that he got another woman pregnant. Then one day, he kind of drunkenly threatened to hurt her if she divorced him. She did when he was sober so he left completely. Damn it hurt my mom so deeply. When she let her anger out, she threw a knife. I dodged it but it hit my arm. She started crying and upset but I only ran into my room. I figured I wanted to escape. Escape all of this. Late at night, I packed my bags and left the house. I even left a note for Mom. I didn't tell where I was staying at. I contacted my aunt and told her everything. She agreed to pick me up from the airport and take me here. That's actually it. I just wanted to run from everything." She explained. Her face was wet with tears. I shedded one tear. I never knew she was going through that. I wish I could've done something but I'm not a miracle worker. She cried more. I hugged her. She hugged me tightly. "I know how it feels when a family's broken. Me and my dad felt broken after losing my mom. She had a drug problem. When I found out you were missing, I thought you were gone forever. Just like her." I said. She wiped her eyes. "I was never gone. I wanted to be gone cause I didn't felt safe, I wasn't sexually safe and my mom wasn't physically and emotionally safe at all. All I'm thinking about as if dad turned his life around." She said. I looked at her. "You mean for the baby." I said. She nodded. "Actually, little sisters." She said. My jaw dropped. "Little sisters?" I said. She shed another tear. "Yup. He called my aunt and told her they have two little girls. For the first time, he sounded sober when I talked to him. He been in rehab while they were still in her belly. The woman's name is Sabrina." She said. I smiled a little. "Are you guys working things out?" I asked. She slowly nodded. "Yeah. We're starting out slow and so is Sabrina and him. They're together." She said, muttering the last part. I chuckled. "What your little sisters names?" I asked. She smiled. "Sarah and Malia. They're 6 and 7." She said. Aww! Cute! "Aww! Have you met them?" I asked. She giggled. "Yup, on Skype. Since I moved here and what's surprising is that Sabrina has a new job. A new job here." She said. My jaw dropped. A new job here? That's so great! They can be a family. "Awesome! You guys can be a family again!" I said. She smiled nervously. "I don't know. The left side of my brain likes that idea but my other don't. Like really? He hurt you sexually and your mom physically? Most of that, he brung home two kids from a hoe. I don't know what to do." She said. I held her hand. "Mari, you don't have to do anything but forgive him. People make mistakes, even parents. I officially got over what happened to my mom. And I forgave her. We can all just let go of the past and move forward with the future. Besides, least you still have your parents even though they divorced. On top of that, you're a big sister now. You don't want Malia and Sarah to grow up feeling what you went through right?" I said. She nodded. "It'll be pretty hard to even like them. Because your mom got cheated by your dad with their mother. And he met her from a bar where he drinks. Hell even their mother is nice to me though ending up in bed with somebody's husband is straight up slutty." She said. I laughed.
She laughed as well. "First it ain't the kids's fault. They were only born into the world. It's not their fault your dad cheated on your mom, that's their issue. All that's in the past. Right now, your dad's sober now and he's being a real good dad to them. Including you." I said. She nodded in understanding. "Guess so." She said. "By the way, what do they look like?" I asked. She chuckled and showed me pics from her phone.

                         Sarah Mitchell

                            Malia Mitchell

They're so cute! Much like Jazzy and Jaxon. "I know right? Adorable." She said. I smiled sadly. "Mari, your family's the most priority than fame and anything. You can't be mad at dad for all the bullshit that happened. Just let the pain go. I mean I've had a longtime nightmare that made me feel unsafe in my house. I faced that fear. I'm not scared anymore. And you shouldn't be either...anymore." I said. She smiled. "I'm lucky to have a best friend like you!" She said. She hugged me. I hugged back. Me and Mari went through a lot. I lost my mom due to drugs, she lost her dad due to alcohol that broke up her once family. Maybe a whole year without her wasn't bad. We just talked again and became more closer than ever.