The Forgotten One

Chapter Eight

I walked quickly along the dark quiet street that led past the school and toward the gravel parking lot to the park. It took me less than ten minutes to make it to the tree where I had instructed Trystan to meet me. He was sitting there, waiting for me already, with a bag of fast food tucked in at his side.

              “What’s this?” I motioned to the bag and sat down across from him.

              “I got some burgers. I wasn’t sure if you had eaten yet, and I’m starving. I’ve been reading journals all night and my head’s about to explode.”

              Trystan took two hamburger containers out of the bag and propped a box of fries on the tree between us, handing me a styrofoam cup of soda and putting a straw in it for me. I had a flashback to sitting outside the group home as kids, sharing a meal from the local burger joint where he had worked, late at night after he got off his shift. The two of us didn’t play much with the other kids and we kept to ourselves most of the time. It sometimes made me wonder if that’s why the other kids were adopted our sent to families and we both stayed there. Trystan often had told me that Mrs. Jensen made sure we both stayed so that we wouldn’t be seperated. It made sense, after he had left, when I started cycling through the system of foster homes again.

              “How’s school going?” Trystan asked me, a mouthful of burger.

              “Don’t talk to me like a teacher, Trystan. Not tonight.” I unwrapped my own sandwich and dug into it.

              “Okay. So, tell me about this boy that you have a date with.” He reached over for a handful of fries.

              “There isn’t much to say, really. He’s a Senior, like me. He’s into drama and music I guess. I don’t really know him that well, but he works on the farm sometimes. His grandpa is friends with Mr. Reynolds. I guess he cooks in the diner when they need someone to fill in too. What about your date? Tell me about her.”

              “Nah. Not tonight. I’ll tell you after the date how it goes. I don’t really know anything at all about her, other than what I’ve already told you. So, tell me, how have things really been the last five years?” He looked over at me, watching me closely.

              “I don’t know. Not good.” I sighed. “It was pretty rough. I’ve been run through more homes than I care to remember and then there’s the amount of schools I’ve been to. So many, I don’t know how I’m going to get into a college. I don’t even know what I want to go to college for. I just know that I have to do something.”

              “Was it like when you were with your father?” Trystan reached over and wiped a spot of ketchup off my cheek with his napkin.

              “Once. There were a few that tried to touch me, you know, but didn’t actually act on anything. Just one family where I was really abused. They were really wierd, from the first day I was there. The wife would buy me all these expensive clothes that were way too revealing for a fourteen year old girl, and she always wanted to do my hair and makeup. It was like she was grooming me for him. Then one night he attacked me while she was out with her friends. She came in and saw what he was doing to me and went crazy. She screamed at him, telling him that he promised he was just going to look, not touch, and that was the end of it. She called up Mrs. Jensen and they sent me away. She never really asked why, I think she knew when she came to pick me up. That was the worst time. There were other homes where I was fondled or hit on, but usually the women sent me away before it escalated. I don’t know why me, what about me these men find so appealing.” I held back my tears, setting my sandwich down, not really hungry anymore.