To Belong | Protector 5.25

Chapter 11

Chapter 11

       I should have known better than to hope whoever made the decision of me going back to my mom would just allowed me to stay in Nolan and Jerome's care. That I would be left alone in the care of the two foster parents who genuinely cared about how I felt.

       That I would be able to stay with my dads.

       It wasn't the case.

       Whoever made the decision kept insisting that I had to be sent to live with her again. The woman who I didn't want to consider my mom anymore. The woman who left me in a cupboard. Who starved me at times

       Jimmy kept trying to tell me there was nothing he could do. I didn't believe him. He was my social worker. His job was to report how I was doing to social services and helped decide if I should stay in the foster home I was currently in or be moved to a new one.

       He clearly didn't work hard enough to try to get me to stay when I made it clear how much I wanted to.

       So he said I would have to leave Nolan and Jerome.

       And they kept their promise, along with Xavier. They weren't backing down with a fight so now, we had to go to a custody hearing to see who I would have to go with.

       Which meant I had to see my so-called 'mother', Neeta, for the first time in years. The first time since I was placed into foster care because she was arrested and my 'dad' ran away.

       Nolan, Jerome, Xavier, and I were at the courthouse right now, waiting for the custody hearing to begin. I haven't seen Neeta yet and I was really hoping she would either be late or not show up at all. Either way, it would show the judge how little she truly cared about me.

       Jimmy, unfortunately, showed up to the courthouse. I'd rather not see him right now after he clearly didn't actually care about how I felt as a foster kid.

       If Nolan and Jerome won the hearing, I had to see what could be done about me getting a different social worker, one that actually had my interests at heart.

       "Arjun's mom will be here momentarily," Jimmy said.

       "She's not my mom," I said, crossing my arms over my chest and leaning back into the chair I was on.

       "She is," Jimmy said.

       "Nope." I wasn't even going to refer to her as my mom. I didn't care what Jimmy said. I didn't care what anyone else said. Jerome and Nolan are my parents. Nobody else. 

       With each passing second waiting for Neeta to arrive, my heart was gaining more speed and I was finding it harder to breathe. I didn't want to see her ever again. I especially didn't want to see her during a custody hearing.

       When she finally showed up with her lawyer, I avoided eye contact. I felt like I could have a breakdown if I looked at her at all, being reminded of those days she left my in a cupboard.

       She even had the audacity to say, "It's nice to see you again, Arjun. I can't believe how much you've grown.

       Obviously I've grown so much after the years she hadn't seen me because she was in prison.

       I still didn't look at her. I kept my eyes fixated on the floor.

       "You can't even say hi to me?" Neeta asked. "Or look at me?"

       Don't look. Don't look. Don't look.

       I was about to. I was so close to actually looking at her to see the expression she had on her face; to she if she was hurt that I wasn't looking or if she didn't really care.