Never Alone || Fourtris

Chapter 7

"What are you doing down here all alone in the river?!," she asks, panic spread all over her face.

"I wanted to explore," I say with my voice cracking from the mini heart attack I had a few seconds ago.

"Don't ever do that again, especially not alone," she says and pulls me in a hug.

"I'm sorry," I say.

We start to walk up to the house. With every step my feet just keep getting muddy. We reach the house and Nancy tells me to wipe my feet on the matt, then I can come inside. I do as she wishes and walk inside. She grabs towels for me and says," Why don't you take a warm bath." I nod and head toward the bathroom.

I turned on the water and set it to warm, running my finger through the water creating and little gap in between it. While I am waiting for the tub to fill, I look at myself in the mirror. Examining my little bruise under my eye from my dads beating.

I walk to the tub and turn the water off. I take off my wet cloths and hang them on the rack. The warm water curls around my body when I step inside and sit down. My knees are touching my chin and I wrap my arms around my legs. Is Nancy going to give me up? She seems pretty upset, maybe I'm not the type of kid she wants, maybe I'm just trouble.

I shake my head to wipe the thoughts out and start washing my hair.

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When I get out of the bath, I wrap the towel around me and dry my feet. When I open the door a slight breeze connects with my face. I walk quietly to my room, listening to the floorboard creek. I make sure the windows are covered and I put on my pajamas. I walk into the kitchen when I'm finished.

"I have food for you," Nancy says while washing the dishes.

"Thank you," I say a bit timid. Maybe she's still mad at me.

I sit down and start to eat. The food served is chicken with rice, mash potatoes, and corn. I sit there silently listening to Nancy wash the dishes in peace. She does't look quite as happy when I met her. I stuff some mashed potatoes in my mouth. I chew slowly letting my spit mush them. She finishes washing the dishes and dries her hands. She looks at me and gives me a slight smile and then walks away. I don't respond, but look down.

When I finish eating, I put my dishes in the sink and go to my room.

I lay down on the bed and look at the ceiling for a while. I lift the pillow and pull out a picture. It's a picture of Caleb and I playing on the swings. He was in his baby swing and I was pushing him. I smile at the picture remembering my mom taking that picture. Her dream was to become a photographer, but someone was holding her back... my dad.

I hear Nancy talking to someone. I put the picture back and walk to my door. I slightly open it and listen. I can't hear clearly, who she was talking to. I walk out and head in the direction of her voice.

I end up at her door and slightly opened it. My breathe shaky. I see her sitting on the bed talking on the phone.

"I just don't think it's a safe environment for her," she says. She sounds like she's crying.

"She likes to explore and be free, and I can't always be here. I have to work, I can't leave her here by herself. What if the same thing happens again."

Who is she talking to? Is it Paul? It is, she's planning on giving me up.

"I can't take her to work with me, my boss won't allow it," she says.

There is a pause.

"Okay. Thank you. I'll let her know." She puts the phone down and puts her hands on her face. I gently close the door and run to my room. I knew who and what she was talking about. I start packing my cloths, taking everything out of the drawers, slamming each one. The drawer with the slingshot in it was the last one I open. The slingshot lays perfectly still under my pile of cloths. I pick it up. Should I take it? With no hesitation, I put it in my suit case.