Don't Play With My Heart - A Jai Brooks Fan Fiction (Watty Awards 2014)

Chapter 17: Diana (Sometimes, The Past Is Everything)

Tamara’s POV

*Flashback*

I reluctantly drag my bags into my allocated room and sit on the freshly pressed linen on the bed. Considering I probably wasn’t going to be staying here long, the room was spacious and probably would have held half the belongings in my entire family house. It would stay spacious though because now I refused to even remove my clothing from my suitcases. This was the fourth family in two and a half months. Except it had felt like longer, dealing with crying children and parents arguing over dishes. Sometimes I just felt like yelling ‘Wake up, and look around. People are dying everyday and you’re too busy worried about who’s turn it is to dry the plates’, but I never did. I made polite conversation and did what I was told. Most of the time I was left to my own devices, even though my therapist told me I needed to be more interactive and open. I wish I had the nerve to tell her where to shove her advice. But I just curtly nodded and left without telling her what was actually happening, every time.

The mother turned up at the door, Gloria, and informed me dinner was ready. I quietly followed her through to the kitchen table.

“Steven, Julie, I want you to meet Tamara. She’s going to be staying with us,” she said extremely enthusiastically.

I smiled at them and they both replied with a hello. I’d already met Gloria and George, the parents and I was told that this would be my last transfer, not that I trusted the agency’s words. Steven was nine and Julie was six. They were beautiful children and they both very much resembled their father. I sat down in the allocated seat and waited until everyone was sitting at the table.

“You can start eating darling,” Gloria said before she cut into the roast pork and vegetable dinner.

The family began what seemed to be their usual dinner chatter. George asked the kids what they’d learned in school and apparently Steven had scored the winning goal at lunch time soccer and Julie painted a picture of the family dog in art class. I didn’t feel it was my place to intrude, so I listened on as they continued their light discussion. I was startled when Steven asked me a question,

“Are you a friend of my mums?”

“I guess you could say that,” I replied with a half smile.

"When are your parents coming to pick you up from the sleep over then?” Julie asked.

“Julie, that’s enough,” Gloria snapped.

“No it’s fine. My parents have gone away for a while, so your mum was nice enough to let me stay. I’m sure we can have lots of fun together while I’m here,” I answer as perky as possible.

Gloria sends me a sympathetic smile but I wave it off, not wanting to cause a fuss in front of the kids.

Once Gloria has sent the kids off to bed, she comes down to the lounge room where I’m watching the television, but nothing is really registering. Rather thoughts keep running through my head that I just want to drown out but never to any avail.

“I’m so sorry about Julie before. I didn’t really want to go into any details with the kids,” she apologised.

“Really it’s fine Mrs Reynolds, I wouldn’t expect you to. I was just going to take a shower, is the bathroom just to the left in the hall there?”

"Yes sweetheart, of course. And Tamara, no matter what the agency does, you’re always going to be welcome here. We would never abandon you, not after everything you’ve been through. Also, please call me Gloria; Mrs Reynolds is my mother-in-law,” she says.