☁️Little Charlie☁️

CH 22// "Hi Mom"

TW: mentions of alchol/drug use

Two hours passed before the bus came to it's final stop. Charlie woke up from his nap when he felt the bus come to a stop and looked out the window. He was in his hometown again. He quickly stood up and threw his bag over his shoulder before getting off.
Once he was on the sidewalk he immidiatly took off down the street.

He walked for about a half hour before coming to a stop. Across the street, sat his old house.
He looked at the yard and saw his mom chasing younger him around the yard. He saw her in the kitchen window cleaning the dishes with him. He saw her in his old bedroom window reading him a bedtime story. He saw her at the door waving him off to school.

Charlie smiled a little, and continued his way down the road.
He walked through his town until he came across the graveyard.
Shoot. He needed to bring her something. He looked around and saw a flower growing next to the road.
He pulled it out of the ground and pushed through the gates. He walked up the path until he found her.

"Hi mom" He spoke softly as he kneeled down. He placed the flower down gently, just the way he used to when he was three and would place flowers in her open hands. "H-how are you up in heaven?" He asked. "I hope you're doing good...I know you're probably worried about me, running away and all...but...I j-just had t-to see you...I was ganna wait until my birthday but..." His voice trailed off.
He looked down at his lap where his Teddy bear sat. "I still have my Teddy" He said almsot giggling, then almost immidiatly breaking down into sobs. This was the most he's ever talked to her in a long time. And he felt terrible about it.

*****

Charlie stayed by his mom's grave for two hours, until it got dark. He placed a hand on his mothers tomb before getting up.

"Bye mom...I love you" He whispered, then he walked away.

The boy walked until he came across a small yellow house. He walked up to the door and took a deep breath before ringing the door bell.
Not a minute later, a girl In her ealy 20's opened the door, His Cousin Rachel.

"Charles?!'' Charlie swallowed the lump in his throat and tried to speak, but his anxiety wouldn't let him. So he just nodded. "What..What are you doing here? Come inside It's freezing out". Charlie gladly stepped into the warm house. "Come have a seat" Rachel said directing him to the couch.

"Get comfy I guess, I'll get you a drink" Charlie had a seat and looked around the living room as he waited. The coffee table was cluttered with crushed beer cans and about five pizza boxes piled up, and the walls had a mysterious stain on it. "Sorry for the mess, I had a party a few days ago with all my college buddies" Rachel said having a seat. She handed him a glass of water. "So, wanna tell me what you're doing here?"

"I-I'm sorry to intrude" Charlie said. "I...I was j-just wondering if I c-could stay a night?"

"Charlie, did you run away from home?" Charlie looked down and nodded. Rachel sighed and sat back in her seat. "Does David know you're here?"
Charlie shook his head.

"H-he's in jail"

"Oh, shit" Rachel said sitting back up. "For real?...fuck dude. You can stay as long as you want, promise". Charlies eyes lit up.

"Th-thank you!" He said gratefully. "J-just for a few d-days".

"Don't worry about it champ, now sshhh, my favorite show is on" Rachel said grabbing the remote and turning up the volume. Charlie smiled and relaxed in his seat.

That night, as Charlie started to fall asleep on the couch, he felt free for the first time in a while. Though, he was worried about Alex and his Mom. He hoped they were doing okay.
He shook his head. He had to forget about them. He had to, or it would just keep hurting him. He can never go back there. He can never see him again, or the neighborhood kids. He squeezed his Teddy to his chest and shut his eyes, hoping to fall asleep quickly so that he didn't have to listen to his mind.

*****

For the next few days, Charlie quickly saw Rachel's true self unfold. She started to grow short tempered with him. She'd snap at him for leaving his shoes out where she could trip over them. She even seemed to start to dislike him simply for existing around her. She may have been friendly the first night, but as soon as she realised that Charlie felt more of a responsibility than family, she switched on him. Charlie tried to help her out by cleaning up a bit, but all that did was land him in trouble when she couldn't find anything.

Things started to go real down hill after she threw a party at her place one night.

"Alright" Rachel said to Charlie who was sitting on the couch. He played with his hands as he looked up at her. "I have friends coming over, please don't get in our way, okay?" she spoke sternly. The timid boy nodded. Just then there was a hard knock at the door. Rachel became excited and answered it. She practically screamed and hugged her best friends who all brought beer. Charlie saw the bottles and froze for a few seconds. His mind immidiatly bringing him back to his Dad. He closed his eyes and focused on his breathing as more of Rachels friends piled into the small house.

"Who's the little dweeb?" A guy's voice said. Charlie opened his eyes and saw a jock looking guy with slick black hair looking back at him.

"Dats my cousin" Rachel said not even looking back. "Anywho, yall can take the beer to the bathroom, the tub is filled with ice. Party starts in the backyard". And with that, they all scurried to the back. Charlie curled up in a ball and watched as more and more strangers parked their trucks up to the front yard and filled up the place.

Within just an hour, a drunk couple came crashing down on the couch next to Charlie. The boy jumped out of his seat and decided to go outside. He grabbed his bag and eagerly squeezed through people to the door. Once out in the cool night air he started to breath easily again. He had a seat on the bottom step and listened to the crickets, trying to ignore the shouting and blaring music inside. He rocked himself back and forth and bit his fingernails. He ended up bitting the nail on his index finger too short and hissed in pain. His finger started to bleed a little so he headed back inside for a bandaid. He cautiously made his way through the crowd and to the bathroom.

When he opened the door, that's when he found Rachel sitting on the bathroom floor with a heroin needle in her arm.