Club Gold

What a Kid Shouldn't Know

The body lay across the ripped sofa, cold and blue. A foul smell filled the room, a combination of the decomposing corpse and the vomit covering it. A young girl, no older than eight, looked up at her mother with wide, terrified eyes. She still hadn't woken up. Even at her worst, she'd always woken up after a few hours, but now it had been days. The girl knew how to feed herself, she had to learn with her mother like this, but the food and money had run out.

There was a knock at the door. The girl looked through the peep hole. It was the police. She'd been told to avoid them at all costs, but she was too hungry. If they sent her to jail, there would at least be food there.

The two officers watched the frail girl open the door.

"P- please don't send me to jail," She stuttered, "Mom said you would if I ever let you in the house."

The female officer crouched down to the girl's height.

"We're not here to send you to jail," She reassured the girl, "We just got a call to come check up on you. Where is your mom?"

"She's asleep on the sofa," The girl said, "She's been asleep for ages, now."

"How long?"

"A few days I think, but she might've been awake while I was asleep."

The officers exchanged a worried look. The male officer walked past the girl into the flat.

"Hey, would you like to come see the police car?" The female officer asked the girl, "You can play with the lights on the top if you want to!"

"Only if you don't take me to jail."

"I promise. We won't. You haven't done anything wrong."

I woke up shaking, I felt as cold as ice despite the sun scorching down. I'd fallen asleep on one of the deck chairs next to the pool at the villa we'd managed to get.

"How long was I asleep for?" I asked Beck, who was swimming around in the pool.

"Only like, five minutes," He said, "I would've woke you up before you got burnt."

I slid into the refreshingly cool water, and let myself just float on my back.

"I had another nightmare."

"The same one as always?"

"Yep..."

"Just remember, that part of your life is over. Obviously it was traumatic, but you're never gonna be in that situation again."

"Well obviously, Beck. She can't die twice."

"Not what I meant. You're never gonna have to live like that again. No drugs, no mess, no more death. I mean, look where we are. Paradise."

"I know. It's great. You guys have really changed my life for the better, and I can't thank you enough."

He swam over and pulled me into a hug.

"We would be nowhere near as successful as we are if it weren't for you. We all have an important part in this."

"Hey guys, my mom says she'll be free in an hour," Jaxon walked out the patio doors, "So we have some time to kill!"

He ran up to the pool and cannonballed into the water, splashing Beck and I. As he resurfaced, I hit my hand along the turquoise surface of the water to splash him back.

"Oh, you're gonna pay for that!" He laughed, picking me up just to throw me back into the water.

I screamed as I splashed under the cold water, resurfacing only to see Beck jump up on Jaxon's back and pull him under the water.

"I love you guys," I giggled under my breath.