The Safe House

Chapter 22

I was playing with Kenna in the living room when Sergeant Lindsay walked in the front door. Once she noticed me on the floor, she started walking towards me "Good news!" She said, "you guys get to go home!"

"Really?" I asked.

"Yep!" She replied. "We have investigated all known links to the gang and expressed every option and are confident that you will be able to move on with your lives."

"I've got to tell the boys. Can you watch Kenna for a minute?" I asked. She nodded in response. I went to the bottom of the stairs and yelled, "Boys come down here!" after a few minutes, I still didn't hear any movement. "Get down here now!" I yelled again. They trudged down the stairs and stiffened when they saw Sergeant Lindsay. Usually, when she came it was not good news.

"We get to go home!" I said.

"Really?" They said getting excited.

"Yep." Sergeant Lindsay confirmed.

"Kenna, did you hear that? You get to come home with me!" Jason said.

"Yay!" Kenna said as she ran to Jason.

"Actually, we need to talk about that." Sergeant Lindsay interrupted.

"Why?" Jason and I asked at the same time.

"A social worker from the state will be by later today to talk to you about it." She said. "For now, here are your phones back and you should start packing your stuff up and I will see you later." She handed our phones back and left. We haven't had our phones for so long. I couldn't help but wonder what the social worker could have to say to Jason. We all wondered off to our rooms to start getting our things together. I took Kenna to her room to start packing her things. After about two hours of packing, it was time for her nap. Right after I laid her down, I heard a knock on the door. I opened it to see a woman dressed in a blazer, pencil skirt, and heels.

"Hi, I'm here to speak with Jason." She said.

"Come on in, I'll go get him." I replied.

I went upstairs and peeked my head into Jason's room. "Hey, the social worker is here to talk to you." I said.

"Okay, I'll be down in a minute." He replied.

I went back downstairs "Would you like something to drink? Water? Tea?" I asked.

"No, thank you." She replied.

"I bet you're ready to get out of this house full of boys huh?" She asked.

I chuckled, "Actually, they have become like family to me and I had Kenna around so I wasn't the only girl."

Just then, Jason came into the room. He stuck out his hand for a handshake and said, "Hi, I'm Jason."

"Hi Jason, I'm Cassie. Would you like to speak in private?" She asked. Jason looked to me and I decided this was something he needed to do on his own. I excused myself and went to my room to start packing. About an hour later, I was sitting on the edge of my bed when I heard Jason's voice behind me.

"Hey." He said.

"Hey, what happened?" I asked as I put one of the full boxes in the pile of other boxes He sat on the edge of my bed and he looked like he was on the verge of tears. I walked over and stood in front of him. He put his hands on my hips and rested his head against my stomach. I rested my arms on his upper back and he started crying. "Hey, it's going to be okay. Whatever it is, we will figure it out." I said.

"They might take her away from me." He said.

"What? They want to take Kenna away from you? Why?" I asked.

"They said I am not fit to be a legal guardian. I'm not married, I don't have a job, I got myself into this situation with the gang. Maybe she is better off without me." He said.

"What? No!" I protested. I sat on my knees in front of him so I could see his face. "You are in a stable relationship that has lasted a year, you don't have a job because you have been living in a safe house for over a year, and Kenna needs you. You are the only family she has left. She needs you more than you will ever know."

He smiled at me and I smiled back.

That night, I was laying in my bed thinking about being back home. Then it hit me. Like a truck. I have nowhere to go. No one to go home to. My house is on the market because no one is living there, I can't afford to live on my own right now, I don't have a job, and I have no family left. I started to panic and I started to cry uncontrollably. What was going to happen? Am I going to be homeless after this? I tried to calm myself down. I started taking deep breaths. Nothing is working. I am still freaking out. I decided to go down to the kitchen and get some warm milk. I walked into the kitchen and someone was already there. He looked up. Jason.

"What are you doing up?" He asked. I let my hair fall in my face to try to cover up that I had been crying.

"I just can't sleep." I replied. "What about you?"

"I just keep thinking about what is going to happen after this. What life will be like if Kenna gets taken away from me." He replied.

"I'm sorry that this is happening." I said.

"Hey, look at me." He said. I put on my best face and looked over at him. He came towards me and stopped right in front of me. He pushed my hair behind my ear. "What's wrong?"

"What do you mean? I'm fine." I replied. He raised his eyebrow at me as if to say 'you can't fool me'. I sigh in defeat. "You always see right through me." I smiled at him." But I don't want to give you anything else to worry about. Really I'm fine. I can deal with it."

"Nope, you can't get rid of me that easily. Come on, spill." He replied.

"It's just that." I paused and looked down at the ground."I just realized that I have nowhere to go after this. You know? No house, no job, no family. Everyone is gone. It was just me and my Dad and he's not here anymore!" I said as I started to cry again. I was trying my best not to cry, but it was really hard. I missed my dad a lot. Jason gently lifted my chin so I was looking at him. He wiped a tear that was running down my face with his thumb and wrapped his arms around me.

He said, "Hey, we'll get through this. Remember? That's what you told me and you were right. We will get through this. We'll get through them trying to take Kenna away and we'll get through moving out of this safe house and moving on with our lives. Okay?" I gave him a small smile and a nod in response.