Home is Where You Feel Safe (Camp Camp Dadvid)

Out

Max must have fallen asleep because the next thing that he feels is being thrown to the ground. Unfortunately, he landed right on his left arm. Max couldn't help screaming out in pain even if he tried not to. "HOW DARE YOU" He hears. Max turns around to see Regina standing over him, her heels digging into his back. What now? Max wonders, "YOU LAY AROUND WHILE YOU MAKE THE OTHERS DO YOUR CHORES!" Regina must have noticed that Max's arm hurt because as she emphasized her sentence, she jumped on his arm with all of her body weight, and she was not a light lady. One end of the high heel dug into his wrist as the other one landed on his elbow bone. Max let out an involuntary scream and not soon after, their foster parent's room door burst open. Charles looks at him and points while saying, "YOU! How DARE you wake me up! Just be a man and take your punishment!" Charles then kicks him in the head, chest, and arms multiple times before Max started to coughing up blood. Max was focusing almost all of his attention on staying awake and breathing correctly when he just barely heard, "...pussy..." Max couldn't take any more of this. He wanted to be with David. He wanted to feel safe. He really just wanted to get out of there! Max got up shakily and started to run for the front door. He was caught by the collar before he could and was beaten senseless. 

Hya heard screaming coming from the living room as she opened the door to look. She saw the horrifying sight of Max being beaten black and blue. It's when Regina runs into the kitchen to grab something that Hyacinth decides that she has to do something. She vigorously starts to wake up her other foster siblings while trying to think of something to do. Hya looks out of the window and behind the tree, she sees the bus stop with a bus sitting there. She checks the time and sees that it leaves in two minutes. She basically screams, "We need to get Max to David. The bus leaves in just a few minutes. He needs to be on it!" Everyone agrees but then the problem of who would go with him arose. They couldn't just send an unconscious 10-year-old on a bus and expect him to get from New Jersey to Vermont. They come to the conclusion that they should send whoever would anger the two of them the most so that the beating wasn't just shifted. They were deciding between James and Lilac and they decided on James because he could actually carry Max and Lilac was only 5. Everyone hands James money for the bus rides that they had all saved up. Just as they were about to form a plan they hear a thud. Concerned, they open their bedroom door. The sight before them is Max on the floor only a couple of inches away from the front door. A small piece of paper is clenched in his hand and he appeared to be unconscious. The kids didn't have to guess why he had fallen because the sight of a kitchen knife in his head was much too prominent. Regina then walked closer with more knives in her hands. Most kids were in shock and did not know what to do, but James and Mia immediately took action. Mia screamed at them to stop and consider what they were doing while James ran into the bathroom and came back with a towel. He then picked Max up, trying his best to not move any injuries too much, and ran out the door, not bothering to close it. Charles's face gets red as he screams, "JENNA! GET BACK HERE!" but he gets no response. Mia just tries to take his attention again and calm him down. 

James has adrenaline flowing through his entire body as he turns the corner and sprints down the street. "James!" He turns and sees Ivy with her head out of the window as she throws the red blanket. It lands on the sidewalk and James gets it easily. He sprints onto the bus a looks at the driver. James is just barely able to get out, "I need to get to Vermont!" The driver looks annoyed at him but then takes notice of Max in his arms and just sighs as he closes the door. James sits down in the third or the fourth row as the bus starts moving. He checks Max's head to see that the knife was not that deep. It was in sideways so even if the cut was long, it was only about half a centimeter deep, at the most. James sighs as he removes the knife and puts it on the ground of the bus. He starts to dap the towel on Max's head to stop the bleeding as he sees the piece of paper in Max's hand is David's address and phone number. James sighs wondering if David would even let them in. What if he kicked them both to the streets? Or turned them in and they would be put back with Charles and Regina? What if he took Max and then kicked James to the street because he didn't know James? All of the what-ifs in James's mind slowly lulled him into an uneasy sleep as he leaned his head on the window. 

When James wakes up, he is being shaken by the bus driver. James then suddenly asks, "How far did we go? How much do I own you?" The driver responds, "We're in Vermont. Where exactly are you trying to go?" "What! That's too kind of you sir! Please, here is fine, we'll find our way!" James responded. The driver shakes his head and says, "Nope. I'm not letting two kids walk around alone. Besides someone paid for my drink the other day, so I thought I should pay it forward. The ride is free. Now, do you have a specific address?" James was in complete shock. He couldn't say anything. All he could do was show the driver the address on the paper. "Thank you, so much!" James said, with tears in his eyes he realized. The driver nodded and walked back up to the wheel.