One Of A Kind |JJ Maybank|

Chapter 1 - Welcome Home, Princess!

It's been six years. 

6 years ago, two big men had to force me on this ferry with all their strength. My aunt walked behind them, trying her best to ignore my desperate attempts to escape.

I still remember the look on her face. There was this natural hardness that always seemed to be on her face, but at the same time, there was this slight flash of pity and sadness. At the time, the woman who looked incredibly like my father was a complete stranger to me and in my childish stubbornness, I didn't want to know her. 

She was introduced to me as Aunt Diana. I knew that I had an aunt in California, but apparently she wanted to have nothing to do with my family. This is what my father had always told me. When I was asked to write about my family tree in school, I figured there weren't many of us left. As it turned out, most of my family was already dead.

My mother's side, the Hudson family, had always been very small and she was an only child. Her parents died relatively shortly after I was born, which I found very sad because my mother always told me that her parents, were probably the most lovable people in the world and would have loved me to death. My father's side was not very large either. 

My grandfather on my father's side, the Jacobson side, died in a boat accident, just like his father before him. Actually, I should have known what would happen to my father. My grandmother has dementia and lives in a nursing home in California with me and my aunt. According to my father, I have another uncle, but he ran off years ago when he messed with the wrong people. To this day we don't know if he's still alive or if he might have been killed by the bad guys.

After the death of my parents, only my aunt remained, who was stable enough to take care of a child, which I sometimes doubted.

When the people from the child care organization told me that my parents died in a boat accident and that I had to live with a woman who was a stranger to me, I literally lost it. The fact that this woman wanted to take me to another city on the other side of the country drove my 12-year-old self completely crazy.

The only person I knew in the room was Big John, the father of one of my best friends and someone who was like family to me. But even he was just standing in the room waiting for my reaction.

I remember running out of the living room of our little house without a jacket and shoes. I could hear the loud voices of the adults behind me, who wanted me to stop.

It was raining that day. It was one of those rainy summer days when the rain is so heavy that your clothes get soaking wet within seconds. I have always been a fast runner and I also had incredible stamina. My little feet carried me for several miles without stopping, only when the burning in my bare feet and my throat became too painful, I slowed down. I trotted the few yards to a small cabin in the forest through the pouring rain.

There was only one face that was able to calm me down that day and I hoped so much that it would welcome me in the cabin. To my disappointment, I was not welcomed by a warm hug but only by a steamy wet breeze that spread over my naked arms and offered me a little warmth.

I spent the next hours on the cold dusty cabin floor, crying, whimpering, and sobbing until the door opened and Big John appeared in front of me with a blanket in his left hand and a flashlight in his right. It was already dark outside and started to get even colder. Behind him, a small thin boy with messy hair appeared, which I could make out as John B through my teary eyes. Both looked at me sadly and sat down on the floor next to me. Big John wrapped a blanket around my freezing body, hugged me, and tried to warm me up as best as he could. John B did not hesitate and took me in his arms as well.

"Why are they gone?" I had asked the older man, who had also lost a part of his family.

"I don't know, little one. I'm so sorry. They loved you so much."

"I don't want to go with that woman. I want to stay with you. I want to stay with my family," I cried. "Please let me stay with you, Uncle John. You can do that, right? You can adopt me, right?" I begged him.

"I've tried, my little one," my uncle of choice tried to explain to me in tears. "They won't let me. You must understand. I'm sorry."

Then the people from the child care service showed up again and literally dragged me out of the cabin.

When we reached the street, my aunt Diana was already waiting for us. Next to the car stood two suitcases, which I guess contained my personal belongings. 

The news had probably already spread about what had happened since Kiara and Pope and their parents were also waiting for me on the road. Only one person was missing and this person would not show up. 

The two men who prevented me from escaping again had a strong grip around my upper arms. Even days after that I still had bruises. And this is called child protection. They dragged me past my friends directly into the big black van.

I wasn't even allowed to say goodbye to my family and I blamed my aunt for an eternity.

Kiara was the first to try to free herself from her father's grip, Pope and John B followed her immediately.

But it was too late. The doors were locked and the van drove off.

I will never forget how the three tried to run after the van but were stopped by their parents.

The last thing I saw out of the back window were three children trying to get out of the hands of their loved ones to run after me.

"It's going to be alright," said a low voice next to me, which turned out to be my aunt's.

I just stared at her and didn't say a word out of pure spite. My thoughts were with the boy, whom I would probably never see again and who will soon forget about me.

__________

Today

"Hey young lady, you want to go for another round, or are you getting off the ferry?"

I must have been so deep in my thoughts that I didn't realize that the ferry had already been in the dock for about 10 minutes and new people were already boarding for the return trip.

"Oh fuck! I'm sorry, I'm already gone," I replied to the grey-haired man, who looked at me from top to bottom. 

I definitely stood out in the clothes I wear. California is certainly different than the Outer Banks. With my current outfit, I could pass for a Kook, which I might even be in California.

"Well," the man started, "Welcome home, Princess!"

A/N

AHHHHH! First chapter! Please VOTE and COMMENT! 

Spread Love! 

-S.