❛𝐒𝐔𝐍𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐄❜ ─── 𝐣𝐣 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤

𝟎𝟏𝟏. 𝐫𝐮𝐧, 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝, 𝐫𝐮𝐧

𝟎𝟏𝟏.          𝐫𝐮𝐧, 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝, 𝐫𝐮𝐧

dog days are over ─── florence + the machines

☀︎ 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐥𝐲𝐧'𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐯

𝖶𝖤 𝖠𝖱𝖱𝖨𝖵𝖤𝖣 𝖠𝖳 𝖳𝖧𝖤 𝖢𝖧𝖠𝖳𝖤𝖠𝖴 𝖠𝖥𝖳𝖤𝖱 𝖣𝖱𝖮𝖯𝖯𝖨𝖭𝖦 𝖮𝖥𝖥 𝖮𝖴𝖱 𝖥𝖱𝖨𝖤𝖭𝖣𝖲．We're disappointed that we didn't find what our dad wanted to find, but we can't give up. We won't give up. I feel like I could crash right about now, so when John B pushes open the door to the Chateau, I'm ready to jump straight into bed and sleep for the next week.

I come to a crashing stop when I find Cheryl── our DCS worker── sitting at the table. "Hey, guys."

John B sighs loudly. You know, Cheryl, it's kind of a bad time for a check-in."

"Not a check-in. We're here to take you both."

"What?" I look to John B, he looks back at me, and we both have that look about us. As kids, whenever we didn't want to do something, we'd take one look at each other and devise a plan without saying a damn word. His eyes are telling me to run, and my eyes tell him the same thing. We need to get out of here. Now.

Cheryl clears her throat, and we both look back to her. "Today? Really?"

"It's just for a few weeks until the hearing."

"No, no, no." John B shakes his head, not loving that idea. "Cheryl, look, we are not going into foster care, okay? We are not gonna go be a part of your little system."

A police officer steps up behind me, and I jerk forward, surprised to see such a... large man. I look him up and down, shaking my head because there's no way in hell that he is manhandling me. "Guys, this is Deputy Thomas." I take a step back, and John B pulls on my arm, moving me to stand behind him. "He works with juveniles for the sheriff's department."

I scoff. "Juveniles? We are not──"

"Look, I know Uncle T is down in Mississippi working at a casino," Cheryl interrupts, looking towards us. "He hasn't been here in months."

"What?" John B looks to me, and I nod, moving back because, luckily, we have──

"I wouldn't advise doing that, Brooklyn."