Help comes in different forms

Chapter 5~ Memories

*Frankie's POV*

I'd say that our little reunion was better than I expected ... though I didn't really expect much but still. When my dad first told me about my long lost cousin I was thrilled, but as he explained things, I was wondering why the heck he never told me he had another sister besides my auntie Maura. Why didn't my auntie tell me either? Why does the name Shanice sound so dang familiar? Did she do something wrong to make them not talk about her? I had a million questions running in my head so being the curious person I was I obviously had to ask.

Flashback~~~

"Daddy, can I ask you something about my other aunt??" I asked as we both sat on my bed.

"Yea of course." He replied. "What do you want to know about her?"

"How come you or my aunt Maura never mentioned Shanice?? Did she do something that got y'all upset and hate her or-?" I asked curiously.

"No. No that's not it, it's just that ... well ... she told us, and we promised, that she didn't want you to know that she was your aunt. She didn't want you to think that she didn't want to visit us. That she was just an ignorant person and she thought that you might hate her." He said sadly.

I put my hand over his and he looked up. "I would've never hated her just for that. Yea my young self would've been sad that she couldn't visit but still." I said slightly smiling. "But... why does she sound familiar. Did you mention her when I was little at all??"

"I-yes. Her name might sound familiar to you because we used to keep in touch. She would call once or twice a month to check up on me and Maura. Y'all would have small conversations together. But like I told you before, she died about 6 years ago... when you were only about 2..." I saw him tearing up. I could tell that he missed her, a lot. I hugged him trying to comfort him. After a few moments, we let go.

"Daddy, why were y'all separated in the first place," I asked.

He sighed and said, "When we were all still living with my mom and dad, your grandparents, she would bring over her boyfriend sometimes. My parents had a bad feeling about him and me and Maura never really liked him, but alas we all tried to get along with him. He acted like an angel around Shanice or out parents but when they weren't he would glare at me and my sis, ignore us if we started small talk, and sometimes even cussed us out. We also found out what he'd like to do in his free time and trust me, it was NOT pretty. He'd bully people around, steal their belongings, do drugs, and he even had multiple side chicks."

"But what pulled Maura's last straw was that one day, Shanice came home acting weird trying to hide her face inside a hoodie. She knew something was wrong right off the bat and asked her what was wrong. She didn't tell her but Maura noticed her left cheek was red and swollen. Right that instance she knew who did that to her, she threatened to beat up his coward a- uh I mean butt if she didn't tell our parents what he did to her. She knew she wasn't kidding so she told them and my parents weren't happy at all. They prohibited her from ever seeing him again and that he was no longer her boyfriend. She didn't like that idea and got mad. She threatened to run away with him if necessary because he was the love of her life, but my parents didn't believe her. And guess what she did the next day?"

"She ran away with him..." I muttered to myself.

Flashback ends~~~

     I was quickly brought back out into reality as Kade said "Robots transform." The bots transformed into their alt modes allowing us to well get comfortable readying ourselves for Talia's long story. Their couch wasn't going to cut it. Kade was leaning against Blades, hands crossed against his chest. Graham sat in Boulder's passenger seat while Talia was sitting on his treads. Dani, Cody, and I were sitting on top of Heatwave and my dad and chief were sitting on Chase's hood, their legs left dangling.