Stuck With You

8: A pool conversation... how cliche

I'd only ever driven past the old motel in the West district. And for good reason. Despite looking like it had a fresh coat of dark brown paint, it looked rather... decrepit. A few of the windows were boarded up, the roof seemed to be sagging a bit, and the neon side out front wasn't even working.

Kason seemed un-bothered by the fact it was kind of a dump as he pulled around the side of the building. He shut off the car. "Come on. The pizza is going to get cold."

The mention of food motivated me to move. I got out and followed Kason around to the back where he opened a chain link fence that surrounded the motel's property. If nothing else, that was definitely a sign this was a bad neighborhood.

"You seriously live here?" I found myself asking all I stepped through.

"Yup. For a few years now." Kason answered simply as he locked the gate behind us. "Over there."

I turned to where he gestured, and I was surprised to see a large, lit up pool. The water was clean, and it looked well taken care of. "Wow. This is probably the only nice thing about this place."

"On the outside, sure." Kason walked over to a table near the pool's edge where a pizza box was sitting. "Are you going to eat, or what?"

I basically ran over and threw the box open. I was starving. I grabbed the largest piece and dug in. "Oh, this is good."

"I didn't realize you were so hungry." Kason said, chuckling as he sat across from me.

"I'm always hungry. There's a fact about me you can include in your report for this project."

He set a hand on his heart, pretending to be offended. "You truly hurt me. You're only here for the food and a grade."

I smiled. "Precisely. So, now that I'm here, you need to explain, smokey. You don't make sense to me."

"Same goes for you. Ladies first." Kason looked at me expectantly as he grabbed some pizza.

"You really want to hear my story? You weren't joking?"

"I'm very serious. Go on, the floor is yours."

I didn't really want to, but I knew I had to get it over with. "There is a simple explanation for the confusion with my non-existent last name and who I'm living with. I don't have a family. I'm an orphan. The Johnsons are my foster parents for all of high school."

Kason soaked that in. "I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting that. But it makes sense now. So how did you end up here of all places?"

I shrugged. "I'm a trouble child. I've gone through what feels like a million different foster homes. I've lived in a few different states, and now I'm here in Indiana."

"You've been here all of high school. Does that mean this foster home is better than all the others?"

I snorted. "Yeah right. No, it's just been too much of a hassle to move me around to a hundred different schools during high school, so they stuck me in one spot." I shrugged. "That's pretty much all there is to me."

"I beg to differ. But I'll drop it for now."

I nodded. "Good. Now it's your turn."

Kason sighed. "I guess it's only fair. I've lived here for a few years now. It's at the center of my territory, so it's the best place to be. I've never met my mom, and I haven't spoken to my dad since I was nine."

I was just getting more confused the more he spoke. "Uh, pause, really quick. None of this is making sense."

Kason gave me a look. "I'm getting there. Just listen. I wouldn't tell you, or anyone this, but considering what you overheard that night, I think it would be best to explain things."