Meeting Melanie

Things begin to change...

Chapter One;

Today was a good day. Normally I am trapped in a stressful cycle that has made moments of happiness become a rare pleasantry..I had enjoyed my life before the move, the freedom of the forest the feel of the broken branches beneath my feet as I ran along the hidden trails the rest of the kids had helped create. My mother never noticed how often I had been missing from our small one bedroom apartment near the darkened woods. The rest of the kids didn’t have an adult waiting for them at home for the most part anyway, some of them didn’t even have a home to return too. They ran around as if they were ghosts, most of them hoping to stay hidden from the child service workers that promised them a good home only to send them to a monster hungry for a paycheck. It was this freedom they had found that attracted me in the beginning.

    I had enjoyed my time with them more than any other time in my life. I remember how we would hide away in the abandoned cabin that held nothing other than a dusty mattress and a few ragged blankets. The wallpaper that was torn and moldy, the floorboards that squeaked, at times you would trip over a loose board or tile and leave with the structure with another of many injuries. I remember sitting in silence with the others, none of us knowing anything overly personal about any of the kids who seemed to be inseparable despite the lack of personal knowledge. All that was important was the one thing we all had in common. The desire to escape; whether it was from the cruel grip of a CPS worker, the judgment from a Parole Officer, the pain caused by an Abusive Parent or in some cases the local police station. None of us exchanged names, none of us met up anywhere other than within the comforting treelines of our sanctuary. The rare cases we saw each other in public we all simply passed by as strangers. None of us wanting to risk the safety of our sanctuary.

   On the day I left I hugged them all. Knowing that my mother will never allow me to return to see them again; that it was bound to happen eventually. I didn’t tell them that I was leaving, knowing that it was normal for a person disappear from time to time and telling them would not make leaving any easier. I knew this town was only one of our many temporary homes. My mother had never had a good reputation in any of the places we have tried to call home and the company she had a tendency to keep didn’t help that. She finally took things too far again and if she wanted to avoid a heavy lawsuit and jail time we had to leave. I was not surprised when I came home to her frantically packing all of our belongings into a large suitcase rushing to find us cheap tickets back to her hometown. Still my heart hurt knowing I would have to leave the safety of my forest forever.

      The plane ride had been a silent one, my mother and I had never been the sort to talk about things. Not after the day I caught her shooting up heroin in an alley, after promising me that she had given it up. I eventually grew tired of watching her self destruct in our living room with men that wanted a single thing. Her allowing dealers to beat her and God knows what else just to get a quick fix. I started leaving often and she never seemed sober enough to notice that her ten year old daughter had only come home a couple times a week if at all. The long hours drug on as she started to get restless from not having any sort of high for the last twenty four hours.

       Seven and a half years later not much has changed. My mother still falls into the same habits, doing whatever drug she gets her hands on and whomever can provide it for her. The men flew in and out of my house like flies, buzzing around and landing on my mother as if she was a piece of rotten meat that they knew no one else would want. The sadist part of that statement is the fact that it isn’t far from the truth. She still took very little notice in me and that was okay, after all I very rarely showed my face in the place that was supposed to be my safe haven, my home. The only difference in this town is that we have managed to stay put for a longer period of time

    Today had been a good day, my boss given me a raise due to the extreme amount of overtime I had always been willing to do, Kathy the owner of the small restaurant I worked at had no idea that the main reason I was willing to spend so much extra time was due to the fact that I had no desire to return to my small shack in the middle of the scum infested part of town. I dreaded the days I couldn’t afford a small hotel room or the nights the weather was to poor for me to sleep in a field or park bench. It has always been hard earning money to not only pay my mother's rent and buy food when needed but now after all the years of sleeping around I have a younger brother who turned five around a week ago. Tyler has become the main push behind the amount of effort I put into my work. He spends his weekdays at his dad’s and I normally take the weekends off to make sure my mother takes care of the little angel. Mike was a good guy, for the short time he and my mother had been together she actually kept her s**t together. Got rid of the guys and drugs even managed to make a friend or two. But when she found out she was pregnant with a down syndrome baby she immediately relapsed. She gave birth and refused to look at Tyler, eventually the cheating and drug use drove Mike away and he left with Tyler.

      I have no doubt that Mike has always been an amazing father to my brother. The accident hadn’t been his fault despite the blame he pushes on himself.Due to the carelessness of one of Mike’s friends who had foolishly used the wrong break while working on Mike car Tyler has been in a coma for two months and the medical bills are piling up. His condition has been fluctuating and the doctors have little hope in him ever waking up again. Any extra money that I can spare goes toward the medical care that my brother needs.

      I began to count the change in my wallet and to my great pleasure I finally had enough to pay rent this month and buy some food for the house. I looked up toward the trees that lined the park that I have come to find comfort in over the years. I watched as a small family sat down for a picnic I have always been a nosy person and tended to watch people from afar. I took great joy in watching people come to the part and find the happiness I can only hope to one day find as well., The laughter and smiles seemed contagious as the family took photos and opened a well used picnic basket revealing what I assumed to be their lunch. I caught a glimpse of the mother and father sharing a gentle kiss while the brother took his younger sister to fly a kite. The look of adoration on the mother's face made me happy, the idea that some families really are able to love each other is always nice to see. I looked back toward the children, the girl was small barely reaching four feet tall and her waist looked as though it would break if she were to trip over the fallen branches and rocks that littered the park. Her short raven hair was chopped in a bob and bounced as she ran after her older brother.

    “Janet, Carper it’s time to eat!” The mother called out to the children who responded by turning to run back to the blanket. The son, Carper looked to be around seven years old, his height was a little taller than his sister but still on the smaller side for a boy. The family began to eat there lunch and I focused my attention elsewhere. I glanced around noticing the large crowd of people headed in the direction of the family. The frames of the approachers grew clearer with every step, their pastel hair and various ink designs littered the group. They seemed to be made up of mostly males, aside from the select couple that I genuinely couldn’t place a gender on. It is rare to see a group like them traveling in the numbers they were I counted ten at a first glance. The boy walking in the front had pale purple hair. His lip ring glistened in the sunlight causing a smirk to grow on my face. Not everyday you get to see that kind of eye candy.

      The little girl Janet screamed as she saw them approaching, not in the way you would expect though. She jumped to her feet running toward them, a smile painted on her face wider than the cheshire cat in Alice in Wonderland. The tall boy dropped to his knees and opened her arms welcoming the small girl into them warmly. His smile matched her own, I turned toward the rest of the family who seemed just as happy to welcome the crowd into the picnic.

    It was a strange sight to see, the rowdy teenagers in dark clothing playing patty cake with two kids and running around with kites. I never thought it possible that something so adorable could take place in this town. Most would have judged them and turn away but this family seemed more than welcoming to the outsiders.

    I pulled out my pack of cigarettes glad to see that I still had an almost full pack and would not need to bribe Timo to roll more for me. I took one of them between my fingers knowing full well how nasty a habit smoking was. That with every breath I was destroying myself ever so slowly, still the feeling of the smoke burning my throat and the sweet release of the stress that normally weighs me down makes it worth it. I lit up the cig inhaling as I stood up to head to the store. I glanced to the group a final time only to notice Janet sneaking away from the now distracted family. Her little feet began to run toward the edge of the highway, it seemed as though she was trying to run beneath a bird flying over head. On instinct I drop my bag and ran toward her, knowing that the risk of her getting hit was high. The stoggie dropped from my mouth and my speed picked up as I saw her foot hit the cement. Never in my life have I been so thankful for having learned to run from cops, dealers and occasionally a drunkard mother. A car came rolling toward her swerving in her direction the vehicle seemed to be aiming for her my body moved before my mind had time to react. I gripped her arm yanking her off her feet and pressed tightly to my chest. In a quick and painful movement I threw us out of the way of the car that came rushing forward, feeling the concrete tear into my back as I used my body to shield her. We rolled twice before eventually stopping a few feet away from the now parked car.

     “Janet!” I heard the mother scream, reminding me that I was holding a now crying child. I forced myself to sit up and check her for injuries. Janet gripped my shirt in fear, glancing up at me with an innocence that reminded me of Tyler. The deep oceans that looked up at me made my already worried heart grow even more attached to her.  I saw Janet’s family and the large crowd running toward us just as the now angry driver got out cursing about how I could have damaged his car. To my misfortune it was one of my mom's various flings. His hand held a familiar bottle of corona which caused my anger to flare. This a*****e is driving around drunk in a place that kids are known to run around.

   “Well if it isn’t little Melanie Walker.” He slurred walking towards me, many of my mother's ‘companions’ have made moves on me this one included. Janet's mom had ripped her from my arms frantically checking for wounds. I stood up feeling the blood drip from my arm and back, the pain was sharp like needles. Reminding me of the rug burn I had constantly gotten as a child when my mother threw me to the ground in her moments of drug induced rage.

     “Don’t you Melanie me Chuck! You almost ran over a kid do you even care? Why the hell are you drinking at noon on a saturday anyway ya damn lunatic!” I felt his bottle crack on my shoulder a feeling I have felt to often before. I managed to throw myself onto him, adrenaline rushing through me as I began to punch him like a mad woman. Part of me related the small girl to Tyler leading to my over protectiveness being doubled. Chuck kicked beneath me as we fought for a few moments, it wasn’t until a pair of strong arms wrapped around me that I was knocked back into reality. On reflex I turned to push the person off of me backing up as a familiar head of purple hair came into view. His eyes held appreciation and worry, a wave of comfort washed over me, I held his gaze until Chucks squeaky voice drew my attention.

     “How dare the daughter of a druggie call me a drunk! You wanna talk about a child killer look at your mom how many times has she beat your pretty little face in huh?” Chuck turned and got into his car starting it right away. The chicken was all talk but didn’t have the balls to stay and reap his words. I raised my voice over his engine “Coming from the guy who slept with her that's priceless!”

   After his car drove away I turned my attention back to Janet, by now the adrenaline had worn off and the burning pain increased to a dramatic point. I felt like the skin on my side was melting off and the few steps I took toward Janet lead to me having to sit down beside her. The rest of the family was talking insisting that I need an ambulance, I believe a few of them took out a phone to call. I tried to hide my pain from Janet who was staring at me like a superhero, the same way Tyler looked at me when I sang him to sleep an adoration that brought tears to my eyes. The kids looked so similar I almost couldn’t tell them apart.

    “A-are you otay auwntie?” Janet stuttered in worry noticing the injuries that littered my body.

    “Of course I am okay sweetie.” I smiled trying to reassure her I gently moved her hair behind her ear an act of comfort my mother did before she went downhill, she threw her arms around me causing a hiss to escape me. Her father reached to remove her, I lifted my hand still far too glad that she is still alive to take the severity of my pain into consideration. “ You shouldn’t run from your parents like that it was dangerous okay Janet?” I scolded her softly. Her head shook and a breath of relief left me. I let go of her and she slowly walked to stand next to her mother.

   I smiled at the touching scene still not replying to the others, my heart was racing happiness overflowing that this little angel was safe. If only someone had been able to help Ty.

   Once I saw her mother walk her towards the car, my body finally stopped fighting and I allowed myself to slip into the unconsciousness I had been fighting to not scare the poor child any further than she already was..

Author's Note

Sorry if it sucks