The Ring

Carrie's ring gets stolen the second day at her new foster home.

The Ring

 

 

They're moving me to a foster home. I've never been in a foster home, even though I've lived at Lindale Orphanage for a few years now. Three years ago, my mother died and my father couldn't handle it. He committed suicide two months after her funeral. I was little, but she left me her college ring. She always wanted me to follow in her footsteps and go to Yale. It's the only thing keeping me here. I have to fulfill her wish.

         I put my suitcase in the van and we're on the way to the Rutledge house. I've been told multiple things about foster homes. Some are nice and loving and the parents sometimes adopt, unlikely for me considering I'm fifteen. It would still be nice to be loved, though. At Lindale, you're forgotten about. If you aren't, you better be a straight A student and help with cleaning all the time. The other things I've found out about foster homes are that they're full of perverts and abusers. I know these parents have kids, though. I've found out these are the best homes to live in because they care, but they don't care too much. They're lenient. 

         When we arrive at the house, I'm surprised to see two men, not a man and a woman. They see my confused expression and explain that their relationship. Okay. I have nothing against gay marriage. Did they adopt all of their kids? Are they going to adopt me? I hope they don't, soon I can apply for emancipation. I know it's difficult but I can't live like this anymore; it's killing me.

         "So,  I'll show you your room. You and Amanda will share," Greg says. I follow him up the stairs and into a room with light purple walls. There are two beds and two dressers. I won't need the dresser because my clothes didn't even fill my small suitcase, but it's nice to see it's offered. There's a girl across the room, sitting on her bed, Amanda I presume. She has auburn hair, obviously dyed because the ends are so frayed and dead. 

         "Hi, I'm Amanda, but you can call be Mandy. We're roommates!" She seems excitable, but it's better than my other roommates that just sulk around. 

         "I'll let you two talk for a while. You can meet the rest of my kids at dinner tonight," Greg says and leaves the room.

         We talk for hours. I might like it here. I thought having a roommate would be difficult but we are so much alike. I think I'll enjoy this.

         "Dinner!" Mark calls from downstairs. I stand up to go downstairs but Mandy stops me. "No. Not yet. Wait, we don't want to get trampled."

         I turn to ask her why but then I hear it. It sounds like buffalo stampeding to murder their prey. I guess those are the boys. When they get downstairs, we follow. I sit down at the table and Mark brings everyone a plate with food on it. Greg brings everyone a glass of water.

         "I didn't know what you liked to eat so I just made some pasta," Mark says. 

         "It's fine, I'm not a picky eater. Thank you," I say. He smiles and tells everyone to introduce themselves. The boys are David, Matthew, and Charlie. David and Charlie seem pretty normal, but I get a bad boy vibe from Matthew. After dinner, I help clean up and then head back upstairs to unpack and go to bed. As I lay down, I take my mother's ring off and put it on the table beside my bed. 

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         When I wake up, Mandy is still asleep. So, I decide to take my shower now, so she can take hers when she wakes up. After I shower, I wash my face and put on a little makeup. I get dressed and go to the table to put my ring on. But it's not there. Where did it go? I look on the floor, incase I knocked it off the table in my sleep, but it's not around. I start to fumble around with the sheets and I guess I was being too loud because Mandy wakes up. 

         "Hey. What's wrong? What are you looking for?" she says groggily. 

         "My ring. I put it on this table last night but it's not here. I looked everywhere. I can't find it," I say hurriedly. I look through the bed sheets and see nothing. I hit the headboard out of frustration. 

         "Hey! Calm down! Just get another one."

         Greg opens the door saying, "Is everything alright in here, girls?"

         "No, it's not alright! My ring is missing! My mother gave me it when she died and now it's gone too!" I scream at him with tears in my eyes.

         "It's okay, I'm sure we'll find it. Come downstairs for breakfast and we'll ask if anyone's seen it. It's all going to be okay," he says and grabs my hand, leading me to the kitchen.

         "Has anyone seen a ring anywhere this morning or last night? Carrie lost hers." Everyone replies "no" but they look around for it. The only person not looking is Matthew. He's slumped up against the kitchen counter and is examining his skateboard. It's cracked down the middle with a chunk missing. He tries to tighten a wheel but the cheap metal breaks in his hand.

         "Damn it!" he yells.

         "Matthew! Watch your language!" Greg says.

         Matthew puts his hands in his pocket, trying to find something. "Where is that screw? Oh, here it is," he says. When he takes the screw out of his pocket, something else falls out too. My ring. I march over to him and grab my ring off the ground. 

         "Why? Why did you steal my ring? To fix your crappy skateboard? Huh?" I yell at him. 

         "My skateboard isn't crappy! But your ring is! I asked how much they'd give me for it and they said nothing! I was going to give it back!"

         "And what if it was worth something, huh? Would you have given it back then?" I reply. The next thing I know, my fist has hit his nose. There's blood, a lot of it. They'll never adopt me now, I'll never be put in another foster home, and I'll never get emancipated.

         Two hours later, the van arrives. I load my suitcase into it and get ready for the long drive. I hear Greg say "I really liked her. I thought she would be nice. I thought Amanda could finally have a sister."

         I jump out of the van and run up to hug him. "Please! Just give me one more chance! I'm so sorry! Please! It was my mother's, I just... I'm sorry! Please give me another chance! Please! I'll be better. I won't hurt anyone else! Please! Please just give me one more chance!"

         And they did.

         I finally had another family that loved me. Matthew and I don't really talk much to each other now but at least I have a sister. She's the most amazing person, I love her so much. And my dads are so caring and thoughtful. They treat me like their own. I'm so glad I got my second chance.

Author's Note

This is my first story in a week or two so I'm not back into the swing of it yet. If you have any advice please tell.

Reviews

[barleygirl]

This is a very well-written & compelling story. I was especially drawn in by the first paragraph, it set up the situation so clearly, & we totally GET how much this ring means to the narrator. The feelings expressed upon being sent to a new foster home are realistic & believable. The response to a gay couple is perfectly stated & the family is well-described as having a likely balance of ups & downs, all done with a balance of realistic dialogue & description.

I only had a couple nit-picky bumps . . . (1) "buffalo stampeding to murder their prey" (buffalo are herbivores) . . . (2) there's not enuf time elapsed for Matthew to have gone to a pawn shop, so this part is less believable.