I turned my head to Dana and sat up very, very slowly due to the pain in my ribs and my stiff joints. I pushed off the blankets that were on me, and she sat down next to me slowly as to not jostle me around.
“So, how are you feeling?” Dana asked, touching my forehead.
“Okay, I guess . . . just really tired.” I paused and finally asked, “What happened exactly? And how did I end up here?”
“We’ll talk about that in a minute. First, I want to give you a more thorough exam to make sure that you don’t need any immediate medical attention.” She stuck a thermometer in my mouth, and she smiled at me gently while guiding me through the examination slowly.
“Everything looks good, Aubry,” she said when she was finished. “You’re going to be very tired for a couple of days. You’re very lucky . . . This could have been a very bad situation,” Dana said, smiling and patting my shoulder. She got up and came back with a water for me.
“Now can you please explain to me why you were out in the freezing cold?”
“Uh-umm . . . I um—” I struggled, not completely sure of what to say. What is a good enough excuse for this? There really wasn’t one.
Her face softened at my obvious distress. “Look Aubry, I really want to help you, but I can’t if you don’t let me,” Dana said, grabbing my hand gently and looking at me genuinely.
I don’t know what it was. Maybe it was the sincerity in her voice or the way she touched me gently and smiled at me softly. Whatever it was, made me feel like I could trust her.
I took a deep breath and looked down at my lap. “Well . . . I um—” I paused and took a deep breath. I had to tell her; I really had no choice. “Honestly, I’ve been living on the streets since mid-November. My dad kicked me out, and I had nowhere to go,” I finally spat out without looking up.
She was speechless for a few moments as she studied me with a soft look on her face. “Are you okay, Aubry? Like actually okay? You’ve been homeless this whole time . . . ?”
“Dana, I’m okay. I really am . . . especially with all things considered.” I paused and took a deep breath preparing myself for the explanation. “My dad he’s—he’s um—” I didn’t know how to word it nicely, so I just came out with it. “My dad is a drunk and an addict. He has been for just about my whole life. He’s not a good guy, and he used me as the bill payer ever since my sister moved out, then I stopped playing the bills, so he lost it. He told me he would kill me if I didn’t leave. Dana, I don’t know what to do. I have no other family, no friends, and no money.”
I didn’t add in the fact that I had a drug lord out for me that I owe twenty-thousand dollars left to . . . that didn’t seem like the thing to say.
“Oh honey, it’s okay,” Dana said, hugging me. I didn’t realize that I was crying until she hugged me. I felt like a weight had been lifted off of me, finally someone knew!
“Aubry, it’s going to be okay. You can stay with us. We can be your new family. I’m not letting you go back on to the streets, especially in the cold.”
“No, no, Dana . . . I don’t want to be a burden. Besides, you already have three kids of your own. There’s no room for me. I could never ask you to—”
Dana cut me off quickly, “Hush Aub, you are only seventeen years old! What kind of a person would I be if I let you just wander off by yourself in the freezing cold and snow?! Besides, you’re not a burden. My whole family loves you. You can stay with us for as long as you need to,” Dana said, stroking my shoulder. “Besides, you’re the only one that can keep Aiden in line,” she added with a laugh.
I sighed. “Dana.” She gave me a hard look. “Okay, okay,” I said with the tiniest smile at her. “You are the sweetest person ever. Thank you so very much.”
I hugged her tightly, feeling amazing all of the sudden.
“Hey Dana,” I said, still confused. “How did I end up here last night?”
“In all honesty, it was just luck. Chris happened book a late-night bus yesterday, and Aiden recognized your jacket.”
I sucked in a breath. What if Aiden didn’t go to the station? Would I be dead?
“If they didn’t see you, if they didn’t come across you, you probably would have died last night. You’re very lucky that they found you, Aubry,” Dana answered, smiling at me.
Aiden saved me! Aiden saved my life.
She took another breath, and I looked up at her expectantly. “That wasn’t the only thing that I wanted to speak to you about . . .” Dana paused and cleared her throat awkwardly. “Um, so . . . Obviously I changed you when you came in,” she said, motioning to my clothes.
I really didn’t want to know where this was going.
“Aubry . . . I saw all of your scars. Look, I know that this is probably a sensitive subject for you but . . . did your dad abuse you? Or someone else? Did they do all of that to you? You can tell me. It’s just that there is too many scars, and it all points to abuse.”
I didn’t look up to meet her eyes. What was I supposed to say? I sighed and decided I would say the truth. What could it hurt anyways? “It wasn’t only my dad. My dad had a lot of friends. When they’d get drunk or high, they’d go psychotic with their pent-up aggression. Sometimes the target would be me, sometimes it’d be my sister, sometimes it’d be the both of us.” I took a breath and finally looked up at her.
She had a look of anger on her face. “I don’t know how someone could ever hurt a child,” she said it in a hard tone and squeezed my hand tightly. “I’m so sorry that you had to endure that . . . I’m glad that it is over, though.”
She took another pause and continued on talking, “I also noticed that some of the scars are obviously self-inflicted.”
I began to open my mouth to speak, but she didn’t let me.
“I know none of them are new, I know that they’re all obviously from a while back, but I also know how easy it is to start hurting yourself again after you’ve stopped. I know how addicting it can be.” She looked at me intently and rubbed my arm again. “Look, you helped my daughter, and I just want to help you. Aubry, if you ever, ever feel the need to hurt yourself, please come to me. Come and talk to me, cry to me, whatever . . . We can share the pain together. I just want you to be happy. I think of you like a daughter already, and I hope you’ll think of me as a stand-in mom. I want you to have a good life, Aubry. I’ll talk to everyone tonight about sleeping arrangements and stuff, okay?”
I couldn’t hold back the tears any longer. “Thank you. Thank you so much, Dana.”
She hugged me and then stood up. “I’m going to check to make sure that Aiden is finally sleeping. You need to do that too as soon as I get some food in you. By the way, I’m going to keep you and Aiden both out of school tomorrow. Y’all both need more rest. Plus, I want you to come to my work tomorrow so I can get you some X-rays on your ribs. They look absolutely terrible and have not gotten better at all since Christmas.”
“I—I don’t have any insurance or money,” I told her, embarrassed.
“Oh no it’s okay. The doctor will do it as a favor to me. All of my family gets treated for free . . . and since you’re family now, you can too. I’m going to go check on Aiden real quick before I get you some lunch. So, just get comfortable and make yourself at home, Aub.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Welcome to the Family
Aiden
I woke up to my phone ringing, and ringing, and ringing, and ringing . . .
Couldn’t they take a hint? I did not want to talk! I wanted to sleep!
“The world better be ending, Brandon. That is the only logical explanation for you to call me ten times in a row!” I said into the phone grumpily.
“Well, hello sunshine!” Brandon said quite chipper and laughed. “And, for the record, I only called you five times. Tommy called you the other five.”
“What . . . do . . . you . . . want?” I asked, groaning loudly at the idiot.
“We were worried! I mean, considering the fact that you said you
would be at the gym by three and it is now six-thirty! And yet, you are still not here. But then Aubry never showed up either, so we kind of decided to interrupt whatever the hell y’all are doing! If you say you will be at a place at a certain time, then be there or call, and tell us you can’t make it!” Brandon yelled into the phone, making my head hurt.
“Brandon, lose my number,” I said, rolling myself out of bed hastily and throwing the phone back down.
My eyes were still heavy indicating that my nap wasn’t long enough to make up for the restless nights that I’d been having. My tiredness didn’t matter though. I just wanted to make sure that Aubry was okay. I prayed that she was still there and that my mom hadn’t let her leave.
I had to look like a madman when I entered the living room. Judging from Briana’s reaction, I knew that was true. I glanced in the mirror hanging on the opposite side of the room and shook my head. My hair was pointing in every direction, my clothes that I had on since the day before were creased and wrinkly, my face was pale, and my eyes had deep dark circles under them. I didn’t care though, Aubry was the only thing that I could think of.
“She’s in my room doofus,” Briana said, not even sparing me a glance.
I nodded and practically ran to Bri’s room. The door was closed, so I knocked gently even though all I wanted to do was knock down the door to see her.
“Come in.” I heard Aubry’s soft voice say from the other side.
I swiftly swung the door open. She stood there looking at me. Her long hair was down and wet, indicating that she just had a shower. She had on sweatpants and an old hoodie of mine, making me smile. She looked amazing in my clothes. The bruises that were on her face still looked awful, but even then, she looked amazing. She looked absolutely stunning. She always did.
I advanced to her, and I couldn’t stop myself from throwing my arms around her gently. I was just so happy that she was okay! She could have died!
At first, she didn’t respond to the sudden hug, she was too shocked to react, but soon enough, her arms were around me, and her face was buried into my chest.
That was where she belonged . . . with me.
“Aubry, what the fuck?” I said, holding on to her as if she’d disappear. “Don’t ever do that to me ever again! I was so worried. Why were you out there? It was fucking snowing.”
I heard her sigh as she pulled away from me slightly to look up at me. “We need to talk . . .” she said, burying her face back into my chest.
Wait, what? That’s what people say when they’re breaking up with someone, isn’t it? You can’t break up with someone you’re not with . . . right?
“Okay kids, dinner is ready,” my mom said, poking her head in the opened door. “Aiden, I’m glad you got some sleep.”
Aubry smiled at me slightly. “Later . . . right now, let’s eat.”
Dinner went by slowly due to my anticipation about what Aubry wanted to talk to me about. Honestly, what did that mean? It couldn’t be good, whatever it was.
“Briana, would you mind helping Cece with her bath tonight, please? I need to talk to Aubry and Aiden,” my mom said as Briana eyed both of us curiously and got up.
“You’re not pregnant, are you?” Bri asked Aubry, making her choke on the water she was halfway done drinking.
“No Briana, of course not. Now go,” my mom answered.
We sat in silence for a moment until Aubry cleared her throat. “So, I wanted to talk to you,” she started while tapping her fingers on the table. “I don’t really know where to begin. Earlier, you asked me what I was doing out in that weather . . .” She paused and I nodded. “Well the truth is, I’m homeless, and I have been ever since I met you.”
My eyebrows raised, and I tilted my head. I looked towards my mother, and she sighed.
“My dad kicked me out a day or so before I approached you, and I’ve been sleeping here and there. At a park, at the bus station, bar hopping and what not since,” she said, not looking at me.
“But I dropped you off at your house?” I said, confused.
She shook her head. “You dropped me off on a random street that I pretended I lived on. All of that stuff about my dad, about Thanksgiving, about him working on Christmas, about him dropping me off for training . . . it was all a lie. I’ve been living on the streets.”
“So, you’ve been lying to me this whole . . . friendship,” I asked, furious that she would do that. She could have asked me for help; she almost died for all of this!
She looked up and blinked at me few times. “Technically yes. Yes, I did lie to you,” she said, not denying it or anything.
“I could have helped you,” I said in a voice, barely above a whisper.
She looked up at me with tears in her eyes and bit her lip. She balled her fist up and brought her knees to her chest. “I know that . . . now. I didn’t trust you before and then I was too deep into my lie to just tell you. So . . . I just pretended to have a home; pretended to have a family,” as she said the last part, her voice broke, and a few tears slipped out of her eyes.
I reached out and wiped the few stray tears away. I understood to an extent, I mean I was pretty terrible to her at the beginning of our friendship, but I could have helped her.
“I could have helped you,” I said to her again in a more defeated and deflated voice. I should have been able to see through her charade.
“And you did. Aiden, you saved my life. I was dying. If you wouldn’t have seen me when you did, I’d be dead right now. You really did help me, Aiden! This whole time you have!” she said, grasping my hand gently as if I was the one that needed comforting.
I nodded. I just can’t get the image of her out of my head. The image of her practically dying in my arms. Her sickly pale face, her short breaths that I could barely hear, and her violent shivers as I tried to warm her. It was a close call, too close. It made me want to puke to even think about it.
“Aubry . . .” I began, not really knowing what to actually say. “I-I’m sorry you had to go through that. I’m a little upset that you didn’t tell me, but I understand why you didn’t. I wasn’t exactly a trustworthy person when we first met, and I understand that,” I finally said, squeezing her hand back.
She seemed to relax a lot and shot me a small smile. Where was she going to go though?
“Okay, now that you know. I wanted to talk to you about the possibility of her living here with us.”
My eyes widened. I shouldn’t have been shocked. After all, my mother was a true saint.
“I talked to your grandpa, and he said that he is okay with it . . . but if you’re not, if you’re the least bit uncomfortable with it, we can figure something else out.”
Seriously? My mom thought I could have been uncomfortable? I laughed out loud.
“Yeah, I’m completely okay with her staying here. She can even have my room.”
“That being said, I need to set some ground rules. For one, Aubry . . . you will follow all of the same rules as my children, which are pretty lenient. I’ll have Aiden go over those with you. Chores are a must around here; we’ll add you to the chore chart, and I know y’all say that you two ‘aren’t together’ but . . .” She took a long pause.
Oh God, the sex talk. I buried my face in my hands.
“Look, I understand that you are teenagers and have strong urges and needs. I’d prefer it if you waited, obviously, but if you do end up . . . ya know . . . use protection, and be sure that you are being smart about what you’re doing,” my mom finished finally.
Aubry’s face was beet-red, and it made me chuckle.
“Okay Mom, thanks for that.” I laughed at the awkwardness in the room.
My mom smiled and laughed at both of our discomfort. “Briana and Cece, are y’all done yet? Family meeting time.” She paused as she waited for them. “I guess it’s time to tell them and talk about the sleeping arrangements.” Just as she finished the sentence, both of my sisters came walking in.
“Tell us what?” Bri
ana asked curiously.
“Well . . . Aubry is going to be living with us until further notice.”
“Why?” Briana asked abruptly. “I mean, not that I don’t love you Aubry, but I’m confused. And where is she going to sleep?”
My mom looked over at Aubry as she hid her bruised face behind her hair. “My dad kicked me out, Briana,” Aubry said quietly, barely above a whisper.
Briana’s eyes got big, and the room was silent.
“Anyways about the sleeping situation . . .” my mom quickly changed the subject.
“I already told you that I would give up my room, it’s no big deal,” I interjected.
“No,” Aubry said immediately. “No one is giving up their room for me. I’ll sleep on the couch or whatever. It’s way better than where I’ve been sleeping, so it’s not a big deal,” she said, giving me a disapproving look.
“Well actually, I’ve talked to Pawpaw, and he just so happens to have a friend who is trying to get rid of a pull-out sleeper sofa. He called her and asked her if we could have it, and she’s going to give it to us. She said it’s very comfortable, and it was barely used, so we’re going to get that and then you can put your clothes in Aiden’s room since he has the most space in his closet and dresser . . . if that is okay with the both of you,” my mom finished, looking at the both of us.
“Absolutely,” I stated, smiling at Aubry.
Aubry vigorously nodded her head. “Thank you so much. Y’all are too nice to me,” she said, getting up and hugging my mom.
“Is everyone okay with this arrangement?” my mom asked.
Everyone nodded their heads in unison except Cece.
“What about you, Cece, is this okay with you?” my mom said, looking concerned at Cece.
Cece got up and walked around the table to Aubry. “Does this mean that you’re going to be my sister now?” Cece asked Aubry quietly.
“Well Cece,” Aubry began and picked her up so she was situated in her lap. “Do you want me to be your sister?” Cece nodded at once and smiled. “Then that’s what I’ll be,” she said, giving my little sister a big hug.
Fighting For Life Page 32