Chapter 20 - Charlotte

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Chapter Twenty

Charlotte

I sat on the flimsy, worn out bed and stared absently at the wall across from me. The childcare worker and my soon to be "house parents" were babbling on about the different activities they offer here, but I wasn't listening. There was a dark, emptiness inside me and even though I was surrounded by people, I felt despairingly alone.

My mother was dead.

My father was in police custody awaiting trial, but the lawyers already admitted he had no chance. He would be sentenced to life in prison for the murder of my mother.

My heart was heavy, but everything else felt numb. I cried so much the past three days that I had no energy left – I was tired but I couldn't sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw my mother's beaten body and my dad being pulled away by the police. My body ached and my eyes were red and swollen.

Nothing seemed real.

"Charlotte?" the childcare worker crouched down in front of me. "I have to leave now, but Mrs and Mr O'Donnell will help you get settled in. I think you'll really like it here at Hillside House – it's a beautiful group home with a few kids around your age."

Without looking at her, I pushed my duffle bag off the bed and laid down. I knew she was trying to help, but I couldn't endure the way everyone was treating me like I was a victim who'd been saved. Maybe I was, but I still loved my parents, and the pain and loss was unbearable.

For the last three days, everyone smiled at me sympathetically, but when my back was turned, I still heard their whispers. "It's almost a blessing what happened," they'd say, "I can't believe anyone's parents could do something like that."

My parents weren't evil, they were sick. They had an addiction they tried hard to overcome but always failed in the end. I would give anything to go back to Monday after school when my parents were sober, when my mom sat with me on the couch and helped me study. I would never see her smile again or hear her contagious laughter, my dad would never make my favourite chilli, and neither of them would read to me. I reached for the old, tattered book sitting on the bed beside me and squeezed it to my chest.

"The Golden Book of Fairy Tales," the cover read. As a young child, my parents used to read it to me before bedtime. Maybe not every night, but every night they were sober which was more often back then. Sometimes they would even try to act the stories out together, which wasn't a good idea because their silly voices always made me hyper. And they would spend hours afterward trying to calm me down and put me to sleep.

This book was all I had left of my parents – the one item that could remind me of a time when I was happy, a time when the world wasn't so dark.

Mr. O'Donnell was whispering something to the childcare worker. I rolled over so I didn't have to see the pity written all over their faces, and pulled my knees up to my chest.

Mrs. O'Donnell whispered, "You're safe now," as she put a blanket over me.

My heart constricted and it felt like she punched me in the stomach with those words. I didn't care about my safety – I just wanted my parents back.

I wanted to go home.

"Dad, don't!"

He stood over my mother's lifeless body holding the frying pan above his head. He turned to look at me but his face was twisted – his eyes were dull and void and he had a malicious smile etched across his face. "I have to save you, sweetheart." His voice was low and lacked emotion.

I looked past him at the bloody, battered corpse lying on the kitchen floor. Sapphire eyes stared up at me from a pale face I could barely recognised. "Why didn't you save me?" It asked.

"M-mom?"

She began to stand up as her eyes lowered into small slits and her nostrils flared. "Why didn't you save me, Charlie?!"

"I'm sorry, M-mom," tears rolled down my cheeks. "I tried."

"You didn't try hard enough!" Suddenly, the frying pan was in her hand. Blood dripped down the handle and fell into a black puddle on the floor. She raised it in the air and I shielded my face.

"M-mommy, please."

"M-mommy, please," she repeated mockingly.

Her voice sounded different – I didn't recognise it. "Mom?"

"Oh, mommy, please. Mommy, don't hurt me, mommy!" The voice taunted again before bursting into a high pitched laughter.

I woke up with a gasp. I was drenched in sweat, and my hands were trembling. Two girls stood over my bed laughing while a third girl was on the floor going through my duffle bag.

"Oh, M-mommy, don't leave me," the laughing red head teased.

Her spikey haired friend bend down to my level and lowered her bottom lip. "Aww, does the poor baby miss her mommy?"

"God, this girl has more books in here than clothes." The girl on the floor interrupted while tossing the books behind her and pulling out a few of my shirts. "Looks like we're shit out of luck, ladies. All she wears is ol' granny clothes. Oh wait, here Lizz," she tossed a black long sleeved shirt at the girl with short spiked hair. "This'll probably fit you."

I quickly sat up. "W-what are you doing?"

"Shut up, four-eyes." The girl standing beside Lizz hissed. She pulled her long, red hair into a high pony tail before reaching for one of my books. "What's this? The D-Dia..." Nervously, she glanced down at the dark haired girl sitting on the floor. "The Dia...lec-"

"The Dialectical Biologist," I finished.

"Hey, Mack, I think she's making fun of you."

Mack tossed the book back on the floor and turned to me with dark glowering eyes. "Brittney's right – you're makin' fun of me, aren't yah?"

"W-what? No, I-"

"Look, four-eyes, you're new here so this is you're warnin'. Me, Lizz and Britt own this place – we've been here longer 'an anybody else, so stay the hell outta our way, and you'll be fine." She reached down and grabbed two of my long sleeved shirts and a pair of jeans that were too small for her. "I'm takin these." She turned around headed for the bedroom door with both girls in tow. With a glance over her shoulder she added, "Oh yah, we're s'ppose to tell yah that breakfast is ready."

"And you should probably clean up that mess. The O'Donnell's don't like clutter," Lizz said with a laugh and they all disappeared down the hallway.

The contents of my duffle bag were scattered all over my corner of the bedroom. Reluctantly, I pulled myself out of bed and started cleaning up the mess they made. Fixating on what just happened would only make me cry and I refused to let a few bullies bring me to tears. There was already too much things to feel miserable about.

After cleaning the mess, I decided to go outside for some fresh air. I wasn't hungry, and staying in the bedroom seemed like a bad idea. There were two other beds in there, and I didn't want to stick around to see who I shared the room with. Quickly, I hid the book of fairy tales under my pillow – I was lucky the girls didn't see that book because it was a bit unusual for a seventeen year old to have a child's book.

Overall, Hillside House was a fair sized residential building. There were four big bedrooms – the two rooms on the east side were for the girls, and the two on the west were for the boys. There was also two separate washrooms for the girls and the boys. Downstairs they had a room designated as the "quiet" area where we could read or use the computers. The large dining room and kitchen were just off of the living room. It even had its very own apartment inside the house just for the House Parent's which, in all likelihood, was off limits to the foster children.

With great intent, I avoided the loud dining room as I made my way outside and sat down on the porch swing. It was a beautiful place, but I missed my house – I missed my parents.

Loneliness clung to me like a flu I couldn't shake and I pulled my cellphone out to stare down at the black screen as I have a thousand times in the past three days. It was shut of – I hadn't turned it on since Tuesday. Every fiber in my body wanted to call Christian and seek comfort in the one person I knew could bring warmth to my cold, broken heart. But alas, fear hindered me from going any further than just looking at my phone.

I was too fragile – what if he didn't want to comfort me? I wasn't strong enough to handle that.

"Hey, you the new girl?"

I looked over at the guy who just came outside and nodded.

"You're supposed to come inside and eat."

Shaking my head, I looked away and said in a soft voice, "I'm not hungry."

"You could starve for all I care," he said hotly. "But Mrs. O'Donnell said no one's allowed to use the computers until everyone eats. So get inside, and fake it or something."

Mack stuck her head out the door and looked from me to the guy and narrowed her eyes. "Danny, what you doin' out here?"

A mischievous smirk promptly appeared on his face. "I was just talking to the newbie," he winked at me, "she's pretty interesting," and went back inside.

Confused, I peered up at Mack and instantly regretted it. She was staring down at me unblinking and tight-lipped. "You," she pointed her finger in my face, "jus' crossed a line."

"What? I didn't-" but she went back inside before I could finish.  

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. When I reopened them there was a girl I hadn't met walking up the porch steps smiling dolefully at me. She was probably a couple years younger or else her height and chubby cheeks merely gave her a more youthful appearance.

"That wasn't very smart," she said.

"But I didn't do anything."

With an impatient sigh, she nodded. "I know, but still, getting on Mack's bad side so soon is not good. Danny pulled a quick one on you." Folding her arms, she leaned up against the handrail. "Him and Mack are a thing, but he likes to make her jealous, and she has ... a bit of a temper. I'd watch your back, if I was you." 

With a glance to the side, I said "I don't want any trouble here." Truthfully, I just wanted to go back upstairs and curl up into a ball on my bed forever.

"Well, that sucks because apparently, that's exactly what you got." She pushed herself off the railing, and added, "I'm Summer, by the way. Now come on, let's go get some breakfast before you piss off the rest of the household."

I stared down at my clasped hands with eyes slightly glazed – this all was too much so handle. I was usually strong and willful but I felt broken, the emptiness left me feeling hallow and restless. My stomach was heavy, and the mere thought of food made me nauseated.

"Okay, I don't know your story, or whatever, but you need to stop this little pity party," Summer said to me. "We all have our reasons for being here, you know? I'd love to go home but my dad's a raging alcoholic and my mom skipped town with her new boyfriend, so here I am, 16 years old and stuck in the foster system for a couple more years. No one cares what your parents did or where they are, and if you keep sitting around pouting about it, you'll never survive this place."

"If I was to take a guess," Mack said and stepped back outside which made me realize she had been standing in the entrance listening the whole time. "Yur from some rich, uppity family. Yur ma and pop were, uh – what's that word called? When yah steal from a company?"

Summer tilted her head and asked, "Embezzling money?"

"Yah, that's it. They embezzled money from where they worked at, and now they in prison. That it, ain't it?"

It was none of their business, and even if I wanted to, I couldn't talk about what happened. It was too hard to think about, nevertheless talk about it. I looked away from both girls and Mack erupted into laughter.

"Ha! Nailed it!" She grabbed Summer's arm and headed inside while saying, "I knew it when I saw them ol' lady rags in her bag were designer clothes."

Still staring down at my clasped hands, I waited until they were gone and whispered softly, "I just want to go home." But when I closed my eyes wistfully, it wasn't my parents' house I was imagining, it was Christian's little country house.

~~

Note: 8'(   ß That's my Crying Charlie face. Fate really is far too cruel to this girl.

On a happier side note ... WOWWZER Donkey balls! I did not realize how many readers I'd accumulated lately. 300 votes in just over 24 hours – I'm speechless.

Thank you everyone who's reading this and is actually taking the time to vote and write comments. It really means a lot to me, and I hope I don't disappoint!

Also, I don't know if I mentioned this earlier, but after I am finished writing this book, I will be writing four spin off books to complete the whole "Steele Family Series".  They will feature Karla, Nate, Adrian and Kale, but don't worry! This book isn't close to being finished. I still have atleast 10 – 20 more chapters to go! But, since you are my readers, I want you to choose who you want to read about next. When Player and the Geek is completed, who would you like the second book to star?

Karla Steele: The daring, bold girl who's recent break up has pushed her to the edge of something dangerous and forbidden.

Nate Steele: His bright, cheerful demeanor can win over anyone's heart, except maybe the one person who denies they have one.

Adrian Steele: Quiet and mysterious, there isn't much known about Adrian because he refuses to let anyone into his locked up heart.

Kale Steele: The Vin Diesel look alike who's feared by everyone who meets him. It isn't unwarranted, though.

You are reading the story above: TeenFic.Net