Chapter 1
I sat, staring at the window that guarded me from the outside world. I had
recently locked myself in my room, hoping no one would notice. I had snuck a bag of
chips and a 7-up from my kitchen. I could here my mom yelling at my dad through
the phone… her voice getting horse.
“YOU THINK I WANTED THIS FOR MY OWN DAUGHTER? YOU THINK SHE
NEEDS THIS? YOU THINK SHE DESERVES THIS?”
I felt sorry for my dad. He was only 30 after all. My mom, only 29. My father
had dropped out of high school just so he could get two jobs to help our family.  I
don’t know how he realized his life was… not heaven, but he did. He bought some
cigarettes and beers one day, and got drunk. He came home to my mom and passed
out in front of her when she was 18, when he was 19. She was so disgusted she had
refused him to see me. He did in the end when they fell back in love at age 20 and 21.
I sighed and opened the chips and searched for my phone in my bed that had
been hit by a clothes storm.  It was nowhere to be found. This meant it was outside
by my backpack. Outside my room, outside my protection. I grabbed my math book
instead and started my homework. 7x-8(30)+y= t67 find t. Easy! Right there in front
of the 67! My teacher already hated me. I had nothing to loose.
“Cali!” my mom called my name.
No sudden movement or sounds, she’ll forget I’m alive. I thought.“California Adina Taylor! If I call you, you will come!” yes, Cat, my initials. She
was getting serious.
“Didn’t you hear me?” I hollered back, “I said I’m coming!”
Silence. I felt accomplished, she had backed down. I unlocked my door, and
slid down the railing. Too bad it was only like… four feet?
On the table we have half frozen peas, molding mashed potatoes, and a sliver
of some sort of meat.
Yum! I think to myself.
“Cali, your dad is coming over tonight. He is bringing a present from
Oklahoma! Aren’t you excited?” My mom said through gritted teeth, cutting down
on the piece of meat that I now had a feeling was sheep heart. I hope she doesn’t cut
through the plate!
“Oh cool! I wonder what it could be! The possibilities are endless! It could be
a… rock, or maybe some sand from one of the beaches he went to! Or maybe some
air, trapped in a water bottle that will make me feel “like I’m somewhere magical!”” I
rolled my eyes. I loved my dad but he was horrible with gifts.
KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK.
Someone bangs on our door, I see the hinges coming out from the cheap
door.
“I’ll get it!” I quickly run to the door. A tall man with a mustache that meets
his beard greets me. Big ears and scraggly hair, with some beer on his face. “Oh…
hey John.”I don’t like John. He was my dad’s best friend, but has a crush on my mom. It
was gross.
Sheepishly, he peeked his head in and gulped. Then, nonchalantly pushed me
out of his way and looked at my mom, he put this dumb expression on his face like
he was surprised.
“Linda! What a surprise! What are you doing here?”
“Living!” I mutter under my breath hoping he hears.
“Johnny boy is that you?” Thank god! My dad had just entered the room. HIS
hair was nicely brushed. HIS ears weren’t big. HE didn’t have a beard or a mustache.
AND HE didn’t smell like a bar.
“DADDY!” My dad had black hair and brown eyes. He had promised my
mother he wouldn’t drink or smoke after that last episode. He stopped smoking, not
drinking.
“There’s my little California!” he put down a large box, a black backpack, and
a plastic bag.  He swung me around in his powerful arms. He made me feel young
again.
When he puts me down I spin around to look at John. “If you’d excuse us, we
would like some family time!”
He glares at me and looks at my mom, who looks at my dad, who grins and
shrugs, massaging my shoulders he says, “Sorry Johnny boy, but the warden says
no!” he points his thumb down at me and gives me a wink. “If we don’t do what the
warden wants, we might have some kind of tantrum!” he pinches my cheeks and spins me around, soon nudging me into our broken blue couch that you can just sink
into.
My dad scratched his head and looked at my mother, then to John, then back
to my mom.
“I think you should get on home, John,” My mom patted him on the back and
opened the door.
He shrugged and in a disgusting voice he said, “What eva’. Sorry I intruded on
this ‘family moment’!” he snickered.
He walked out. Finally! I thought.
My father watched as John walked out then turned to my mother and gave
her a kiss on the cheek. My dad was charming, even my mother couldn’t resist
him. “What’s for dinner?” he said, skipping to the table.
My mother blushed and rushed in front of him. “Just disgusting meat, mashed
potatoes and some peas.”
My father gave a chuckle. And reached in his bag, pulling out some Panda
Express.
My mother gave a “Phew”. A weird sound, but my dad loved it. He smiled and
went to get some plates and chopsticks.
“Oh! Cali, go over to the brown box,” My dad pointed at the box.
I slowly walked over to the box; maybe it’s a giant rock!  I joked to my self.
I opened the top, in it, was a beautiful flower. I’m not one for flowers, but this
flower was beautiful. It had white petals and yellow insides. Pink flared from the
outside in of the petals. Green mixed with the yellow. My father chuckled. “Amaryllis,” he said, taking a sip of beer he had gotten
from the fridge.
“It’s beautiful,” I was still breathless.
“Oh, Fredric! How on earth did you get it?” my mother stared at the amaryllis.
“Well, I was at a beach, trying to look for some rocks for Cali’s rock collection,
but I then I saw this flower, it was kind of bluish so went over to see if I could up
root it somehow, while I was digging it up, I saw that beauty!” he said giving a toothy
grin. “I went over to some people to see what it was they said amaryllis, I think it can
last for a pretty long time too!”
“Dad, it’s, it’s great!” I grabbed the flower. “I’ll go put it in my room.”  I run up
to my room, and place the flower on my desk, pushing off some textbooks. I ran to
grab some water from the bathroom. I slowly poured the water into the pot.
As I walk down stairs, I hear my mom yelling at my dad. “What do you mean?
You just got back and now you’re going again? Fredric! We have a daughter to
raise!”
My father response was quiet but annoyed, “Linda, this is my job! I can’t do
anything more or less! I’m trying my best.”
“Well your best isn’t good enough!” My mother snapped.
“Linda, please, calm down, Cali might hear!” My father whispered.
“Well maybe you should leave, that way she won’t hear anything,” I heard my
father gasp, but he made his way to the door.
I was too stunned to do anything. I let my father leave. My greatest mistake.Chapter 2
I packed my backpack for the morning. I grabbed an apple and some peanut
butter for my lunch.
“Hurry up!” my mom stomped out of her room, obviously still upset about the
night before.
“Why don’t I just take the bus,” I suggested.
“What ever,” she said shortly.
Out the door I went, “Can you check my flower?” I holler backwards to my
mom.
As I arrived at the bus stop I saw Kelly Cassen. My ex-best friend. She
had been mentally and physically abused several times. I only realized that we
weren’t “meant to be” when she ditched me for this stupid giraffe named Sally
Sopar. Too common of a name for my taste.
Her words when she chose Sally over me:
“Listen Cat, I think we should take a break. A permanent break. I don’t think
you and I are close enough to be friends… Ya’ know, even though we have known
each other for 12 years! And plus, your family is weird, and I hate you, always have!”
Or… something like that. I walk on the bus, hoping to avoid any eye contact
with the witch.“California!” she screeches. “How are you?” she said, touching my hair. “Wow,
you look great! Your hair has really grown! When was the last time I saw you?”
“Friday, in history, our last period,” my answer was curt.
“Ha! I forgot how silly you were!” She smiles a toothy smile.
Who says silly? I thought.
“Ok, well, I am going to sit in the back now. “ I said, inching towards the back
of the bus.
“Oh well, Sophie is sick today, so why don’t I sit with you?” Kelly gave
another smile.
To some innocent bystander, she might look like an angel, but I saw through
her poorly made halo, I saw her flaming horns that were seen at the peek of her hair.
To me they stood out like apples on an orange tree.
“Oh, I really can’t there just isn’t a spot for you in the back, popular people
deserved to be seen! In the front!” as the words stumbled clumsily from my mouth,
into the air, and in her ears, I regretted it.
“Oh…” she said quietly. “I… I just wanted to talk.”
The bus jolted and slowly, and loudly started moving down the street.
“Well, it’s a little late don’t you think?” I retorted.
“What, what do you mean?” she says sitting down when the bus driver looks
back.   She scoots over so I can sit with her.
“I mean, ever sense we were friends, you have taken advantage of me, you
have never cared about what I have to say, and now that your “friend” is gone, you are wanting me again. But I’m not falling for it this time Kel’, its not fair, for me.” I
spin around, before she can answer, and make my way down the bus to the back.
“Hey Cat!” My friend Jason Simsar says.
My other friend Laney Donaldson waves, she barely talks in public, only in
private, but she was one of the most literary people I know.
“Any drama with the Queen?” Jason sniggers and puts his arm around Laney,
who quickly slaps his cheek and inches away.
“Take a wild guess!” I say squeezing in between the two.
“Well, she’s crazy! Ditching someone like you for Sally! So what she’s prettier,
so what she’s nicer! So what she’s more fun and talkative, I love Sally,” he says then
shakes his head. “Sorry…”
Laney reaches over and gives him one more, SMACK.
I just shrug, horrible timing on my part though, the bus lurches and my
shoulders go up, I hit the back of the flimsy chair with my head, my seatbelt breaks
and I almost slide to the front of the bus. Nope, I end up right at Kelly’s chair.
“Did it get boring back there?” someone screeches with laughter. I can’t tell
whom because I’m almost unconscious. Then I feel someone kick me, and I see stars,
bright yellow ones that circle around something. I couldn’t tell if it was a reflection
of me, or what, everything was too shaky.  Then my head drops, and I am out.Chapter 3
“Cat?” someone whispers. A soft whisper.
“Nah, Lane, you gotta go like this! CAT!” then a loud scream echoed in my
ears.
“Am I dead?” I whispered.
“Nah bro you’re all good, but not so much you’re da- OOF! Laney! Stop that!” I
was starting to make out the two shapes. One was Jason, the other Laney.
“When you slid up, some boy kept kicking you, they were all laughing
because they thought you were just playing, but when you stopped breathing,
everyone got real freaked out, some girl even barfed! They all blamed the guy who
was kicking you…  Jason, what was his name?” Laney asked.
“David Tansel,” He said nonchalantly.
“Yah, David. The only good thing about this school is the doctors! And they
are only used for major injuries! They almost didn’t see you! But the Jason told them
that he would sue the school for poor seat belts and they got scared!” and on and on.
Laney was whispering quieter every sentence.
“Excuse me, California? Your mother is on the phone,” a nurse came into the
room.Jason exchanged a nervous glance with Laney. “Hey, we are gonna go get
something from the vending machine. We’ll be right back.” They walked away.
The nurse handed me the phone.
“Hello?” I say into the phone.
“Cali, I, I am so sorry,” my mother cried into the phone.
“Mom? What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Your, your, your fa- father, he’s, he, he’s d –d –dea –dead!” I felt as if I could
feel her sobs through the phone.
“What happened?” I asked.
“A car crash, l-last n-ni-night,” she stuttered.
“W-what!” I screamed into the phone.
“H-he was upset b-because l-l-last night, h-he and I, got, we, we got in a, a
fight-“
“YOU KILLED MY FATHER!” I screeched into the cheap white phone. In the
corner of my eye, I could see Lane and Jason peering through the door.
I wanted to drown into the lake of my tears.
“No, Cali, Cali I didn’t, it, it wasn’t like that!” she cried into the phone.
“Listen Linda!” I didn’t usually use her real name. “I heard you two fighting, I
always hear you two fighting!”
“Cali, please,”
But I just hung up.
Laney and Jason walked in.
“Hey Cat, are you ok?” I could barely hear Laney’s voice.“You guys knew?” I whispered.
“Well…the nurse told us, your mom called when you were unconscious,
I overheard the nurse talking. I told Laney…” for the first time Jason’s voice was
hushed.
“Cat,” Laney reached out her hand to touch my hand, but I quickly moved it
away.
“Just go,” I whispered.
The nurse came in as I dismissed them. “Honey, I think that you should go
home.”
“Me?” I asked dumbfounded.
She nodded. “Your mother will be here soon,” and she walked away.
“Wait!” I called after her, but she was gone. “I don’t want to go home!” I
whispered to my self. Before she could come back I crawled out of the bed. I grabbed
my bag and looked out the door. “Too many people…” I thought. So swung my
backpack onto my back and looked out the window. A clear drop down, I could land,
but my back still hurt and I could tell that my leg was bleeding.
I slowly opened the window, and glanced around. I cautiously advanced onto
the miniscule windowsill, then I grabbed onto a flimsy ivy branch, then fastening my
foot on a stronger branch, I started climbing down. I slowly made my way down. I
could tell I was getting closer to the bottom so I jumped. I landed on one foot, almost
twisting my ankle. I looked towards my house. “It’s kinda far away…” I muttered to myself. I glanced over at the bike rack.
At our school, there was one bike that no one ever claimed. It was on the verge of
falling apart, but I needed to get home before someone saw me. I stumbled towards
it and got on. I turned the front wheel and off I went. I heard the stutter of my mom’s
rickety old car.
Grrumph grrrumph!
You could hear it a mile away. I took a detour behind some people’s houses, I
ran into a few obstacles, like a fence, or someone admiring their spring gardens.
Soon, I was home. I got off the bike and stored it in our garage, then, I slowly
loped to my room. As I got in, my amaryllis stood small.
“SHE FORGOT TO WATER IT!” I screeched at the top of my lungs. I ran into
the bathroom and grabbed the cup I used to rinse out my mouth. The whole time, I
muttered, “She forgot! She forgot!” rage pulsed through me until the flower peeked
up and decided to open its petals. “Daddy?” I whispered to my flower. “Daddy, come
back,”Chapter 4
 I went to get some ice for my ankle, then I realized that my mom would be
coming home if I wasn’t at school. Quickly I grabbed ice, some food, a flashlight, my
book, my phone, a pillow and a blanket. I rushed back to my room and opened my
closet. In the back of my closet, there was a little spot where you could crawl into
and rest there, it was so closed off no one could find you.
 I set up camp, spreading out the food. I had I slice of cake, some chips, a
Fanta, five oreos, yogurt covered raisins, my emergency cup of noodles, and some
left over Chinese food.
I looked up to look for camouflage just in case she looked inside my den. An
old trench coat that my mom had bought me… it had been 10x too big last year. I
pulled it down from the hanger. It landed on top of me, covering me. I took a slurp of
my cup of noodles, quietly.  I looked at the clock on my cell phone. It was only 9:10.
“I have time for a nap…” I thought out loud. I snuggled against the wall.When I woke up I was in my bed. The white paint was chipped, one side of
it was held up be dictionaries, and some of my blankets had been eaten by moths. I
tried to stand up, but I ended up just falling down. My mother must have heard the
thump because she rushed to my room to help me up. I fought to stay on the ground
as she tried to pick me up. Finally she gave up.
“How was your nap?” she asked, panting.
“Fine,” my reply was curt.
“I made your favorite dinner! I have beans with rice and gyoza!’ she said
expectantly.
“Not hungry,” I looked away from her, at my flower.
“Well, uh, I invited someone over who might cheer you up!” I looked at her
and tried to get up. “Oh, I got you some crutches, or the doctor gave me some,”
When I was ready, I started walking down the stairs. It was hard at first but I
got the hang of it. After three stairs I was down.
“Ok, yah, see you then,” I heard someone talking on their phone.
“Weird,” I thought, crutching into the living room. My purple, swollen ankle
tingled at the thought that it could possibly be my dad. “You idiot! California!” I
silently thought to my self.
“California!” the voice… it was John. He snapped his phone shut and I jump a
little. “I called up your mother to see how she was holing up and I heard about you!”
my mother blushed as he put his arm around her. “You’re quite the little trouble
producer aren’t you?”“Can’t you just say maker?” I retort. He looked puzzled so I rolled my
eyes. “Can’t you just say trouble maker?” I hiss out.
“California!” my mother gasped at how rude I was.
“What mom?” I scream out. “Was this your plan all along?”
She looks at me and says, “Now Cali, John came over right after I told him
about you!” she said stepping towards me.
I went on ignoring her comment, “I thought you loved my father! But
obviously I was wrong! Because once that guy is gone you can just move on with
some other lamebrain!” my mother flinched at my words.
John grasps my arm roughly, but I swing my arm away and stagger
backwards. He hugged my mother to comfort her as her eyes fill with tears.
John looks like a snake, his eyes were red with anger. “Come back here right
now young lady!” He hissed.
“You’re not my father!” I said, dropping my crutches and running to my room.
 I was on the second stair when he grabbed my shoulder and turned me
around. He gave a quick glance at my mom whose head was buried in her hands.
“But I might be!” he whispered.
SMACK! He slapped me across the face, my hand rushes up to hold my
throbbing cheek. My mother looked up. I expected her to kick John out, but he had
out smarted me and stumbled back, making it look like I had slapped him.
“California!” I had never heard me mother say my name like that. It was a mix
of anger, sorrow, disappointment, aggravation, and embarrassment that I would do
that. “Go to your room!”“That’s where I was headed any ways!” I yelled as I ran from my mother and
John.
I heard John comforting my mother, “Oh Linda its ok, really! I’m sure she just
misses her father.”
“John, what have I done wrong?” she sobbed.
I rolled my eyes.
* * *
That night, as I watered my amaryllis I could still hear John and my
mother. “Daddy, if you can hear me, just know that I love you, and I know that my
heart belongs to you. No one else, especially not a numbskull like John!” I opened my
window just a crack so my flower could breathe. And as I fell asleep, I could hear my
mother saying good night to John. Chapter 5
As I limped down stairs, I noticed that the house was still. My mother wasn’t
up yet. I went to the kitchen and opened the fridge. Last night I hadn’t eaten dinner
and I was starved. Luckily today was Saturday, so I had two days of rest. Our fridge
was actually a decent size. The food inside, though, was the opposite of decent. I
picked two gyoza from the fridge and put them in a pan. I fried them until I was so
hungry that my mouth watered. I quickly gulp the two down when I heard key jingle
in the door.
My mother stumbled in and threw her jacket on the hanger. As soon as she
saw me, I felt tension rise in the air. A long pause grew until she finally broke the
silence I wasn’t tired of yet.
“Er… so last night…” she started awkwardly. “Why did you slap John?”
My eyes widened as I realized that she thought I slapped him. “I didn’t! HE
slapped ME!” I screamed.
“He told me you might say that,” she whispered.
“So now you believe that him-“ My mother cut me off.“NO!” she snapped at me. “You will NOT call John ANY MORE hurtful names
understand?”
“NIMROD!” I taunted her. “YOU BELIEVE A DITZ MORE THEN YOUR OWN
DAUGHTER!”
“Young lady!” her eyes were slits.
Before she could finish I limped out of the house and grabbed the broken
bicycle and rode off. I couldn’t bear to watch that woman one more second. When I
stopped my bike, I was surprised to see that I had led myself to Laney’s house. She
had a large house made of bricks. Ivy tendrils snaked up the side and curled around
the windows. The windows had planter boxes that were filled with pink and blue
flowers. In front of her house was a sea of grass. In the middle was a path of stones
that led to her front door. Along the edges of the path were clumps of miniature
purple blue flowers.
I parked my bike in front of her house and headed up the path. I knocked on
the wooden door, and Derek, one of her 3 brothers, answered it. Derek had short
blond hair and blue eyes, freckles dotted from one cheek to another. I could hear
Laney practicing her violin in the background. “Hey Cat!” Derek smiled.
“Hey Derek, where’s Travis?” Travis was 16, he was the only family member
with brown hair, no freckles and green eyes.
“I dunno,” Derek shrugged. “Do you want me to get Laney and Jim?” Jim was
Laney’s twin. Derek looked like Laney, but if Jim was a girl, you could not tell the
difference.
“Yes please,” I faked a smile.“LANE! JIM!” He screamed. The violin stopped and there was a pause, then
the two jogged to the door.
“Cat!” Laney threw her arms up and embraced me.
“Um… can you start just calling me Cali? That’s what dad used to call me,” I
whispered.
“Yes! Of coarse!” she dragged me into the house and up into her room.  I told
her about what had happened, only crying 4 or 5 times. Soon Jim came in with some
mini-pizzas and glasses of milk.
As soon as I finished they both stared at me with wide eyes. “Cat- I mean Cali,
if you want to sleep here for awhile, I’m sure my mom and da-… I’m sure she’ll allow
it!” Laney could see that I flinched as she started the word dad. I nodded.
“Thanks, but would you mind coming to my house and help me grab some
clothes and my amaryllis?” I whispered.
“I’ll come to!” said Jim.
“Me three!” Derek busted through the door.
“Where you eavesdropping?” Laney asked. Derek ignored her and flexed. I
chuckled and nodded.
Soon we all had our bikes and were on our way to my house. Once we got
there, I realized that there was a convertible in front of my small house. The only car
we had was a Kia. The window couldn’t open, and someone had run into our back
door. But this car looked new.
“Wait until I give a signal, I think someone is in my house,” I announced. I slowly opened the door and peered in. my mom was with her best friend
Kylie. Kylie had straight black hair that was usually decorated with colorful hair ties
and clips. She had dark chocolate eyes and a small nose. And her light skin could
blend into a piece of paper.
“Oh honey, trust me!” I heard Kylie say. “Your daughter would not make
something up like that!”
“Kylie, she would! She had been acting up! I swear, she’s just upset because
her father died!”
“I would be upset if my father died!” Kylie snapped. “And I can understand
how she’s annoyed that you don’t show any sign of being distressed!”
I slowly closed the door and looked up and my window. I always kept it a
crack open just in case I got locked out of the house, although it had never crossed
my mind that I had no way of getting up to the window. I scanned different possible
paths I could use, but each always led to a dead end. Finally I decided I would have
to go through the back door. I beckoned my three helpers to follow me; we snuck up
to my room and shoveled some clothes into two backpacks. I grabbed my amaryllis
and we headed out. I heard a creak from the floor, I hoped my mother wouldn’t hear
me. I could still hear their murmurs so I decided I was safe.
As we cycled back to their house, a petal drifted off my flower into the street.
I stopped my bike and turned just in time to see it land in the middle of the street. I
almost went to grab until I saw a car speeding towards us.
“CALI!” Laney screamed. “Get over here!”I watched as the car saw me, and screeched on the pedals, running over my
petal. I wanted to scream. I looked up to see John’s red face glaring at me through
the window.
I ran as fast as I could away from the car, thinking he might try to catch me. I
looked back to see Laney picking up the bike and my flower, which I had abandoned,
and dragging them to the sidewalk, but I kept running all the way to her house. I
panted as I reached her house I could see Derek, Jim, and Laney all walking towards
me. I realized that my eyes had swelled up and tears were running down my cheek.
“Who was that?” Laney said, she had my flower in her bike basket but she
must have left the bike there.
“That was Joh- John.” I tripped over the name.
Derek looked at his feet. “He took your bike home…” he muttered, barely
audible.
I ignored this comment.
We made our way into their house and Derek grabbed my hand and looked
up at me with his big blue eyes, “He’s a jerk,” he whispered.
I smiled at him and ruffled his hair. But inside I was drowning in my own
tears. Chapter 6
“Hello California!” Mrs. Donaldson runs to greet me as the four of us walk in
the door.
“Hi Mrs. Donaldson,” I fake another smile at her. He blond hair and green
eyes made me feel a little better. She was such a beautiful lady who had a wonderful
laugh. “I hope you don’t mind if I stayed here for a little,” I said trying to hide my
embarrassment.
“Oh of course honey!” She smiled, obviously not knowing  why I needed to
stay here. “Laney darling, to you know where Travis is?”
Laney shrugged, dismissing the question.
I held my flower close to my chest and nudged Laney. “Can we go put this in
your room?” I whispered.
“Oh! Right! Sorry! I almost forgot!” She grabbed my hand and dragged me to
her room. Sometimes it still surprised me the difference Laney was when she was
in the protection in her own house, guarded from the outside world. “Do you need
water for your amaryllis?” her voice shook me out of my thoughts.
“Mmhm thanks,” I said half-heartedly.
“Wow, your limp is pretty bad!” Laney stared at me as I walked to put my
flower on her desk.“Oh… yah I almost forgot about it.” I my eyebrows furrowed as I scowled at
my foot.
“So let’s set up your bed!” Laney said cheerfully pulling out the trundle that
was hidden under her bed.
“Ok,” my mind was somewhere else.  What was John doing? Was he going
to my mom’s? Why doesn’t my mom even believe her own best friend? Is my dad in
heaven? Was that petal falling off a sign? Why can’t I face my own mother? Why did
John have to come into our life? Why could my dad still be alive? When will I join him?
Is he waiting for me? Does my mom notice I’m not home? Does she care? Is John going
to tell her another lie?
“Do you?” Laney broke my day-nightmare.
“Huh?” I looked at her feeling foolish.
“Do you want to go to the park? I think fresh air will help you,” she nudged
me.
“I-I guess.” I stammered.
“My mom will drive us, I hope you don’t mind if Derek comes, you know
him!”
“What? Oh yah. Totally,” again I felt dim.
As we arrived at the park Derek almost jumped out of his seat. “OH MY-“
“Gosh,” Mrs. Donaldson quickly added in. “Remember, it’s not polite to say
the Lord’s name in vain.”Derek ignored his mother. “That’s Timothy Mathews!” he poked Laney in the
shoulder.
“Who’s Timothy Mathews?” I asked.
Laney whispered, “He’s in Derek’s class-“
“But he looks like he’s at least 10! Derek’s only 8!”
“He’s been held back A LOT, and he’s always picking on Derek. Once Derek
almost peed his pants when he came by!”
“DID NOT!” Derek shouted, “I just was very excited to… be with my family!”
“Ok captain pee pants!” Laney giggled.
“Laney, you should talk to him!” I suggested. “I’ll come with you!”
Laney looked as though I just suggested that she go and slap him.
“Cali! Have you gone crazy?” she hissed, as she did so she shrunk back into
her seat.
“C’mon Laney! He’s harassing your little brother! Show him whose boss!” I
nudged her, but she just pushed me away.
“Laney you should! It would relieve me stress!” Derek winked at me, he and I
knowing how much Laney hated upsetting people, almost as much as she hated
talking in public.
“Fine…” she muttered darkly.
“Ok guys, I’ll come and pick you back up at 6:30!” Mrs. Donaldson said
cheerfully unlocking the doors with a touch of a button.“Mom, it’s only 6 o’clock now!” Derek whined, but their mother was long
gone. He sighed, “Ok… well then you two have fun!” then he prodded us into
Timothy’s way. I advanced towards the enemy dragging Laney with me by the
wrists.
“May- maybe we shouldn’t do this!” her shy side creeping up on her ready to
pounce, or maybe just hide. Laney tugged me away, digging her feet into the dirt. I
yanked her, making her stumble towards Timothy.
“Hi, Timothy,” I said when he realized we were in front of him.
“Who’re you?” he grunted.
“This is Lane Donaldson and I am California Taylor.” I reached out my hand,
for some reason expecting him to shake.
“Eh, ma’ names Timothy,” he turned to Laney, not returning my handshake,
so I awkwardly contracting my hand. “You’re erm… what’s his name… Durk’s
sister?”
“Indeed, I am Derek’s sister,” She whispered.
“Mhmm…” He slowly nodded. “He’s a stupid kid!”
Laney looked as though someone had punched her in the stomach, but then
her expression changed. “What did you just call my little brother?”
“Stupid.”
“And how old are you again? 8? Oh that’s right, you’re 11!” She hissed.
“I thought he was 10!” I whispered to her, but with a wave of her hand she
dismissed my comment.“Yah wanna play like that?” Timothy spit out a piece of gum onto the ground,
then grinding it in as he stepped on it.
“You mean, ‘do you want to play it like that’,” Laney corrected him.
“What are you? The grammar police?” he chuckled at his own joke.
“So what if I am?” She stepped towards him so they were nose to nose. It was
the most I had heard Laney say in public. It made me so proud.
“Hmph,” Timothy grunted again, pushing her aside and walking towards the
swings.
I looked at Laney in amazement, wondering if she was scared, or if she would
give a puff of relief, but when I looked at her she was giggling like a mad man.
“What’s so funny?” I asked quizzically.
“The gum is stuck to his shoe,” she smiled and started laughing again.Chapter 7
As Mrs. Donaldson drove us home we whispered and giggled about the how
Timothy had sulked away, each time using a different verb to describe his walking,
in honor of Laney.
“Then he perambulated away!” Laney thought she was hysterical, “But not in
a good way!”
Derek and I stared at her, confused.
“Ok!” Mrs. Donaldson opened the doors. “We’re home!”
The view of the house was somewhat comforting, knowing that someone
here would love me.
We made our way into their house, the aroma of flowers tickled my nostrils,
making me giggle.
“Look what mom dragged in!” I looked up to see Travis grinning down at
us. Travis was the kind of guy every girl wanted. He was tall and handsome. His smile could light up the night, and he was the funniest man alive. He could flatter
anyone, even the meanest teachers, and his brown hair poking up, even when he
tried to flatten it, and his blazing green eyes, always laughing. He usually wore a
plain colored T-shirt with some baggy jeans. Today he wore a white shirt with what
looked like a black/grey design on the front.
“Hey Travis!” I heard my own voice falter as he nodded his head at me and
flashed me a bright, happy smile.
“Mom, I went to the store and grabbed some chicken,” then he turned to
Laney, Derek, and me, “and a bucket full of Mister Minty’s!” He whispered.
Mister Minty’s were chocolate cookies with green mint in the middle. They
also had little sprinkles embedded on the top, Derek was crazy for them and Laney
and I were fond of them to.
“YES!” Derek screamed jumping into his brother’s arms.
“Don’t get to excited! He might have already eaten them all!” Laney joked
pushing through the front door.
Immediately the smell of smoke filled our noses, the smell of something
burning.
“Oh, did I forget to mention that the microwave burnt down?” his grin
weakened.
“Laney, take California and Derek up to your room, where’s Jim?” She started
getting everything into order, quickly.
“He’s up in his room, he doesn’t feel good again, just like yesterday,” Travis
rolled his eyes.“At least he didn’t burn the house down!” Derek said, as Laney paraded him
into the house. I followed, slowly. We quickly made our way up to Laney and Jim’s
room. Jim lay in his bed with a large bowl and a book. He looked up at us and waved.
“Hey guys!” He said with a crooked smile. “Is mom yelling at Travis?”
“Not yet,” Laney frowned “lately he and mom have been at each other like…
like…”
“Two hungry lions!” I jumped as I realized that Derek was still with us and
hadn’t taken a detour into his room. He gave a toothy smile.
“Hey, why don’t you go get us some Minty’s, Derek,” Laney pointed at the
door.
“What if there’s still some fire?” Derek shrunk down.
“Just go Der’,” Laney uttered, and he left. “Mom found alcohol in his room,
she grounded him for 2 weeks, then she found a pack of cigarettes. So she probably
doesn’t believe that the microwave broke, you know, cause cigarettes light up,”
Laney shrugged off her awkward ending sentence and smiled.
“Well I guess moms all over the world are going crazy!” I felt a tear at the
boundaries of my eye, but I just shrugged it off.
“Hey! Guess what!” Travis came up into Laney’s room, with Derek slung
behind his back, giggling. “I’m grounded and I get to bunk with you guys!” he
plopped Derek onto Laney’s bed, right next to us.
“What! Why?” Jim sat up, surprised.
“’Cause my room’s under inspection,” He then sat down at the end of Jim’s
bed. “Dinner’s in 10 by the way. Leftovers… Woohoo.”“So mom,” Travis was setting the table as Laney, Jim, Derek, and I arrived into
the dinning room. “Have you done the inspection yet? Because I’m pretty sure that
Lane’s room is full with Jim and Cali!” he grinned at me.
“Well, you can always stay in our room!” Mrs. Donaldson retorted.
“Or mine!” Derek smiled, not understanding the tension.
“Yes, that sounds agreeable!” Mrs. Donaldson nods then turns to me, “So, Ms.
California, what brings you to our house?”
I didn’t know if I should answer this question truthfully, maybe I should lie! I
thought to myself. But I knew that Mrs. Donaldson deserved the truth.
“My mom and I got in a fight when my dad died. Because she believed this
guy named John more then me. It…it really hurt so we started screaming at each
other, I didn’t know what to do, so I ran here,” I said quietly and quickly.
“Honey,” Ms. Donaldson started and I already felt the lecture coming, but I
was surprised by the result. “You can stay here tonight, but I think that tomorrow
you should go home O.K.?” she looked at me love in her eyes. I hadn’t felt that feeling
in a while.
“Thank you,” I whisper. I could feel Travis’s eyes on me, obviously not
expecting this surprise.
For dinner there was steak with some mashed potatoes on the side, it tasted
like real food, not just the TV dinners that my mom bought me. I wolfed down the
food, realizing how hungry I was. I hadn’t eaten since… breakfast and still that had only been a little. For dessert Mrs. Donaldson made some crème Brule (a new recipe
she was trying out) with strawberries and raspberries. I licked my lips as I tasted
the Gods’ meal.
“Delicious!” I said as I leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes.
Chapter 8
I was in a room, a room that had no windows, not doors, I was surrounded by
fire, when I saw John rapping his arm around my mother’s waist, pulling her closer.
He kissed her cheek, and then he turned to me. in his hand, my flower, red flames
lapped at the petals, turning everything to dust. Suddenly children who looked like
John surrounded me. They danced around me, taunting me. Laughing as I melted to
the ground, only to be pulled to my feet by… by my dad.
“You have disappointed me!” his screech soon morphed into the sound of
my mother’s voice. His shape shifted showing her small body. She turned from me,
but when I reached to grab her shoulder, she transformed into John, he spun back
towards me, his hand hitting my face, I stumbled back to the ground, lying there.
I woke with a start, panting, my eyes gave way and tears burst through my
eyes. “Shhhh, shh, it’s ok, it was just a dream,” Laney’s comforting cue soothed me
as my nightmare flashed before my eyes.
“He-he-he,” I stuttered.
“Shh, it’s ok, don’t worry,” Laney placed her arm around my shoulder; I
flinched, but then settled. “Do you want to go home know?” she whispered.
“Mhmm,” I nodded.
“Mom?” I knocked on the door, then opened the door. I only had my flower in
my hand, everything else I had left at Laney’s. I placed my flower on the ledge where
we kept the keys.
“Cali!” my mother flung herself at me, her arms quickly rapping around my
shoulders. I had no other choice but to return the hug.
“Mom, I’m sorry, please, please I’m so-,” I wept into her shoulder.
“It’s ok! Honey, it’s ok!” I had missed her smell. I had missed her. It had only
been 1 day though! What had happened?
I heard clapping and coming from the darkness came John. “I’m so glad you
two made up!” he hissed through his snake-like mouth.
“John!” I said somewhat surprised. It looked like he had drawn on a bruise
with Crayola markers. I touched my own cheek, I had forgotten all about it! I
flinched at my own touch. No one had told me it had bruised! They had ignored it.
“Your cheek…” my mother looked at it as if reading my mind. She then turned
to John and touched his, smearing some of the pen on her own fingers. She turned back to me, then to John. “Yours is fake… hers is real… you made me go against my
own daughter… and…” as my mother pieced it together John’s face became red.
“It’s because I love you!” he said leaping towards her and reaching for her
hand.
“GET OUT!” she yelled slapping his hand away. “And, if you ever, EVER touch
my daughter again, you won’t be faking a bruise!” she pushed him into the door and
grabbed my hand. Together we walked away from the snake like man who tried to
end our family.
I went to place my flower back in my room. My amaryllis was wilted, it only
had a couple petals left too, after all it hadn’t been stationary since I got it. “Good
bye, Daddy, you’ll always be with me. I suddenly got up, and found all of the rocks,
tin cans, jars of sand, cheep candy bar rappers (that said things like NOM NOM
FROM FLORIDA!), and a box. I carefully placed everything inside and closed it,
placing everything under my bed, but before I did so, I took off one of the lasting
petals, and put it in a plastic cover, with some preservative stuff that my dad also got
me from some place. “Daddy, I’m here,”
“Cali, I have to tell you why I was being so… dependent.” My mother stroked
my hand as we sat watching a movie on our tiny TV.
“Ok,” I say, pausing the movie and turning to her.
“I don’t know how to say this… I’m pregnant. And, it’s your father’s.” She
smiled at me, and I smiled back.10 Year and 9 months Later
“Amaryllis!” my little sister came sprinting down. “Happy Birthday!” I hugged
her.
“Where’s my present?” she said greedily, though I knew she was kidding.
“Here!” I revealed a beautiful flower. I’m not one for flowers, but this flower
was beautiful. It had white petals and yellow insides. Pink flared from the outside in
of the petals. Green mixed with the yellow. “When I saw it, I thought of you,” her jaw
dropped when she saw it. “Amaryllis, this is your amaryllis,” then I handed her the
petal. “And this is from the original.”
“Mine, she repeated, and looked up at me.
The End