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“You’re going to be a lot happier here Kellin.” The lady in the police uniform speaks to me but I’m barely listening.
I don’t understand half the things she’s talking about. Right now my mind can’t comprehend much at all. Today has just been too much to handle. I went from being at home, to being in an ambulance, to being at a police station, and now I’m in a car driving to god knows where. The car passes a sign but not before I can read what it says; San Diego. Is this where I’m going to live? Is this where my new family lives? Is that what I call them? Are they my new family? I’m so confused.
“Kellin, are you hearing me?” The lady asks seeming concerned.
I nod truthfully. I’m hearing her loud and clear, just nothing is making sense to me.
“Are you understanding me?” She asks and my eyes fill with tears as I shake my head.
She frowns and takes a turn pulling up in the parking lot of a McDonalds. She turns the engine off before turning to me.
“Kellin, your parents were hurting you, am I correct?” She asks and I nod wiping away my tears. “Do you understand that that is illegal?”
I look at her confused.
“W-what does that mean?” I ask feeling stupid. I am stupid. Only having gone to school for four years of my life, I only really know the basics. I always tried to teach myself things. I taught myself how to read and how to do simple math sums but there’s only so much information I could learn by myself.
“Illegal means that they are not allowed to do it. They’re not allowed to hurt you Kellin.” She explains and my eyes goes wide is shock.
“Th-they’re not?” I stutter.
“No sweetie. Everything they did to you was wrong and you didn’t deserve any off that. None of this is your fault. They’re just bad people.” The lady says. “I’m taking you to a new home where the people there will look after you and not hurt you.”
I don’t know how to respond to that. I mean I knew what they did was bad but I didn’t know that it wasn’t…normal. The lady says nothing else and I start picking at a hole in my jeans.
“You hungry, kiddo?” The lady asks and I nod.
“C-can I have something to eat? Please?” I ask cringing at my words. That’s a question I wouldn’t dare ask my mother or father.
“Of course. Come on.” The lady smiles opening her car door and I do the same shutting it behind me. I follow her as she walks up to the bright colored building. I’ve never been to McDonalds. I’ve never even really had take-out before. In fact, I’ve never had many foods.
I start feeling anxious when I see lots of people coming in and out of the building. It reminds me off this morning when the police officers burst through the front door and took my parents away. It was really scary.
Suddenly a guy bumps into me and I jump back scared.
“Sorry dude.” He mumbles as he continues walking but I just stand there shaking in fear.
The lady places her hand on my shoulder but I flinch away.
“Kellin, it’s okay. No one’s going to hurt you.” She says softly.
I bite my bottom lip and take a deep breath before nodding. She smiles lightly and motions for me to follow her into the restaurant. I walk timidly behind her trying to keep my distance from as many passing people as possible. We line up at the end of the queue and she turns to me.
“Alright Kell, what do you want to eat?” She asks.
Never having eaten at McDonalds before, I start silently freaking out. The girl in front of us orders a small cheeseburger meal so I just go with that.
“A small cheeseburger meal?” I say but it comes out more like a question.
She smiles and nods grabbing out her purse.
“You can go take a seat, Kell. I’ll join you in a sec.” She advises and I nod sitting down at the nearest table.
I start getting strange looks from people, confusing me. Did I do something wrong? Was I not supposed to sit here? Is there something wrong with my clothes? I mean, they’re not brand new but at least I have them. Suddenly a little girl stops at the table and squints at me.
“What happened to your face?” She asks.
I just stare at her in shock. What is she talking about? Thankfully a lady comes over and grabs the little girl’s hand.
“I’m sorry about that. She’s just a little curious sometimes.” The lady apologizes.
“Uh, it’s okay.” I say with a half-smile.
They then walk off and I sigh looking down at my lap. I feel so alienated right now. Nothing seems right. As much as I hated my old life, it was simple and I wish I could go back there. Nothing anyone says to me makes any sense. It’s like everyone’s speaking a different language.
The police officer sits down in front of me and I catch a glimpse of her name tag which says Taylor. I’m sure she told me her name before but there’s been so much going on I can barely grasp anything. She places a tray in front of me with food on it. Excitement bubbles in me as I look over the tray. There’s so much food.
“Eat up Kid, you look like you need it.” Officer Taylor smiles.
I nod and start eating. I’m so goddamn hungry.
“When was the last time you ate, Kell?” Officer Taylor asks skeptically.
I think about it trying to remember how long ago it was when my mother had left soup at the bottom of the basement stairs for me. I just shrug unable to work it out. Hell, I don’t even know what day of the week it is.
“What is wrong with my face?” I ask after a while of eating in silence.
“You have a few bruises.” She explains seeming hesitant. “Why do you ask?”
“People keep staring at me.” I mumble glancing around the room locking eyes with a woman seated at another table. She quickly glances away and I look back down at my food.
“You haven’t been around many people before, have you Kellin?” Officer Taylor asks.
“Mother only let me go outside sometimes.” I whisper truthfully.
She nods and sighs.
“Things are going to be very different for you Kellin and sometimes a little scary but I promise you that you’ll be a lot happier. Just give it time.” She explains and I nod.
I finish my food and we leave. We go back to the car and start driving again.
“In case you forgot, you’re going to be staying with Mr. and Mrs. Fuentes okay? They’re going to be looking after you. I’ve met them many times before and I can assure you they’re very nice people. They’ll make you feel right at ho-” She pauses for a second looking as if she had made a mistake. “Let me backtrack. They’ll make you feel very welcome.”
I nod and we drive the rest of the way in silence. By the time we arrive at our destination it’s night time. She parks outside a nice two-story suburban house before turning the car off. She gets out of the car and I follow. We walk up to the front door and I smile lightly at the little welcome mat as officer Taylor knocks. My nerves race as the door swings open and a short woman stands there smiling brightly.
“You must be Kellin.” She grins and I nod shyly.
She steps to the side and Taylor walks in with me following closely behind. As I enter the house, I instantly acknowledge the homey feel to the house and the smell of home-cooked food. We enter what looks like a sitting room. There’s a nice looking man sitting on a sofa. The short woman sits next to him and Taylor sits on another sofa motioning me to sit next to her. I sit down shaking slightly from the uncomfortable situation.
“Hi Kellin, I’m Vivian and this is my husband Victor but you can call us Mama and Papa Fuentes if you like.” The lady smiles and I nod looking down at my lap as I start picking at the hole in my jeans.
Taylor starts talking to them in a hushed tone probably so I couldn’t hear but I’m sitting right next to her and I’m not hearing impaired so I hear every word.
“He’s been through a lot today, it might take him a while to get used to things. Give him a while to settle in and then call this therapist.” She murmurs handing Mr. Fuentes a card. “He’s very talented in dealing with cases like Kellin’s.”
“Will do.” Mr. Fuentes says.
“Try not to overwhelm him with things. Just keep everything simple. He’s having trouble comprehending everything that’s happened. He’s very anxious and timid. Try not to touch him too much, he doesn’t seem to cope with it well. I don’t think he’s had much experience with affectionate contact or general contact, if any at all. Also, he’s extremely malnourished so try to get him to gain some weight. Although, he doesn’t seem to have any problems with eating. I think that’s all for now. I’m sure you’ll do great with him. He just needs a little loving.” Taylor concludes.
“Alright, I think we can handle that. Thank you for bringing him here, Taylor. He seems lovely.” Mrs. Fuentes says and Taylor stands up.
“Y-you’re leaving?” I whisper and Taylor looks at me with a soft expression.
“For now. I’ll be back in a month to check on you. If you ever need to talk to me about anything just speak to Mr. or Mrs. Fuentes. They have my number.” She explains and I nod still feeling anxious that she’s leaving me. She’s the only person who has been nice to me for a long time. What if these people hate me? What if I do something wrong and they want to get rid of me?
“You’re going to be fine.” She whispers sensing my uncomfortableness.
I nod and she says goodbye before leaving.
“Would you like a tour of the house?” Mrs. Fuentes asks kindly and I nod, not really knowing what else to do.
She stands up and I do the same following her as we walk into a room. It has a dining table with chairs around it.
“This is the dining room. You can eat your meals in here.” She then leads me into another room that looks like a kitchen.
“This is the kitchen.” She smiles. “Drinks are obviously in the fridge and food is in the cabinet. Help yourself to anything you want.”
Anything I want? Like, can I eat? Did she just give me permission to eat? She points out where a few more things are before we leave that room and go back to the entrance of the house. We walk up a flight of stairs and walk down a hallway. We stop at what looks like the master room.
“This is Victor and I’s bedroom. If you need anything during the night, this is where you’d find us.” She explains.
We continue walking and stop at another room. She opens the door and I realize it’s a bathroom.
“This is the bathroom. Shower any time you want. You can use any of the products. The toilet is in the next room.” She explains before closing the door.
Oh my god, I can shower any time I want! This is amazing. I follow her as we walk down to the very end of the hall.
“This is going to be your room. You don’t mind sharing with my son Vic, do you? Because I can clean out the garage if you want.” She offers and I shake my head profoundly not wanting to be a nuisance. Besides, my room has been the basement for as long as I can remember and it was cold and full of rats. As long as there’s not rats, I’m sure sharing won’t be that bad.
“Uh, no, I’m okay with sharing.” I explain softly and she smiles.
“So he speaks.” She smirks and I blush a little.
She then pushes the bedroom door open and gently places her hand on my back guiding me into the room. The first thing I notice is the quiet sound of music blaring which is coming from a boy who is lying on a bed with headphones in. He’s got tanned skin, dark brown hair and a nose ring that really stands out. I get a strange feeling in my stomach just looking at him. He removes his headphones seeming displeased.
“Vic, this is Kellin.” Vivian introduces.
“Obviously.” Vic mutters rolling his eyes. With a disgusted look, his eyes travel from my head to my feet and back up again.
Vivian sighs and turns me around so I’m facing another bed.
“Sorry about him. He needs an attitude adjustment.” She huffs but it seems like the statement wasn’t directed at me.
“Uh, it’s okay.” I whisper shyly. Honestly it was fine. Vic’s attitude was nicer than anything I’ve ever experienced at home.
“This is your bed. I went out and bought a new mattress and new pillows yesterday.” She smiles and I look at her shocked.
“You didn’t have to. I could’ve just slept on the floor.” I whisper truthfully. I feel bad because she’s treating me so nice and now she’s gone out and spent money on me. This is more than I deserve.
“Honey, I couldn’t have you sleeping on the floor. That would just make me cruel.” Mrs. Fuentes smiles. I guess my parents were cruel because that’s where I slept back at home.
“Oh.” I whisper before we fall into an awkward silence. Why am I whispering?
“Well I should let you get settled. Don’t stay up too late because we need to go shopping early in the morning.” She explains and I nod.
“Thank you.” I whisper and she gives me a smile before leaving.
Not knowing what to do, I slide off my worn out sneakers before sitting down on the bed.
It’s weird having a bed. I’ve haven’t had one since I was little. All I’ve slept on for the last ten or so years was a sheet on the floor and a pile of clothes to rest my head on. It really sucked on cold nights but I’m sure if my parents could afford one then they would’ve bought me a bed. I’m not exactly sure why they made me sleep in the basement though, the house did have two furnished spare rooms.
When my parents were out, sometimes I would sneak out of the basement and go up to one of the spare rooms. I once went up there and fell asleep on the bed. I accidentally overslept and my father came home. I will never forget how furious he was. I still have the scar on my leg from when he pushed me down the stairs and I cut it on a nail that was sticking up.
I have many scars and I can pinpoint how and when I got every single one. I have a bunch on my neck from over the years when my mother needed to put out her cigarette. Some aren’t even scars yet. I have one across my right index finger from when I was seven and I touched my mother’s purse. She always told me that if I touched her purse then she’d cut my fingers off. She was really going to do it but there was a knock on the door so I took that as my opportunity to escape with only a small cut. I’ve got numerous permanent nail marks across my arms from when my mother had pinned me down so my father could beat me. There’s a lot more scars but I’d rather not think about them all.
“Dude, say something, move, blink. Do anything.” I hear Vic say and I snap myself out of my thoughts.
“W-what. Sorry.” I apologize.
“You have been staring at the wall for half an hour. It’s fucking weird.” He sneers, that disgusted expression once again evident on his face.
“Uh, I’m sorry.” I apologize again.
He just rolls his eyes and switches off the lamp making the room go dark. I guess that’s my cue to go to sleep. I pull the covers back on the bed before getting under them and lying down. The feel of the soft pillow against my head is like heaven. I smile probably the first real genuine smile in a long time. I hear light snoring coming from across the room letting me know that Vic is asleep. I decide that I should probably do the same thing because Mrs. Fuentes did say that we had to get up early.
I wonder what we’re going shopping for. I’ve never been shopping before so it’ll either be really scary or really interesting.
I decide that it’s time to put my brain to rest so I close my eyes and soon sleep takes over.
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