Problem Child

I ran down to her and crouched by her side. I touched her face and repeated her name over and over again. I was crying uncontrollably.

"Billie! Call an ambulence!!" I shreiked as I tried to check her pulse. Billie snapped out of it and sprinted down the stairs and grabbed the phone from the kitchen wall. He dialled quickly as he looked on at us helplessly.

The ambulence seemed to take forever when in reality it had only been five minutes. Billie and I were sat by her side when they arrived. One of the paramedics took her pulse while the other placed a plastic mouth piece over her. Billie was holding me by this point as I cried and cried until my throat felt like it was going to burst. I should have wanted to kill him but I was in total shock, I wasn't thinking straight. Had he really meant to push her down the stairs? Or was it an accident? I couldn't be sure, it had all happened so fast it was a blur. Not long ago I'd been lying on his bed totally naked while he...I didn't even want to think about it.

The paramedics began resuscitating her almost immediately.

"Oh god!" I cried on seeing what they were doing to her. "Please god no!" I pleaded. Billie stroked my hair and held me against his chest.

"It's okay, she's gonna be fine. She'll be okay." He said. But I think he was trying to reasure himself rather than me. I pulled away from him and stood looking down at Grace. The two men stopped and looked at each other. I darted my glance from one to the other trying to work out what was happening. One of them shook their head and put the mouth piece away.

"Grace..." I said grogily. One of the men got up to face us. Billie stood open mouthed staring at Grace's lifeless body.

"I'm sorry, but there's nothing we can do." He explained. I fell to the floor and just sat there. Billie didn't move an inch. "We need to check you guys over, you're obviously in shock." He said. I just stared.

"Is there somebody we can call? Another family member?" The other one asked. I didn't respond. Billie snapped out of it, sort of.

"Jon...Jonathan, our foster...my foster Dad." Billie stammered. He went into the kitchen to retreive the number while the paramedic checked my pulse and shined a light in my eyes. Everything that happened next was just a blur. I remember Billie and I being sat in the living room all silent and still, and the social worker was there. It must have been really late by then. When Jonathan arrived home wanting to know what was going on the social worker was the one who explained it to him. I hadn't uttered a word since the paramedics left. Jonathan was in pieces, devestated, completely inconsolable. I think I even recall the social worker suggesting that Billie came back with her to which he flatly refused. She tried to get me to speak.

"Summer? Do you want to talk about what happened?" She asked warmly. Billie had already been questioned and he'd told her that Grace had had an accident and fell. There wasn't really anything suspicious about it...but they couldn't get me to talk. Jonathan sat in the kitchen alone with his thoughts. "I think the two of you should try and get some sleep." She suggested. I couldn't take it all in. Billie eventually sloped off upstairs to his room. The social worker spent some time with Jonathan and then left reminding me that all I had to do was call her if I needed to talk. I knew she was really there for Billie's benefit more than mine. I was officially adopted but he was only being fostered. I stood in the doorway of the kitchen watching Jonathan. He turned to face me, his eyes red from crying.

"Oh Summer, c'mere." He said opening his arms to me. I walked over and we embraced. I think he needed the hug more than I did, I was just numb from the shock of everything that had happened that night, and everything that had been happening for the last three months. "It's gonna be okay, we have to be strong." He said as his voice wavered. We eventually parted and I headed off to bed.

"I don't like leaving you like this." I said as I turned back around.

"I'll be okay, I just need some time alone. Try and get some sleep." He said reasuringly. I was amazed at how strong he was trying to be. I walked slowly upstairs to my room but before I made it I noticed Billie stood in his doorway like a naughty child who shouldn't have been out of bed.

"Summer..." He said meekly. "I'm sorry." He added fighting back tears. I didn't respond with words or with a facial expression. I simply walked straight past him and into my room shutting the door after me. I sat on my bed and then I tried to sleep. Before I knew it it was 3:30am and I could still hear the echos from the shouting and screaming that had occured only hours earlier. I had been naked on his bed, and Grace with that look on her face...total devestation. She'd found out, but it was too late. None of that seemed to matter to me now, all that mattered was that she was dead, and I was never going to see her again. I picked up my phone and sent Tre a message:

*Something terrible has happened. Grace died a few hours ago.* I pressed send on my phone. Should I have really told him that over a text? I needed to say it, or type it at least. I still didn't believe it. He text me back ten minutes later in confusion.

*What are you talking about? What happened?* It read. I began typing again.

*She fell down the stairs and hit her head.* I explained. Just then I realised that I'd said 'fell', not that she was PUSHED. But she was...by Billie. It had to have been an accident, Billie had even tried to apologise to me. If it had been a malicious intentional act then he wouldn't have said 'i'm sorry' would he? My phone began to ring. I answered without saying 'hello'.

"Summer? What's going on, are you okay?" Tre asked me quickly.

"Grace is dead." I said. The words whirled around in my head as I repeated them over and over.

"Fuck, how did it happen?" He asked in shock.

"She just...fell." I said blankly. There was a brief pause.

"Do you need me to come over? Or do you wanna come over here?" He asked me.

"I can't leave Jonathan, he's so upset..." I explained.

"Of course." Tre said feeling stupid. We talked for about half an hour or so. Tre said that he would come over later on and really I couldn't wait to see him. I wondered if the police would get involved, surely I'd be asked questions about what had happened. Maybe they would find out that she was pushed. Phorensics can uncover all sorts of intricate details about a person's death nower days. I could just tell the police that it had been intentional, they could take Billie away for good. But something in his eyes told me that he'd never meant to hurt her. But he'd been hurting me all this time so what was the difference? He should pay one way or another...