Vodka and Lemonade

I was sitting at the kitchen table, eating a bowl of dry cereal when Maria sat down next to me. “Danni, I’ve been giving this a lot of thought, and, well, winter vacation is about to be over soon and I was wondering if you wanted to go back to school with Zacky and Jimmy.”

I almost dropped the glass of milk. “No, absolutely not,” I said, shaking my head violently.

“but-”

My nine year old body walked down the long linoleum tiled hallway. I kept looking around as I followed the lady who looked too strict into a classroom. “Ms. Porter, I’d like you to meet your new student, Danielle Patterson,” the strict lady said, slightly pushing me into the room full of children my age.

“Welcome to fourth grade, Danielle,” Ms. Porter said kindly. “You can take your seat by Hannah. Hannah, raise your hand.” I looked up through my stringy hair to see a small girl with brown hair waving her hand at me. “Now, Danielle, we were just learning about dinosaurs. Can you read the first paragraph on page 47 for us?”

I looked at the strange characters in the book. I had seen them before, but I didn’t know what secrets they held.

“Danielle?”

“I- um…” I would have made something up, but I was no good at that, either. I looked at the picture on the next page. It was pretty, showing several nice looking dinosaurs eating leaves. The back ground was nothing but blues that made up a mountain.

“It’s ok, just read what’s on the page.”

I shook my head and ran out of the classroom. Everyone was laughing at me. They normally did when they figured out what I was- stupid.

“No, I ain’t never going back there,” I said, still shaking my head and sliding out of the chair. “I refuse to be in the retarded class.”

Maria nodded. “You need an education.”

“I can count money and read a little. That’s all I need.”

“Who taught you those things?” she asked, obviously disapproving of my belief.

“Meeri,” I said, the memories of her bringing a small smile to my face. “She took me in, gave me a job and taught me.”

“She must miss you. Maybe you should call her, tell her that you’re alright?”

I shook my head, “no, I can’t. She can’t know where I am, no one can.”

Maria was cut off by knocking coming from the front door.

I instantly froze. It had only been three days, could they really have found me already?

“Go, into the pool house. Don’t turn on the lights. Be careful, go,” she whispered to me before walking briskly into the living room.

I bolted out the back door and carefully made my way to the pool house. As far as I could see, the pigs hadn’t come to the backyard yet.

Half an hour later, Zacky and Maria came to get me. Maria’s face was pale. I may not be smart, but I knew exactly what she was thinking.

“Look, I see that I’ve caused you guys a lot of stress, so I’m going to go…” I said, getting up out of my hiding spot.

“Don’t,” Maria warned as she caught my arm. Her hold was surprisingly strong. “If you go out there, I’m afraid that if you don’t get arrested, your old ties will kill you.”

I nodded. “I know. If I stay here, they’re going to kill you, too. I-I gotta go. No one should get hurt ‘cause of me.” I loosened her hold on me and headed back inside. I grabbed a few pairs of clothes that Maria bought for me and shoved them into one of Zacky’s old backpacks. Jimmy met me at the bottom of the staircase. “Not you, too,” I groaned, placing my hands on my hips.

He smiled. “I’m going to give you a ride to My Friend’s Place.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Which friend? That Matt fuck? Fuck that shit!”

“No, no, no, you’re not understanding. Here, let me show you,” he said, grabbing my hand and dragging me over to the car. We drove in silence for almost half an hour. He took me to Hollywood Blvd- a far cry from the dingy streets I grew up on.

“What is this?” I asked as I peered at the building from the passenger side window.

“It’s My Friend’s Place. It helps people like us- people who have no home to go.”

I snapped my gaze to him. “You have a place.”

He shook his head. “But it’s not a home.” He sighed and gazed at the building. “This place will feed, clothe, and educate you, as well as keep you safe from harm. It’s not government run, so you don’t have to be afraid of the pigs randomly dropping in-”

“I’m not afraid of them-”

“There’s also services meant to focus your aggression-”

“I don’t need a shrink, Rain Man.”

He sighed and patted my leg. “I know you don’t, but please, give this place a shot? If you don’t like it, then you can go back to life on the streets- foraging and never knowing when your next meal will come.”

“You really know how to make my life look even shittier, don’t you?”

“Danni, please, just give it a shot.”

“How do you know all this?” I asked him suspiciously.

“Because, I spent a summer here.”

I nodded and looked back at the building. “I’ll call you if I hate it,” I said before getting out of the car. “And I’ll totally hunt your ass and kill you if they start all that shirnk psycho-babble.”

Jimmy just laughed. “I’ll see you around, D,” he said as he waved and drove off.

“Douchebag,” I whispered under my breath before looking back at the building. “What’s the worst that can happen? I run away again and possibly die on the streets?” I asked myself before walking up to the building. “Here goes nothing,” I breathed before stepping through the door and opening myself up to a variety of choices.