To Forgive Is Divine, but I’m Not That Type

We stopped outside a small, dingy-white house that Paul identified as our destination.

“He’s a bum, Mom! Why do you bother? He just uses you for the drugs you have in the house!”

Paul tensed (like a bloodhound Dwayne had told me was in his dreams once) when he heard his brother’s voice.

“How dare you! He looks after you!”

Laddie snorted. “Yeah, sure, he looks after me. He steals the money that you get as child support but use for drugs, and then goes out to get drunk! That’s really looking after me!”

“If you so much as utter another word, I swear I will..”

“You will what? Hit me? Leave me on my own for hours at a time while you go out to get drunk or high? News break, woman — you already do!”

“I am your mother! You will listen to me!”

“You lost your right to call yourself your mother when you made Paul leave!”

A slap rang in our ears; the bitch had just slapped her 11-year-old son!

Laddie laughed darkly. “That all you got? All that heroin has made you weak.”

The boy really was Paul’s brother.

Another slap sounded, as well as another fit of laughter. “I was right. That is all you got!” he screamed.

We found a window outside the kitchen so we could see what was going on. A young boy with blond hair that was a shade darker then Paul’s was standing with his fists clenched and a defiant look on his face. He had the same blue eyes as Paul had, and they were glaring at the shabbily dressed woman.

“I am a good mother! I have two boys!” the woman hissed.

“Just because you’re a whore doesn’t make you a good mother!” he screamed.

David laughed at how alike Paul and Laddie were; it was obvious that Paul must have raised the boy for him to have such… well, colorful language. Paul and the rest of us laughed as well.

Laddie’s mom then slapped him so hard that he fell to the floor. He pushed himself up on his elbows, and then into a sitting position. Then, he gradually managed to stand up.

“Apologize!” she growled.

“Bite me,” he sneered. She went to slap him again, but Paul jumped through the open window.

“Leave him alone, Tracy.” He made sure to use her name and not ‘mom’.

“Paul!” Laddie cried, delighted. He ran into his brother’s arms and hugged him tightly. Paul released him and made Laddie stand behind him so that Tracy couldn’t hit him.

“I’m taking Laddie away from here; he’s safer with me,” Paul said to her. “At least this way, he won’t have his drugged-up bitch of a mother stealing money that is meant to support him. Plus, if he lives with me, he will have enough to eat, as well as new clothes when he needs them.”

“He’s my son! He belongs with me!” she whined. She sounded like a five-year-old who’d just been given a ‘time out’ as punishment.

“No. No way am I leaving my little brother in the care of some heroin addict who can’t even keep track of herself, let alone an eleven-year-old kid. He’s leaving.”

Paul nodded for us to come in. We used the door rather then the window.

Roxy, will you help my brother pack his things? Paul’s voice sounded in my head. I was a little shocked, but nodded anyway. I gave Paul a smile, which he returned, and then walked over to Laddie and held out my hand.

“Laddie, go with Roxy and get your stuff packed, okay?” Laddie nodded and eagerly took my offered hand. He led me upstairs to his room.

Laddie then asked casually, “So, how do you know my brother? Are you his girlfriend?”

I laughed. “No, I’m not going out with your brother. We’re just friends. I’m with Marko. He’s the blond boy you saw downstairs, the one with the colorful jacket.”

Laddie nodded in understanding, and then began to shove clothes randomly into his bag. I rolled my eyes and gestured for him to move out of the way.

I searched through his wardrobe and picked out the clothes that he would need the most, disregarding the clothes that were too small for him. I folded them neatly so they would fit in his bag.

“That’s your clothes packed. Is there anything else you want to take?”

He shook his head. “No, that’s pretty much it. Thanks anyway.”

I offered my hand again, which he took in his. We went and joined the boys in the kitchen, I slung Laddie’s bag on my back and smiled at Paul. He grinned back at me.

Laddie glared at his mother, and then turned to me and smiled (possibly as though seeing me as the older sister he wished he had). Then we all walked out of the door.

“Laddie, you ride with me,” Paul said, and helped Laddie onto his bike behind him.

David took off first. Then Dwayne followed, and then Paul and Laddie. Then Marko and I took off at the same time.

We reached the cave in what seemed to be no time at all; Paul took Laddie’s hand and helped him down the steep slope. I yawned and walked over to the bed I slept in last night, lay down and slid under the covers. Paul asked me if I minded sharing with Laddie until we could sort out another bed. I smiled and said, “Oh, no, Paul. I don’t mind one bit.”

Laddie gave me an encouraging smile, and then raised his right hand as if swearing an oath. “I promise not to kick, bite or scratch.”

I grinned. “Thanks, Laddie.”

Suddenly, I remembered the sunlight thing and pulled the curtains that were above the bed, across the side that was facing the cave entrance, just in case any sunlight crept in. After all, it’s better to be safe than sorry, and I’m sure that saying not only applies to humans, but to vampires as well. Maybe; I’m still thinking that one over.

Somehow, my eyes drooped and I fell asleep.