Brave the Storm and Embrace the Rain

By Thursday night I was still ignoring my father. I had ran out of the house and hung out in the backyard for awhile, just trying to blow off steam. I had climbed up into the tree house that had been deserted a long time ago. I had stayed up there for most of the night, watching through the entrance as lights in the house turned on and Dad and Karli's silhouettes could be seen walking around and pacing.

I went inside hours after I left and my Dad breathed a sigh of relief as I walked past him and up the stairs. I bypassed my room and went into my brother's. I laid down on Maddox's bed, softly, trying not to wake him. I laid on my back and reached up to run my fingers over the bars that held Wyler above us.

I put my palm against the bars and thought that maybe someday I could be strong enough to break them. To get past the bars that hold me down and maybe someday float away. As I closed my eyes I felt light, a feeling that had seemingly ran away from my life many years before. I felt like I could float, as is submerged in water.

My mind slipped from consciousness and I wandered into dreamland. Reliving the days that had taunted me for years.

My brother was shaking me awake the next morning.

"Indy!" Maddox called urgently, "Wake up!"

I rolled over and groaned as I opened my eyes. I wiped the sleep from my eyes and stared up at two little faces. "What?" I questioned, disoriented.

They shared a look and then asked, "What are you doing in our room?"

Wyler added, "Why are you crying?"

I reached up and touched my cheek, feeling the moisture on my skin.
"I don't know," I stuttered as I sat up and Wyler climbed into my lap, his little fingers wiping away the tears.

"Are you okay, sissy?" Maddox questioned as he crawled closer.

"What?" I said on instinct, "I mean, you guys shouldn't call me that."

The twins looked severely confused as I scooted Wyler off of me.

"Why not? You're our sister."

I shook my head and crawled out of Maddox's bed. "I'm your half-sister. I'm only going to be living here for about a year. Then I'm moving out and you guys won't see too much of me anymore."

I stood up in their room and stared down at them as they sat on the edge of the bed. They stared back up at me. Their hair was in total disarray and their pajamas matched, except for the colors. They sat on the edge so that their feet hung over the edge and touched the floor. Their sleeveless shirts were purple and blue and their little shorts were lighter shades of the same. Their blue eyes were quizzical and I could see the tears building.

I sighed as Wyler's tears fell first. Maddox put a glare on his face and crossed his arms, letting his tough personality shine through while his brother became soft, as usual.

"Guys, it's just that I don't want you getting too attached."

Wyler sniffed and then spoke, "But you're still our sister, Indy. We have the same Daddy. I'm your brothy."

I nodded and reached out to wipe away his tears like he had for me when I woke from my nightmares. Wyler rushed forward, when I smiled, and he wrapped his arms around my waist. I heaved him up into my arms and closed my eyes contently as his thin arms locked around my neck.

When I opened my eyes Maddox's facade was cracking. His soft voice called out to me.

"Indy," he murmured as he moved his gaze to look up to me, "Can I be your brothy again too?"

I chuckled and nodded my head. Maddox jumped up off of the bed and raced over to me. He threw his arms around my waist and I slid down to my knees so that both little boys were on the ground with their arms around my neck with my arms around their thin little bodies.

I released them after a minute and told them that I was going to hang out in my room for awhile. Maybe go on the computer and check my e-mail or something. I was just going to relax. But when I got to the edge of the stairs I could hear the t.v on downstairs so I peaked around the corner. My Dad was resting on the couch with Karli leaning into his side. I sighed silently and went into my room, remembering that he would choose this life over our old one. I shut my bedroom door behind me and tossed myself down onto my messy bed. The blankets were all over the place as I laid there, letting the sun shine in through my window. My eyes were closed and I rested my face against my pillow, my stomach against the bed. I could feel my cell phone in the pocket of my pants. I rolled onto my back and pulled it out of the front pocket.

There were two missed alerts. One was a text from Eadon and the other was a call from my grandparents. I read the text from Eadon first and replied quickly, saying "Good morning" and asking him what he was doing for the day.
After the message was sent I began to dial Ruth and David's phone number. I deliberated for a moment on whether I should hit "call" or not and then with a burst of braveness I pushed my thumb against the green button.

My cell phone began to ring and I sucked in a breath, realizing that this would be the first time I had talked to my mother's parents since they kicked me out, over a month ago. The phone kept ringing and I sighed, feeling more relaxed at the fact that they wouldn't answer and I wouldn't have to talk to them. As their answering machine began to speak, (Hello, you've reached Ruth and David Greene, please leave a message and we will get back to you as soon as we can. Thank you.) I began to think of what I was going to say. I had no idea why they had decided to call and I honestly had no reason to talk to them.

The machine beeped and I began to speak.
"Hey Grandma and Grandpa, it's Indiana. I saw that you called and I was wondering what you wanted. So... call me, I guess. Bye."

However before I could hang up my grandfather's voice came through the phone.

"Hello Indiana. How've you been?" I reveled in the sound of my grandpa's voice. In my younger years he had always been my rock. I was a "Grandpa's Girl" during my childhood but when I was forced to move in with them I grew distant and mean. My Grandpa had seemingly given up on me by the time I was 13 years old. He no longer comforted me with Gilmore Girls reruns or candy as he had when I was nine. The more I pushed away from him the more he pushed me away. With the help of my Grandma he started to completely isolate me from his life. I was no longer his grand-daughter, I was a delinquent that had no connect to him at all.

"Uh, hi Grandpa. Why did you and Grandma call?" I questioned, getting right to the point of this discussion.

"Indiana, your grandmother wanted to talk to you about your mother."

I held completely still as I replied. "Why?"

I heard my Grandpa sigh. "She's not doing too well, Indiana. She also misses you."

"Sure, Grandpa David. Tell mommy I miss her too!" I said sarcastically. My cell phone beeped, signaling that I had another text or call.

"Now Indiana, I thought your father would be straightening you out down there."

I scoffed at the mention of my father. "Get to the point, Grandpa. If this call is just about Mom, then I don't want to hear it. I have to go. Wyler and Maddox want me to make breakfast for them."

"Who are they exactly?" Grandpa asked frantically, trying to keep the conversation going.

I sighed. "They're Nathaniel's sons," I said shortly, wondering how he didn't even know that. My grandparents must of talked to my Dad before shipping me out to him. It must of been all business, I realized, seeing as my Grandmother had never really liked my father.

"Oh yes," said Grandpa, "I think Ruth mentioned something about him having more children. What different names he chose." He murmured the last statement offhandedly and then we both went quiet. I listened to the silence for a moment, waiting to see if he would say anything else. He; however, didn't.

"Well," I murmured, "I need to go, now. I'll talk to you in another month?"

"Indiana, just know that your Grandma will be calling you to speak about your mother. "

"Yeah, okay. Bye."

Grandpa said goodbye and I hung up the phone. I tried to forget about the conversation I just had and went into the twins' room to see if they had gotten anything to eat yet. They were both sitting on the floor, facing away from the door. They had their "car city" sitting out in front of them. It was a building with slides and ramps. I could tell that the twins had stuffed little action figures into the rooms, next to windows, and into some of their cars to make it look like they were driving.

I smiled. "Are you two hungry?" I questioned, laughing as they whipped around and nodded frantically. "Alright, come on. Growing boys need food."

The twins jumped up and raced past me. They slowed down at the top of the stairs and walked down slowly, knowing that they would be in a lot of trouble if they came barreling down the stairs. I followed after them and noticed that Karli was sitting on the couch alone now. She smiled at her sons' when they came into view.

"Morning boys!" She grinned, "Are you hungry? Do you want me to make breakfast?"

The boys shook their heads and pointed to me as I came farther into the room. "Indy is going to make us food!"

Karli looked to me and forced a smile back to her boys. "Oh," she murmured, "What are you making?"

I shrugged and smiled, walking over to the boys. I ruffled their hair before I replied to Karli. "I'm not sure yet. But you can cook if you want to. It's not really my thing anyways. I was just trying to be helpful." I shrugged again, ignoring the boys as they whined about how they wanted me to make food.

Karli nodded and stood up from the couch. She began to walk into the kitchen, telling the boys along the way that she would make pancakes or french toast. The twins forgot about wanting me to help them and began to argue about which food they wanted.

I hurried back up the stairs. I went to my closet and picked out my outfit for the day. My shirt was a regular purple shirt that had rips all up and down the front and back. I had ripped the sleeves off in the beginning in the summer so I grabbed my favorite long sleeved mesh shirt to wear underneath. I searched through my dresser to find my baggy purple basketball shorts. Once I located them I took my things to the bathroom and took a shower. I washed my hair twice and blow dried it after I was dressed. I decided just to leave it un-straightened seeing as it had the waves in it that made it look unique.

I found my black Jordan's and yanked them onto my feet over my mitch-matched socks. I got to my feet and shifted around in my shoes, making sure that they were tied tight enough. I grinned at the feeling of being back in my favorite pair of shoes and hurried down the stairs.

The twins were playing on the couch, rolling cars around and making car noises. I smiled called out to them.

"Where are you going?" Wyler questioned as they hurried over to me.

"Are you going to play with your boyfriend?" Maddox asked rudely, adding the twinge to the word "boyfriend".

I shook my head. "Nope, I'm going for a run. I used to be on the track team, you know," I said matter-a-factly.

The twins furrowed their eye-brows in confusion like my father always used to do.

"What's a track team?" Wyler asked.

I grinned at the boy and ruffled his hair before I answered, "It's where people run races for fun."

"Oh," they both said simultaneously and they made the 'O' shape with their mouths.

"Yeah," I agreed, "So I'm going to go run for awhile. I'll see you two when I get back, alright?"

The boys nodded and rushed forward to hug me.

I said goodbye and turned to run out the front door. I took off running down the street, realizing that I didn't have my cell phone and I really wasn't worried about it. I took off running in a random direction, hoping to sweat off all my thoughts and forget about my problems. I ran and ran like I used to, feeling the familiar burn in the lungs and thighs. I let the songs on my IPod pull my mind to different places and thinking about different things. Nothing really mattered while I was running. I didn't think about Karli, Eadon, my Dad, the Twins, or even the phone call with my Grandpa. I didn't think, I just ran as fast I could away from my new home and all my issues.