Break and Enter

I awoke to Bryce on the phone.
“Thank you so much. Yes. Thank you. Bye,” he hung up the phone and sighed.
“You called the police?” I asked.
He nodded. “They said they’d be here ASAP. I don’t know how they’re gonna find us though since we’re pretty well hidden,” he chuckled slightly. “Plus, I think the robbers or whatever left ‘cause it’s pretty quiet out there.”
I froze and felt my heart drop. “What?”
“I said, the robber’s probably left ‘cause there’s no noise out there. That’s good isn’t it.”
“Well, I suppose,” I said as my irritation levels rose. “But don’t you think that if they had left, Dad would’ve come to get us?” Bryce’s face dropped. “Or maybe, I don’t know, he’s not conscious enough to get us?” I nearly yelled the last part. I was freaking out. Bryce was right, it did sound as though the robbers had left, but there also weren’t any other voices or signs that anyone was even alive out there. That was my worse fear.
A single tear fell from my face as my worriment got worse. “Hey, Rainee, everything’s gonna be okay,” Bryce attempted to comfort me. I shook my head not believing a word he said. He sat beside me and hugged me to him as more silent tears fell from my face. We remained like that for the next few minutes until we heard voices coming from the other side. We both sat up immediately and put our ears to the door.
“Bryce Cyntri?” we heard a muffled voice.
Bryce turned to me, his eyebrow raised as if to ask me if he should open the door. I shook my head. “What if it’s just the robbers pretending to be the police?”
“But what if it’s not,” he rebutted.
I sighed. “WE’RE IN HERE!!!!” I yelled and banged my fists against the door. Bryce mimicked me.
We both continued to scream and bang our hands until we heard someone yell to someone else. “John! It sounds like it’s coming through the wall!!”
Bryce and I turned our heads to each other at the mention of John. He’s been a family friend for years, and he was also a police officer. “Should I open the door?” Bryce mouthed. I shook my head. What if it’s not the actual John? What if the robber’s name is John also? He nodded and turned back to the door. “That’s because we’re in the walls!” Bryce yelled.
“How’d you get in there?” the man on the outside asked sounding completely confused.
“There’s a door,” Bryce answered him simply.
We heard shuffling on the outside as if he was looking for the door. The man sighed in frustration. “Do you mind coming out? It’s the police.”
“How do we know you’re telling the truth?” I spoke for the first time.
“Rain, it’s me John. John McKinley?” another voice answered. It did sound like John, but I wasn’t positive. I had to think of a way for him to prove himself.
I thought for a few seconds before I knew what to ask him. “What’s the name of my favourite teddy bear and why?”
“Rain, what-“ I cut him off.
“If it’s really you, you’ll know the answer.”
He sighed. “You’re favourite teddy bear’s name is Jared because that was the last thing your mother said before she died. As though she were trying to tell you something.”
I smiled slightly and nodded for Bryce to press the green button that would open the door. He smiled and opened the door to reveal the back of the shelf. I lightly pushed the shelf hoping it would open easily. My grin grew as it slid to the side to reveal John.
“Johnny!!” I yelled and wrapped my arms around him immediately.
“Hey there Storm,” he replied to my outburst. I giggled at the use of my nickname. He had started calling me that when I was younger and used to run around destroying things and attacking people with hugs. Bryce came out behind me and shook John’s hand.
“Did you get the robber’s to leave? Where’s my dad,” I said still smiling as I practically skipped to the closet door and peeked out. My smile immediately dropped and my jaw basically hit the ground at what I saw. The room was a complete mess. Things were thrown across the room; the drawers to the dressers were pulled out. The bed was a mess and ripped. The walls had holes in them, and in the middle of it all was my father with bullet wounds in his chest. My hand covered my mouth and a sob ripped through my body. I fell to the ground and cried. The only sounds coming from me were those of sobs and wails. Bryce rushed out beside me and after about a moment he dropped to his knees beside me and held me to him. I felt him burying his face in my hair. Not soon after, I felt the tears spilling from his eyes as he cried with me. We both sobbed and cried.
I don’t remember much of what happened after that. It’s really just a blur. The next thing I remember, we were sitting in the police station with John beside us.
“Storm? Storm. Rain, please. You have to eat something,” he pleaded trying to get me to eat the apple he was holding out to me. It was about 6 o’clock that evening. We’d been at the police station for over three hours. I sat in one of the plastic chairs in my pajamas and John’s jacket with Jared clutched to my chest. John had grabbed him right before we came knowing the bear from my childhood would comfort me. Bryce sat beside me, his eyes red and puffy. He held his IPod in his hand. I could hear his music blaring. He had always found the most comfort in music.
I looked back to John and met his eyes. I could tell by the way his eyes looked and how tired he looked, he was really worried. I felt bad for worrying him so much. He has his own family to worry about. He didn’t need to be worrying about me. I took the apple from him and examined it for a moment before taking a bite. He got a look of relief in his eyes that made me smile the slightest bit. I looked over to Bryce and realized he’s already eaten his apple by the fact that his was nothing but a core next to him on the small table. I continued to chew my apple and looked around the large room in front of me. I began to study the people. Most people were busy typing away on computers or talking to others on the phone.
“Hey, John!” one of the men called. He looked all official and like he would be the one in charge. He was probably the chief. John walked over to him. They talked in hushed voices making it hard for me to understand what they were saying. I heard something about “biological father” and “nowhere to go”. It was quite confusing, but I figured it would all make sense to me in the end.
John made his way over to us. “You guys are going to stay with me for the next week until we find permanent arrangements for you. Well, we kind of have found permanent arrangements but we’ll talk about that once you’ve got some sleep in you.” Bryce and I nodded as an answer. “Alright then, let’s go.”
We followed John to his car and were on our way. As we pulled up to the familiar house, I smiled at the slightest bit. I have so many good memories in this house. We followed him into the house. “Laura! I’m home!” John yelled through the house.
“DADDYYYYY!” Jenna screamed ecstatically as she ran around the corner and developed her father in a hug. I hadn’t seen her in a few months. She grew a lot; probably a few inches since the last time I saw her. Her eyes lit up when she saw me standing behind her father. “Wainee!” the four year old jumped into my arms. She’d taken a liking to me when she was only two and fell off the top of her playhouse. Bryce and I had been babysitting her and I was the first to help her to her feet and clean her off. I guess that builds a special bond between you and a two year old.
“Hi, Jenna,” I smiled at her; the exhaustion showing through my voice. Although I was exhausted and depressed, I couldn’t help but smile at the small girl with brown pigtails and green eyes.
“Wainee, are you sleepy?” she asked laying her head on my shoulder.
“A little bit,” I answered her putting my head on hers.
“Bryce! Rain! How are you doing?” Laura, John’s wife, came bounding around the corner. She wrapped us both in tight, bone crushing hugs.
“I’m alive,” Bryce answered her with a monotone voice. I just nodded in agreement and gave Jenna to her mother.
“Well, you too must be exhausted. Bryce, you can sleep in the guest bedroom. Rain, I hope you don’t mind sleeping in Jenna’s bed. She can just sleep with us tonight,” Laura told us.
I nodded my head. “If you don’t mind, I think I’m going to head to bed.”
“Go ahead, sweetie. I understand,” Laura empathized.
I made my way to the hallway that contained Jenna’s room. “I think I’ll go too,” I heard Bryce say right before I closed the door to Jenna’s room. I pulled her pink blackout curtains close to create darkness in the room. I had just climbed in the twin size bed when Bryce came in and sat beside me. “Are you gonna be okay, Rainee?”
I had to think about that question. I really don’t know. Will I be okay? Who knows? I just lost my father, the only adult family I had left. I’m now parentless and homeless. But at the same time, I consider myself blessed. I’m blessed that I’m not completely alone; I have my brother. I’m blessed that I’m not on the streets; I have a home, even if it’s temporary. I’m not going to die or anything. So if that makes me ‘okay’, then yes, I’m okay. “I’ll be fine Bry-bry. What about you?” I looked at him seriously. He diverted his eyes to the ground, a single tear dropping from them. I don’t understand why he’s always so worried about me. He’s always been more fragile than I will ever be, yet he’s always worrying about me.
I pulled him to me and hugged him. I couldn’t bring myself to cry with him. I’m all dried out. I listened as he sobbed quietly and let the tears run down my shirt. It was heart breaking for me. I hate seeing my big brother cry. It always made me feel horrible that I can’t do anything to make him happy like he can do with me. He can always cheer my up when I’m sad, but I’ve never had the same gift. The only thing I can really do is hold him and attempt to comfort him. “Everything’s gonna be okay,” I told him quietly, saying this for not only his benefit, but for mine as well. What if nothing is okay? What if our lives were destined to be fucked from the beginning?