Breaking Free

Knowing that I get to go back to Jackson's thrills me although I'm still scared of the possibility that my father may show up there again, but at the same time, I am happy to know that Jackson can protect me.
When I arrive at the house, Jackson rushes me with a hug.
"I'm so glad you're home!" he says.
"Me too," I blush.
I have butterflies in the pit of my stomach. Those are strange and unwelcome at this moment.
"Oh dear, I told you you would be back!" Debra exclaims when she walks out of the front door.
I have my backpack over my shoulder and am wearing one of Debra's tee shirts and a pair of her jeans. I'm glad that we're the same size.
"Well, I have some paperwork for you and Mr. Maddox to fill out and I'll be on my way," the social worker says.
The process was quicker and easier than I'd expected. All they had to find out was that the Maddox family were official foster parents and we were set to go. I never knew that a foster family could take in whom ever they wanted, but for that I would be eternally grateful.
I walk into the house behind the family and we all sit down in the living room.
"Welcome to our family," Mr. Maddox says.
"Thank you," I say.
"The rules around here are simple, Jackson doesn't break them and neither do Devon and Charlie and we expect you to keep up with it too. Since you are now more than a guest in our home, we want you to act like one of our children," Mr. Maddox says, "curfew is at 10 sharp on school nights and midnight on Friday's and Saturday's. Cleaning isn't optional but it's not like you'll be doing all of the chores around here."
"That's not a problem at all with me, I never left the house before and I don't know if I really will anyway. Cleaning is my strong suit, I had to do it all of the time anyway," I shrug.
"Well, you're very eager to follow the rules and that is a good thing, although, I'm sorry to say, we've never taken in a girl before, so I'm not sure if we'll have everything that you need," he says.
"That's fine with me, I'll let you know if there is something I do need, but apart from the normal every day things, I think I'm set," I say with a broad smile, my eyes crinkling at the corners. I'm so very at ease around them all.
Even though I've only seen Devon and Charlie a handful of times since I've been here, I figure they'll be around for more than just family dinner.
It's starting to get late and dinner time is rolling around. Debra calls everyone into the kitchen before dinner to let Charlie and Devon know that I'll be living with them for awhile.
"That's cool," Charlie, the youngest says, "it'll be nice to have a girl around sometimes."
I smile at him.
"Devon, I hope this is okay with you," Debra asks.
"Yeah, whatever," Devon smirks. He's been iffy with me since I got here.
"Devon, I know we didn't talk to you about this first, but that is no reason for you to be mean to Lina, she's going to be as much a part of this family as you are," Mr. Maddox says.
"It's okay," I say quietly.
"No, honey, it's not okay," Debra says, "Charlie wasn't treated any differently when he moved in here and I don't expect you to be either."
"Oh," is all I can manage to say. I wasn't aware that Charlie had been a foster also, his eyes are strikingly like Jackson's that I assumed they were brothers. I assumed they were all father, mother and children until I found out that Jackson was being raised by Debra, his aunt. I just guessed that Devon and Charlie were Jackson's brothers. I guess I assumed wrong.
We all sit down to a home cooked dinner of fried potatoes, grilled steak and corn on the cob. The meal is delicious and I must ask Debra how to make it.
"That was wonderful," I say.
"Thank you, honey," Debra replies.
I stand up to clear my plate, but she holds her hand up for me to stop.
"Since Charlie has decided to be rude, it's his night for dishes," Debra says.
"That is so unfair," Charlie says rolling his eyes.
"Keep that tone and you'll be on dish duty for a week, "Mr. Maddox says.
I'm shocked that they are being so calm and easier on Charlie if I would have rolled my eyes at my father, he would have bloodied my mouth.
"Jackson, Mr. Davies called and left your homework assignment with us, I also called the school for you Lina to get the rest of your classwork," Debra says.
"Thank you so much," I say gratefully, I don't want to fall behind in my classes just because this stuff is going on.
"It's not a problem," she smiles at me.
Jackson and I grab the papers with our assignments on them and walk upstairs together. He's got his arm around my shoulder lovingly.
"Let's get this done and over with and I'll take you for a drive," Jackson says as we sit down on his bed with our school books together.
Thankfully we have the same classes, although not at the same time and I can use his books since mine are still at my dad's house.
"When do you think I'll be able to get my stuff?" I ask.
"We'll talk to mom about that when we finish our homework," Jackson says scribbling a note on one of his papers.
I start on my math since he has the history book and fly through the problems. I've always been really good at math, I like it a lot because no matter what, numbers never change.
When I'm through with math, Jackson starts and he's struggling a little with some of the problems so I help him out a little.
When we're finished with all of our homework, we go downstairs to talk to Debra.
"I want to get my stuff from my father's," I explain. "All of my school books and stuff are there."
"That would be fine, we'll contact someone tomorrow to set something up," she says with a smile. "I really am glad you're here."
"Thank you, so am I," I say smiling back at her.
"I hate that you've had to go through those things, but at least now, you won't have to worry about it. And don't worry about Charlie, he'll come around, he was a little strange with Devon when he first got here too."
I breath a sigh of relief. "That's good."
Jackson and I leave the house and climb in the truck and he takes me down the back road to town.
"Donna was my mother," Jackson says. I stay quiet since he hasn't wanted to talk about it until now. "She was a lot like your father."
"I'm sorry," I say.
"Don't be, I'm much better off now. She was a mean woman and although Debra was raised in the same home as her all of their lives, Donna turned out so much differently. She got into drugs before I was born and after that, she treated me like a burden. When I was four, she took a branch to my back, the scars you saw, because I knocked a glass of water over on the kitchen table. I'll never forget that.
Not long after that, Debra saw what was going on and immediately had me removed from Donna's home."
"Oh wow," I breathe.
"It's been rough, so I do know what you're going through," Jackson assures me.
"I'm glad that I have you to talk to although I wish what we've both been through had never happened," I say.
"I know what you mean," he says and gets very quiet.
We stop along a road and Jackson opens his door and climbs out, before I can open my own door, he's there opening it for me.
"Come with me, I want to show you something," Jackson grabs my hand and walks quickly through a patch of weeds and when we emerge on the other side, there is a beautiful view of the city.
"It's amazing," I say bright eyed.
"It's it?" he says.
"I found this place last year when I was driving around, Donna had tried to visit me and when I left the house, I found this spot, it's almost like a safe haven."
"It's beautiful, I'm glad you're sharing it with me," I say quietly almost like I don't want to disturb the beauty of the place around me.
I breathe in the scents of the flowers that are just now closing to signal the evening's arrival. The smell is heavenly. I love flowers and was never allowed to keep them in the house. I gather a handful of wild flowers from a patch to the left of me and hold them up to my nose after pulling them out of the ground.
"I want to plant these in a pot," I tell Jackson.
"I'm sure mom has some laying around," he smiles at me.
His smile is infectious and I can't help but smile back at him.
"We'd better go," Jackson says pulling his cellphone out of his pocket and checking the time.
We go back to the truck and I'm reluctant, I don't want to leave this place and I make a mental note for Jackson to bring me back out here sometime during the day.