Concrete Angel

"Joey, there's some stuff I can't tell you." I whisper softly.

"Izzy, don't you trust me." Joey says quietly.

"I do, but it's for your safety and for mine and for others. I'll tell you some but there will be parts that are missing Joey." I say slowly trying to decide if I'm really going to do this.

"I'll make stuff up." Joey says with a small smile. I bite my lip knowing that if I give away too much, this could all go downhill.

"I don't even know where to start." I say running a hand through my hair.

"Why don't you start with why you came here?" Joey says and I make a face. I don't know how much of that I can tell.

"Don't stop me. Wait till I'm done." I say taking a breath.

"Okay, my lips are sealed." Joey says watching me. I meet his eyes and then I start talking.

"I can't say why I came except for I had to completely change the way I looked to come. My brother's name isn't Leo and my dad isn't who you think he is. I have nightmares because of something that happened to me but you can't know about it. You weren't even supposed to know I have a brother. A lot of the stuff I've told you has been lies. Almost everything you know about my outside life isn't true. I've lied about a lot." I say ending very quietly.

"So Johnny is your brother?" Joey says and my eyes try to control my emotions. I nod slowly not saying a word.

"And some unknown thing made you have to change how you looked? And you lied to me, for your safety?" Joey says slowly. I nod again waiting for him to be angry for the lies.

"So what did you used to look like? Or can you tell me that?" Joey says smiling at me.

"You're not angry at me?" I say staring at him.

"Izzy, you did something for your safety. I can't be angry for you keeping yourself alive." Joey says stroking my face with one of his fingers.

"Oh, and my real name was changed too but I can't tell you that." I say quietly.

"Okay, I like Izzy anyways. So can you give me some insight as to what you look like?" Joey says quietly.

"Nothing has changed much." I say laughing at his face.

"Come on." Joey says nudging me.

"My hair was way shorter when I first came. It's grown back some but I need to get it cut again." I say absentmindedly.

"And?" Joey says pushing me for more.

"It was blond. Okay. My hair was blond. That's it. That's all you are knowing, not that much else has changed." I say rolling my eyes.

Joey stared at me for a moment and just smiled. It finally annoyed me enough for me to ask.

"Why are you staring at me?" I say looking away from him.

"I'm just trying to picture you with blond hair." Joey says laughing.

"Don't. Please don't Joey." I say suddenly alarmed. If he pictured me and realized who I was.....this would never end well.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't of asked. Don't stop. Tell me more." Joey says stroking my hair softly.

"I don't know how much I can tell you." I say quietly.

"So this man that's been following you around, he's not your real dad?" Joey asks quietly.

"Joeyyy! You can't guess stuff! You just have to accept what I tell you! I can't...you can't. You can't know everything and if you guess and are right then it's not always going to end well." I say taking his face in my hands to make him look at me.

"Izzy, I'm sorry."

"Listen to me. I'll tell you everything that I can when I can and more over time and maybe everything one day but for your own safety you can not guess." I say looking into his eyes.

"I don't care about my safety Izzy." Joey says rolling his eyes.

"Do you care about mine? Because it could harm my safety too. I could have to leave." I say quietly and he nods accepting my rules.

"No guessing." Joey says.

"But since you went there, no Howard isn't my father." I say rolling on my back.

"Someone sounds annoyed." Joey states.

"He just thinks he's the boss of me."

"But he's supposed to be your father." Joey says slowly trying not to laugh.

"I know but he tries and tells me what to do. And he thinks I need to see a shrink and he doesn't like the fact that we are friends and he keeps reminding me I might have to leave." I say in a hurry.

"Do you? Have to leave?" Joey says suddenly serious.

"I don't know Joey. I don't know." I say curling myself next to him. He puts an arm around me and plays with my hair until I fall asleep.

I woke up the next morning with a sense of worry. I shouldn't of told Joey any of that. I open my eyes and see him standing there shirtless looking as confused as ever. I guess he knew I didn't want to take a shower this morning so he let me sleep in. I watch quietly as he runs his hand through his hair and looks at his clothes. He's as confused as ever. I laugh as quiet as possible and he turns around faster than I've ever seen him move.

"Good morning." I say laughing at his face.

"I didn't want to wake you."

"I had to get up anyways. I have to tell Howard bye." I say feeling relieved that I don't have to call him dad around Joey.

"I see. You want some company?" Joey asks and I nod grateful he asked.

"Wear that one." I say grabbing my clothes and walking into the bathroom after pointing out one of his shirts.

Once we finished getting ready we met up with Howard in the lobby. He didn't look too happy to see Joey there but he didn't say anything. He gave me a hug and kiss like a good father would do and told me he'd be in touch.

"Tell Leo hello for me and that I love him." I say slowly watching his reaction. Johnny was on my mind a lot. If Howard could tell him that, it'd make me better.

"If I see him before you, then I will." Howard says giving me a small reminder that I could be leaving soon. I nod and wave as he leaves. Then I let Joey drape an arm around me and lead me to the cafe for breakfast.