Whiskey Lullaby

Chapter 4: Rain, Rain, Go Away

I decided I would go with Brian. He was the only way I could get out of here before I was released.

I smiled as I packed my bags and waited for him to arrive to sign the papers. The ratty old suitcase strained against my few cloths, my books, my notebooks, and pens, and my picture of my pregnant mother, my father, and myself. Sitting on the bed I look out the crummy window and see the small, slow drops of rain. This makes me grown. I love the rain, but it always gives me a bitter attitude to something. The door opens and I jump to my feat, grinning again and waiting for Brian to step through the door and take me away. My hopes are crushed when Trishta walks into the room.

"What are you doing?" She asks, eyeing me suspiciously as she sets her trey of warm chicken noodle soup on my dresser.

"Waiting," I reply, sitting back on the bed.

"Waiting? For what?"

"My rescue," I sigh, looking out at the window, to the yard. It's raining really hard now. There is no way Brian would work his way through that, just to come get me. Trishta smiles sadly at me as I begin to unpack my bag.

"No, no, don't unpack!" I abruptly stop what I was doing and look at her curiously. Had he come? "You see, someone came today, a family member. That's why I came here personally, to see you off and help you pack. Your Aunt Beth has come to take you, now that you're older and she is in need of help. The papers were signed yesterday. It's sad to see you go, Rose, and I'm gonna miss seeing that boy come to see you every weekend, but we finally found you a home!"

"What!" I shriek. "No, no, no," I mumble, hiding my face in my hands. "This can'y be happening. Everything was working out for me!" I turn to see the now tired looking caretaker. "Where does this 'Aunt Beth' live?"

"In Los Angelas."

"That's so far away! I don't want to go that far!"

"I know, dear, I'm sorry."

I look up and glare at her. Standing up I slam open the door. "No you're not," I hiss and I hear her yell after me as I run down the hall.

"Rose, Rose, come back! Somebody stop her!" I ignored the pounding footsteps behind me and sprinted out the main doors and into the rain. My sight being blurry with the rain, and my own tears, I just barely made it over the gate and onto the road. I sprinted as fast as my legs could carry me and turned into an alley.

I wasn't upset that they'd found me a way out. Or that they found this family member that was willing to take me in, when I thought I was alone. I wasn't upset that I'd finally have a place to call home, like I've been searching for. I wasn't crying because this family member wanted nothing to do with me until I got older. I am upset because I'd finally found a bit of happiness.

I'd found Brian, and he cares for me. I'd found a friend that I could depend on. We were going to start me a good, happy life. Our plans just got foiled. I'd gotten my hopes up for nothing. Every bit of hope and happiness that I'd acquired from Brian's short visits have been squashed and buried.

The rain pelts down on my head as I walk down the street. No one is out in this horrible weather. No car drives through the flooded streets. No one peeks out their window and cares that a weeping girl is out in the cold rain, only clad in old blue jeans and a black, sleeveless shirt, and old, torn up sneakers. Only another street rat. That's what they think. That's what they see.

For some reason, that's what us human beings believe. If you can see it, if your friends tell you that's what it is, that's what's real. That's the way it is. Everyone is too wrapped up in their own lives to help someone else. No one walks the extra mile, just because they can, or want to.

I'm brought out of my sulking when I hear a car approach from behind me, the tires shredding through the water. I turn to look as a black car pulls up to the side of me and opens the door. I see the concerned face of Brian and sigh in relief. I sit down in the passengers side of the car and shut the door.

"What did you think you were doing?" Asks Brian after a moment of silence, as he shifts gears and backs up, and heads back for the main road. "You're probably gonna catch a cold now."

"I don't know, I was upset. How did you find me?"

"I was on my way to get you, but then I saw you running away. At first I wasn't sure it was you, but then, I saw that,'' he replies, pointing to the small locket around my neck that he had given me. It is a black heart with little black vines wrapping around it. "Why were you running away?"

"Brian," I choked, the sobs coming back, the first tear escaped. "They are sending me away, they found a relative in L.A. that is gonna take me in. I can't go with you." I look up at his sullen face and more tears escape. He pulls up to the front of the orphanage and puts the car in park. Looking at me he wipes away my tears.

"Please don't cry, the rain is already depressing," he asks softly, moving a piece of my hair from my face.

"I'm sorry Brian, I just don't know what to do."

"It'll be alright, we'll see each other again." I nod and unbuckle. "I'll see you later, okay?"

"Yeah," I reply and shut the door after getting out. I only look back once before walking through the gates and going back into the orphanage. That will probably be the last time I see my best friend in a long time.

This sucks.