My New Life

I think I was in trouble. But I wasn’t sure. I fell asleep on the way home, and when I woke up I was in my bed with Buster. I felt weak again, and I was scared I was going to be sick. I stumbled up slowly and rubbed my eyes. Buster lifted his head and stared at me.
“I won’t leave. I promise,” I said. His ears twitched, his tail wagged a little and he laid his head back down. I walked down the stairs slowly and heard voices coming from the kitchen. When I walked in there, I saw Landon sitting at the table with Nick and Shaun. Brian and Anthony were asleep in the living room.
“Are you alright, Kaiser?” Landon asked, picking me up. I nodded slowly and laid against his strong chest.
“You worried us sick, young man,” Nick said with a deep voice, “You’re grounded.”
“Wh-What?” I felt tears swell in my eyes.
“He’s just kidding,” Landon smiled and kissed my cheek. Nick smiled and stood up. He brought me a cup of orange juice.
“Kaiser, there’s something we have to tell you,” Shaun said. Landon sat me in his lap while I drunk my juice.
“Am I in trouble?” I frowned and started to cry, “I’m sorry. I just wanted to keep Haley safe.”
“Oh Kaiser, you could never be in trouble,” Landon ruffled my hair.
“You couldn’t and wouldn’t ever hurt anybody intentionally. You’re not in any trouble at all,” Shaun smiled.
“Then why do you all look mad?” I asked, wiping my eyes. They looked at each other and let out a huge sigh.
“It’s about your friend. It’s about Haley,” Nick said.
“H-Haley?,” I looked at all of them, then at Landon, “What’s wrong with Haley?” Shaun and Nick looked at Landon and frowned. Landon ran his hand over his hair and looked at me.
“Bro… Haley was getting abused at her house. Haley is going through what you went through a while ago… The police are taking her away so she can be safe.” The more Landon explained, the more I understood. Haley was getting hurt like Dad hurt me. I felt my lip move, and tears ran down my face.
“No! I don’t want Haley to leave!” I cried as I pressed my face in Landon’s chest. He held me tightly and kissed my head.
“Kaiser, she wasn’t safe at her house. Now she can be safe,” Shaun said.
“But I won’t be there to… protect her…,” I cried harder and started hitting my hands on Landon’s chest. He didn’t seem to feel it, and I didn’t think I was hurting him.
“Kid, look at me,” Nick said. When I looked over at him, he rubbed my shoulder, “Haley knows what a great friend you are to her. And she’ll never forget you. You’ll see her again, I promise. But you can’t protect her if she’s living with her family. She needs a new family that will take care of her.”
“Kind of like how you needed us to take care of you,” Shaun said, “You know how much you love us? And how much you love Landon? She needs someone like that in her life. And know she’s going to get that.” I nodded slowly and wiped my nose, then I hugged Landon tightly.
“Thank you for saving me, bro,” I said.
“You’re welcome, bro,” Landon held me tighter and kissed my head. After a while of crying, my tears stopped.
“Can I go back to my room?” I asked. Landon nodded and let me up from his lap.
“We’ll fix up some breakfast for you, alright?” Shaun said.
“I’m not hungry,” I said, then I walked up the stairs. I laid down on my bed, snuggled up with Buster and cried quietly. Buster kept nudging my head, but I couldn’t stop crying. I hope Haley would be okay. I laid in my bed the whole day. Landon, Shaun and Nick had to go to work. And Anthony left for awhile to get food. Brian stayed home and kept calling up for me to come down. When I didn’t answer him he came up to my room. I stopped crying but I felt like I wasn’t even there.
“What’s wrong with you?” Brian asked.
“Noffin,” I said, not looking over at him.
“Well, I know you’re lying,” Brian came over and sat beside me and Buster on the bed, “You can talk to me.”
“I just miss Haley,” I said.
“I know. But you can’t be sad your whole life. Haley wouldn’t want you to be sad,” He said.
“I don’t like being sad…,” I looked up at him, “But I can’t help it…” Brian picked me up gently and laid me on his lap.
“It’s hard, I know. It’s hard to lose a friend. But things will get better,” he smiled, “I promise.”
“Pinky promise?” I held my pinky out. He chuckled and locked his pinky with mine.
“Pinky promise,” he said.
“Okay… But I’m still sad,” I frowned.
“Do you like milkshakes?” Brian asked.
“What’s that?”
“It’s like an ice cream drink!”
“I want one!” I smiled.
“Let’s go make some milkshakes!” He smiled. I nodded, and smiled as he laid me on his shoulders and ran us down the stairs and into the kitchen. Buster jumped up and followed us. Brian sat me on the table and I watched as he made milkshakes.
“First, you gotta put the ice cream in the blender,” he started putting stuff in this big cup thing. He put ice cream, ice cubes, and some cookies before he put the top on it. When he pushed the button, it started going crazy and ice cream was everywhere in the kitchen.
“Shit shit shit!” Brian said as he turned it off. When he turned around at me, I started laughing at all of the ice cream that was all over him. Milkshakes were fun.