Is It Worth Saving Me

I woke up alone in a room that I didn't recognize for a second. After thinking about yesterday, i realized that I was at Ronnie's house. "Damn," I said to myself. I got up the best I could and looked to see that it was only six fifteen. I started getting my school things together when I remembered Mama Radke telling me to sleep in because she was taking me to the clinic or hospital today. One of the two anyway. I sighed before laying back down. I grabbed my phone and sent a text to Omar, Bryan, Chelsea, Robert, and Ali.

Not going to skool 2day. i'll call u l8r.

After sending the text I laid down for a bit and almost fell asleep when I heard Ronnie come in.

"Yo Max, sleep well?" he asked sitting on the edge ofthe my bed.

"A bit. Still in some pain though," I replied sitting up the best i could.

"Well, mom said that she was gonna get you checked out to make sure nothing too bad happened to you. You know how she is," Ronnie said.

"Yeah. Sometimes Chelsea reminds me of her. You know Chelsea. She hates seeing people upset or hurt. I guess that's why she reacted the way she did yesterday," I said.

Ronnie nodded before asking, "Do you want me to tell the guys you won't be at school today?"

I shook my head and replied, "I sent them all text messages letting them know I won't be there."

He nodded and said, "Well, I have to get ready. I told Chelsea that I’d pick her up today. Oh, and I called the guys last night after you went to sleep. I didn't tell them why you're here, but I told them you were staying here and they're coming over after school. Do you want me to tell them why?"

"I will. There's a lot I have to think about today," I replied when Mama Radke walked in.

"Ronnie, get ready for school please," she said to Ronnie.

He left the room after waving bye to me and Mama Radke said, "I have breakfast down stairs if you want some. The appointment's at nine thirty."

I nodded and said, "Okay Mama Radke."

I laid back down for a bit and looked over at my phone to see that I got 5 new messages. I saw that they were from everyone.

Okay. you sick? was from Omar.

Iight Max. You feeling any better? was from Chelsea.

Okay babe. i'll see you after school. i love you. was from Ali

You okay? was from Bryan.

Iight. see ya l8r man. was from Robert.

I replied to the messages before putting my phone down and getting out of bed. I trudged painfully down the stairs and into the kitchen to see that Mama Radke made chocolate chip pancakes.

"Mmmm. Smells good in here," I said before sitting at the table.

Mama Radke smiled and said, "Thank you Max. I called the school for you and told them you weren't going to be there. They know why but are keeping it confidential. I also talked to my lawyer that I've had since mine and Papa Radke's divorce and he said that if you don't have any kin that are willing to take you in, I could adopt you as my own."

I choked on my food and asked, "Wait? Adopt me?"

"Yeah. Do you know of any family that are willing to take you in?" she asked.

I thought for a minute and replied, "No. Both sets of grandparents died when I was younger, my mom had a sibling that died when she was younger, and my dad's an only child."

Mama Radke nodded when Ronnie came down and said, "I'm off mom. I've got to get Chelsea. See you later Max."

"Bye honey," Mama Radke said.

"Later Ronnie," I said before he walked out of the door. I looked at Mama Radke before asking, "Did you talk to Ronnie about it?"

"No. But he would love the idea of you being apart of the family permanently. You used to practically live here when your folks were still together," Mama Radke replied when her phone rang. She looked at me and said, "Finish your breakfast and take a shower. I think that's my lawyer."

I nodded as I finished my breakfast up. I put my dirty dishes in the sink and motioned that I was going upstairs to Mama Radke before I walked up and into the bathroom.

After I got out of the shower I threw on whatever and I noticed something new on my phone. It was a picture text message. I didn’t check who from. I just opened it and it was Ali and it had “I love you” across the bottom. I was a little happy below it was a message. and dont you EVER forget it ~Ali~.

I smiled and saved the picture to my phone. I threw my shoes on and put a jacket on, since it was December, before going down the stairs. I sat in the living room and watched whatever was on Cartoon Network when Mama Radke walked in and said, "Come on sweetheart, we're leaving."

I got up and slowly walked over to Mama Radke and the two of us left the house and walked over to her car.

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"Yo Ronnie, is Max okay?" Bryan asked as we were sitting in the boring math class.

I shrugged and honestly replied, "I don't know man. You guys are still coming over, right?"

"Yeah. why wouldn't we?" Robert asked.

"Just wondering," I replied when Mr. Stone saw us talking.

"Pay attention," he said.

I looked behind me to see Chelsea staring at my ass. "Babe? Is staring at my ass the only thing that gets you through this class?" I asked.

She nodded her head and Mr. Stone said. "Mr. Radke pay attention!"

I rolled my eyes and turned to the front as Mr. Stone started talking about something math related. The bell rang a few minutes later and I got up from my seat. The five of us left the room and met up with Ali on the way to our lockers.

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I put on my best act. I was dying on the inside. I fake smiled and everything. Bryan said something. I wasn’t paying attention. I stopped at my locker and he stood there, "Ali what is wrong," he put a hand on my shoulder.

"Nothing," I replied, "Nothing at all," I said grabbing a book and trying to walk away.

"No. I can tell. Just tell me. I wont tell the guys. I swear Ali," I looked up at him.

"I cant," my eyes began to water.

"Ali dont lie. Just tell me," he said hugging me.

"I am scared, okay? That’s all, I swear. I am worried that max will get sent away and I will never see him. I am scared that something is going to happen. I just don’t want to put up with anyone," after that conversation, I blocked my self away from everyone except Steven. I dropped English completely after that.

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Mama Radke and i sat in a booth in the back of restaurant as to prevent from anyone staring at me. I had a bruise on my right cheek that was a dark purple and the doctor told me that I had a bruised stomach, several bruised areas on my body, and bruised ribs. How that's possible, I don't know. He told me that I should still be able to play my bass on Friday, but I have to prevent myself from doing rigorous activities, P.E. being on the them. He wrote me a note to give to the office when I go back telling them I can't do P.E. for several weeks. I have enough credits there to graduate, so I'm good.

"Max honey?" I heard Mama Radke ask as I took a sip of my Pepsi, "You okay? you seem quiet."

I nodded and replied, "I'm fine. Just thinking about all this."

She nodded and said, "It's a lot to take in Max. I know. It'll take some time to get used to. But first, I think you just need to take all this one step at a time and not worry about everything. I'll deal with all the legal stuff. You deal with what you need to. I'm sure your friends are worried sick about you right now."

I nodded in agreement to what she told me. "I will Mama Radke. I planned on it today. Ronnie told me the guys were coming over today after school and I decided I'm telling them then."

She smiled and said, "Good. Now, eat up and we'll head off back to the house. You look exhausted."

I nodded and ate my sandwich.

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When we gotback to the house home, Mama Radke said, "If you want hun, you can go lay down and I'll let you know when Ronnie's home."

"Okay Mama Radke," I said before going upstairs to my room. I laid down on my bed and was out like a light bulb.

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"Mom! I'm home! The guys and Chelsea are with me! Ali's gonna be here later," I said as we walked in, Chelsea on my back.

Mom walked into the hallway and said, "Keep your voice down! Max's is sleeping. I'm going to let him know you guys are here. Keep your voices down."

"Yes mom," I said.

"Yes Mama Radke," Chelsea, Bryan, Omar, and Robert said.

She smiled and said, "I'll be right back."

She started up the stairs and the five of us walked into the living room.

We all sat there silently, me sitting on the couch, Chelsea on my lap, Bryan next to me, Omar on the other side on me, and Robert in the chair, when we heard someone walk down the stairs. We looked over to see mom walking down. "Max will be down in a bit. He just woke up and he's still sore, so he'll be a bit walking down."

We nodded and she walked into the kitchen as we all sat around waiting for Max,

It was five minutes later that we heard the soft thud of Max's socked feet slowly walk down the stairs, every now and then hearing a hiss in pain. I looked over to see Chelsea looking miserable. I put my arm around her waist and laid my head on her shoulder. She looked at me and weakly smiled as the slow thud of foot meeting step got louder.

We looked over and saw Max reach the bottom of the stairs. He looked over and weakly smiled at us before walking in. Chelsea got off my lap and rushed over to Max, throwing his arm around her shoulders as she helped him into the living room.

"Jesus Max. What the hell happened to you man?" Bryan asked first looking at Max with concern.

He looked over at him and said, "I'll explain guys. I just have to sit down."

Bryan scooted over and Chelsea sat him in between me and Bryan--err--Bryan and I. She sat back down on my lap and I put my arms around her waist when Max said, "There's something you guys need to know."

They looked at him and he said, "Well, I haven't been the most honest person with you guys when it comes to me. My dad, he...well, beat me. Bad. That's what's up with me and why I wasn't at school today. Mama Radke took me to the clinic/hospital type place and they said I got beat up pretty bad. Not that I didn't know that. I have a bruised stomach and some bruised ribs, but the doctor said I can still play the gig."

The rest of the guys sat there in shock when Bryan asked, "How long..."

"Has it been going on?" Max asked. Bryan nodded. "Since my mom died and my dad got full custody of me."

Just then Ali walked in. She didn’t talk at all or even sit down. She just leaned against the wall and wouldn’t even look at Max. He looked at her and she turned her head Mom took her in the kitchen and we heard them talk and Ali, well, she didn’t say much anything it seemed. They came back out of the kitchen and all Ali said was, "Imma go," and she opened the door.

Max managed to yell out to her, "Please stay for me," he tried to get up.

"I can’t. I cant handle this right now. Just call me later," she said,

Not even turning around I saw Max. He started to walk over to her and turned her to him.

"Please dont leave," you could hear the fear in his voice and he began to cry, "Please just stay with me," he hugged her. I could tell he was in pain but he wouldn’t let her go.

"Max I," she pulled away, "I," she couldn’t talk and she does stood there and threw her arms around him, "I am sorry I wasn’t there," and let go then ran off to the kitchen again. We didn’t see her for a while. Mom came out of the kitchen but Ali didn’t. Max got scared and I could tell. He was still crying and he got up and went up stairs. we all just sat there and we saw Ali run up there.

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I closed my door and locked it before going over to my stereo and putting in a random CD. I turned up the volume as loud as I could and laid on my bed as miserable as can be. I don't know how long I had been laying there when I got a text message. I grabbed my phone and opened it.

max? it's Chelsea, let me in. ur scaring me.

are you alone? I sent the reply and laid my phone next to me when I felt it vibrating, letting me know that I had another text.

yeah. just let me in. please. :’(

I closed my phone and turned down the stereo before I walked over to the door. I unlocked it and opened it to a sad-looking Chelsea. "Can I come in please?"

I nodded as I wiped my wet face. She walked in and I barely closed the door behind me as she walked over and sat on my bed. I sat next to her and asked, "You okay Chel?"

She shrugged and said, "I don't know. You practically ran up here and have been up here for about two and a half hours. Ali left after banging on your door for twenty minutes and we've been trying to get you to open your door. Mama Radke's even worried about you Max."

I looked down at my feet as she told me all this. Damn it. I hate it when I get like this. I looked up and said, "I'm sorry Chel. It's just...fuck...I have a lot of shit going on that I haven't gotten sorted out yet. I just really need to get my shit squared away. I have no more family to go to now. Mama Radke told me this morning that she might be able to adopt me. But that's for the court to decide. If they say no, foster care here I come. I don't want to go Chel. I don't want to be around people who don't know me. You know what I mean? I hate being around new people. Why I didn't like being around Ali I don't know. I just don't want to have to leave."

I looked back down on the ground again when I felt an arm around my shoulders. I looked to see Chelsea looking at me and acting like her motherly-self. "Max, I know you have a lot of shit going on in your life. I know I'll never understand most of it. I may just live with my mom and step-dad, but I'll never know the pain you're going through. The court will let Mama Radke adopt you. And if they don't, Allah damn it you're living with one of us!"

I looked at her and asked, "Allah damn it?"

"Achmed? Duh! I don't say the other one, so I say that one. It's funnier anyway,” she replied.
I smiled and she said, "There's that smile I'm used to. Now come on. The guys are still downstairs. They haven't left. They're just as worried as I am about you. And remember, you have six good friends you can talk you about your issues. We may not know what you're going through, but we can be here to let you get everything off of your chest."

I hugged her the best I could without causing too much pain and said, "Thanks Chelsea. I swear you should be a councilor or a shrink. You're good with people."

She shrugged and said, "I'll think about it. Now, let's go down stairs. Mama Radke made food and I'm hungry."

I chuckled before the two of us left my room and walked downstairs.