Kitten In Converse

Kitten

"We don't want you in this house until after six." Kat looked at the foster parents with disbelief in her eyes and swallowed any spit that was accumulating in her throat. She slowly uncurled her legs from out underneath her and sat up straight. Her back was perfectly positioned for her posture and she clung to the glass in her hand. As soon as Kat fixed her posture, the mother put her hands protectively onto her stomach and the father watched her under judgmental eyes.

"What am I supposed to do until then?" Kat wondered. She didn't even understand why they were kicking her out until six. From what she knew, she didn't do anything to make them upset. She didn't talk back to them yet. She's wanted to on multiple occasions but her brother has mentioned that he liked this foster home to her many times. She figured since she was going to turn eighteen soon, that he might as well have a good family to take care of him when she left. In response to Kat's question, the father shrugged his shoulders and the mother seemed to ponder. Although the father was stricter on Kat, she preferred him to the mother. The mother treated her like she was twelve and it always irritated her.

"You could make friends and hang out with them." She smiled at Kat and gently took the glass of water from her hands. "You could take Jay to the park if you want."

"Is he banned from here until six too?" Kat knew that her brother got hungry very easily and she didn't have any money to spend on him for food. Kat watched the parents carefully as they both nodded their heads no. She breathed a sigh of relief and nodded her head. "Alright." Kat immediately went up the stairs to get her brother and left the parents alone for a couple of minutes.

"I think she's finally maturing," the mother responded. "When we first got her, she would throw a tantrum—"

"No." The father turned to his wife and then looked down at her stomach. "We are not adopting them. Especially not the girl. She'll be eighteen soon and we have to get rid of her for our baby girl." The mother seemed to dislike the idea but instead of arguing, she put her hands on her stomach to see if there was any movement in her stomach yet. The father took the glass of water from the mother's hands and went to the kitchen. He dumped the ice cubes in the sink and lightly washed the glass before putting it in the strainer. He turned around to see his wife standing at a safe distance from him. He nodded his head at her and thought for a moment. "I don't see why we had to get both of them." She shrugged her shoulders and walked towards her husband to engulf her body into his strong arms.

"I would never want to separate a sister and a brother." She looked up at him and smiled softly. They remained quiet for a moment and she pressed her ear against his chest. It was calming her to listen to his heart, but she pulled away when she heard footsteps coming down the stairs. They looked towards the doorway and saw Kat leaving the room by herself. "Where's Jay?"

"He's doing homework." Kat looked at them and nodded her head. She kept doing it for a little longer than necessary, but eventually walked out the door. As soon as the hot air hit her face, she plugged her earphones in and listened as she heard Cher Lloyd's Sirens. She didn't skip it like she normally would and listened carefully to the lyrics.

She walked slowly to the park and looked around. A lot of people were here today despite how hot it was outside. Almost all of the park benches were taken by parents watching their children carefully, so Kat had to scope the area to find a bench that wasn't taken. When she sat down in an unoccupied bench, she immediately knew why nobody was sitting there. There was an overfilling garbage can near it and the stench was stronger than cutting open an onion.

She threw her head back and found herself thinking of the meaning behind the lyrics. She never actually listened very carefully to any of her songs but now that she was dissecting them, she realized how each song seemed to tell a story. It may not even be something that was done on purpose, but Kat felt like each of the songs somehow told part of their lives or if they didn't write it, it could tell someone else's story and then relate to other people's. Kat knew that a lot of her songs on her music device told a story that she could somehow relate to.