Our social worker explained that she was driving us an hour and half to a pre-agreed upon location where or brothers' driver would pick us up and driving the rest of the way to our new "home". Evidently our father was rich the social worker said something about him having his own company which was still steady with the hard work of our two older brothers.
The home situation was already examined by a social worker in that region he would be taking over our files from her. Drew dozed on my shoulder while Artie stared out the window at the passing scenery, there wasn't much to see but the twins hadn't been outside much while we were in the "care" of our guardians. Although she didn't give us a ton of information I still appreciated her effort to prepare us. The drive passed quickly for me my mind still trying to deal with all the new variables.
Soon we pulled into a rest stop off the side of the highway. A nice looking completely black car with tinted back windows the only other car present on an late Wednesday afternoon. Our social worker dismounted our vehicle before knocking on the black car's driver window. No way was I getting out before I had to our had a better handle of the danger level present. I ran my fingers through the lightly sleeping twins' chestnut hair trying to gently wake them up. I assumed that we would be switching vehicles soon after the social worker finished talking to the man in the black car who I assume was our older brothers' driver. Artie and Drew started to stir 'what's going on, Del?' they both signed at the same time I quickly signed back my response 'we are at the drop off point we should switch cars soon' noticing them squirming around in there sits and glancing at the restrooms I tacked on 'we should use the bathroom before we continue the trip so we don't have to stop as often.' the boys always tried to keep most of their problems to themselves trying to ease my burdens. Jokes on them-I have taken care of them since they were babies- as long as I concentrated their wasn't anything they could hide from me.
The social worker came back to the car cheerfully telling us that this was the "end of the line" for her. After a brief bathroom break we were once again in the back of another car heading towards our destination. My brothers seemed energetic after being woken up. A corner of my mouth tugged upwards at there curious examination of a "rich persons car". I kept my eyes on the driver, watching for a sign of annoyance so I could reign Artie and Drew in before we got in trouble. Luckily there was no negative reaction that I could detect; I allowed the boys their freedom only warning them a couple of times to be careful.
The driver was curious about us and asked some questions Artie politely responded on our behalf. Fueled by the brief answers and the lack of response from two-thirds of his new "employers" his eyes burned with even more curiosity. But he kept the rest of his questions to himself. I was relieved I really didn't want to have to explain that I have been mute since the age of eight and the silence of sign language made it the safest option in a precarious position in our home were one wrong movement could end in me not moving for weeks, this of course stunted all of our wish to talk verbally.
After a 3 hour drive we finally pulled into our new neighborhood. Our brothers were rich alright the shock and awe had somewhat faded by the time we winded up the driveway to the "manor" as our driver called it. The towers at the edges and the cobblestones befitted the word castle more. It's a beautiful house. And I felt something twinge in the bottom of my heart. Maybe hope?
Yes, hope. Hope that this would be our new home. Not our house, but our home. Full of safety, warmth, trust, respect, and laughter. I almost laughed. Home was something that I wasn't capable of having. Maybe my brothers the adorable troublemakers they were.
But not me. And with those thoughts I walked towards my new place of residence.
YOU ARE READING
I Am Here (UNEDITED)
General Fiction*Completed, but unedited* Delia, a 13-year-old girl lives with her abusive parents and her eight-year-old twin brothers. She shields them from the cruelties of their parents as much as she can. The twins try to provide her with support but they are...
