The Worst of Times

Chapter 8

"How are Emma, your mom, the twins, and step dad?" I asked after a moment of silence. Samantha had gotten into the shower and promised we'd all do something together when she got out and sobered up.

"Dunno. Haven't talked to them in..." Chester trailed off, clearly having no idea even when the last time was. "Almost a year now, I think."

"That long?" I gasped and he nodded his head. "Samantha, you, and I will pay them a visit than."

"But... I don't... I don't really want to." He shrugged, his voice becoming small.

"Why not?"

"The only part of the whole Mark thing that I clearly remember was when he took me to their house. I don't want to go there again." He said, his voice filled with hurt.

"Chazzy, it'll be fine. We can go out to eat somewhere with them." I soothed him and he slowly nodded his head. "Want me to call?"

"Please," He looked up, almost desperately. I took his phone and decided Emma would be less awkward to call.

"Hello? Chester?" She picked up quickly, only after the first ring.

"It's Mike-"

"Nothing's happened to Chester, right?!" She asked in a rush. Her concern for him baffled me. Of course she cared about him but she's instantly jumping to the worst case scenario.

"No, no, he's fine. Samantha, him, and I would like for you guys to all eat with us at that restaurant on masquerade road, you know, the one we went to last time." I explained.

"Okay except it'll only be mom and I, Frank took the twins out." She said quickly, which began to feel strange. It felt like she didn't want to talk about her foster father.

"Okay, sounds good. Ches will shoot you a text when we're ready to leave but you guys might want to start now-ish." I said, remembering they lived forty-five minutes away.

"Okay, sounds good. I'll see you there." She concluded and we both hung up. I looked at Chester.

"It's all set-up." I said and he nodded his head shortly. "It'll only be your mom and Emma."

"Okay." He said. I thought it was weird that he didn't ask why. Samantha came into the room, ready.

"What's the plans, boys?" She asked and sat down.

"We're going to eat with Emma and Amy." I explained and she simply nodded but looked nervously at Chester.

"Are you okay, Chester?" She asked softly and he just shrugged. I was so worried about his mental health. Who knew all the struggles he went through with John?

"Well other than the fact that everyone seems to want to fuck me, I'm great." He rolled his eyes sarcastically. "Back in Arizona, no one would touch me unless it was to physically harm me."

"Hey, don't talk like that." I said instantly and sat down next to him.

"It's true! If I had a fucking dollar for every time someone's fucked me when I said no!"

"What do you mean, honey?" Samantha immediately pinched in at the sound of that. "It was just Mark."

"Yeah him, my dad, and John-"

"Your dad?!" She yelled, suddenly rising. He hesitated before slowly nodded his head. "That's impossible."

"No, it was a long time ago though." Chester disagreed. "He used to get drunk a lot when him and my mom were arguing. He'd home home and... Do things."

"Chaz..." She trailed off, clearly speechless.

"Let's forget it though, okay? I pushed it away for years, it's better that way."

"And... John?"

"I'd rather not talk about him either." He said softly and awkward silence followed.

"Let's go, send Emma a quick text saying we're leaving." I directed, breaking the silence.

"Okay." Chester replied and headed first to the car. I grabbed Samantha's arm, making her stay.

"Did you know about his dad?" She asked in a quiet voice and I nodded. "What about John?"

"I always suspected." I shrugged and she looked down to the ground. "I'm worried about him."

"I am too." Samantha sighed. "I should've been better to him."

"I think you should've been too."

"Hey, you left him." She gave me a glare and I echoed her sigh.

"I know, it's easy to blame others though." I admitted and she nodded. "He said he had pot and cocaine while with John. Look out for cravings."

"Okay, thanks, Mike." She offered a smile which I returned. "He'll be okay."

"Yeah, we just have to help him be okay."

"Yes..." She trailed off before frowning. "I can't believe I didn't know about his dad."

"Me either. He buried it really well."

"Too well." She agreed and we were silent for a moment.

"Think he'll be okay with Emma and Amy?"

"We'll have to find out. Let's go." She sighed and led the way.

Authors Note-

IM SO SORRY THE CHAPTER IS SO SHORT AND I COULDN'T UPDATE SOONER. I fear I'm beginning to suffer from a not so lovely thing called writers block. Hopefully I'll be able to push through it and update normally but don't be surprised if I miss a day. I apologize for that annoying inconvenience. Urgh!

Thanks for reading! I'll get another chapter out ASAP!