Outrun the Truth

Introduction

A/N: Intro time!

Ken and Teresa Baker's story started out pretty average. They met at college and fell in love, marrying a year later. Their first daughter, Josalyn, soon followed. After that they had more and more kids. Soon the house was filled with thirteen adorable kids.

One day they both went out for groceries and left Jo in charge of the kids. Ken was driving and about halfway there he saw an animal. A deer swiftly darted onto the road and Ken reacted by swerving to not hit it. Teresa screamed as the car swerved into a creek and crashed. Smoke filled up the car from the damage taken and the couple scrambled to get out. However on both sides the door was stuck shut. They began to bang on the door pleading for help but it was no use. Smoke slowly filled the car and asphyxiated them both.

An hour later their bodies were found by a passerby who called the police. An officer was sent to the house of the kids to tell them the news. Jo was the one to answer the door and hear it first. When the officer explained that the kids had to be removed from the house she stopped them. "I can take care of them. I've got a steady job and the older ones who can help. Let me handle this." The officer relented and Jo sat the kids down to tell them the news.

There were tears and mourning. The funeral was two days after. At first Jo kept her word. She had a good paying job and was keeping the family upright. But then the wheels started to fall off after about a week. She went off the rails and snuck out one night to a party. She got drunk and high and stumbled into the house at 2am. Casey was downstairs just getting something to drink when he saw her stagger in.

"Isn't it a school night? What are you doing out?" Casey asked as he took his sister by the arm. She wasn't in her right mind. Casey led her upstairs to bed and went to sleep himself. It was only a setback, he told himself. If only he were right.

The following week featured Jo partying a lot more. She blew off responsibilities and didn't really care what happened to the kids anymore. The rest of the older kids were dealing with grief in their own ways. Avery refused to get out of bed. He stayed in his room and only came out to eat and shower. Steve was more violent with his grief. He went out picking fights with kids in the neighborhood. Throwing his fist was a good way to blow off steam and keep all the nasty feelings away.

Casey buried their grief in their work. They got a job at a burger place after school to help pay for the bills. The rest of the kids were oblivious to their house falling apart. Casey realized after the second week of Jo being MIA that he had to step up as the main caretaker of the house. He dropped out of school to get a second job. Picked up the groceries, woke up the kids, cleaned the house, and made sure the kids were all fed.

Casey wasn't gonna let his siblings get taken away because his older siblings couldn't handle their grief. He could fix this. He could make this fine. He was going to. Because there wasn't anyone else to do it for him.

A/N: That was the intro! I know it's kind of boring but we'll get to the good stuff soon I promise!

My previous readers will recognize this :)

RANDOM QUESTION: What is your favorite ice cream flavor?

AUTHOR ANSWER: Mint Chocolate Chip