Reclaim

Connections

                                             Javier
                             Illinois
                12/24/26
We've been traveling with the truck guy "Gareth" ever since the incident. My auntie was left with a baby and a lot of questions, and it hurt knowing they were gonna stay unanswered, at least for a while since we ditched June's phone a while back to keep us from getting tracked.

Turns out Gareth is a Quaker, someone who helps Instigates and Reclaims escape to Texas, the only Instigate allowing state in America. Right now, he was transporting two girls, sisters.

Their mom couldn't pay the private school fee anymore. Apparently, it was the last thing she could pay for before Instigation set in. They seemed to be holding up pretty well, though.

We got the rules down. Five knocks means hide, ten means run, and three means pit stop. Whenever we get to a pit stop he waits to park his truck in a Rental pit stop, a place dotted across highways where you can pay to park your truck and take a rest, to keep truckers who drive late at night from crashing and dying.

We were a while away from Dallas, so it gave us a lot of time to talk, which meant a lot of time hearing the tragic stories of others.

The sister's story was awful, mainly because they were kids, and I hated the idea of seeing kids in a damn labor camp. Kids should live out their childhood enjoying it, not working the rest of their life. Hearing about what happened to them made me realize something.

"You know... Aslan, I still don't really know your story."
He stayed silent.

"Come on, we've been traveling together for days."

"...well, I still don't know your story, at least not your real one."

"I didn't know if I could trust you then.
I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours."

"Fine."

Everyone shifted, turning their attention to Aslan. Even though we couldn't see him in the dark, we might as well be comfortable listening.

"My mom and dad never noticed or really paid much attention to me. We were always moving a lot, and they just dragged me with them. We moved countries, states, cities, and a lot of schools. I could never really stay interested in one thing before i was taken away from it. So I stayed quiet and kept to myself. I wouldn't do my work because I knew that whether I failed or passed, I'd move schools before it mattered."

Another childhood wrecker, and society wonders why the kids of today are so messed up.

"Even my mom paid attention to us and made us top priority. She was struggling with bills, jobs, and relationships, and she was a single mom, too. Yet after everything, she made things turn out alright. The only reason I was in here was because I cared about her so much."

"I wish I could be in here for a reason like that. My mom probably won't even care that I'm in here."

My mom was anything but prepared to have my family, but even then, she did everything for us, which is why I hate seeing people's mom's treat them like garbage.

"The only thing I could really focus on that didn't leave me was my body, I started working out to have something to be proud of, but now it just makes me mad. I got into a fight over someone, and I hurt them pretty badly. So I got put in Juvie and never even got a trial."

It made two of us. The prison system was always bad, but it just got worse after the whole Instigate thing kicked in. I once knew a guy whose dad went to jail for three years without trial, all for a crime he didn't commit. I still think about him from time to time, just thinking about how he lost it all to something he didn't do.

Aslan continued on, talking a little more about what happened. He seemed really impulsive and short tempered. Maybe he could get a grip on it for a while, but he could do some stupid things and do some stupid damage.

Once he finished, the truck went silent, besides the humming of the truck and the feeling of wheels driving on concrete. I finally remembered why it was so silent. It was my turn.

Everyone's attention was now locked on me. It was time to tell my story to strangers I'd either hold close or push away at some point.

"My mom never planned to have me, but when she did, she didn't have a problem with it. She worked hard, took charge, and was the best mother I could ever ask for. Even after my dad left to go to war. My mom wanted another kid, so she got what she asked for, then she got another, and another. Soon enough, we had five kids, including me under one roof. Perfect time for my dad to catch the parasite.

Only a couple of years ago did I find out he got reclaimed... but mom kept pushing through everything. She tried to get help by getting a man, but most of them bailed as soon as they saw her litter of kids. Only one man stayed, one man that should have been in the prison cell I was in. He controlled my mom, manipulated her, screwed with her, and I warned her about it, but she didn't listen.

Then came the day he put his hands on her. I... protected my mom. He called the police, got me put in that box...and now I'm here."

Silence...

June was next and last. I told her she didn't have to, but she thought it was only fair. Everyone looked over at her. At least we all probably did. The darkness didn't do much for us.

"My mom wanted a Christmas kid, and I wasn't one, but she loved me either way. I never knew where my dad went, but my mom got a new boyfriend, and considering the fact I saw him often, I assumed he'd stay for a while. Well, a while turned into a few years, then they got married in March, and as a gift, he would give her what she wanted for so long, a Christmas kid. Nine months passed, and the baby was born... But my mom didn't come out of the delivery room.

My step dad took care of me and the baby, even though he had never taken care of one before, he tried... then he got wrapped up in work... I always blamed him for not being here when I needed him to be. I missed school for Holly, I loved Holly... I guess I loved him, too. He tried, but I always pushed it aside, and no matter how much of a brat I was to him, he always held in for me... now Holly's gone... and he's gone, too."

I tried to comfort her. It was horrible losing family. It was something I couldn't even think to deal with on my own.
It made me miss my family so much more.

We all had tragic lives. We all have demons we wanna run from, but if that was the worst of it, at the very least, we had each other. We were one big, very heavily dysfunctional family.

"You're not gonna hug me to make me feel better, are you?"

"Nah, I just wanted a better look at those gnarly tears of yours."

She punched me in the arm and told me to shut up, but thankfully, my backup came in.

"To be honest, those tears are lookin' mad wet."

"Shut up."
She said, trying to suppress a laugh.

"What? Are we not rad enough for you?"

"Why are you even talking like that?"

"Cus it's totally tubular."

Our sickly idea of making someone feel better was so contaigous even the sisters joined in.

"Yeah, brah, it's sick."

"I hate you guys."

I hated to admit it, but I was starting to feel attached to my new little family. Even if Aslan's true personality was a fixer upper, and if June needed a little help having a normal rest of her life, and if we barely knew these two kids, and they were probably mini serial killers. I still thought, maybe we'd be a happy mismatched family.