Forgotten

Chapter Six

My heart raced as the day went on. My excitement never died, but the silence never broke. Eventually, I looked over at Eli. Even after a couple of hours I could tell he was still unsettled after talking about his sister. He looked crushed, I couldn't imagine what he looked like when she died. He probably had nothing, no one.

"Remember what I said about the staring," Eli spoke suddenly startling me, "It's creepy." I stifled a laugh, knowing that right now he needed someone to comfort. If only I knew how.

"Eli," I tried to find the words to make him feel better, "Your sister, I'm sure she was amazing and beautiful. I only wish I could have met her." The corner of Eli's mouth twitched and his face seemed to relax slightly.

"She had boys fighting over her," Eli laughed lightly, "Of course she didn't know because I told any guy off that came close to her. None of them were good enough for such a sweet angel. She made everyone happy, including me. I only wish I had been a better brother. Perhaps then she'd be alive." Pulling the car into a parking spot I realised how late it was. "We're going to stay here tonight." Eli got out of the car to go inside the motel, but I raced to his side.

"Don't doubt yourself." I tried to speak but tears slurred my words, "I'm not sure what you did to your sister then, but you don't need to carry that guilt. I hardly know you and yet you've helped me from the start." I gave him a hug and for a second I thought I heard him quietly sob, but before long he pulled away.

"T-thank you," He spoke without turning to face me and walked into the motel after that. In that moment I wondered, what other burdens is he carrying?

By the time we entered our motel room, all signs of our emotional conversation was gone. Eli was back to being Eli and I tried to be me.

"You know," Eli spoke quietly, "You're pretty cute."

"What?" Something about that statement clicked in my head and suddenly I was seeing the past, my past.

"You're pretty cute," A boy was talking to me. He couldn't have been more than eleven

"I'm what?" My own voice was slightly squeakier as I looked up at this boy, "What, who are you?" The young boy laughed and smiled at me.

"I'm Jay!" He said happily, "My momma is gonna adopt you and you're gonna be my new sister!" He spoke fast and seemed really excited to have me as a sister.

"But I... I have a family," My little voice said curiously.

"Well they don't take good care of you." A woman stood behind me, "I mean look at yourself sweetie." I looked down and saw my little body covered in cuts and scrapes.

"Momma!" Jay shouted running up to the woman. She gave him a hug and beckoned me to join. When I did I felt safe, warm, and happy. This memory made it clear who these people were. They were my family.

"Princess, Princess!" Eli was in front of my face with his hands on my shoulders, "You stopped responding there for awhile. Stop scaring me like this." Eli look visibly relieved as he took a step back from me.

"I'm sorry. It's just... What you said.." I tried to speak, but I kept thinking about my family. Where are they now?

"I'm sorry if I offended you," Eli said quickly, "I just thought that when you were staring out the window you looked really cute. You were filled with this childhood innocence and I thought it looked adorable." Eli blushed a bit and looked away. "Just forget I said anything."

"You didn't offend me," I looked up at him, "I remembered something. I remembered my family. Or I think that's what they were. I was adopted. I had a brother named Jay who really loved me, and a mom that wanted to take care of me." Even if I didn't know anything about them, I felt happy knowing that I had someone.

"Really?" Eli looked genuinely excited for this improvement. Probably because he could get rid of me sooner. "That's amazing!"

"Yeah," I wanted to be happy, but the excitement blew over quickly when reality hit.

"Tamara!" Someone was outside of our motel room, and by the sound of their voice I could tell they wanted in.