Safe Haven

Chapter 11: Group Therapy

After we all finished eating, we went back into the living room and collapsed onto the couches. The little girl from before sat beside me again. We all sat there for a few minutes before saying anything. "So, lets give a short introduction to our newest additions! How about we tell them your name, why your here, and something interesting about yourself." Kevin said trying to kick things off. "Anybody?" He added trying to get someone to start. "Okay then, lets start with Ollie. After her well just go counter- clockwise. So Haven and Reece go last. Go ahead, Ollie." He said with a more stern tone. "Okay then, well I'm Ollie, I was in juvie before I got here. I got out on probation because of my good behavior. I get to go home soon." She said flippantly. Everyone looked at the girl beside her. "I'm Layla, I'm here because of drugs. They let me out of juvie early too. But I'm not going home anytime soon." She said glaring at Ollie. "Layla, that's uncalled for." Kevin scorned. "But thank you for sharing." He said with a tad more positivity. "Hi, I'm Emma. I've been here longer than anyone else here, but I don't mind. I feel pretty safe here. I'm supposed to be going home in two weeks, so I'm kinda nervous about that. I'm nervous rambling so shut me up any time now." She said making us chuckle. She seemed to be more pleasant than the other two. I liked that. "It's okay, Emma. We're glad to have you here." Kevin said reassuring her. "I'm Savannah, I got out here after my grandmother died. Parents have been MIA since birth so it looks like my ass is stuck here for a while." She said. "Savannah, thank you for sharing, but just watch your language next time. Not appropriate for our group discussion." Kevin added.

I knew it was my turn to talk but I really didn't feel like saying anything so I sat quietly. "Okay, I'll go next. I'm Reece, and this is my sister Haven. We were taken away from our father after our brother passed away-".  "Killed. After he was killed, Reece." I interrupted. "Okay, after our brother was killed a few days ago. Hav and I both played volleyball, so I guess that can be the one thing about us." Reece said ending her turn. "Nice, Reece. I liked how you brought up playing volleyball." Kevin responded. "Haven, do you want to take your turn?" He asked politely. "No thank you. Not tonight." I said quietly.

"Okay, good job guys. You three may go up to your rooms now." Kevin said to Ollie, Layla, and Savannah. "Emma, would you like to show the girls your room?" He asked. "Of coarse I will." Emma answered giddily. "You guys can grab your bags and follow me." She told us. We did as she said and grabbed our bags. Due to my annoying cast I dropped my gift bag. The little girl who had been sitting beside me picked it up and carried it for me. The three of us followed Emma up the stairs silently. She lead us upstairs to this room with two sets of bunk beds. "Your bunks are over there." Emma said pointing to the beds on the right side of the room. "Okay thank you." Reece said sounding overly happy. I wanted to smack her. The little girl who had my bag followed me over to my bed. She laid the bag on my bed and started to walk away slowly. Her face looked so sad, it was killing me to look at. "Hey, um.. would you like to help me set up my bed?" I asked her trying to find a reason for her to stay. Her face lit up and she nodded her head.

She helped me put the blanket Bernadette had shoved in my bag on the bed. Other than that there wasn't much to do since there were already clean sheets on the bed. After we finished that I plopped down on my bed. "You can sit down with me if you want." I told her and she ran over to her bed. I figured she just didn't want to sit on the bed so I decided to check my messages. Reaching in my bag with my good hand I scrounged around for my phone. I finally found it buried in the bottom under all my clothes. When I looked back up the little girl was at the end of my bed with two Barbie dolls, hair brushes, and a small sandwich bag filled with doll clothes. She still had a big smile. My phone didn't seem important to me at all right then. I just wanted to keep that little girl smiling.

"Oh here." I said moving over to let her climb onto the bed. She handed me a doll and a brush. Then she dumped out the clothes onto the bed. We sat silently brushing the dolls hair and putting different outfits on them. After a few minutes I ran out of ideas to do with the clothing so I focused on the hair. I put it in every braid I could think of and brushed the dolls hair until there wasn't a knot in sight. Then the little girl leaned forward and pointed to my cast. "Oh, yeah I fell down." I said trying to blow it off. But she gave me a face that said she wasn't buying that. "Okay. My dad hit me with a baseball bat." I said being honest that time. She looked down and nodded her head.

We continued playing with the dolls for a few more minutes before she hopped down and ran over to her bed. She reached under neath her pillow and grabbed something. Then she ran back and got climbed up on my bed where she was. She held out something for me. I looked at it and it was a small picture of two dark haired identical twins that were my age and a baby. "Is that you?" I asked pointing to the baby. She nodded her head and looked down. "And those girls are your sisters?" I asked. She nodded again. I wanted to ask more questions but I didn't want to pressure her to talk. "Can I ask what your name is?" I asked not expecting an answer. She sat silently. For a second I thought she didn't hear me. "Gracie." She said so softly I barely heard it. "That's a very pretty name. What are your sisters names?" I asked. She sat silently again before answering. "Elenor and Rachel." She whispered. I didn't want to ask anything else to avoid saying something wrong and make her not want to talk. "Those are very pretty names too. I'm going to go change into my pajamas I'll be right back." I said. She smiled and nodded.

I stood up and looked at Reece to see her laying down facing the wall with earbuds in. My plan was to talk to her for a second but I couldn't tell if she was sleeping. So I just grabbed a pair of pajamas, tooth brush, and tooth paste out of the duffel. While standing there I realized that I had no idea where the bathroom was. I walked over to Emma who was on the top of her reading something out of a text book. "Hey. Sorry to interrupt you, but I don't know where the bathroom is. Do you mind telling me?" I asked trying to sound as upbeat and happy as Reece was. "Here let me show you, I'm horrible at explaining things." She responded as she hopped off the bunk and led me out the door. We got into the hallway and the bathroom was through the door right next to our room. "I know you probably think I'm an idiot, but I did that for a reason. Was Gracie actually talking to you in there?" She asked sounding very surprised. "Oh, well yeah. She just told me her name, and told me her sisters names. Wasn't anything special." I said trying to blow it off. "Here you gotta come with me." Emma told me as she speed walked down the hallway.

I followed her until we got to a door. She knocked and Chelsea opened it up. "Is there a problem ladies?" She asked with a confused look on her face. "No but Haven has something to tell you." Emma said looking at me. "Oh?" Kevin said peaking around the corner to join the conversation. "I umm.. Gracie said a few things to me." I said softly not enjoying all the attention I was getting. "She.. she talked to you?" Chelsea asked. She and Heather looked both happy and surprised all at once. "Yeah, she just told me her name and her sisters names." I answered. "She told you about her sisters?" Kevin asked looking absolutely dumbfounded. "Haven that's incredible. She has been mute since she got here two years ago. Gracie was four when she got separated from her sisters. She hasn't been willing to talk to us about them." Chelsea said. "Well thank you for coming and telling us. You two should be getting to bed soon though, it's a school night." Kevin said. "Okay, goodnight." Emma said as she turned and walked away.