Knight In Shining Leather

Chapter Six

While Toni was laying down on the couch of her trailer, she recalled that night's events. Toni felt so much compation for this redhead, she couldn't help but see herself in Cheryl. Toni knew exactly what it was like to be in a broken family, feeling alone in the world and not be able to complain or show it to anyone, not be able to ask for help. Pherhaps that was why Toni suddendly, after only knowing Cheryl for so little, she instantly felt a connection between the two. Her gut told her she had to become friends with Cheryl, and protect her at all costs, since for so long Toni didn't have that.

She stared into the ceiling of the trailer. Her own past still hauting her.

*Flashback*

''Toni go get your dumbass brothers out of my room, they are making a fucking mess!'' Toni's mom yelled, almost running away from her own room into the kitchen, not that it made much of a difference since their house was incredibly small.

'' They are not my responsability! Out of five kids why do I have to be the one babysitting them?'' Toni replied, not taking her eyes of her text book. She could hear stuff breaking and children cries from her mother's bedroom. Toni was really trying to stay focused to do good in school but her younger brothers just wouldn't let her.

When her mom walked back to her room, assuming that Toni had done what she had told her to do, and saw all the make up smeared all over her carpet, the older woman absolutely lost it with Toni. She made her way to the living room where her only daughter was and dragged her by her hair to her room. Toni wanted to scream in pain but she knew it would only make it worse, so she just swalloed her tears.

''Antoinette Topaz you will do what I fucking tell you to do. Now clean this mess.'' And she did, all night, without stoping. Her mother didn't allow her to even eat until she was done. At only ten years old she was already thinking of running away, calling the police, making a plan to give her some form of freedom. She was alone in that hell hole. No one cared, no one asked, no one knew.

Her dad? Long gone. Her family? Broken, abusive. It did make her learn something. Maybe even traumatize her to something: to always put everyone around in first place, and to care for them at all costs. This was a curse, she was stuck to this feeling of submissiveness, inferiority and though it was displayed or seemed by others as kindness and trust, it made Toni obsessed.

Obsessed to protect, obsessed to make others happy and satisfy them, to do eveything she could if that meant she would also be okay.

*End of Flashback*

Toni's eyes fell, restless, reliving her past, wondering where the woman who gave birth to her and the four boys who were related to her were. Her memories lingered in her ears, as she could still hear the insults of that god awful woman. She didn't adress them as family, they were her blood and that was all. Her real family were the Serpents. 

Her brain started to lead her on a happier note, when she looked over the window and saw the Whyte Wyrm. She started to recall on the day FP Jones found her passed out next to a ''Welcome to the Southside'' sign.

*Flashback*

''Call doctor Jacob, tell him to be at the Wyrm as fast as possible, its an emergency!'' FP yelled, walking inside the bar own by the Serpents, with a young caramel-skinned girl on his arms, she laid there, barely breathing, her clothes looked old and dirty, her face was pacific but at the same time the bags under her eyes made her look like she hadn't had sleep in ages.

''Who the hell is that?'' Tall Boy asked, heading over to FP, helping him set the girl on the pool table.

''I found her on the street, next to our sign, she was passed out on the floor, nothing on her. No money, wallet or ID'' the head Serpent replied, turning around as soon as he heard the door opening,gladly to find the Serpent's doctor. ''Over here Doc, quick!''

The doctor ran towards them and started in IV into her arm. He proceeded to check the girl's heart, eyes and such, looking for any indication if the girl was dead or alive. 

''Is she allergic to anything?'' Jacob asked.

''I don't know, I have never seen her before.'' FP was pulling some chewing gum out of a small box. Something he used to control his nerves instead of cigarettes or alcohol. The doctor kept checking the girl, trying to the as best of a diagnosis as he could taking in account the conditions at the moment.

''She is barely breathing. From the look of her she must been starved for extremelly long. Notice how she has so many bruises. Her throat is swollen and her stomach is super hard, yet it twitches when you get close to it, which could indicate that she either has a really bad infection from pherhaps acids from the stomach or she has been fasting for so long that her body is at breaking point and its eating itself now.'' The doctor continued his lecture as he started to induce some medicine on the IV'.

''That's crazy. Our bodies are fucked up. So what do we do now?'' Tall Boy asked. ''Is she gonna be one of us?''

''Medical wise she will just have to rest and take all the good stuff to her blood stream until she is okay to eat food'' explained the doctor, taking out packages of the fluids that could feed the girl for a while.

''Lets wait until she wakes up and is safe from danger.'' FP claimed. ''She was alone and she is just a little girl, but she will still be the one to make that decision''

And from that day, it took Toni three more to wake up. The Serpents kept her is their custody, always searching for missing person warnings or anything of that kind, though nothing would come up. They had taken in a girl they knew nothing about.

When Toni did wake up, and she explained who she was and how she got to the southside, how her mother had kicked her out, without anything and she had been living off of food from the trash, FP felt like he had to take this girl in, show her how a real family was. She quickly learned the Serpents ways, their rules. And she also bonded with two boys, Sweetpea and Fangs, who were always getting in trouble she had to take them off of.

*End of Flashback*

She remembered how it all started and how it all continued. Toni was happy that she had found a family that didn't judge her or force her to do things she didn't want to. They all loved how protective of everyone she was, although it could be overwhelming at times. 

She was forever thankful to the Southside Serpents, and she'd always stand with them.