Neglectful Behavior

One

Vic's POV

The files were torn and yellowed. They looked like they hadn't been touched in years, which was the likely case. I could see the dust fly off of each page as I flipped through the folder. I came to the birth certificate.

Name...Carly Nicole Perry

Sex...Female

Birthday...June 7 1998

Mother...Danielle Victoria Perry

Father...Victor Vincent Fuentes

I flipped the page again. This was the page I was looking for; adoption files.

Adopted by...Mr. & Mrs. Thomas Grill

"What happened?" I asked the CPS agent. I was sitting on the couch rubbing my forehead. This was incredible.

"Excuse me?" The lady asked. I think her name was Linda.

"What happened with her adoptive parents? I mean, why was she taken out of the home?" The papers didn't explain it. They only said "neglectful behavior" and I wanted clarification on that. "What exactly did they do to her?" Linda sighed and walked over to me.

"Neglectful behavior."

"But what does that mean!?" I stood up, wanting an answer.

"I can't tell you anymore than that. If you want more information, it's up to Carly if she wants to tell you or not."

"But I'm her father! Don't I deserve to know?" She shrugged.

"I'm sorry, Sir, if Carly is willing to let you know, it's her choice." I dropped my head, sighing. "Do you want to take her?" I looked up.

"What?"

"Do you want custody over her? I mean although she's your daughter, you are not obligated to--" I shook my head.

"Of course I'll take her. I'm sorry, this is just a lot." I shut my eyes and felt Linda put a hand on my shoulder.

"I understand, I'll go wake her up." I nodded. It was around 7:00 when I got here and after Linda explained everything to me it was probably 7:45.

Linda turned and scurried off. I heard her go upstairs and talk to who I assumed was Carly. She came back down a few minutes later and met me back in the living room.

"She's coming, she was still asleep." I nodded.

"Well, she's a teenager, I would expect that she would be asleep at eight o'clock." Linda shrugged and we heard footsteps.

"Here she is. Carly, this is Victor Fuentes." Linda said. Carly stood at the doorway staring blankly at me.

"Hey, Carly." Carly turned back towards Linda

"Who is he?" Carly asked bluntly, almost as if I wasn't even in the room.

"Carly, he's your father." Carly looked unmoved and I was confused. I cleared my throat nervously.

"I, uh, I want to get custody over you, Carly, if that's okay." I didn't exactly know how to ask her if she wanted to come with me. She stared at me, completely expressionless and just blinked.

"Okay...?"

"So...yeah?" I asked, unsure of what she wanted me to say.

"Why are you saying it like it's a question? You're going to do whatever you want anyway; I don't care." I shifted on my feet, uncomfortable by her comment.

"Um...okay. So do you want to leave now?"

"I got nothing better to do today." Carly went up to pack and left Linda and I to stand awkwardly in the living room.

"Charming, isn't she?" Linda asked.

"Um...yeah, totally." I said. We stood there in silence for a moment when there was knock on the door. Linda opened it and Mike came in.

"Hey, where is she?" He asked.

"Right here." I spun around and Carly had brought a bag down. I grinned.

"Carly, this is my brother, Mike. Mike, Carly, my daughter." Mike smiled at her but she didn't really respond. "Uh, Mike, take Carly's bag out to the car? Carly, you can go with him if you want. Get to know each other, okay?" Mike nodded.

"Sure thing! Let's go Carls." Mike took her bag and her hand and led her outside.

"So just fill this out and sign here." Linda said, handing me a packet of papers. I wrote in all that I had to and signed at the bottom. That piece of paper is now worth something. I started to turn and go to the door. "Oh, and Vic?"

"Yeah?" I turned back to Linda.

"In the past few days, Carly's been kind of..."

"Hey Vic! Let's go!" Mike yelled out of the car. I waved to him and waited for Linda to continue, but she just shrugged and waved it off.

"Never mind, it's not important." I nodded and walked out. I got in the car and started it up. Mike had shotgun and Carly was in the back, staring out the window.

"So Carly," I started. "What kind of things do you like to do?" I asked, trying to fill the silence. Mike groaned beside me.

"Really Vic? What do you like to do? Carly, what was the most embarrassing moment of your life?"

"When I was little I said I hate dicks because I didn't know what it meant. It was embarrassing because no one knew I was talking about the store." Mike and I cracked up.

"I think we've all said that at some point." Mike said.

"Of course, you were strictly talking about the store, Mike." He shoved me.

"Shut up asshole!"

"Okay, how about the most...um..."

"Give us a funny moment!" Mike yelled.

"Okay, yeah, funny's good."

"When my parents found my hamster dead." I cringed.

"Why is that funny?" I asked. "That's just sad..."

"It was funny because I was the one who drowned him in the fishbowl." Mike and I didn't speak. We sat there thinking about what Carly had just said.

"You drowned your hamster...in the fishbowl...how old were you?"

"Oh, it was like a month ago."

"What!?" Mike asked.

"Carly why did you kill your hamster!?" I looked in the rear view mirror at her. She shrugged, clearly not regretting anything.

"I think he was depressed. He's not anymore." My jaw was half open but I tried not to seem too alarmed by the fact that my daughter was a hamster murderer.

"Um...o-okay then..." I stuttered.

"He deserved to die. He was a good hamster. It was his time."

"Uh-huh yeah, good hamster...got it..."

"Hey, you asked."

"Hey look at that! We're at the airport!" Mike shouted to change the subject. Oh, thank god.