Game of Patience

Chapter 21

Chapter 21

A knock on the door woke her from her sleep. The door opened and Phillips peeked inside.

"Glad to see you're awake. I want you dressed and ready for breakfast in twenty minutes." He disappeared back around the door before appearing again. "And I mean dressed dressed. Maybe wear your school skirt, shirt and tie." He disappeared again.

She got out of bed. She ached badly. Her legs felt like she had been running all day and her back felt like she had slept against a large jagid rock. She got washed and dressed and made it downstairs with one minute to spare.

Phillips had prepared a full fry up for them both as well as a fresh cup of tea for Brooke. As always, Phillips had a cup of black coffee in his hands. She never saw him in the morning without it.

"Eat up. You'll need your strength."

"What am I doing today?"

"You'll see. Pack some notebooks and your pencil case."

"I'm still really sorry about yesterday."

"I know." He said as he sat down at the table. "Me too. I was angry and shouldn't have yelled so much. I'm just annoyed that you didn't even last a month. The school should have done more to stop you getting bullied, and you shouldn't have lashed out. But we can't change that now. We have to just move on, sort out what we are going to do next."

"Which is?"

"I'm still figuring that you. But we'll think of something."

"We?"

"Well, if you are going to school. Maybe if you help pick it, you'll give it more of a chance and maybe try harder to stay out of trouble."

"I won't let you down. Not again."

"You will, it's what kids do. But I will be here to help you clean up your mess."

"I don't want to be too much for you though."

"Are you worried I'll abandon you?"

The question shocked Brooke. She didn't know why, she knew she thought about it. That one day she would become too much trouble and he would return her to Aiza. Part of her hoped that he would, then maybe Roger would become her carer. But at the same time, she had grown to like Phillips and she knew that they would get one well if she gave him more of a chance. But she didn't want to be abandoned by him at the same time. She wanted him to fight for her, to protect her, to care for her.

She nodded and Phillips watched as her face dropped.

"I'm not going to abandon you. Kids are difficult, especially ones you don't know too well. We were placed into each other's lives for one reason or another. We are the ones who choose to make it work. I'm not expecting it to be easy. You're your own person, with your own thoughts and ideas. You are strong willed like your mum. I never thought this was going to be a walk in the park. I guess I wasn't prepared for how much harder it would be. You're hurting. I see that, I know that, and I want to help. We just need to find you some sense of normal, whether that's with school or not. So what do you say? Want to help me make this work?" He started to cut up some of his food on his plate.

"I want to make this work. I really do, I just don't know how to."

"Then let us figure this out together. Let's help each other to understand." He smiled as he ate a piece of egg. "But for now, eat before your food gets cold."

They finished eating and Brooke grabbed her stuff. She waited by the door for Phillips. He walked down the stairs in a pair of black jeans and a grey short-sleeved top. He grabbed his leather jacket from the coat hook and slipped on a pair of black shoes.