Shattered

Chapter 3

"Hey, Riley, tell me what's going on."
"You won't get it...just just leave it" I told her wiping my tear streaked face.
"Go on try me." She replied with a confident and daring look in her eyes.
And so I began...

"My parents had an arranged marriage, and they had me a couple of months after their engagement and then my brother the next year. That was after their marriage.  My brother's name was Cody, he had a mental illness when he was 5 - dimensia-" I paused anticipating that 'ew' face. She didn't do that though. She smiled and nodded, telling me to carry on.
I took a deep breath and replaced my hands on my lap, shifting around for a while.
"They used to always fight and my dad abused my mum. My mum would hit him or threaten him. She was never in a good mood. I had been adopted twice before going back to my parent's care." Again, I awaited her fake empathetic face. Still nothing. She looked on.
"When I was back home one day after school I heard mum screaming. She was shouting at Cody, who didn't understand what was going on and Mum just kept getting more and more frustrated at him before slapping him. He cried and I ran over and put my self informs of him and my mum broke down completely. I asked her what was wrong and she threw some damp papers at me. I gave her a confused look..." I went into a flash back...
"What-what are these?" I asked between sobs.
She shook her head vigorously. My concern turned to anger.
"What. Are. These" I asked again, more forcefully and fiercely.  She motioned towards the papers and I glanced at them. Some more papers were strewn around the room...
It read: this certifies the divorce of Caroline Fanero and Kristian Jones. Followed by their signatures.
"Wh-what." I stumbled back wards. My mum nodded, tears flushing down her face. I dropped the papers and called my dad. : number unreachable.  I tried his work phone. It made that sound when it's about to be picked up.  "He-" this wasn't my dad's voice. What? "Hello? Who - who is this" I sniffed.
"This is Officer Richard speaking. May I ask who this might be?"
" Riley, Kristian Jones' daughter" I told him.
"Ah." He took a deep breath before carrying on.
" I am sad to break this news to you, but - "
"But what!" I interrupted him.
"Your father has been jailed for numerous filed crimes involving drug overdoses and domestic abuse."
I gasped at this information. I knew he did those things but- who would ...
I took in a sharp breath and I dropped the phone onto the floor.
"Riley? Riley are you alright?" She looked at me concern evident in her large anime like eyes.
"Yeah yeah..." I said once again wiping away my tears that left marks on my cheeks.
"My uh brother than was admitted into hospital after a few weeks and we found out he had cancer type 2. We did everything we could with the money we had left, I even started doing a bit of work at a local hair salon to get some extra cash. The funds left by my dad were long gone, used on alcohol when my mum was in depression. Then we lost him." I hoarsely said, looking away. She put an arm around my shoulder and I looked at her and shifted away.
"I probably Uhm shouldn't be burdening you with my messed up emotions and life..." I began.
"No Riley. It's not a burden. I'm here for you. It's what friends do" she told me, making me turn towards her. I finally had a friend. Wow