Little Angel

9

Sam

I woke up to Charlie scrambling around the room, his hair sticking up like a pineapple, I love chopped up pineapples, in squares only though, like pizza, squared pizza was the best type of pizza. Charlie however hated it and called me a weirdo for having square pizza, it just tasted better. 

He was making sure that we had packed everything, the phone chargers, the hair dryer even though I hated the sound of them but Charlie says I will get ill if I go to bed with wet hair. He seemed very stressed out as he started to pace, looking out of the window every now and again to check if they had come yet.

Seven older brothers is going to be hard to handle that's for sure. I mean I had Charlie wrapped around my finger but he is the only person I actually trust, from Charlie's reaction to them, it's clear he doesn't like them therefore I don't like them either, last time one of them picked me up and I've never seen Charlie so angry in my entire life. I thought he was going to kill that guy to be honest.

I need to plan out my plan for the next 7 months or so when Charlie and me can leave to Canada or something to the mountains, where no one else is around, just us. The truth is, I don't want anymore family, I like it being the two of us. 

Charlie saw that I was awake and his face turned into a big smile.

"Morning sweetie, you sleep well?", He asked me, as he continued to pull the bags into the hallway ready to go. I just nodded at him as I hugged Arktos, rubbing my eyes to get the sleep out of them as he grabbed a hairbrush and gave it to me.

"Right, I put your clothes in the bathroom as well as your toothbrush, go on poppet, get ready for me, it's going to be a really long day", He said with a small smile, though I could tell he was nervous because he kept wiping his hands down his trousers. He had his favourite jumper on as well, and his best trainers. 

I just nodded and ran to the bathroom, making sure that when he wasn't looking, I stuffed my picture down my top. He had given me my nice clothes, my best jeans and a t-shirt with a Rubik's cube on it, a plain black jumper next to it, one of the few with no holes stitched on it. 

I quickly put them on and brushed my hair 100 times and grabbed two bobbles so Charlie can put them into Dutch braids with some lilac ribbons tied to the end, it's how I have always liked my hair since it was long enough to be put into braids, so Charlie can do it with his eyes shut at this point. 

I could hear Charlie pacing from here, he was practically stomping at this point. I was about to head upstairs when I heard the foster dad snoring from his room, his door wide open as the smell of booze entered my nose, causing it to flare up. 

He stopped snoring which made me race up the stairs and straight to Charlie, making sure to bring my stuff with me because I didn't want to go back down there. Charlie looked in me in surprise when I came stamping up the stairs.

"Everything alright?", He asked me as I just nodded my head. I sighed in relief as Charlie gave me a look up and down, giving me a smile. He held his hand out and I passed him the hairbrush and the bobbles and ribbons to do my hair.

"Sit down then and I'll explain a few things to you, as I know your are bursting to ask", He said with a smile, moving the chair to the centre of the room as I sat down. He started to brush my hair, staying quiet for a moment.

"I was about 7 when mother decided to leave our father, he wasn't the nicest man", He said, obviously angry. I just stayed quiet waiting for him to move on.

"Before then, our brothers weren't very nice-", He started to say before I cut in.

"So they were assholes?", I replied quickly. He just kept braiding my hair in silence.

"Language Sam. But yeah they were. The biggest ones. I was always the least favourite, especially to father, our brothers look like him and I look like mum, and he hated that. I was the complete opposite of our brothers, more feminine than he liked. My brothers saw that and used it to their advantage. They would lock me out until mum came home, which would be hours at a time. Adam, our eldest brother, was 13, so he knew it was wrong but he still did it", He continued, obviously getting upset. 

"I want you to stay away from Adam, he's not stable. I don't want you near any of his friends either, they aren't nice people.", He replied, accidently tugging on my hair slightly. I'm rather interested in meeting Adam now to be honest, he sounds interesting. 

"I know what your thinking Sam and don't even think about it. I don't know what he will be like to his little sister but I know what he's like with his brothers, and I don't want to scare you but I'm scared Sam, scared he will hurt you sweetie, just like foster dad", He quickly said, braiding my hair more quickly as he spoke. 

"Okay Charlie, I will try and stay away when your at school.", I said with a smile, though my heart was starting to beat faster. Although this was a decade ago, he could of changed by then? I have to give him a chance, I can't base my opinions from someone else. I will make my own conclusion on them, I won't get a lot of time with them anyway as I will be at school myself.

"Okay good. Leo and Raymond are the ones that aren't as bad, they are smart like you.", He said, his voice sounding slightly warmer. 

"Though, Leo follows anything Adam says, like a little puppy, and he never ever goes against him", He continued speaking, pulling my hair as he did but I just kept quiet, letting him rant.

"But Raymond is more like you, he plays the piano", He said, making me very interested. "He wants to be a doctor you know, and he was the one who would normally let me back inside when the others would lock me out. But still be careful", He kept going, starting the next braid as I just stayed silent. I liked the sound of Raymond, but it doesn't mean I trust him.

"Now Aiden, Max and Chris, they are insane and I don't want you anywhere near them to be honest, Max was the one who picked you up at the museum and Aiden was the one near me, whereas Chris was the one who watched", He said quickly as I nodded along.

"They are the worst of them, not as bad as Adam, but very close, I don't want you guys to interact at all, if they offer you something or want to play with you, say no and come find me, it's alright to walk away if your not comfortable", He was now finished with my braids and came around to look me in the eyes.

He looked scared, like really scared. 

"Okay Charlie, I promise I'll stay away", I replied as he tied the ribbons to the end of my braids. He smiled at me but I could till he was terrified. I gave him a smile back as he patted my head. 

"Alright chipmunk, get your stuff ready", He said with a grin, getting up and going on his phone. A few hours later and everything was ready by the front door. I was sat on the stairs waiting, when I saw a black Land Rover pull up, a man getting out the front. 

"Who is that Charlie?", I asked him, as he got up and peeked outside the window. 

"It's their driver, common lets get the stuff in the car", He said as I just nodded and grabbed my backpack as Charlie opened the door, tucking Arktos under my arm. As he was putting stuff in the boot I stayed inside, watching them as he welcomed the driver and the guy put things in the boot. 

It took about half an hour before everything was in the car and ready to go. Charlie told me to get in the car as he went to make sure we didn't forget anything. As I got in the car, I nearly fell because of how tall it was, I had to jump into the side and climb inside. 

I looked rather pathetic. 

As I sat waiting for Charlie, I noticed the foster dad in the window, motioning his finger cutting his throat and pointing at me, a bottle of whisky in his hands. The driver noticed and looked at the window but the foster dad shut the curtains. 

Charlie came out a moment later, making sure my seatbelt was in and put arktos in the middle with his seatbelt in.

"You ready munchkin?", He asked me, as I nodded my head in confidence.

"Yep!", I replied with a smile. In truth I was dreading it, from what Charlie told me, they aren't very nice, and I would have to figure out how to avoid them as much as possible.