Trailer Park Girl | A Novella| Completed

Living with RJ...

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Mishka

Living with RJ and JR is nice. I don't get anxious when school dismisses in the evenings anymore, knowing I won't have to see Trisha and hear her condescending words.

JR's friends don't come over that much anymore, and when they do, RJ stays in the room with me. He says they are too lewd and he doesn't want me mixing with them.

Things are fine. We get by.

Well, mostly.

RJ seems happier than when I first met him, and I'm happy for that.

"RJ? Should I wash this shirt too?!" I call out from the room, gathering up his stuff to wash with mine. His huge T-shirt moves against my knees, and I step back, trying to peek into the opened bathroom.

He doesn't answer, so I put his shirt down and strut my way to the bathroom. "RJ?" I look left and right, then move the door back to see him sitting next to the bathtub, a picture in his hand as he stares at it.

"RJ..." I mutter.

He swallows. "Layla was eight in this pic..." He smiles sadly. "She used to be so angry that we were older than her. Me by two years, JR by...a lot." He chuckles, and sighs. "She wanted to be a normal girl. She wanted to do cheerleading, go out with boys. We ruined that for her. We used to be so mad at her, telling her she couldn't go anywhere without our permission..." He blows his cheeks out. "If I knew she would have done this...I'd have let her be...I'm so sorry, Layla."

"RJ..." I cross the floors and squat next to him. "It's not your fault. None of this is...and you know it."

His eyes are red, but he isn't crying. He's so strong. So amazing. I wish he could see.

"You're awesome, RJ. So awesome...I'm looking at you and I can see how amazing you are..." I put my hand on his back. "You're strong..." I say with intense seriousness, wanting him to believe. "You're stronger than you think, than you know..."

He meets my eyes, his intense perusal scanning my features. "You too. You're strong, too."

I nod, willing myself to believe it. "We are. We both are. We aren't much different. And we'll get through this together. Okay?"

He nods and swipes his arm against his eyes. "Today is her birthday. She'd have been sixteen." He smiles sadly. "JR and I are gonna have a party for her."

I smile, wanting to cheer him up. "That'd be nice. Let's go to the store and get some stuff, okay?"

•

We get to the convenience store at the end of the avenue. We pack the trolley with birthday candles and balloons. It's a bittersweet feeling, preparing for this party. RJ says she liked pink and peach, so I mostly get those colours.

After we get everything we need, we stand in line to cash the items we've gathered in our trolley.

"Oh. A card. I'd like a card." RJ says, looking unlike himself.

I nod readily. "Yeah. Okay, I'll grab it." I turn around and run down the aisle. I search the shelves, until I've found the section with a ton of cards. Birthday cards, Christmas cards, you name it.

As I reach for a white and peach one, someone grabs it before I can. I turn my eyes, my stomach dipping when I find Rico standing there.

He's staring down at the card, flipping it from front to back. His overgrown hair lands in his dead-beat eyes, that ugly scar still stretching from his eye to ear where his little brother threw his toy car into his face a year ago.