for you; || c.gallagher

one;

I knocked on the door with the address I had scribbled onto a ripped-off corner of paper from one of my brothers old coloring books. I looked over at him and smiled, him smiling nervously back. I shifted my weight from one foot to the other as we waited for the door to open. I didn't feel safe in this neighborhood, and was the total opposite from the preppy and rich side of town we grew up on. I heard the taxi speed away, smiling to myself thinking I'm not the only one not wanting to be in a neighborhood like this. The house was a pale color, like all of the other ones making them look as if the houses were sick. Ours had a tree in the front yard, next to a window on the upper left portion of the house.

The lock on the door clicked soon before it was opened slowly, then swung against the wall.
"Oh, Eliana, Corbin, come give me a hug," our supposedly Aunt Margaret said as she reached over to my brother and I and pulled us into her embrace. My effort to hug back left me feeling awkward, but I shook it off and plastered on the smile I had mastered by the third grade. It's hard not to fake a smile when your teachers ask you how you're doing, knowing your family is practically falling apart back home.
"Come in, come in!" she said, practicality reading my mind of my unsteadiness I felt radiating off of me like a space heater. I bent over and picked up my boxes and brought them inside, nudging Corbin in the side signaling to hurry up and start moving his ass.
"You'll be staying in the upstairs bedroom at the far left at the end of the hallway. It's the master bedroom, so there's also a bathroom in it as well," she said to me.
"Corbin, you'll be staying in the room across from hers," she stated with a smile spread across her face at the end of this her sentence.
"If you guys want to go get your room ready, I'll make sandwich's for you."
I nodded in reply for the both of us.
"Yeah, that would be nice."

I gazed around the first level of the house as my brother raced upstairs. It was pretty small, and kind of old fashioned. There was wallpaper with patterns of flowers, and paintings were mounted onto the walls. There was a flatscreen television, thank god. I walked upstairs, and navigated myself by the directions she had given me. After finding my room, I set my boxes down and unpacked my clothes and posters. I opened the closet door with my other hand that wasn't holding what seemed to be at least 50 hangers with some sort of clothing apparel on them, and got a breeze of musty air. I squinted my eyes, and quickly shoving my clothes into the tiny space. I sat down on the already-made bed and thought of where to put my posters.
"Your food is ready, come down whenever!" Margaret yelled from downstairs.
"Ok, I'll be down in a minute," I replied. I took out my poster of River Phoenix and hung it up on the wall parallel to my bed and next to my door. That way every morning I could wake up and he would be the first thing I see. I went over and jumped back onto my bed, and saw what it looked like from a distance. Beautiful as always, I thought.
I jogged downstairs, feeling a little better after seeing literally the love of my life. River Phoenix has been my favorite actor since I was little, after watching him star in the movie Stand By Me. That is one of the only good memories I have of my father, when he was actually there for us.

I came and sat down at the table, filled with water stains and other exotic looking ones as well. Margaret put a plate in front of me with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on it. Corbin raced down as well, and awkwardly took a seat next to me. I took small bites as she sat across from me on her phone. She locked her phone as she put it face down on the table, and looked at us seriously.
"We need to discuss some clear boundaries for you kids while you're here," she said calmly. I took another small bite out of my sandwich, noticing how she called us kids.
"Summer just started and I want to make these for your own safety."
I swallowed hard. She probably heard from my social worker about the 'issues' I've had in the past with the other families we've stayed with. 
"All I'm going to be asking you both to do, is to tell me where you're going, when, and how long you're gonna be gone."
She took out two iPhone 5s out of her purse on the floor, and handed one to me and the other to Corbin.
"Use this to communicate with me please. My number is already on there."
I picked it up to examine it.
"Wow, Aunt Margaret, thank you so much," I said, stunned. Not one of the families have gotten us things before. We've always had to buy our own necessities, even new shoes.
"Jesus, thank you," Corbin said with a huge smile, I could tell he was excited about it too.
"No need to thank me, I just want to keep you two safe and make sure you have a good time here." She flashed me a warm smile, and grabbed both of our hands and squeezed them. I smiled back, not faking it this time.

It was 11:40 pm and we just finished watching Unbroken, and it's now one of my favorite movies. I ran upstairs and started to get ready for bed, first brushing my teeth and continued to wash my face. I heard a police siren in the distance, the sound coming in from my open window from my attempt to clear out the stale smelling air. I dried off my face and started to hear yelling from across the street. I turned off the bathroom light, and walked over to my bed to listen. There was a lot of noise going on, so I couldn't make anything out specifically. I saw the door fly open, and a boy came storming out, and slumped down onto the steps outside. He took out what seemed to be a cigarette, until I started to smell it and finding out it was actually weed. I couldn't really see his face, other than the small ember of the blunt lighting up his face as he inhaled the smoke. The door swung open again, and a young woman poked her face out.
"Come one, Carl. Jesus Christ," she said as she snatched the blunt and threw it to the side of the steps.
"Come bring your laundry upstairs," she said as she retreated back into the house. He picked it up once again, took one more hit, and threw the butt into the bushes and followed in the woman's footsteps.
I laid back onto my bed, and stared at my ceiling.
Hmm. Carl.