Ears I Never Had (BWWM)

Chapter 16: Lost and Saved

Ty had left half a bottle of tequila a while back and Bres poured up two shots before startling me with his statement, "After I tell you this, I hope you know we're together. Forget all the dating shit Kenz. Yea, I'm going plan some romantic shit and officially ask you to be my girl, but you mine. You've been mine since I saw you at freshman orientation. I'd be crazy to not claim you. I can barely contain myself around you Kenz."

I was stuck. Wow. But he continued.

"But before you say yes, you need to know how fucked up I am and how my parents saved me...."

FLASHBACK - BRESLIN'S POV
Oakland, CA
January 31st, 2006

Today is my 8th birthday and I'm on the run again, literally. Been doing this since I was 6. Not only from my social worker who didn't care and police officers, but because I just stole $40 out out a woman's purse at the BART station.

I hate group and foster homes. Most group homes felt like jail and I either AWOL'd or made sure I got kicked out of most the ones in California. But foster homes were no better. Either I suffered horrible abuse, overcrowding, bullying or I ran.

I've been beat, overworked, barely fed, and traumatized by certain young memories. You'd be surprised who could be a foster parent, who they allow to work in group homes and how easily a kid like me could survive as a kid on the streets.

Only problem was school, but I made sure to go to the libraries when the people wouldn't call the cops. I felt like my social workers were dumb, and I'm never going to be dumb. She was getting fed up with me and was talking about sending me to a boys detention camp. That's out.

I can read really well for my age because it was my escape. Two weeks ago, I was at my 5th social worker's, Ms. Brown, office and when she went to the bathroom and I snuck around her desk to read my file.

Breslin Princeton Lively
1-31-1998
Entered in: 2-1-1998

Mother: Blake Lively
Father: UNKNOWN (Suspected Ryan Reynolds) 

There was info about my parent's backgrounds and something that stuck out was they both attended UCLA and were from Santa Monica, CA. Santa Monica. UCLA. I gotta make it there. Sheesh, that's SoCal. That's far from the Bay.

Reason for placement: Neither Lively nor suspected father wanted parents rights of baby 13198BL. Baby turned over to CPS at birth.

They didn't they want me? Why didn't they want me?

I ran from my social worker's office that day and I've been making it....barely. I've got my backpack with my notebook and books, 2 pairs of clothes, some mase, and some hygiene stuff. I usually wait to blend in with before and after school kids to blend in to go the bathroom and do my thing. Or the 24-hour laundry mat.

I'm a tall kid for my age so I look like 13, so I usually ride the BART in peak hours to get some sleep. Too crowded for cops to check. Or the library. I also sometimes luck up and find unlocked cars, but that's also too risky. But if I can go to SoCal and find my parents, I know they'd want me now. I was a smart kid.

With that stolen $40, I finally had a little more than enough to get a Greyhound ticket to Los Angeles and I knew I could stand next to an adult and get right on. I was starving and because I've been eating gas station food and dollar menu items, I decided to get something good to eat before going to the Central Oakland Greyhound Station. It was my birthday after all, I could treat myself.

I walked upon an In-n-Out, something all the kids I knew in foster care drooled about. Yep, I'm getting that. I walked in and it smelled of juicy burgers, onions, and crispy fries. I walked up to the counter and ordered a 3x3 and animal style fries with a shake. It came up to like $12, that was most I ever spent on one meal and I was going to enjoy it all.