Rules for Enduring the Sweenys

Rule #8: Never Show Fear

“Thought I’d find you here,” Owen Sweeny said climbing to the top of the boulder and taking a seat beside his friend. Owen was two years younger than Jake, but, besides Bryce (and sometimes Zane), he was his best friend.

“What’re you doin’ here, man?” Jake sighed, handing the pipe to Owen, who took a small hit. They both used the drug to make their shitty lives seem better.

“Just wanted to see how you were,” Owen answered innocently. They were both silent for a long time as thin trails of smoke danced between them. Owen started to say something about school, but Jake wasn’t paying any attention. In the distance, where the newly paved road snaked between two canyon walls, he saw her walking. He wasn’t quite sure if it was his mind playing tricks on him, but something in his brain snapped.

He grabbed his backpack, hopped off the high boulder, and took off running through the dry meadow, thankful that the storm clouds were blocking out the radiating sun. “Bella!” he cried, a genuine grin forcing its way onto his face. The thought that the figure limping along the road wasn’t his sister, didn’t even cross his mind.

“Jake! Wait up!” Owen Sweeny shouted, trying to keep up, but the kid ignored him.

He reached her in record time, not even stopping to catch his breath. There she was, standing in front of him dressed in tattered rags. Her face was brown with dirt, and sweat left muddy tracks down her cheeks. Her once light blond hair looked brown with grease. Her lovely green eyes had lost their childish innocence, and she flinched when he touched her, but none of that mattered. He wrapped her in a forceful, tight hug. At first, she was stiff, unsure if it was all a part of her imagination, but then, she collapsed into him and sobbed into his shirt.

“Bella,” Jake said seriously, pulling away and wiping the tears from his face, as the clouds grew darker and more threatening. “Where have you been?” He took a step back to examine his baby sister, and noticed that her right arm was hanging in an awkward position. He hated when her joints dislocated. It always happened super easily because of her EDS. Loose joints, easy bruising, low blood pressure, and her heart murmur were just some of the symptoms. Bryce had always had a stronger stomach for relocating her limbs, than Jake and Zane ever would.

When Bella didn’t answer, Owen took sharp step forward. He was so happy to see her, yet furious. Where the fuck had she been? He opened his mouth to yell at her, but a deafening clap of thunder interrupted him. Bella jumped and screamed. She dropped to the ground, hugging her knees and rocking back and forth.

“Bella, calm down,” Jake said softly, but she wouldn’t. Couldn’t. Jake snatched his pipe out of Owen’s hand and forced her to take a hit, just to calm her down. “Call Bryce,” he instructed Owen, who couldn’t keep his disbelieving eyes off of the girl.

The last thing Bella heard before she passed out completely was the sound of a truck speeding down the road.

“Ma!” Jake had shouted when he and Owen dragged little tiny Bella into the house. She was seriously underweight and had a myriad bruises and scars that hadn’t been there before. Bryce had managed to reset her dislocated arm on the way home, but she still looked terrible.

Hearing her son’s voice, Anna darted into the hallway and gasped. Thirteen months and two days later and there she was, standing unsurely in the hall. They all itched to know what had happened, but Bella would never say. She refused to talk to anyone about it. But Jake would never sleep well again without knowing that Bella would never be taken away from him – from them – like that again.