Delinquent Daisy (Book 5)

Chapter 21:

            “That’s great buddy,” I said smiling. I looked around and tried to find Jane as well but I couldn’t see her. I frowned, “Where’s Jane?”

            “I don’t know she said she’d be right back,” Noah said shrugging.

            “And here I am,” Jane said laughing. I turned around and brought her in for a hug.

            “Hi Jane.”

            “You’ve gotten more tanned since the last time I saw you! I’m jealous,” Jane said and I laughed.

            “Well you’re going to Disneyland and now I’m jealous.”

            “Touché,” Jane smiled, “Come on. Lets go home so we can talk.”

Later that night after we all had some pizza and the kids were in bed Jane, Peter and I sat down in their living room. I couldn’t help but remember the time Liam and I were sat in this room.

            “So why am I here exactly?” I asked. Jane had been very sketchy on the phone and I wasn’t quite sure what was going on.

            “Your parents trial has been moved up. To tomorrow,” Peter said and my eyes widened. I hadn’t realised when my lawyer said he’d try to speed up the trial that he’d organise it so soon. These things usually take weeks maybe even months. It had only been three weeks since my parents were arrested.

            “Our lawyer, well your lawyer, needs you to testify,” Jane continued. “We didn’t want to put Noah through this because, well, he’s still so young and you’ve got a clearer picture of what has really been happening all these years.”

            “Noah is not going anywhere near that court case,” I confirmed. I didn’t want Noah anywhere near my parents. They didn’t deserve to see him. They didn’t deserve to see me.

            “So you’ll do it?”

            “Not even a question. I’d don anything to make sure they couldn’t hurt Noah anymore.”

            “As soon as this court case is done and they are locked up our adoption can be finalised,” Jane breathed. “We’ll have another son.”

I smiled, “He’s already your son. You guys have been the only parents in his life and my life and I, I want to thank you for that. I could never count on my actual parents but I could always count on you. If someone were to ask me who my family was, I’d say you guys are. So thank you.”

            “You’ll always be part of our family,” Jane said, “Even if it’s not official,” she winked and I laughed.

The blue sky stretched wide and forever over the town. The leaves on the trees flourished emerald green and I breathed in the missed air of home. I haven’t been to a city or town that’s smelled as good as home. I could smell Mrs Brown’s brownies floating in the air drifting along with the smell of the river from the woods. Music from the ice cream truck a street or two away floated in and out of my ears mixed with playful cries from kids.

The town was rundown and I doubt it would ever change. Most houses had rotted window seals and overgrown gardens of wild flowers and the footpaths had weeds growing out of the many cracks. The road was in desperate need of repairs and there were deserted cars with no wheels parked on the streets. The windows had been smashed in and they had started to rot. They’d been there for years. The owners either didn’t have enough money for a tow or had moved away or simply didn’t care. A few houses out of the bunch had been cleaned up and had fresh coats of paint with freshly weeded and cut lawns but the ratio would be like one out of every ten houses. The citizens of Littleton just didn’t care about looks, as long as the house kept the weather out, that had been what all the neighbours had said when they saw me weeding the garden at the front of my house when I was younger.