You Make Me Strong

What Happened to Her

Lou:

We made our way to Michael's house after I called and asked if we could come over. I'm happy Liam wanted to actually leave his bed instead of just moping around like he has all week.

I knocked on the door and Ashton answered. "Oh hi."

"Hi."

I saw Michael in the house trying to do something.

"We got told we could come over," Liam rold him.

"Ok. Come in then." He moved aside for us to come in.

"Sammi please," Mike said. "Just once?"

There was a little girl sat in front of him on the couch. He was kneeling on the ground. The little girl shook her head.

"Ok," he sighed. "Hi Louis. And..."

"Liam," Li held out his hand, to which Michael took.

"Michael."

Li:

We walk in and there is a little girl not answering who I assume is Michael. He walked up and introduced himself to me. Then we met the little girl, who just sat with Ash and snuggled to him. She declined when Michael asked if she wanted to watch cartoons. She wouldn't play.

"She is really quiet," I said.

"Uh. Yeah," Ash told me. "Her life was really tough."

"Really?" Lou asked.

He nodded.

"She doesn't do much since I've met her. I only heardher talk a couple times." Michael told us.

"Why?"

"Because of what happened to her," Ashton chimed in.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

No answer. Louis and Michael were having their own conversation. I moved to the couch next to him.

"What heppened to her?"

"Sammi's parents weren't really nice."

Sammi is examining me.

"How come?"

He took a breath, looked at Sammi, then said, "They would beat her. She would cry, hide, anything to not get hurt. But when they found her, she would get hit more. Yelled at more. Less food." He looked at me and continued, "When I met her, she had cuts on her arms, blood on her clothes. She has a a bruise on her wrist right now," he grabs her right arm gently.

She pulls her arm back a little. Ashton whispers a something and she lets him show me her wrist. There was a big bruise around her whole wrist.

"I would've never expected to hear that."

He nodded. "Not everything is expected."

~~~A couple hours later~~~

Mikey:

We were all hanging out and after a couple hours later, my mom came home.

"Oh. You have friends over."

"Yeah. You met Louis already. And this is Liam."

She nodded. "Nice to meet you Liam, and it is nice to see you again Louis."

"Nice to meet you as well," Liam told her.

"Very nice to see you too."

My mom turned to Sammi next. "Hi little one."

She got a little wave.

"Would you like to help make dinner?"

Sammi shrugged. Mom has been trying to get close to Sammi since she first came over here. The little girl doesn't open up though. It takes time for her to warm up to people, I reminded myself. Just like Ashton. It took him a couple weeks to warm up completely to me. Ashton would keep to himself, and that's what Sammi is doing right now.

Hearing what Ashton said about Sammi's life, I can understand that it might take longer for her to open up. I'm fine with that. Going back to the present, my mom reached her hand out for Sammi to take. That led to the toddler looking at Ash, scared. He nodded, meaning it's ok and she reached both arms up. Mom gladly picked her up and carried her to the kitchen.

Ash:

"I'm gonna call our dad to see when they want us home," Liam said, grabbing his phone.

"Ok."

He walked a little bit away so he can talk to whichever parent he is calling. We were having our own conversation while we waited. He walked over and asked if they could stay for dinner, Michael's mom said it's ok.

~~~After dinner~~~

"I think we should head home now," Lou told us.

"Oh ok. Then I guess bye."

"Bye guys."

Liam walked over to me and whispered, "If you ever need me call or text."

I nodded. "I will."

Mikey:

I picked up Sammi. "Bath time."

She looked at me, a hit of fear in her eyes.

"I'll help you ok?" My response was teary eyes so I told her, "Can you let me know if I hurt you?"

She nodded, tears still in her eyes. By the time I made it to the top of the stairs, I just kept hearing sniffles from Sammi. I sat on the top stair and set her in my lap.

"Shh. It's ok." She calms a little. "Can I halp you wash off?"

She nodded after a moment.

"Ok. I'm gonna stand up," I paused waiting for her reaction as I stood up. The wasn't one so I continued, "and we can go get warm water for a bath."

She was sitting in my lap as the water started to fill the tub for her. "Do you want some bubbles?"

Hesitating at first, she nodded. "Pwease."

"Of course." I sat with her as the tub filled.

I was done washing her when Ash walked in. Sammi smiled as I dried her off and dressed her in pjs. "Cwean."

"You're clean? Did Mikey do a good job cleaning you?"

She nodded. "Yeah." Turning to me, she hugged my and said, "Fank you Mikey."

"You're very welcome Sammi."

It is taking time, but I will wait as long as it takes for her to feel comfortable around me. I think we are starting to make progress. All I want her to know is that I will always be there for her from now to forever. Hopefully she knows that.