Xela
I softly press the palm of my hand to my eye, then observe the blood that stained my hand. I sink down the wall onto my butt and close my eyes, hating how I can already feel my left eye swell. I just want to sleep, especially after everything that happened today. I'm exhausted.
If only I didn't have to get alcohol, I think as I uncrumble the piece of paper to see an order of drinks Paul wants. I take a few minutes of just sitting in silence until I force myself to my feet. It's better that I get out of here before Paul gets impatient and gives me another visit.
After I grab my fake ID from the top drawer of my dresser, I throw on a light jacket and head out. The sun is long gone, leaving me with darkness as I walk into town in search of a liquor store.
I'm almost through my poker winnings, which just tempts me to return even more. Not only do I make an unreal amount of money, but it is so fun for me to bet and play. My dad actually played poker with me when I was younger, not with money or anything since I was just seven, but he taught me some of the basics.
Shaking that thought from my mind, I enter a liquor store, giving the clerk a smile as I walk into one of the aisles. It takes me a little to find everything on Paul's list, but eventually I do. Now the stressful part; checking out.
I set the bottles on the counter before pulling money from my pocket. "Id?" The clerk asks, thankfully not looking too suspicious of me. "Of course" I smile, opening my wallet and flashing the fake ID that Aliza and I got together last year. He barely even looks at it.
His gaze lingers on my face, making me slightly uncomfortable as I grab my change and slip the bottles into my sinch bag. All the booze is heavy to walk with, but what else can I do.
The cold air hits me when I step out of the building, but I take it in and allow myself to relax during my walk. After I'm almost out of town and at my neighborhood, a wave of dizziness washes over me in what I guess is fatigue from not eating in two days. I walk to the nearest shop and lean against the wall outside for a moment.
"Is that Smitty?" A voice shouts to the left of me. Before I even turn, I know who it is. "What are you doing here!" I say, turning and walking over to two familiar boys and one familiar girl, completely ignoring my dizziness. Joey is the first to walk towards me, embracing me into a big hug. I ignore how much this hurts my back.
"Just passing through on our way to Vegas." Joey explains as I give Tread and Holly each a hug. "I've missed you so much!" Holly squeals after our hug. Joey Tread and Holly are three of Aliza and I's friends from a long time ago. The three of them are all foster siblings, and have been tossed around in the system together until meeting us. We met around the age of twelve and used to always hang out together, but lost touch when they moved across town into another family.
"Why are y'all heading for Vegas?" I question.
"It's my birthday soon, so these two are taking me gambling!" Holly exclaims, punching Tread on the arm playfully. "Wait why are you even here?" Tread asks, that's when it hit me that I never told them I was moving, I mean how could I have. "My mom got remarried, so here I am." I tell them, purposefully leaving out the details.
"So that's why Aliza was here." Holly says. "Aliza is here?" I repeat, shock clear in my voice.
"You didn't know?" Joey asks, "She is staying with us we were just heading back to our hotel."
As I walk with the three of them, they fill me in on how they got here yesterday and ran into Aliza who said she just got into town too. She is staying in a hotel with them for a few days until they leave for Vegas. They said how Aliza mentioned a surprise for them, which we pieced together as meeting up with me. Apparently Aliza also found a distant relative back home and has been stable with a roof over her and Penny's heads, which couldn't make me happier.
We finally arrive at the hotel which is nicer than I expected and not too far from town surprisingly. "She stayed back to unpack her things." Holly explains to me as she slips the room key into the door. The second it opens I toss my bag on the bed and run in to see Aliza sitting with her back to us on the bed. I instantly run and tackle her off the bed, laughing when she gasps and smacks me. "What are you doing here?!" Aliza says, trying to sound serious but she is holding back a laugh.
"I should ask you that" I say, standing up then helping Aliza to her feet. I have never been one to show affection but right now seeing her makes me so happy, I pulled her into a hug. "We ran into this one on our walk." Tread explains. Aliza jumps onto her butt on the bed, and I sit next to her. Everyone else sits on the other bed across from this one.
The room is pretty small but it seems to be clean. The beds have puffy white comforters and the floor a brown carpet. I can see several bags laid open on the desk in the far corner. The TV is off and the curtains are open, giving us a nice view of the roof of the building.
"Holy shit what happened?" Tread exclaims, getting off the bed he just sat down on. He walks over to me and grabs my face gently, "What?" I ask, standing up. That's when I remember the punch I took to the face back at my house.
"Your eye is all swollen!" Holly says. They hadn't realized it before because we were walking in the dark, but I'm sure now in the light of the room it is very visible. "It's nothing" I tell them, brushing Tread off and sitting back down. Aliza gives me a concerted look but I just shake my head.
I look back to the other three who are all across from us, and realize none of them are going to budge without an explanation. I let out a deep sigh, "Look it's just my moms husband he— "
"He fucking hits you?" Tread is still on his feet and looks pissed. "He has never before and he was just drunk okay? I snuck someone over and he was mad It's not a big deal." I say frantically, trying to calm everyone down. I know it's bad to lie to my friends but I can't tell them the truth. Plus it's almost true, what Paul has done to me is barely anything compared to what Tread Holly and Joey have been through with foster parents.
"Does your mom know?" Holly asks, her voice calmer, thankfully. I look to my hands now, knowing these people would never think less of me for anything. We have all been through hell, maybe that's what makes us all close. Even after months apart, we haven't skipped a beat.
Which is why I let them in a little and nod my head, "She doesn't care." I say, wanting nothing more then to get off this subject. "Can we talk about something else?" I ask, feeling grateful when Tread sits down and nods.
The rest of the night is spent catching up, talking, and laughing. It makes me realize how much I have missed these people. Even though I have Annie and Max, it's different with them. They don't understand what it is like to be on the streets or to spend weeks on end with just scraps of food. And I hope they never have to, but it is so refreshing to talk to people who do.
I found out that Aliza is happy with her Aunt and Penny loves her. Penny is starting school this week so she couldn't come up to see me, but I'm sure I can come down there soon.
I keep forgetting how close the holidays are, Halloween is in a few days and after that time flies. I've always hated winter, but maybe that is just because I grew up barely surviving it.
"So how is the school life treating you?" Aliza asks, rocking sideways so she lightly bumps my shoulder. "It's fine I guess" I say. "Any friends?"
I roll my eyes at her jealously over friends, "So there is Max and Annie" I say, "Max is my neighbor and he is dating Annie so we kind of hang out. Then there is Denny who is younger but he is nice too."
"Who did you have over when..." Holly trailed off but I knew what she was asking. "Denny's brother but he's not my friend we just had to do a project together." I tell them, feeling guilty for saying Ryder isn't my friend but just my friends brother. I don't know why, I feel like we actually got somewhere today when we were working. Like we were actually friends.
I glance towards the clock sitting on the nightstand and read 2:05 shining with red led numbers. "I should get home." I say, suddenly worried since I completely lost track of time. "How long are y'all in town for?" I ask as I slip my feet into my shoes that I had taken off.
"We are thinking of staying for another week" Joey answers. "I'm probably just gonna stay a few more days, I don't like leaving Penny for too long." Aliza says, which saddens me but I completely understand.
"We should go out tomorrow night! It will be so fun." Holly suggests, and I already know she is dead set on the idea. Holly is the party girl of the group. Any excuse to go out she takes it. I am not a huge fan of it, but I would never tell her no to it. It makes her happy when we all go out, so why would I?
Joey is a year younger than Aliza, Holly, and I, and is the silly one. He can always make anything into a joke. Sometimes he can't take things seriously, but it's fine because I hate seriousness. Even though I am always serious.
Then there is Tread who is a year older and he takes care of Joey and Holly. He cares for Aliza and I like we are his sisters and is the very protective one. He is a huge dude since he used to underground fight to make money. When I was fourteen I had a huge crush on him, but that changed as I started seeing him as a brother and now I can't imagine him in any other way.
I grab my bag full of Paul's drinks. As I sling it over my shoulder it makes loud clanging noises. "The fuck you have in there?"
"Paul sent me on a little alcohol run." I say, rolling my eyes. "Which is shit because I'm running about three hours late." I start moving towards the door, but stop when Tread doesn't follow me. "You coming?" I turn and ask.
"Yeah" he says, following behind me. Tonight is a cold night, but luckily I have my hoodie and pants on, even though this hoodie is so thin and barely gives me any warmth, it's better than nothing.
Tread and I talk the whole walk home, until we finally get within sight of the house I've grown to hate. "This is me" I groan as we reach the house. "If something happens you know the way to the hotel." Tread says. I give him a weak smile, "I'm glad y'all are here." I say.
"Stay safe okay?" Tread says when I move to go up the stairs in front of my front door. "Of course" I turn and smile at him, "Goodnight Smitty" he says before leaving. I love hearing the old nickname that I haven't heard in far too long. When I was twelve Joey thought my last name was 'Smit' instead of 'Smith' so they both came up with Smitty and it stuck.
As I slowly open the front door, a breath I didn't know I was holding releases when I see Paul asleep on the couch. I set my bag down on the counter and walk sluggishly up the stairs, wanting nothing more than to fall asleep. I didn't know how tired I was until now, and boy is it hitting me hard. Harder than Paul.
That's not funny.
I toss my shoes in the corner of my room and quickly change into a huge Cars 2 t-shirt and shorts. I pull the blankets off my bed with ease and set up a little nook on the floor with Mr. Bear, of course.
Maybe I should be more upset about Paul hitting me today, but that's not what I'm thinking about as I fall asleep. I spent hours laughing and talking with Ryder then my old friends.
Today was the best day I've had in a long time.