CYPHER

Custody

LAURA

Laura jiggled the door and the key hole until the key fit into it and opened up for her .

She walked in and took off her shoes , grunting softly as they came off .

Working was hard , working after taking a long break was harder but she had a purpose so there was no room for failure or quitting halfway .

Without switching on the lights , she headed straight for the kitchen and opened the fridge door .

The light from the fridge enabled her to see the jug that was full of the lemonade that she and Jaymie had made before she went to work .

She filled her glass and drained it without pause before filling it again but this time , she was only able to drink about half of the glass before she was satisfied .

She closed the fridge and switched on the kitchen lights before rinsing the glass and returning it .

She picked up her bag again to go into her room when she noticed that the sofa was again empty .

She hurriedly went into her room , changed her clothes , washed her hands when she remembered Jaymie's strict warning and then wiped the makeup from her face .

She washed her face and teeth , picked up a pillow and her cellphone before leaving the room.

She returned to the kitchen and brought out slices of bread , peanut butter and the jar of jelly .

The siblings liked their bread with a little crunch that Laura liked to refer to as char so she toasted slices of bread for a minute each before spreading peanut butter and jelly .

She finished it by cutting it into cute styles she had been learning at the diner she worked at .

When she was done , she stared at her work proudly and clapped shortly before getting a tray to put the plate , she added the jug of lemonade and her cellphone to the tray .

After fixing her pillow securely under her armpit , she set out of her apartment , wobbling as she left .

The next door was open , so she slipped in and found Jaymie at the table in the kitchen , she was writing furiously .

Laura waited , unsure of what to do , she never knew how to react to Jaymie's frequent mood swings so she just settled with watching the beautiful child that she had problems remembering was just a child .

She might never tell them but the siblings had been her inspiration to getting her son back .

She had made excuses of how she did not have a job and could not provide alone for herself , let alone a child so he was better off with his father .

But , she had watched them , they both relied on each other greatly even. when they had no other people to turn to .

Jaymie raised her head when she noticed her presence .

" How was work ? "

Laura was slightly shocked and did not know what to answer .

The kid would usually be asking her if she felt like quitting yet and then telling her that if she had decided to quit , she might as well forget ever seeing her son .

What had Dean done to his sister that had her so worried ?

Or was she simply worried because they had never really been apart for this long ?

Jaymie's head lifted again when she realized that Laura had never answered her question .

She took her silence as a negative answer and smiled softly .

" Was it really that bad ? Don't worry , it will get better . Dee says that is how most part time jobs are , at first you can not stand them but then , later on , you just get used to it ".

" And what is with the tray before the sun even comes out ? "

Laura shook her head and walked to Jaymie , she let her pillow drop on one of the stools at the end of the table before she reached where Jaymie sat and peered at what Jaymie was doing .

She had a long sheet spread out in front of her and was solving a calculus question or maybe several calculus questions , almost every inch of the wide paper was covered with numbers and shapes .

By the side of the table was her brother's letter , still unopened .

Laura carefully dropped the tray by the side of the worksheet Jaymie was working on .

" I noticed all of the food in the fridge have not reduced , you have not been eating Jaymie ".

Jaymie stopped writing and looked up at Laura , she tilted her head slowly as she blinked .

" I doubt you are the type to notice things like that ".

Laura chuckled and shook her head .

Jaymie's harsh way of speaking did not bother her because she knew it was a protective frontier the child had developed .

It hurt her more that such a young child had a need for that .

And she also felt guilty thinking that her child was growing up somewhere away from her , hating her because all he knew was that she was an alcoholic .

Jaymie's fingers snapped in front of Laura .

" Did I not tell you ? As long as you are alive and working so hard to gain access to your child , he will come to know that and love you and if he does not , buy him lots of ice cream and toys . Children , especially boys are quite fickle minded ".

Laura laughed .

" Jaymie , I know you hate to hear this but you are a child too . You are just seven and not even a top seven , you have just been seven for a couple of weeks ".

Jaymie hissed and stretched her hand out to the tray ,she took a slice of the bread with peanut butter and jelly .

"What are these weird sculptings ? "

Laura smiled as she leaned forward to explain what they were .

" It is food art , most of the families that come to the diner like it for their kids , it makes them more interested in eating when the food is shaped like their favorite characters in cartoons ".

Jaymie nodded at Laura's explanation as she turned the bread In her hand to admire the design .

" So basically , you are teaching the kids to be psychos who think it is okay to eat other people just because they are behind a screen ".

Laura blinked , blaming herself for telling Jaymie in the first place .

" I am sure you do not actually have a problem with that ".

Jaymie shook her head .

" No , I don't have a problem with eating people behind a screen. What I have a problem with is the unnecessary time it would take to eat a small plate of food and the amount of times you would have to touch that food , the image is unsettling ".

She put the bread in her mouth and smiled as she began to chew .

Laura chuckled , that was all she would get from Jaymie so she stood up to get glasses for the lemonade .

She poured into her glass and into a cup for Jaymie .

" I bought this calculus book for you from the local store on my way to the diner . The clerk said it was the next book you needed ".

Jaymie turned to Laura after she said that and stared at her for a while chewing soundlessly , she continued to watch Laura as she ate two more and drank out of her cup .

" Are you practicing how to take care of you kid on me ?"

Laura frowned wondering what would make Jaymie think so .

" It is not like that ".

" Then thank you , There are not a lot of people that are nice to Dee and I .I don't want you to stop being nice once you get your kid back ".

Jaymie thought she could get her kid back ?

Laura smiled .

" Don't worry , I would only stop bothering you two when your brother is old and wrinkly and no longer handsome and I have lost all interest in him ".

Jaymie's eyes twitched as she shook her head .

" You are making me rethink my decision ".

Laura watched her jump off the stool and run to the nightstand next to her bed .

She brought back a piece of paper and gave it to Laura , it had an address and a name .

" Dee and I were doing a lot of research on lawyersv, zeroing in on them . It was supposed to be a gift when we completed it but I was bored so I finished it by myself today ".

Laura turned the paper around , it was empty .

" Research on what ? "

Jaymie rolled her eyes .

" Lawyers with the most child custody wins and then wins that went to parents that had bad priors and that woman has the highest wins ".

Laura watched the girl look uncomfortable as she talked .

Where was there a seven years old like this ? How could she even think that she would forget she and her brother when she reunited with her son.

" She was hard to find but if you start talking to her now , she should have time for you by the time you have enough money to start ".

Laura jumped on the girl , hugging her tightly .

She felt Jaymie relax in her hands before she bristled again and pushed out of the embrace .

She was silent as she climbed back on the stool to continue her work .

Laura looked from the paper in her hand to Jaymie's head as she thought of how much she appreciated their help .

She had honestly just thought of talking to one of the public attorneys at any government approved location but now she had a lawyer that was already so good .

" Don't let your eyes try lo embarrass you too much ".

Laura rolled her eyes and joined Jaymie where she was seating .

" Let's watch movies ".