Broken

Chapter Four: Welcome To The Neighborhood!

Sandys' P.O.V. Friday Morning

As we drive through the neighborhood I look around at the other houses. 

Children playing on the front lawn, their parents and friends are cooking on the grill. 

I've waited for this day for six years now. 

Six years... 

We get to the end of the block and I can see the moving truck to the left. When we pull up behind the moving truck, the men step out of the truck.

"Mr. and Mrs. Sawyer?" The man on the right asks. 

"Yes that's us," Richard says. He's got that covered so I'm going to get the kids and head inside. They'll enjoy looking around for a bit. Out of the corner of my eye, I see everyone looking in this direction. I guess their curiosity is peaked right now. 

As Lana gets out of the car she's already asking, "Mommy can I go see my room now?" I laugh as I watch her give me the puppy dog eyes. I nod my head towards the house, giving her the okay to go on in. 

I grab our bags and head on in. Hmm... This place isn't as bad as I remember. Still needs a lot of work though. I can't believe this is home now... 

The stained walls, the spiral case, the broken chandelier, the water damaged wood flooring, all of it. I can't wait to have this place looking fantastic again. 

To the left, I see the Living room. Not much to look at yet, only we get the floors redone and spruce the fireplace up a bit that'll help. 

To the right, I see the kitchen. The island and barstools are completely destroyed beyond repair. I'll have to rip those out completely. along the wall, there are counters lining it with a stove in the middle. Down the hall will be my office and a bathroom. 

I walk up the spiral staircase, running my hand over the uneven surface of the railing. Standing at the top of the staircase, I look to the left where the master bedroom and spare bathroom are. I hear Lana laughing from the first room. Somehow I knew she'd choose that room. I walk to the bedroom door, opening it I watch as Lana jumps on the bed. Her laughter gives me hope that everything is going to be okay. That we can make a life for ourselves here. 

"Lana," I call out. She jumps a couple more times before landing on her butt and running over to me.

"Mommy, I LOVE this room. Come here," Lana grabs my hand and pulls me over to the window. It was supposed to have a window seat but that's long gone now. 

"It's so pretty here. Mommy can I have a chair to hit here so I can look out of the window?" 

"Of course you can honey. It may take some time to get one but in time," I give her an apologetic smile. 

"It's okay. I know your busy right now," Lana gives me a big hug and runs back to the bed. 

"Honey, you need to come down here. The movers want to know where to sit everything," Richard yells from the bottom of the stairs. 

Uh... Why can't he just tell them to put everything in the house wherever it fits. We can sort it out without then going through our stuff. All of the things they didn't want we got to take with us but anything they fancied we couldn't have. 

I walk out of Lanas' room and head down to the moving van. 

"Where do you want us to put all of this Mrs. Sawyer?" The same man speaks again. I'm beginning to think the other man doesn't have a tongue. I haven't heard him talk since we hired them. 

"Just put everything in the living room. When it's done, you can leave. We'll sort through everything," I smile at both of them. 

"Are you sure? You've paid us for the rest of the evening," He looks at me in confusion.

"Can I ask you something personal?" They both nod though I'm sure the other gentleman won't say anything. 

"Do you have a family of your own?" They both nod their heads.

"Do you get to spend a lot of time with them," They slowly shake their head no. 

"Then why don't you take my offer and go home early to be with them?" I question with a smile playing on my lips.

"Ma'am. Are you sure about this," His question comes with a hint of doubt that I'll change my mind. 

"Of course I'm sure. I know how it feels to work all the time and never really get time to sit down with your family. Please. Take this paid time off and take your family out or just watch a movie with them."

"Yes ma'am," With that said the movers begin packing the boxes and furniture inside. 

Lana runs outside with two of her toys, crashing down on the lawn giggling. Just as I think I can sit down and enjoy this beautiful weather outside, here comes the neighbors. 

"Hi. My name is Katherine. Katherine Remmings. This is my husband Barry and my son Kyle," I shake her hand and introduce myself, "Nice to meet you guys. I'm Sandy. My husband Richard is in the house. That's Lana over there and my son Danny on the porch."

"Oh, you have a son? How old is he?" Mrs. Remmings asks. 

"He turned six this year. He-"

Before I can finish, Katherine cuts me off, "Oh my. Kyle just turned seven. Do introduce yourself to Danny," She nudges Kyle forwards. 

I watch as Kyle hesitates before going towards Danny.

"So, " Katherine continues. My head snaps back in her direction. I offer her a small smile in return, "What brings you here? Give me all of the juicy details," She chimes. 

"Well, Richard and I wanted to get out of the city while Dannay and Lana are still young," Technically I didn't lie. I did want to leave the city for Danny AND Lanas' protection. To keep them out of harm's way.

"You'll love it here. There's a restaurant on Bell Street that we own. You'll love it there. It has really good aesthetic," Katherine gushes on and on about this restaurant until a commotion on the lawn turns our attention to the kids. I turn around just in time to see Danny punch Kyle in the face. Kyle hits the ground with a thud. 

"Kyle!" Katherine screams as she runs over to Kyle who's holding his nose. 

"Danny! Why did you do that?" I say as I rush over to them.

"He was picking on Lana," Danny yells and his hands stay clenched tightly into a fist. 

"My son would never do such a thing like that. I don't want YOUR oy to ever come around my sweet child again. You'll be hearing from my lawyer about his medical bill," Katherine spat as she helped Kyle off the ground.

"Do you really think that's necessary Kat?" Barry questions. 

"How dare you. That barbaric thing she calls a son just punched our child in the face, possibly breaking his nose, and you think I'm overreacting? He could be permanently injured for all I know," By this point, Katherine is waving her hands around and talking so fast I'm having a hard time keeping up. 

"Mom I'm fine," Kyle answers her question, "Nice hit by the way. I'm Kyle."

Kyle offers his hand for Danny to shake. Danny starts to reach out but little miss protective ass shields Kyle away from him, "How dare you to try to touch my boy again. We came over here to introduce ourselves like the good neighbors we are and you attack us. We will NEVER be over here again..." 

I roll my eyes as I watch the Remmings walk across the street. Just before Kyle goes in the house he turns around to look at Danny, "Danny! See you tomorrow?" Danny gives him a nod just as Katherine starts yelling for Kyle to come inside. 

I turn to where my children are now standing together. "Okay... Will someone tell me what that was all about?" I ask with a raised brow.

Lanas' P.O.V. 

I watch as mommy starts talking to the new people across the street. I catch a glimpse of the little boy and my heart melts. He's the cutest boy I've ever met in my entire life. Yeah I know I'm just five but I know what love is, and this is it. Oh gosh... He's walking over here. I stare at him as he walks on our lawn. Just as he goes to walk be me he looks my way.  His eyes... Those beautiful eyes. 

"What are you looking at loser?" He looks at me in disgust. 

"She's not a loser. Don't call her that," Dannys on his feet now. He's looking at the boy like he's going to hurt him. 

"What are you going to do about it huh?" He turns to me and I see those pretty ocean blue eyes, "Are are that pathetic that you have to get your brother to take up for you?" And that's all he had to say to me to make Danny mad. 

Danny jumps the stairs and runs over to him. Without thinking twice Danny hits him, "That's what you get for hurting her feelings," I hear his mom scream his name, "Kyle!" So his name is Kyle. I like it. His mom holds him close to her chest while Danny helps me off the ground even though I was playing with my toys. 

"Danny! Why did you do that?"   Oh boy... Here comes mommy. She's going to be so mad at Danny for hitting Kyle. 

"He was picking on Lana," Danny defends himself. He's still mad and still trying to protect me from Kyle by standing in front of me. He keeps me behind him no matter how many times I try to move. 

His mom starts yelling at my mom. Eventually, Kyle speaks up, "Mom I'm fine. Nice hit by the way. I'm Kyle," He looks to Danny and stretches his hand out for Danny to shake. 

I can tell Danny doesn't know what to think about how Kyle is acting. 

When they leave Danny looks over at me with a worried look on his face. 

"I'm okay. Thank you for taking up for me. You didn't have to."

Danny takes my hand and gives it a little squeeze reminding me of what we did last night, "Yes I did. I'll always protect you, Lana."

"Danny!" We look over to see Kyle standing in the doorway of his home, "See you tomorrow?" 

Danny looks at me and I give him a reassuring smile. He looks back at Kyle and nods his head once. 

Well, this has been an interesting day... 

Dannys' P.O.V.

After explaining what happened to mom, we eat dinner and then go upstarts to our room. The funny thing about my room is the bathroom has two doors on it. One to my room and one to Lanas' room. Once I hear mom and dad close the door to their room I quickly jump out of my bed and run to the bathroom. Slowly I turn the nob to Lanas' room. Slowly I poke my head in and whisper, "Lana. Are you still awake?" She replies with a small mmhmm.

I walk fully into her room, turning on the night lamp on her bedside table, I sit down on her bed. She rolls over and sits up to look at me, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just wanted to tell you goodnight and... and that no matter what happens I'll always have your back."

"I think you proved that earlier don't you think?" Her face is dimly lit but I can still tell she has a bright smile on her face. 

"I just wanted you to know I wasn't kidding when I said that. Goodnight Lana."

"Goodnight Danny. I love you."

"I love you too sis. Get some rest," I hug Lana and help her cover back up. With a kiss placed on her head, I go back to my room through the bathroom. 

I sigh as I return to my bed. What am I going to do about Lana and Kyle?

The Next Morning

I wake up to the sound of knocking on my bedroom door. 

"Just come in already," I say with annoyance

Kyle steps into my room looking around, "Man... Do you always sleep in this late?" He questions as he closes the door.

"What do you want Kyle?" I lay my head back down on my pillow.

"I told you I'd see you tomorrow. It's tomorrow," Kyle laughs ass he jumps on my bed, sitting with his legs crossed and elbows resting on his thighs. 

"I thought your mom didn't want us to talk," I state with a raised brow.

"Yeah and what mom doesn't know won't hurt her," His tone makes me remember our encounter.  I don't understand this kid at all. I punched him in the face... Like really hard... Why would he want to talk to me after that? 

"Why do you wanna be friends if I punched you in the face?" 

"I like the way you are. You stick up for the ones you care about. I need for friends like that," He boldly replies, "So... You wanna hang out or what?"

(On that day Kyle and Danny became best buddies. They'd meet every morning before school. They'd get off the bus together and play games until dark.  He still hasn't told his mom about the waitress. He decided to sign up for basketball and football to take his pent up anger out in a healthy manner. As you probably already know, Kyle has also joined the team as well 

A week later Richard started his job at the firm. He's gone five days a week and comes home on weekends. At his job he mostly works from the office where he meets some rather interesting clientele who finish their 'business deals' at Richards hotel room. I guess some things never change. 

Two months later Sandy graduates from college and starts a business of her own flipping houses. It's actually really doing really well. She's also helped the community by renovating some of their businesses and homes. She does charity work building ramps for handicap accessibility for the homes of the people who can't afford to do it on their own and also finished her home on the leftover budget. 

Lanas crush on Kyle is still there. Although she'll never admit that to anyone. She met a girl named Ashley on her first day of school who ends up being her best friend. Ashley begged Lana to join the cheerleading squad after seeing Lana do cartwheels and backflips at her house one evening. And guess what? She did. Lana and Ashley hang out every Thursday after school. Normally it'd be every Friday but that's the day her dad comes back to town. 

Kyles' mother still has this smug attitude towards the Sawyers. She's jealous of what Sandy has done and wishes her like would be more successful. Yeah, she has all of these perks from the businesses and restaurants but there not actually hers. She envies Sandy. Maybe even hates Sandy for her generosity. Before the Sawyers moved to town everyone used to kiss her butt for everything her husband has done but now... Now they kiss the ground Sandy walks on. And for what? all the charity she has done? In Katherine's eyes that just won't do.)