Aurora Book 1: Soitera

20. Burn It All

Lunch is uneventful and very boring. We barely get back to the room and Jack summons us to his office.

Dante is sitting with him. "I need to fix your phone. It has a block on it. I need to remove it."

"Well, that's weird." Everett takes my phone and hands it to him.

"No. I've had employees in the past who treat their work phones like personal phones. Her phone is different. It is a personal phone. I need to remove the work blocks. It'll only take me about 5 minutes. Have a seat."

I plop on the couch and stare at Jack.

Jack nods. "I didn't actually need anything. How are the rooms for you two? Any complaints?"

"I only want to take the bathroom home with me."

Everett rubs his face. "She eats chips and watches movies from the bathtub."

I shrug my shoulders. "I ate six cookies there once too. They were fantastic."

Dante drops the phone and laughs. "Sorry. But that was not expected."

"They always bring the unexpected."

"You should see my bathroom. You would understand."

"I kind of want to now. I could upgrade the bathrooms at my house. They're boring. Can I see one before I go?"

"Yea, that's fine. All the guests' bathrooms are the same." Jack flips open his laptop. "I'll find an empty room."

"Make sure you show him the TV."

Jack nods. "I'll let you give him the bathroom tour."

I smile at Dante. "It's for the best."

Everett shakes his head. "Just don't offer her any cookies or chips."

Jerry runs in the room with us. He's white as a ghost with his phone in his hand.

Everett sits up immediately. "What, dad?"

"I just received a phone call from the police department at home."

"And?"

He looks at me.

I jump up. "DID I GET KICKED OUT OF BLACKROCK ALREADY?"

"No." Everett helps me sit back down. "That wouldn't be the police department, baby. They would contact you or the school."

I take a deep breath and relax. Jerry opens his mouth, then I jump up. "AM I GETTING ARRESTED FOR STEALING SOAP?"

"No, woman." Everett helps me sit again. "Nobody cares if you take free samples of stuff."

"Yea, but I took a lot. Like 12 years worth."

"Woman. Listen to what he's saying. Then we'll know."

"I STOLE THAT THING FOR YOU. I'M GOING TO PRISON."

"WOMAN, enough." Dante puts me back in the chair. "Stop and listen."

Jerry crosses his arms. "Your father and a man named John were found deceased at your house this morning."

"So, I'm not in trouble for stealing?"

"No."

"Well, that's a relief. Can we forget I said anything about that? I was panicking."

"Yes." Everett glares at Dante. No idea why.

Nyx runs in. "I finally got away. What did I miss?"

Jerry looks up from his phone. "Her father died."

"Oh, I'm so sorry."

Everett shakes his head. "No. That's not it."

He straightens his jacket. "Well fine. I'm glad the asshole is dead. Let's celebrate at Dante's now."

Jerry turns to him. "Why are you celebrating at Dante's?"

I try to come up with something. I need a drink. "He has juice."

Nyx screams, "BLENDER."

I shake my head. "MAKER."

Nyx nods. "He has a juice maker. It makes juice."

Dante looks at us like we're idiots. "Juice makers do make juice."

Everett rubs his eyes and tries not to laugh.

Jack shakes his head. "He must have fresh fruit there."

I jump up and point. "HE DOES." I saw pineapples. I'm not lying.

"You don't have a juice maker here?" Jerry is doing something on his phone.

"I guess not."

"He has slides too." I plop back down.

Everett nods. "Juice maker and slides for the win."

Dante laughs. "That was worth watching. Here's the phone. Let's go see a bathroom."

"Call me when you're ready." Nyx runs out.

"I CAN'T CALL YOU. DANTE IS MY ONLY CONTACT."

"I'll fix that, woman. Sorry, I should have done it before. I'll put everyone in. You show him the bathroom."

"Thank you." Dante and I go to a room around the corner.

"Oh, damn. This is a lot nicer than my guest rooms."

I shrug my shoulders. "This is the only kind I've stayed in. I can't offer any ideas. The closet is over here. It's huge. The balcony is nice. The fridge is good. They keep drinks and snacks in it. But..." I grab some chips and pull him to the bathroom.

"Yea, this is something else."

I sit in the tub. "I could fit like 10 of me in here. In the shower, water comes out of everywhere. And watch. I turn on the painting with the remote. I can watch movies from the tub." I sit in the empty tub and eat my chips.

"Woman, what the hell? You're going to get crumbs in there." Everett helps me out. "Always with the food in the bathtub. Check out this shower." He turns on the shower for a demonstration.

"I am going to have to upgrade my rooms. These are amazing. I wonder if Franks are the same way."

"Probably, they would argue about whose is better if they weren't."

"That's true."

Suddenly, it hits me that I will have nowhere to shower when I go home. I can't go home. I don't have a home. Maybe I can hide in the school and take showers there. Nobody will be paying the bills at my house. I have no job, money, car. No way to get to a job. I can't make money. I have no money.

The more I think, the more the walls seem to close in on me.

Where will I sleep? What about my stuff? It's still in the house. Can I get back into the house?

"WOMAN."

I hit Everett in the head with the chips and run for it.

He catches me before I get out of the room.

"WHAT AM I GONNA DO? THEY'RE GOING TO TAKE ME AWAY. I CAN'T GO HOME. I LIVE THERE. MY STUFF IF THERE. WHERE AM I GOING TO TAKE A SHOWER. MY BEDS THERE. I CAN'T PAY BILLS. I CAN'T DRIVE. I DON'T HAVE A JOB. I'M HOMELESS. I NEED MY SECRET GARDEN NOW. I NEED MY CLOTHES."

Everett bounces me. "That hit all at once."

Dante rubs my head. "Yea, it did. I'll call the police and get your stuff removed. At least it will be safe until you get back."

I nod. "My table. And all the stuff on it. And my clothes rack. And the clothes on that. And my bed and blanket. I don't think. My box of soap. That's all. Please do that."

"I will. I'll figure it out. You need to relax."

"Good news and bad news." Jerry walks in with his phone. "The house is yours. But it's just been condemned."

"I don't know what that means."

"It's not livable. They're going to tear it down."

"I NEED MY CLOTHES."

"They won't tear it down for a couple of months. Your stuff is fine for now."

My whole body relaxes. I don't own much, but I need what I have.

Dante rubs his face. "Anything else?"

"They're trying to figure out who gets guardianship of her. It's not looking good. This is going to hurt, Aurora. Sit down."

I'm not sure what else he could say. I fall into the chair. "Say it."

"You have no living blood relatives. The aunt that took you after your mom died, was actually your dad's ex-girlfriend."

"Yea, that's shocking." I stare off into space for a while. "And confusing."

"She was married and having an affair with your father. She fixed things with her husband and she promised not to see your father again. She kept good on her promise, but when your mom died, she knew she had to step in. You wouldn't have survived if she didn't. She took you with his permission."

"That's why I never saw her again. She sends me clothes but I never see her. Not even for Christmas. I thought it was weird that she didn't come to see her brother on Christmas. It's supposed to be for family."

"They weren't family."

"And the twins? They're only a year older than me."

"Her husbands. He did a DNA test on them to prove they were his when they were born."

"Why did her husband agree to take me in?"

"You were innocent. I can't answer more than that. I won't put words in his mouth. To raise the child of the man your wife was having an affair with is more than most men could take. But you were innocent and a baby. She somehow talked him into it. Do you remember him a lot from when you were little?"

"Not at all. I don't remember much of anything though."

"You also need to understand that your dad didn't have the affair. He wasn't married when they were messing around. Your parents met, married, and got pregnant fast. But they truly seemed happy."

"Was my mom like my dad?"

"No. Not at all. Even your dad wasn't like your dad. In his early 20s he was stupid and got into some dumb things. He got arrested a few times. Got in trouble for drugs. Messed around with married women. But a lot of that has to do with age. That direction he was going in was bad. But when he met your mom, he straightened up. He opened his shop. He grew up. He became a man with a family. He was doing well. He was proud of himself and his family."

"Then why did she take me?"

"I don't know how that happened. But it was fast. She obviously knew things we didn't. Your dad showed up to your mom's funeral high on something. It was a big issue, and you weren't there. You were only 4 days old at the time and you were missing. People were freaking out. He eventually said he gave you away. He talked to the police after that. Later, I don't know what he told them, but they backed off. I'm assuming he told them where you were, and they verified it."

"Then she gave me back."

"When you came back to town, you were healthy and happy. Went to school with a brand-new outfit. People accepted it. I guess people assumed he figured out how to raise a child. He had a happy, healthy kid."

I sit back and take a deep breath. "She sent a 5-year-old into hell well-prepared."

"She had to give you back. Your dad was the only one who could send you to school."

"Should I send her a thank you card? If she hadn't taken me, I would have been removed eventually."

"Or died."

"He wouldn't have killed me. He never laid a hand on me. I would have been removed. Instead, all I have is her words in the back of my head. MY DAD IS SUCH A GOOD MAN. HE LOST HIS WIFE AND IT f****d HIM UP. I HAVE TO CUT HIM SOME SLACK. SHE'S JUST A SICK b***h IN LOVE WITH A DRUGGIE LOSER. STILL DOING THINGS TO KEEP MY DADS ATTENTION RIGHT UP UNTIL HIS DEATH." I grab onto Dante's shirt. "BURN THE CLOTHES. BURN THE WHOLE f*****g HOUSE DOWN. BURN IT ALL."

Nyx runs in. "I'M MISSING THINGS."

"A SICK DISGUSTING TWISTED b***h MANIPULATED A BABY TO KEEP HER DRUGGIE BOYFRIEND CLOSE. I HATE THAT b***h. I HATE MY DAD. I'M HOMELESS. I HAVE NO CLOTHES BECAUSE THERE ABOUT TO BE BURNT. AND NOW, I'M ROYALLY f****d BECAUSE THERE IS NOBODY TO CLAIM ME. THANK GOD I ONLY HAVE TO MAKE IT UNTIL SUMMER. THEN I CAN FINALLY GO TO SCHOOL. I'M GOING TO MY GARDEN. IF ANYONE PUTS A FOOT IN IT. I WILL CUT IT THE f**k OFF."

Nyx grabs my arm and pulls. "JUICE TIME."