Trust Issues

Chapter2

It was hot and rainy. It had been raining since they got there. April couldn't sleep. The breeze kept blowing the thin fabric curtains into the room, and she had laid awake for several minutes watching them rise and fall. She finally left the bed and began down the hall, the dim lanterns casting soft shadows against the wall. The house was still strange, but not as strange as the outside. Rainforest and tribal.

As April continued down the hall, strange sounds began to fill the air. The sounds were coming from the living room, and April headed there in a haze. As she began to see the top of the living room open up, she saw strange, dark men looking down. She crept closer, and saw her mother's arm lying pale and still on the tile floor. Fear spiraled through her and, as soon as she took another step, she felt big, strong arms encase her. She screamed through a hot sweaty hand, and struggled in vain as she was lifted off the floor and the men from the living room came at her.

April sat up in bed in a cold sweat, her hair sticking to her face and her heart beating out of her chest. She attempted to slow her breathing while she focused on the sounds in the room. Air conditioner. Thumping music from a passing car. The neighbors down the street yelling again. She wasn't back there. Just a dream. She hated that her nightmares were starting again. She was home and the boys were safe in their beds. The boys!

April flew out of her bed and ran to their room. She needed to know, to see, not just believe it. She took a deep breath in relief. They really were fast asleep. Only, Kenji had come down from the top bunk to curl up with Asher. The sight made her smile and she pulled the covers back over them. April and the boys had spent the last month settling into the area. The one thing she could say about a city is that they tended to watch out for each other, especially each other's kids, and they weren't likely to be talking to authorities or running their mouths to strangers.

They were all starting to feel safe in the neighborhood, and she struggled to hold onto the types of precautions she had been used to making. Little by little, the windows stopped getting triple checked, and she was gaining a habit of forgetting to look behind her when they were going about their day. She was even considering enrolling the two in the nearby school. She had no idea how she would come up with the paperwork to get them in, but she was considering it. April was even sure that she would soon be able to go digging for the person who had made the agreement with her parents, and started all of this.

Every day was beginning to look the same. Breakfast, dress, lunch, park, nap, play, dinner, cleanup, dress, bed. Routine and normal. They deserved that. It wasn't long before her gut began to pester her, though. She would find herself breaking away from whatever they were doing and looking around her, almost like someone had called her name. She never found anything strange outright, just the feeling, but, after a week of feeling like they were being watched, April began to implement precautions again without the boys knowing. She was hoping that they wouldn't have to take off again. The boys were even finding friends in the nearby kids. It was during one of their playdates at the park with the neighbor kids, where April was shocked back awake to the real danger they were in.

The sound of the swings whining against the metal was almost swallowed by the children running around and playing. It seemed like the whole neighborhood was there. Asher was running around with a small group of boys, while Kenji was climbing all over the jungle-gym with another boy. April sat on the bench under a tree keeping an eye on them when she noticed a black car with dark windows slowly drive around the park and left the area. A moment later, the car came back.

Her heart pounded as she watched it drive around slowly again. Instead of exiting, it continued around again and another identical car began driving around the park from the other way. She stood and watched them both carefully as the other mothers clocked the cars and began gathering their kids. April did the same. As soon as Kenji was down on the ground, both of the cars' back windows opened and bullets began spraying at all of them. The children screamed and everyone huddled down. It felt like forever, and mere seconds at the same time. The cars made one loop around before closing the windows and leaving the area.

When it was over, the mothers all looked around to make sure it was clear and everyone was safe, and they agreed to walk over to the church while they waited for police. April knew it was going to be a couple hours of filing a report that would have nothing come from it, but she knew it was all they could do. April held the boys hands tight and pulled them close to her as they made their way into the safety of the church.

The women and children gossiped lightly as the church aides called the authorities, and April sat stiffly with Kenji on one side and Asher on the other. They were both just as stiff. She tried to comfort them by putting an arm around each one and pulling them close. Everyone was sure it was one of the local gangs or even retaliation from another gang. April wasn't so sure, and neither were the boys.

She needed to make a decision. Did all of this mean it was time for them to go? What if she was overreacting and it had nothing to do with them? How could she rip them away from the safe, stability they had been creating? Except this wasn't so safe. She would never forgive herself if anything happened to them. She was exhausted just thinking about the weight of her decision, and nausea quickly set in. Whatever she decided, she didn't have long to decide.