Chapter 30-3 Roses Book 2

Chapter 30-3

Roses

Part 4

We simply waited for my father to leave by a police escort. Mom didn't bother asking them where they were taking my father. She was more concerned about me and Aaron. I was already breathing hard after seeing him, but I kept repeating my safe words and remained as calm as I could watching him and the car. They put him in and disappeared down the road. When he was gone, we were allowed back into the house. My sisters were sobbing and cursing my mother and me for allowing them to take their father away. I could only imagine the gossip that was spreading.

Even though my foster parents had already seen that I was unharmed, my caseworker demanded it, or she was going to bring my mother up on charges and terminate the home visit. Personally, I could see why she was worried, considering the possibility that my mother could have easily drugged me and Aaron with the tranquilizer she had in her purse, and killed us long before we would have woken up.

Aaron and I were still shirtless and barefoot, but it didn't seem to matter. She wanted to see every inch of me before she and Officer Kenly would be satisfied. What could I do but oblige her? She included Aaron and my sisters. I for one was quite relieved that she didn't do us all at once, and even more grateful for not seeing my sisters naked.

Since we were boys, she simply did me and Aaron together. I could see the blush on Aaron's cheeks when he removed his boxers. I told him it was no big deal and there was nothing to be ashamed of. I held his hand as they inspected us. I could see the tears running down his cheeks.

I knew how he felt remembering my first time. It was a completely different feelings having your mother undress you. Then having people you don't know seeing you this way and having them place their hands on your body while they searched every part of it for anything that looked that wasn't supposed to be there. Like me, my first time seemed to last forever, and I hated the feeling of their eyes and fingers touching me. Aaron tried to cover up, but Mom and I told him everything was alright, just pretending that it was her touching him.

When they were done, I hugged him close, letting him cry against me. Mom ran him and me a bath, hoping to relax him. I could hear my sisters crying in the next room going through the same thing for me and Aaron went through. I hated knowing that Officer Kenly was in there, but there was very little I could do to stop it. He and my caseworker were only doing their job. I knew Mom, and he wouldn't harm them. My main job was Aaron, and that mattered more to me than anything else in the world. It was also the longest bath we had ever had together since we were toddlers.

Mom came in after my caseworker and Officer Kenly left. Aaron had fallen asleep in my arms while I lay there in the most uncomfortable position. I hated to wake him, but my legs were cramping. When I moved, he clung to me tighter. He screamed when Mom tried prying him out from me, thinking he was being torn away from me in the boiler room. Mom stopped, and he stopped screaming. I carefully picked him up in my arms and carried him to my room. He was very light, but being wet made it difficult, having to stop several times to re-position him. I laid him on the bed and dried him off. Mom helped me with his boxers.

He screamed the second I let go, clinging to me even tighter, having me climb into bed with him before he would let go enough for me to make myself comfortable. I rested his head on my chest and put my arms around his shoulders. Mom simply tucked us in and closed the door. It was almost two hours before the phone rang. When I looked at the clock on my dresser, it was eleven thirty. I knew who it was before Mom came to get me. By then Aaron was out like a light, giving me the chance to slip out of bed and into my boxers. I tipped toed out of the room and quickly spoke to an angry grandmother.

Aaron screamed, finding me gone ran down the hall like a madman. When he saw me, he cried even harder. I hugged him tightly to me, telling Grandma good night, and hung up the phone after relieving her fears. Mom had my pills and my tonic ready and was about to give them to me before the phone rang. I simply drank them down and walked back to bed with my brother, telling my mother goodnight, reminding her it was going to be a big day.

Once again, I rose early, something I normally did anyway. The only difference is I wasn't fighting anyone over the shower in the Rothwell home. Instead, I worked on my homework and once again woke my mother up while I typed away at my assignments. Mom let my brother sleep in and started breakfast, asking me what I would like. I told her I was in the mood for French toast and scrambled eggs and crispy bacon, even though they were a little burnt.

I ate them with a smile and saved some for my little brother, watching him polishing them off. My sisters simply had cold cereal and rushed off to school. Mom called the school, telling them Aaron still was down with the flu. Sometimes schools can be so stupid and simply believe the lie. Mom wasn't concerned that Aaron was falling behind just simply said she would pick up his homework. Like her, she wanted him to spend as much time with me as she could.

Before my sisters left, she told them they could spend the afternoon with my father. Instead of going with us, I had never seen my sisters so happy. Personally, I rather be fed to a whole pack of zombies than spend one second with my father. But I also knew my father would never harm them. It was me and my brother who he hated, and right now Mom was on his hit list.

I didn't bother getting dressed until Officer Kenly arrived precisely at nine o'clock on the dot. Unlike last night, he didn't require a strip search, all he did was he had me turn around and check the box on the wall counting the tranquilizer. Mom had forgotten the one in her purse. When he said one was missing, he gave her a hard time telling her my father or my sisters, or my brother could have taken it. He got the effect he wanted. Mom told him she would be more careful in the future.

When he was done, we were ready to go. Today was a big day and most of it would be spent out of the house. Mom grabbed her shopping list for groceries, while I grabbed my backpack with my completed homework and my music, and my gym bag with mine and Aaron's swimsuit inside. I missed not having my watch on my wrist, but it would be at least another week or two before my new one would arrive.

We had allowed two hours for me to practice the piano and a quick shopping trip to the grocery store. Mom made a note and underlined it to stop at the drugstore for my medicine. Told Officer Kenly that we would try to be back by six p.m. If not, we would call him to let him know we were delayed. To prevent another scene like last night and that she had allowed my sisters to spend the afternoon with my father after school. When we had everything, we needed Mom locked the house, having to go back inside for my tranquilizer, and quickly slipped it into her purse.

It wasn't a long drive to the church house. My father had just arrived from wherever he was staying at, and he growled angrily seeing us. Mom had Officer Kenly and his partner walk me inside so she could deal privately with my father. I heard a loud crack, seeing my father slap her across the face. I cringed hearing it again. Officer Kenly quickly came to her rescue when he did it again, stepping in front of them.

Mom held her ground. There wasn't a thing I could do about it, well besides killing him or busting him up real bad. Mom had made no promises when it came to him or my sisters or even my brother. But Officer Kenly told him either he goes away quietly, or he would be more than happy to take him in. I had lost count of how many times my foster Dad had slapped my foster mother. It didn't happen often, but it did happen.

Mom yelled at him, telling him he got off lucky and could be still in jail if it wasn't for her. She didn't say that he was because they had nothing to hold him on. Officer Kenly certainly didn't correct her. Mom calmed down, telling him she had decided to let him spend time with his daughters and wanted them returned to her in a pristine condition no later than seven p.m. We all knew he would never harm them, but Mom threatened him and Officer Kenly stating if he did, he had a jail cell with his name on it.

Mom said if he was a good boy and stayed out of trouble, she would allow him the same privilege tomorrow. Pinching his cheeks like a little boy, then he quickly slapped him said. "Don't you ever touch me again or my sons or I will see you rot in prison," quickly left him. My father lunged for her, but Officer Kenly pushed him away like he was nothing but an insect that he could crush under his boot. My brother and I had witnessed the entire scene since the doors were locked and Officer Kenly had the only key. Besides the other custodians and the Bishop, most of all my father, one of the main reasons why he was able to hold a part-time job working six days a week at the church house and the school three days a week.

Like the day before, I worked on my pieces for an hour and a half. My only audience consisted of my mother, my brother, and the two officers sitting in the front row on the opposite sides to prevent anyone coming close to me that wasn't in my circle of trust. I had finished early so Mom would have plenty of time to stop at the drugstore and stop at school for Aaron's homework, and still have plenty of time to do some grocery shopping, plus have time to return home to put it all away.

We had arrived early after a quick lunch at McDonald's as promised. Mom took her seat with Aaron next to her, taking the best seats in the house, and had her camera ready. Aaron looked hungrily at the pool had already stripped down to his swimsuit before Mom could stop him, she simply folded his clothes next to her, setting his shoes and socks on top of them, he was disappointed that he couldn't go down with me. I gave him a quick hug, telling him after I won the race, we would have plenty of time to swim afterward.

I could see tears in his eyes and gave him the best promise I could give him. The Rothwells soon joined my mother as I waved to them from below. Shane had arrived with Jody bearing the gifts I had Shane purchase before the meet. Both my mothers were shocked as they were handed a white box with a dozen long-stem roses and a nice card from me. Both of them were crying as they hugged them close to their chest as if they were gold. I smiled and waved at them and sat with my team as the others started to arrive.

Shane handed Dad a nice watch that had been engraved, telling him how much I loved him, which said: "To Dad, one of the best fathers a boy could wish for, from your son Eric." I could see him wiping his eyes when he looked down at me, giving me the go-ahead to kick some butt. I had never felt prouder having all of them in my cheering section. Win or lose I knew they would be proud of me, and that's what mattered most.

I felt great and ready as I limbered up and stretched with my team. It was a mess of bodies when you looked around the pool. All the lines stretched back and forth against the length of the pool. The clock blinked as they set each team into positions. The horn sounded once, with the announcer introducing each of the teams as they prepared to race. As always, I was on pins and needles until it was our turn. Today I would be competing for the best time and against my component. I slowly took my spot, relaxed my body, and waited for the horn. I took deep relaxing breaths and bent my legs touched my toes and sprang forward the second the horn sounded.

Back and forth I kicked my legs and feet. My arms slipped through the water like glass, gaining momentum. Each stroke was timed in rhythm, pushing me forward. I touched the side and flipped, pushing my feet against the sides and kept at an even pace. I could hear the crowd as they cheered for me. It was exhilarating. I made the last turn and put everything I got into it pushing myself even harder.

One breath, two kicks, left, right, left, left, moving my shoulders into a fast rhythm, taking a short breath pushing myself across the length of the pool. I could see my competition gaining speed, almost neck and neck. I pushed harder gaining more speed and slapping the pool just seconds before him. My breath was hard and labored, watching one by one as each one finished the race. I knew it was a close call, watching my name flash in a blink of an eye.

The crowd cheered all around me. I could see my coach smiling as she helped me out of the pool, wrapping a towel around my shoulders. My body shook as I waited for the score, my breath holding, then I saw my name flashing next to it. I could feel my team jumping around me, hugging me as the announcer announced that I had come in first place. The crowd roared. My cheering section was on their feet, and I could hear Shane whistling above me. I was taken aback at seeing my mother standing at the rail prouder than any mother had a right to be. I wanted to cry; I wanted to laugh, and all I could do was sit there stunned. I had worked hard for this moment and didn't think for one second I would have won. I had come in third and fourth many times, but to come in first place was a new experience. I sat there absolutely wondering how to feel, but most of all I felt drained.

After the races came the quiet and the well-wishers, but the competition wasn't over, watching them move the lanes as they set up the diving arena. I was good, but it wasn't my best thing. Racing was my thing. I had the legs and the arms for it, but being small made me work harder. Even though I was scrawny, but again that's what made people underestimate me. Dad, Shane, and I had worked on building my muscle tone. I didn't have muscles like a bodybuilder, but I had the heart.

I had learned not to drink a lot of water after a race, because it caused me to cramp. Instead, I would wash my mouth out several times and spit it out into another cup with my name on it, one green and one red, so I would know which one to use. Trust me you don't want to make that mistake. It tastes nasty after sitting there fermenting with germs that would make you want to puke after looking at them under a microscope.

I waited my turn like everyone else sitting on the side of the pool. I had long dawned my robe with my team name stitched across the back and my name on the front in small letters. It gets cold quickly after a race, having spent so much energy and needing enough to keep you warm. People may laugh, but if you never swim a race and waited in a wet bathing suit. I tell you it gets quite cold.

There were sixteen members in my team and just as many in the others. It's not as exciting as the race for the quickest time. The diving takes longer as each member of each team competing slowly climbs the high dive. Reaching the top in complete silence as the crowd waits to hold its breath, you're allowed five minutes at the edge of the diving board. It seems shorter when it's your turn.

I could feel every muscle as I climbed the stairs. Slowly taking a deep breath, in my mind I could see each rotation before I hit the water. My mind screams cannonball, as my toes hang at the edge. I needed the right amount of height as I sprung once, twice, lifting myself into the air quickly without a thought. Twisting and turning as I somersault with a corkscrew rotation, ending in a jackknife straight into the pool. The crowd was silent as they watched and waited as I came up for air, cheering.

I wait to watch the score. A 9, a 10, an 8.5, and the final score of an eight. For me, it was my best score, but it didn't win a single award. Mom and Dad would still be proud, and that's what mattered most. Hearing them cheer the loudest. Again, I felt drained, but I also felt I had done my best. My coach placed my robe around me, telling me how proud she was. Not once has she been disappointed in any of us.

The waiting is a nightmare as each team member waits on the sides as they calculate the totals. I am not surprised that I had come in tenth place only earning a ribbon; I had many of those. Mom and Dad were just as proud and would show them off for months and weeks at a time. It was the trophy that made my day as everyone cheered as I stood on top of the platform to show the world my greatest accomplishment.