He didn’t answer my question.
**
Welcome to Wellston.The hidden gem of West Virginia.
I gripped the steering wheel so tightly that my knuckles turned white. My car slowed down to a near stop as I drove down the main street through the town. I couldn’t quite let myself look around. I wasn’t prepared to see all the ways that it had or hadn’t changed in the three years since I had left.
These streets were paved with my pain and regret. But it was here, among the ugly reality that I had inexplicably found my heart. My soul.
My everything.
Maybe that would be enough.
Memories flashed unbidden through my head even as I tried to murder them before they could take root.
Memories that had nothing to do with Flynn.
Nothing to do with the future I hoped to have.
They had to do with other things. Things I had tried really hard not to remember.
“You get out of here in three weeks. Whatcha gonna do?” Dania asked, sitting on the other side of the table as she had done every weekend since I had been remanded into state custody.
There were a lot of things I thought about while locked up in Spadardo’s Juvenile Detention Center. Getting out was at the top of the list. But I had no idea where I was going to go or what I would do once I left. I would be eighteen. Having aged out of the foster system and without any money to my name, homelessness seemed the only viable option.
So Dania’s question made me angry and defensive in an effort to cover up the simmering freak out I experienced whenever I thought about life on the outside.
“I don’t fucking know. What the hell does it matter?” I snapped, tugging on a piece of hair that fell from my ponytail. I ran my finger along the puckered scar along my hairline. I had found myself on the wrong side of a fork my first week there. Some bitch had wanted my brownie and I hadn’t wanted to give it to her.
My raised voice caught the attention of the COs on duty. I sat up in my chair and tried to relax.
Dania frowned, never the one to take my verbal bullshit. “Well, do you have any money? Do you have a place to go?” she demanded, crossing her arms over her chest.
I didn’t really understand why Dania continued to come out to see me every weekend. It wasn’t for my winning personality, that’s for sure. We had been close only because we had to be. Living with our foster dad, Mr. Beretti, required strength in numbers.
But now that we didn’t have that one very important element of connection, I hadn’t expected our friendship to continue.
Particularly not after everything that had gone down before I came here.
But I appreciated Dania’s visits. Though I’d never tell her that. We weren’t the sort to share our feelings.
I chewed on my bottom lip and looked around the cramped visiting room. Most of the other kids were being visited by family. Mothers and fathers. Brothers and sisters. The stupid bastards had no idea how lucky they were.
“I don’t know. I figured I find something,” I answered belligerently, not letting on to my complete lack of planning.
Dania snorted. “Are you planning to camp out in the park you dumb ass?” she scoffed and I found myself clenching my hands into fists. Her dismissal irritated me.
“I guess I’ll just dip into my trust fund early,” I sneered.
Dania rolled her eyes and popped her bubblegum noisily. “Yeah, well if that doesn’t pan out, you could always come and stay with me for a while,” she offered, smoothing her long, dark hair away from her face.
I blinked at her in surprise. Was she serious?
“I’m not going back to that place,” I replied tersely. There was no way in hell I’d ever step foot in Mr. and Mrs. Beretti’s house ever again. I’d rather chew off my own arm.
“Psh. I moved out of the pedo palace two months ago when I turned eighteen. My social worker helped me find a place in town. It’s only a one bedroom but at least I don’t have to lock the bathroom door when I take a fucking shower.” Dania popped her gum again. “You can crash on the couch until you find your own place.”
I opened my mouth but no words came out. The last thing I ever expected was for Dania to offer to help me in anyway. Dania Blevins was a selfish person. She used and abused others without thinking twice. Just before the fire at the Hendrick’s house I had been slowly and carefully separating myself from Dania and the rest of our group.
