“I’m sorry for your loss,” he said gruffly, his own voice full of agony.
I remember wishing I could meet his gaze, even for one second, so he could know I heard him. I couldn’t though. I couldn’t let him see the emptiness in my eyes. I’d just lost the last person I had left in my life, and I couldn’t even cry for her. What did that say about me? I wondered. Instead, I sat staring at his shiny black shoes.
“Thanks,” I whispered. He sat there a little while longer, and then I saw his black shiny shoes get up and walk away.
A couple of days after the funeral, Phoebe drove me to Mrs. Parker’s house. That was the longest car trip of my life. I was headed to yet another unknown home. I felt like a bag of hand-me-downs being tossed from one home to the next. I saw a sign that read: “Welcome to Peoria” and I knew we were there. Phoebe pulled into the driveway of a large two-story home with a two-car garage. The neighboring houses all had the same look. They were brick with manicured topiaries, and I couldn’t help but wonder what a foster home would be doing in the middle of this neighborhood.
I was expecting an ugly gray house. That seemed more fitting. I hesitated for a while before I unbuckled my seat belt and stepped out of the car. I walked over to the trunk and waited for Phoebe to open it. Phoebe owned an old wooden-paneled station wagon—the ones that used to be popular in the late seventies or early eighties. I was pretty sure she got the car when it first came out. I was impatiently tapping my foot as I waited for her. She was a heavy-set white-haired woman and it took her an hour to walk from the driver’s seat to her trunk.
“Hey, you Blake?” a male voice asked behind me.
I tilted my head to one side and instantly got a crick in my neck. I cringed and began to massage it as I looked at the guy standing in front of me. He was probably about my age—thirteen—but much taller than me. He had dirty-blond hair and a lanky, long body. I craned my neck as best as I could to look into his hazel eyes. He reminded me of one of the kids that was in my class last year.
“Yeah, and you are?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. I wasn’t in the mood for small talk today. I just wanted to get in the house and lock myself in my new room.
“Aubry,” he said, extending his hand to me, so I could shake it. I looked at his long thin fingers for a beat before I slid my hand in his and shook once.
“You live here, too?” Screw it. Might as well be polite to the kid.
“Yeah, it’ll be three of us now,” he shrugged. He had really big shoulders, but they were hollow looking. It looked like Mrs. Parker didn’t feed the boy enough.
“Do you eat?” I asked, scrunching my eyebrows together and pursing my lips.
Aubry laughed, and when he did, the creases around his mouth showed. He looked like he laughed a lot. He was cute. He seemed genuine. I liked him. I’d become an expert at reading people. Well, at least I thought I had.
“I eat a lot. Momma says if it weren’t for my metabolism and swimming, I’d be a cow.”
I nodded my head and forced a polite smile.
“Mrs. Parker is your mom?” I asked confused. Phoebe told me that Mrs. Parker fostered kids, but I didn’t expect them to be that close to her.
“Yeah,” he replied, looking at me like I was an idiot.
“Cool,” I replied with a shrug.
Phoebe finally made it to the trunk and put her key in. As she greeted Aubry, I got my suitcases out and started lugging them toward the front door when Aubry stopped me and picked two up for me. Before we made it all the way to the door, another boy stepped outside, he was dark; his skin looked like smooth chocolate. He was tall—the same height as Aubry—but his build was muscular. He had big almond-shaped brown eyes, and his black hair was low on his head. He smiled brightly at me, and I was almost blinded by his perfect white teeth.
“Hey,” he said as he eyed me up and down and made his way outside. I replied by nodding. “I’m Greg.” He stood in front of me and grabbed the suitcase out of my hand.
“Thanks. Blake. Nice to meet you,” I replied. He waved off my thanks as no big deal and turned back to the house.
“So he’s the other guy?” I whispered to Aubry who was now walking next to me.
“Nah, he lives a couple of houses down,” Aubry stated. “He goes out with my cousin Becky, and she’s always here, so he’s always here. Cool dude.”
We headed inside and a round fair-skinned woman with short brown curly hair up to her shoulders walked toward us with a huge smile on her face. I let out a breath when her kind brown eyes found mine.
“Oh, aren’t you the prettiest little thing?” she cooed before wrapping her arms around me. “I’m sorry for your loss, honey. God has a plan for all of us. I’ll make sure you’re happy here.” She whispered the last part so that only I could hear. I wondered which loss she was sorry for. I wondered if she even knew about my many losses. I nodded against her shoulder but didn’t reply.
“Thank you, Mrs. Parker. I’ll be sure to stay out of your way. You won’t even know I’m here,” I said quietly once she let me go.
“Nonsense,” she said loudly. “You will do no such thing. You will bother me as much as you can, and you will call me Maggie. None of that Mrs. Parker thing around here.”
I gave her a small smile and looked around. The wooden stairs were to the right, directly in front of the front door. To the left, there was a sitting room with a large burgundy cloth couch and a white coffee table. Mrs. Parker laughed when she saw me crinkle my nose as I looked at the room.
“The couch is temporary. Cole opened up a bottle of pop on the white couch that was there two weeks ago and managed to stain everything. I had to get rid of it, but I didn’t want to leave it bare, so I made him and the boys bring up this couch from the basement. They had strict rules not to go near the sitting area with food or drinks, but Cole is a bit of a rule breaker. He’s grounded until Friday. No football, no girls, no video games. Since those are his three favorite things, he’s been suffering for two weeks. He’s probably moping around in his room doing homework right now. You’ll meet him at dinner time.” Maggie had a soothing voice, and even as she told me the story—which she was obviously upset about—she sounded as if she was talking to me about cute little puppies in a pet shop. I could tell that she truly loved these boys, and it made me feel warm inside. Maybe this place wouldn’t be so bad after all.
After giving me a tour of the downstairs area, Greg and Aubry helped me take my stuff upstairs and showed me to my room. Greg knocked on the first door to the right of the stairs.
“This is your room. Becky’s in there now cleaning it. She stays here when she comes over,” he explained.
A girl with a wide smile, fiery red hair, and bright blue eyes opened the door. I’d never seen anybody with such red hair before.
“Hi,” she cheered joyfully after looking at me up and down a few times. “I’m Becky—your best friend and sometimes roommate,” she said before pulling me in for a hug.
When she let go, I looked at her and crinkled my forehead. “What makes you think I want a best friend?” I asked curiously.
“Oh, I can tell. You need one. You’re wearing a sweater that’s two sizes too big for your body, you have on sweats, and your boots make you look like you’re going to work in construction. Trust me, you need me as a best friend,” Becky said matter-of-factly.