I Made it Chapter 3

“First, allow me to introduce you to the house.” Jade pulls herself up into a hanging chair and pulls her long red hair, all to one side. “First, Marcus.”

The man from the bathroom stands. “Hi.” He nods and sits back down. Jade continues, “Marcus McWarren, we call him Shank. Shank is the muscle of the house. He has been with me the longest, eight years. He protects the house and everyone in it.” My eyes fall away as Shank flexes his muscles and smiles widely.

“Next, Penelope.” An overweight girl with bleach blonde hair stands. She pulls out a pretend dress and bends to curtsy. “Hello.” She says. She has a thick accent. I would assume she is from England. Both of her ears have earring all the way around the edges. “Penelope is our technology guru. If you have any issues with any technology, Penelope is your girl. Cell phones, ‘laptops, programs—there is nothing she can’t handle. She has been with me for three years.

“Thurston is the youngest of the house.” A teenage boy, no more than fourteen stands. He walks over and kisses the back of my hand. “So nice to meet you.” Thurston sits in the floor right by me. “Thurston came only a few months after Penelope. Thurston’s only responsibility is to go to school. Every person in the house protects Thurston and helps to look after him.”

“Shark…” Jade points to me, “…would you like to introduce yourself?” Shark stands, “I have been here for about two and half years. I rarely stay in the house but Jade knows where to find me when she needs me. I believe that’s about all she needs to know, for now.” Shark pulls himself up in his chair, so hard, the cushion hit the wall behind him and stayed in motion for several minutes.

Jade looks around the room, “Where is Baylee?” No one answers. Zoe glances at Jade, speaking without saying a word. Nodding she continues, “Casey is the chef of the house. You would have had the chance to eat her food this morning but she was getting groceries. Casey has been here for almost three years.” Casey looks at me, “Three years next week, actually.” Casey has long black hair, past her butt. Her eyes are a light green with the thickest black eye lashes I have ever seen. With a white shirt, and long summer skirt, she reminds me of school teacher. “You may as well leave now, you’re not cut out for this life.”

A couple of the people in the room snickers. “That’s the same thing we said about you.” Jacob walks into the living room and throws his book bag on the floor. Kissing Jade on the cheek, I notice her eyes change. She clears her throat and watches him walk up the stairs.

“Well, you know Jacob.” The natural, light pink color in her cheeks began to return to normal. “Gabe is next. He has been with us for three and half years.” Gabe stands, his blue eyes glowing. His smile has dimples showing on both sides of his face. His teeth are the whitest teeth I have ever seen, short of a toothpaste commercial. He isn’t anywhere near the size of Marcus, yet he is very muscular. “Nice to meet you.”

“Unfortunately, you will have to meet Rain and Amii later. Both are out right now.” Footsteps indicate Jacob is coming back to the living room, or at the least back down stairs.

“I don’t know why you put everyone through this before they make their mind. It would be much smarter to introduce them after you get them in.” Jacob never looks at me. Jade smiles wider than I have seen all day. “Oh, Jacob, give me a break. I have been doing this for a long time.”

“Doing what?” I ask, and every eye falls back to me.

“She speaks!” Gabe said, smiling.

“Each person in this house has a talent. Some of us have a show on the Square, scuba diving lessons by the reef…” Jade points to Shark. “…or painting master pieces by the shore.” Jade nods her head towards Casey. “Everyone in this house, minus me, has come from a corner of the Earth to start over. Everyone comes here either running away from something or someone—sometimes their selves.” Jade crosses the room and pulls the hair bow out of my hair. Leaning in closer, that only I can hear her, she says, “I know you are a master survivor. You are willing to do whatever necessary to survive.” Running her fingers through my hair, like she did on the marble map by the ocean, I couldn’t pull away this time. “We are a family. We work together to survive. We want you to join our family. Be a part of the house.”

Looking around the room at each person, I know there is something she is not telling me. This group of people, every one of them, is hiding something. I can feel it.

“I don’t think this is right for me. I appreciate you feeding me. The shower, the clothes, I hope to repay you somehow. But, I have to figure things out on my own. Thanks anyway.” Jumping from the swinging cushion, I throw my saddle bag to rest on my left hip instead of my lap.

“I really hate to hear it, Christian. I was really hoping to have you join our family. But, I hope we will continue to be friends.” Jade forces a smile, visibly frustrated, she walks up the stairs and I hear a door click shut.

“It was nice to meet you all.” I suddenly felt like an intruder. Quickly, I walk out of the house and down the steps. As bad as I want to look back, I refuse to. I hear the screen door slam and footsteps coming quickly behind me.

“So where do you plan on going?” Gabe keeps step with me as I keep walking. When I didn’t answer he keeps talking. “You know that a lot of our population is homeless? Take a second to look around.” He points to man holding a sign. It says: I’m not going to lie, I need money for beer. I slow my step. There is another man and a woman on the same block holding signs. “Jobs are rare. Most people get one and hold on to it forever. Even cleaning jobs are valued around here.” Before walking over another street, he grabs my hand, gently. “If you can’t find a job, you create one.”

“I can find a job.” I say, sounding more confident than I really am. “If I can’t. I can survive. Honestly, it would be nice to have people on your side. But, on the flip side of that, I don’t want to be responsible for twelve other people. I do well to take care of myself.”

“That’s not the reason you don’t want to stay.” Gabe smiles, the warmth of his hand reminds me he is still holding mine. “Is it?”

“What other reason is there?” I try to sound as crude as Casey when she told me to leave, basically. Gabe raises an eyebrow as I jerk my hand from him. “Okay, Christian, you go ahead and do your thing. If you need us, you know where we are. Stay away from the ship yards at night. The pier past the AIDs memorial is the safest place to sleep—you can’t fall in.” How did he know I slept on the concrete slab on Mallory Square? Or did he?

“Yeah, thanks.” I say before turning back toward the way I was going. I force myself to look forward, though I wanted to look back to Gabe.

“I have made it this far, I will make it.”