Connections

The next few days pass in silence. I don’t get a call from Nathan, not that I was really expecting to. I did, however, get a call from the shitty business I was a secretary for, and they fired me despite me using my PTO days. I have a little money saved up, so I’ll be okay for a month or so until I can find another job.

I can’t stop thinking about Nathan at all. Despite him not reaching out to me, I can’t help but feel like he wants to. He’s just a kid. How do those people treat him? And what does he mean by he makes them money? What the fuck are they doing to my little brother?

In spite of all of my concerns and anxiety, I can’t help but chastise myself. I’m most likely over reacting. My brother is alive and well (I think) and has been for the last eight years of his life. If he was in danger wouldn’t I have seen bruises? Would I have even met him? The couple is probably very caring, just a little quirky. I can’t imagine what it would be like to raise a child. There’s no clear evidence that they’re hurting him, only my paranoia and his cryptic talk of making money.

Still, what the fuck does he mean by that? How does he make money for them? I really doubt that he’s going over there and wowing everybody with his cuteness. What could an eight year old even do?

Maybe he does chores for people. That’s not that bad. Maybe that’s all he meant, that Richard takes him to his friend’s houses so that Nathan can clean up living rooms or bathrooms and learn responsibility and earn some money.

I sigh. The thought is stupidly naive, but what else could it be? My heart feels heavy imagining the crazy things they could be doing to him, but still there’s no proof he’s being abused. There’s no way I could go to the police and go, “Hey, my dad told me I have a kid brother so I went to see him and his adoptive parents are weird, so, like, I want to take him.” They have full custody and, when I looked online, the only charge against Sloane was her having a misdemeanor (petty theft) when she was nineteen.

I finally convince myself that it isn’t worth sticking around. Obviously, Nathan is in capable hands with Sloane and Richard. Maybe one day he’ll call me, once he’s a little bit older, and we’ll sit down and talk and just hang out like siblings. Until then, I can only hope that will happen. I can’t just force my way into his life out of the blue. That’s not how life works.

Tonight will be my last night. I start packing the few articles of clothes I brought back into my bag and arrange my toiletries to be packed tomorrow morning when I’m done with them. After that, I pull my covers up to my neck and repeat in my head until I fall asleep, “Nathan will be fine. Nathan will be fine. Nathan will be fine.”




My phone startles me awake, the ringtone blaring from the nightstand. It can’t be nine in the morning already, can it? Rubbing my eyes, I reach for it and bring it to my face so I can see it. It’s an unknown number.

“Hello?” I ask, sleep in my voice.

“Is this Mina?”

Immediately, my brain wakes up. “Yeah. Nathan?”

“Yes, it’s me,” he says. I hear him sniffle.

Sitting up in bed, I ask, “Are you okay? What’s wrong?”

“Can you come get me? I’m in a park. I don’t know what it’s called,” he says, and I hear him crying now.

I instantly start looking for my shoes, not even bothering to change out of my shorts and tank top. “Yes, yes, Nathan, I’m coming. Do you know at all where you are?”

“No,” he sniffles. “I’m calling from a payphone and I’m about to run out of time.”

“Look around you. Do you see any stores or buildings or anything?” I run out the door and to my car, getting in and starting it.

It takes a long moment and a small hiccup before he says, “I see a McDonald’s down the street. Across from it is a gas station. I think it says Shell.”

“Okay, Nathan, listen to me. You stay near that payphone and you don’t move, okay? If you see someone weird, hide until they’re gone and then go back to the phone. I’m leaving right now, okay?”

“Okay,” he whimpers. “Bye.”

“Bye. Be safe, please,” I beg, but the phone dies mid-sentence due to his time running out. I look up directions to a Shell station, finding three in the vicinity but only one across the street from a McDonald’s and down the street from a park. I floor it, the phone telling me where to turn and how to get there quickly. I speed down the near-empty streets and blast through yellow lights, even going through a red one just as it turns. Nathan is waiting for me, he’s in trouble, he needs me, and I’m not going to let anything stop me from getting to him.

It takes roughly ten minutes with my crazy driving, but finally I get to the Shell station. I keep driving until I see the park, and then I drive around it until I can see the public bathroom with some lights illuminating it. Behind the bathrooms are a couple of payphones, and the second I see Nathan I stop my car and run out, not even shutting it off.

When Nathan spots me, he comes running with tears in his eyes. I crouch down the second I’m in front of him and hold him, and he instantly begins sobbing into my shoulder. I hold him tight, breathing hard as I let him cry.

“Are you okay?” I ask, though clearly he isn’t. “Are you hurt?”

He shakes his head, answering one or both of the questions and I can’t really tell. I pick him up and carry him to my car, and when I sit in the driver’s seat I scoot it back and lock the doors so I can hold him and wait until he calms down.

What happened to him? Why is he all alone at a park in the middle of the night? I want to ask him, but I don’t want to upset him more. Does this have something to do with Sloane and Richard, or did he just sneak out? Would he do that?

When Nathan calms down, he moves himself to the passenger seat and wipes his eyes. I reach into the glove compartment and give him a napkin so he can wipe his eyes and blow his nose.

I don’t want to upset him any further, but I have to ask. “Nathan, what happened?”

He sniffles again, and I can see his eyes are red and puffy. “I-I had to run away,” he says. “I had to run away from R-Richard and his friends. They were--” And with another sob he begins to curl up.

I lean over and hold him again, and he cries into his hands. My chest hurts, knowing now that my suspicions were correct. What did that fucker do to him? Where was Sloane? How could they do this to a little boy?

I tilt his chin up and wipe his eyes. “You’re okay now, Nathan, okay? I won’t let them hurt you again, I promise.” I brush his hair away from his face. His gray eyes are raging storms, clouded and dark. “I’m going to take you to my hotel room, okay? And we’ll leave and you’ll never have to see them again. Is that okay?”

He nods, sniffling. “Okay.”

I pull his seatbelt on and shift back to my seat, scooting it up again so I can reach the pedals. As I start driving, I keep glancing over at Nathan. He sniffles multiple times and rubs his eyes, and finally I can feel his eyes on me. It takes a minute before he asks, “Why didn’t you find me earlier?”

I swallow hard and look at him at a red light. “Honestly, Nathan, our dad kind of sucks. He didn’t even tell me you existed until three weeks ago.”

He continues to stare at me, but I turn my gaze so I can drive. Then he asks, “Is Sloane my real mom?”

I shake my head. “No. Your real mom sucks too. She gave you up, just like mine did.”

“So our mom isn’t the same mom?”

“No,” I reply, and I bite my lip. Looking at him again, I say, “Our family are kind of shitty people, if you don’t mind me saying. However, I’m never going to do anything like that to you. I’m not going to leave you like they did.” I look back to the road. “You’re my little brother. I can feel it in my heart, like there’s a little cord that’s connecting us. I’ve never felt that with anybody else before in my life. And there is nothing that you or anybody else can do to cut that cord, okay? You’re my brother.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I see him wiping his nose with the napkin. Slowly, he moves his hand towards mine in my lap, and I take his much smaller hand in mine and squeeze lightly. “Thank you for finding me,” he whispers.

I look at him and give him a small smile. “Thanks for letting me.”

The rest of the ride is silent, and when I get to my motel room I explain that we’ll leave first thing in the morning and that I live in Los Angeles, and when I tell him how far away that is he seems just a bit happy. It isn’t until we actually get into the room and I turn the lights on that my heart truly drops.

Nathan is covered in dirt and scrapes, but I can also see bruises on his arms and around his wrists. I kneel down to his level. “What happened, Nathan?”

He swallows hard and looks away, almost like he’s ashamed of it. “Richard and his friends,” he says, “they didn’t like me tonight.”

I have to stop myself from crying, because I’m sure that’s the last thing he needs to see right now. Instead, I say, “Let’s get you cleaned up, okay?”

He nods, and when he does I lead him to the small bathroom. I start running the bathtub, but when I start to help him undress he flinches away from me. I raise my hands to show I won’t hurt him and ask, “Do you want to do it yourself? You can, it’s okay.”

Nathan nods, but he stands there without doing anything. Instead he looks at the ground.

“Do you not want me to look?” I ask. “I’ll cover my eyes and won’t look if you promise to clean yourself up, okay?” I cover my eyes with my hands.

The sounds of him getting undressed fill the bathroom after a brief pause, and when everything’s off I hear him get into the tub behind me. I keep my eyes shut but reach for the tub, and when I find it I sit with my back to it so he knows I’m not looking but that I’m not going to leave him alone.

I open my eyes just to stare ahead of me as I hear the water behind me moving and the washcloth against his skin. What’s happened tonight is something I didn’t expect in a million years. I didn’t think I’d have to rescue my brother from people who abuse him. Hell, three weeks ago I didn’t even know I’d have a brother to rescue! But here I am, sitting in a motel in Roswell, New Mexico, waiting for my brother to get himself cleaned up.

How could this happen? I know there’s messed up people in this world, but who could do anything to such a young kid? I didn’t even know the full extent of it but it still made me nauseous. My brother couldn’t have done anything to deserve the life he’s been given. How in the world has all this happened?

And what am I going to do about this? I don’t even have a job anymore, and I’m going to take him to Los Angeles and take care of him? How long will it take before Sloan and Richard to notice he’s gone, if they haven’t already? They’re gonna’ look for him, if they have even a shred of decency in their body. Will they think about me and try to figure out where I live? I mean, why would they? I’m just some girl who showed up on their porch one day.

Still, how long would it take before they came to the conclusion that I must have something to do with it? Richard already seems like he knows, since he’s seen the similarities in us. It’s only a matter of time before they figure it out.

I suppose once I get to Los Angeles I could get an unlisted number and make sure my address isn’t public record. My lease is up in November, so I can move then to really throw them off. Can I maybe change how Nathan looks? The idea is almost silly, since he’s an eight year old, but until I can figure out how to legally take custody of him what else am I going to do?

“Mina?” His small voice breaks my concentration.

“Yes? What is it?” I ask, turning my head but not far enough to look at him.

“I need a towel,” he says.

“Oh of course.” Quickly I stand up and grab one from the shower rack, and I cover my eyes with my hand again as I walk back to the tub to hand it to him. When he steps out, I give him a few moments before looking through my fingertips to see if he’s wrapped himself up, which he has. I move behind him and unplug the tub so it’ll drain. Looking back at him, I say, “I don’t really have any kid-sized clothes.” I think for a moment before saying, “If you can wear your underwear for another day, I’ll lend you one of my shirts, though it’ll be kinda big on you, but you can sleep in that tonight and tomorrow we’ll stop somewhere to get you some clothes. Sound like a deal?”

He nods. “Can I get changed in here?” he asks.

“Yeah, of course, buddy,” I say. I walk out and rifle through my suitcase until I find an old black t-shirt of mine. There’s an old moth hole in it, and I use it to tear the fabric and make it much shorter than it was before. When I return to the bathroom his briefs are already on, and I hand him the t-shirt. When he pulls it on it comes down to just below his waist, almost covering his underwear completely.

I hold out my hand. “Let’s go to bed, okay? We’re gonna’ wake up early tomorrow morning and get out of here.”

He takes my hand and follows me to bed. I leave the bathroom light on so it isn’t so dark in the room and help him get into bed before getting in myself. I try to give him space so he doesn’t feel uncomfortable, but after a minute he scoots over and curls up to me.

Fighting back tears, I stroke his hair. “Goodnight, lovebug,” I murmur.

I feel the corner of his lips pull up slightly. “Goodnight, Mina,” he whispers, and within moments he’s asleep.



The next morning I wake him up at six o’clock, not having slept a wink, get him into his pants, and get him and my stuff to the car. I return the key to the desk, although nobody’s at it this early in the morning, and I start driving. Nathan passes out in the car, and I don’t wake him up until we get to Phoenix. We stop at a mall so I can get him some clothes and some food. I notice a little bruise under his eye, but it’s already healing. The marks on his arms and legs are fading too, and I thank my stars no one looks at him long enough to see them.

Once we’re gassed up and ready to go, I drive non-stop to Los Angeles, which gets us home around nine at night. He’s amazed by all the lights in the city and the tall buildings, and I’m just amazed that there’s a smile on his face when he sees them.

When we get to my apartment, I show him where the bed is and tell him I’ll try to find him a bed soon. I make him chocolate chip pancakes for dinner, since he’s never had them before, and after we eat we watch my favorite Disney movie “Hercules,” which happens to be his favorite too. He falls asleep in my lap, and I carry him to bed but don’t undress him so he won’t wake up upset. Finally, I let my body crash into the bed and rest for the first time in almost twenty-four hours, knowing that my little brother is safe.

Notes

Hot damn, already another update! *pats myself on the back*

Thank you guys for your positive comments! It really encourages and inspires me to keep writing (not to mention I have a killer plot for this story)!

And I know, you guys are probably like "What the fuck there isn't an Andy or an Ashley or a Jinxx or a Jake or a CC in this yet what even is this"

I promise that there will be all of these people in this story! I have an affinity for Andy, however, so just wait for that. And as some of my more loyal readers know, I tend to write some pretty smutty stuff. Maybe if you guys are good I'll get into that somewhere in this story, sound cool? :D

Anyway, thanks again for reading and please leave some feedback again. I really love hearing what you guys think and interacting with you!

Yours,
~Niki X,,,,,,x