A dam breathed a sigh of relief as he ran down the steps to his school, it was the last day before the summer holidays began and he was feeling eternally grateful, "Thank god for summer" he said stretching his arms out by his sides as his sisters came to join him.
"But why? It only means the days get hotter." Caitlyn huffed her long sandy hair was pulled back into two pony tails hanging on either side of her face and they swung as she walked, her golden brown eyes seemed to be searching for more problems even as she spoke, "And longer."
Adam felt his spirits drop instantaneously "Trust you Caitlyn to make even the simplest thing such as summer seem depressing" he said nudging her slightly,
"Just saying" she shrugged "I mean I don't want to die of dehydration"
"Caitlyn, dehydration comes from not having enough water, not heat."
"Yes but the heat can make you get dehydrated quicker in summer."
"Not this heat." Adam blew out a puff of air then, feeling as though he couldn't take anymore of her nonsense he turned to Sharon "What about you Sharon? What are you doing this summer?" he added due to the perplexed look she was giving him
"I don't know Adam." she said her voice unusually high and cheerful "You know I have to work in the mornings, and then..." her voice trailed off and she shrugged.
Adam didn't push it, it took a miracle to get a full sentence out of Sharon and Adam wasn't bothered enough by what she was thinking to pray for one.
But Caitlyn was a different story, she was someone who loved the sound of her own voice but that didn't stop her from wanting to know everything about you and exactly what you are thinking when you are thinking it, "What's this?" she fumed exaggerating Sharon's shrug "What does this mean?" she did it again, Sharon laughed but didn't answer and, on further insistence from Caitlyn, she broke from the pack, walking a short distance behind and away from Caitlyn's constant badgering.
Sharon was sixteen with fire red hair, that reached up to her waist if you stretched all the curls out, and green eyes that sparkled like emeralds in the sun, as the eldest of the McCarthy kids she'd had to start work a few months back after her mother, Carol, had fallen ill, she worked with her father, Liam, selling his hand made toys at the local toy shop, they didn't have a ton of money but they got by on what they had, and they were happy, or most of them at least, she thought as she watched her brother and sister at a safe distance from behind. Caitlyn seemed to be doing most of the talking as usual, and she was sure that Adam was listening, although he was hiding it well, if it wasn't for a few misplaced chuckles and the occasional eye roll, he probably would have fooled her, he didn't really seem to be paying Caitlyn as much attention as he was the things around him, in the short distance from their school to their home, he had marvelled at the sun in the sky, stopped to get a better look at some of the nicer cars, and bent down to pet the stray cat dandelion, when they reached the Donato's store they both stopped and looked back to make sure she was keeping up, with Caitlyn still in full flow, Adam continued admiring the creation around him.
Sharon neared she noticed the shop owner's daughter, Esperanza Donato, watching them from inside, and when Adam walked over to pick some of Mrs Donato's big red roses, as he did every Saturday, she gasped and stormed out towards them.
"Hey! What are you doing? Leave them alone."
"They're for my mum" Adam answered without looking up
"So what?" she called back stomping her foot, she seemed to be growing more and more irritated with each word "If she wanted flowers she should have grown her own..." and Sharon was sure she would have continued if Caitlyn hadn't cut her off
"Hey! Stop that!" she called but before she could start in on whatever speech she was about to give, Mr Donato came out grabbing Esperanza by her arm and dragging her inside to one of the aisles, he pushed a carton of milk into one of her hands and the pricing stickers in the other and left her to do the rest returning to stand by the door
"Tell your father I said 'hi'!" he called to Sharon as she led both Adam and Caitlyn down the road towards their home.
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Carol gasped when she saw the bundle of a dozen roses Adam was giving her "They're beautiful." she choked
"I got them from Donato's" he smiled
"Of course you did" she said ruffling his hair "I just wish I had a pretty vase to put them in" she said laying them down on the kitchen table.
"But you do." he replied confused, Carol just shook her head and walked over to the cupboard at the back of the room, which served as both their kitchen and their front room, she took a jug from the cupboard and went to the sink to fill it with water for the roses.
Adam felt sad as he watched her, in the far corner of her room, surrounded by books arranged like a barricade to protect it from harm, sat a very pretty crystal vase, Sharon said that it was the only thing their mother had inherited from her mother after she had died, Carol never used the vase because she was afraid it would get broken and Adam wished they had the money to buy her another one.
Carol returned with the water just as Caitlyn entered the room, little Kai in her arms. He had been lying on her shoulder when they'd come in but he jumped down at the sight of his brother "Adam" he called running towards him,
"Hey Tiny" Adam smiled tapping his little brother on the head, Tiny was a nickname Liam had given him when he was born but the name stuck, and was still appropriate, Kai was only five but still small for his age and people often mistook him for being a lot younger, he had the same dark hair as Adam and his father, but rather than the emerald green that Liam and Sharon shared, Kai's eyes were the same golden brown as Adam and Caitlyn's, a trait they got from their mother, Carol.
"Are you busy now?" he asked climbing up on to a chair so that he could be at eye level with his brother "Can you help me with my puzzle now?" he asked after receiving a negative response
"Sure bring it then" Adam smiled sitting down in the chair beside his brother,
"Nope, he came prepared." Caitlyn chirped placing a half done jigsaw on the table in front of him, the pieces were glued down to a wooden board, next to it she placed a box of the remaining pieces, and a glue stick, the puzzle was a gift from their father it usually took a few days to finish one, so Liam made them every week, on Sunday, he always made two, one for Sharon and Caitlyn, one for Adam and Kai.
It was Adam who first came up with the idea, he would arrange the pieces on a wooden board and glue them down then he would hang them up on the wall, after he had done the first one, it quickly caught on when there was no space left on the inside walls they began hanging them on the walls outside, the walls of their home, their school building, the local toy shop, the Donato's store, and a few other homes and shops of their friends and neighbours, it had become a town tradition.
It was a little later that Sharon returned home, shortly followed by their father Liam, as soon as he walked in Caitlyn jumped out of her seat and ran towards him which was only a few steps since the room was quite small, Adam put the few remaining jigsaw pieces back into the box before going over to greet his father.
"Have you kids been behaving yourselves?"
"Yes daddy!" they chorused
"Good" he smiled walking over to the sink to wash his hands before going to sit by Carol at the table Caitlyn sat opposite them with Kai beside her, before Adam could join them the door knocked again.
"Hello?" it came out more as a question than a greeting, the woman at the door was a complete stranger to him, he'd never seen her before and he was sure she didn't live in the area "Can I help you?"
"Hi" she responded with a forced smile "My name is Sally Turner." she answered "There's no need to worry, I'm here to see your mother." confused Adam turned to get her but she was already standing behind him,
"Don't worry Adam, I'll take it from here." she smiled placing her hand on his shoulder, Adam glanced quickly at Sally Turner and she smiled back at him, although Adam could tell it was forced, and somehow that made him worry more, quietly he went back to sit at the table while Carol took Sally over to the sofa.
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Adam watched the woman carefully, she was sitting opposite his mother and they seemed to be talking about something quite important, although he couldn't hear what they were saying. He didn't know what to think the woman seemed kind, but he had a strong feeling that she shouldn't be trusted.
It was Adam who had opened to the door to her, "There's no need to worry," she'd said, but Adam hadn't liked that, it seemed to him that the only time adults said not to worry was when that was exactly what you should be doing. So he sat there at the kitchen table silently worrying as the rest of his family buzzed with life around him.
Sharon stood behind him humming gently to herself as she tried to make a meal out of the meagre bits of food they possessed with little help from Caitlyn, Liam was kneeling on the floor doing his best to mend a broken chair leg with small scraps of wood, and little Kai was just beside him carving little stick – figures into the kitchen table with a knife, the closest he ever got to drawing a picture.
"Look Adam, look" he shouted, pulling on his brother's sleeve and gesturing wildly to whatever it was that he'd just drawn, it seemed to Adam to be nothing but a but bunch of lines but he smiled nonetheless
"It's good" he said patting Kai on the back "Very good" Kai gave him a curious look as if he knew that Adam didn't mean it, but rather than question him as Adam had expected him to do, he silently turned back to the table and continued carving.
"This is the best I could do with what we have" Sharon shouted suddenly making everyone jump "Or had really." She laughed softly to herself, and taking the knife out of Kai's hand she picked him off of Caitlyn's lap and sat him in a chair beside her instead.
"There's no need to shout Sharon" Liam said in his thick Irish accent, then in answer to her statement he added "and don't worry, we'll eat it whatever it is."
There it was again Adam thought 'Don't worry' why did everyone seem to be saying that today he felt his stomach tighten and all the hunger that he'd been feeling over the past few hours had left him, he no longer wanted to eat anything. Adam looked into the pot that Sharon had just put on the table but that did nothing to help his appetite, it seemed to be a soup of some sort, but it didn't look very nice and he had no idea what was in it, 'Well it smells promising' Adam thought smiling sarcastically as Sharon ladled some into his bowl, for the first time in his life Adam was grateful that there wasn't much of it, he didn't want to hurt Sharon by not eating it so he took a spoon, it didn't taste as bad as it looked he thought taking another spoon.
The voices of the women started to grow louder and Adam looked up to see Carol was leading Sally towards the table, his heartbeat quickened and he struggled to swallow, he had just about succeeded in forcing himself when they reached.
Sharon tapped his back and smiled "Alright?" she whispered, Adam nodded "I know it's not as good as Mama's cooking but it's not that bad is it?" she didn't look hurt as she said this but Adam could tell she was, she was just very good at hiding it, and the realisation made him feel worse
"Oh no, no it's not that" he said quickly "it's actually very good"
Sharon shook her head and turned to Carol who began introducing them to the stranger "Right," she said once Carol had finished talking "and it's just the boys I'll be taking?" Adam dropped his spoon back into his bowl and he felt Sharon's hand tighten around his, he stared at his mother who stared back at him, tears glistened in her eyes as she nodded looking down at her hands
"Yes"
Adam stared "What" he whispered as Sharon gasped beside him
Carol shook her head "It's only temporary Adam" she said
"Ok" exhaled Sally scribbling something down on her notepad, then looking up she continued talking but Adam could no longer hear what she was saying nor did he want to, very slowly he got up from his chair and walked out of the kitchen, he could vaguely hear his mother calling for him but he didn't stop, tears welled up in his eyes and the world around him had started to spin and, somehow, among the blur he managed to find the room he shared with the rest of his siblings, shutting the door he crawled onto his mattress and rolled himself up into the thin sheet that served as his blanket, he lay awake for what seemed like hours trying to remember what he'd done wrong, why was he being sent away, no one had come to get him since Sally had left the house so Adam had the room to himself for the first time in a his life.
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The tears in Adam's eyes had dried up but his vision was still a bit blurred apart from his father's watch they had no clocks anywhere in the house so Adam had no way of knowing how long he'd been wrapped up in the room, but he knew that he'd have to face his family eventually so he decided it was probably best that he just get it over and done with.
Slowly and with much effort Adam managed to unwrap himself from the sheet and push himself off the floor, through the hazy mist of his gaze he made out the bedroom door and began weakly walking towards it, as soon as he entered the kitchen every one tuned to look at him
"Hey" said Sharon "you alright?" Adam just shrugged and took a seat opposite her
Carol smiled "Do you want to finish your food" Adam gave her a quick glance then turned back to his sister he wasn't accustomed to being rude to his mother but he couldn't help it he was feeling unusually hostile towards both of his parents and it was hardly his fault they were trying to get rid of him, and for no reason he could remember, Adam looked at Kai who was sitting on Caitlyn's lap, he was resting his head on her chest and using his fingers to comb through her sand brown curls.
"Why?" Adam asked turning to face his mother at last
"Darling" Carol said shifting in her seat "I think you should eat something" her voice was soft as always but Adam refused to be deterred, he dismissed the bowl she'd placed in front of him and turned to his father instead and repeated his question
"Why?"
Liam looked down at his hands and for a moment it seemed he wasn't going to answer but then he sighed and glancing quickly at Carol said "I'm sorry Adam, I really didn't want to do this." He shook his head "I still don't, but"
Adam slumped back in his seat 'what did that mean' "But why?" his voice was pleading now, the back of his eyelids began to sting and Adam found he was fighting back the tears once more, he mentally scolded himself for being so weak,
This time it was Carol who spoke "Because we don't have the provisions to look after you any more" Adam stared at her "and the couple that are taking you," her voice began to break "they do, Ok?" her eyes watered and she started to cry
"But I don't understand, we're fine, we've always been fine"
Carol nodded "I know but, it's not good" she said "I mean look at this" she gestured towards the table and Kai's stick – figures "And this" this time she gestured around the whole room "I can't do this anymore, I can't let you live like this" with every sentence her voice seemed to be rising steadily "or Kai, you both deserve better your only kids and I can't" she paused taking a deep breath and continued in much calmer manner "we, can't afford to give you that"
Adam looked over at Kai once more, Kai had fallen asleep on Caitlyn's lap, a thought came to him suddenly and turning back to his mother he asked, "What about the girls?"
Liam shook his head, "Sharon's too old to be accepted in to foster care now, and we didn't like the idea of sending Caitlyn alone."
"Foster care?" Adam repeated, though he wasn't sure why "but you're sending me alone" as he said this Adam felt his tears break free
Carol took a deep breath, but it was Sharon who answered him "No they're not you'll be with Kai" she said "so look after him understand" Adam felt his tears dry at the tone of her voice and he nodded quickly, Sharon rarely spoke in such a harsh voice and when she did it was usually for a good reason, so Adam was confused as to why she was talking to him like that then, after he nodded she seemed to relax a little, she gave him a slow gentle smile then added "and when the time is right, we'll come back for you, Ok?"
Adam shook his head in a futile attempt to put his mind in order, and before anyone could say another word there was a bang on the front – door "I'll get it" Liam said pushing his chair back, Adam guessed who it was and was grateful, a moment later Landon walked in smiling and looking quite happy with himself, Liam followed a little way behind him looking less pleased, Adam was relieved to see him as it meant that the family circle would break up and he would no longer have to listen to this suffocating conversation, and as he had predicted it did, Caitlyn took Kai to his bed while Sharon began to wash the dishes and Carol continued with the work she was doing before Adam had come in, all the while listening to Landon who was excitedly narrating to them about all the things he'd seen in the city where he worked.
Landon was their lodger, he slept in a room in the attic and spent most of his days outdoors, no one really knew why but Liam never liked Landon, although as he was their main source of income there was no choice but to put up with him, Adam would usually side with his father against Landon but today he was quite relieved to see him, Carol too was pleased but for a very different reason, his rent was due, and if she could get it tonight then she could go shopping in the morning before the kids woke and that way she would be able to cook a nice breakfast for them, and perhaps she could get something special for the boys before they had to go
Adam closed his eyes tightly and sat back in his chair as Landon's voice grew distant "Adam, Adam are you alright?" he opened his eyes to see Sharon's green ones staring back at him, he would miss her the most he knew that, he never got on with Caitlyn, they were always arguing, and as Kai would be going with him there wouldn't be any reason to miss him, he loved his parents but he was too upset to think about them, Sharon smiled "Are you good?"
Adam nodded slightly then turned to his mother who was holding out his bowl of food "Here" she said "I warmed it up for you, eat it, then go to bed" Adam shook his head
"I don't want it" he said, his stomach was doing some sort of weird trapeze dance and his head was still swimming with the things he'd just heard, not wanting to upset his mother any more he smiled and kissed her on her cheek saying "Goodnight mama" then he walked over to his father and did the same thing before shouting a general 'goodnight' to everyone else and going to his room, he crawled into bed next to his brother, and as soon as his head hit the thin mattress he fell fast asleep.
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Carol grinned to herself as she thought of the things she could get once Landon paid his rent, it wasn't much but she knew how to budget well so she'd have enough left over to buy both boys a little gift, she doubted that she wasn't going to get anything for the girls, they wouldn't need it since they would be staying, Caitlyn wouldn't like that, she knew Sharon wouldn't mind, but Caitlyn would, she'd think it unfair, Carol sighed, why did Caitlyn have to be like that, well Adam would have his gift regardless of what she thought, and he'd get a party too, with that set firmly in her mind she began to prepare a list of the things she would need to get on a scrap of paper.
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Sharon stared into the darkness around her, her pillow was still wet but she didn't care, she was going to lose Adam and that was all she could think of, Kai would be going with him, and then she'd be stuck with Caitlyn, all on her own, and with no Adam to cheer her up. The thought made her cry again, she hoped in the absence of the boys, that Caitlyn would find it in her heart to be a bit nicer, but she doubted that Caitlyn would ever know kindness, eventually the gentle breathing of her brothers and sister lulled her to sleep but it wasn't a happy sleep, far from that.
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