Merry-Go-Round

I was really young when my dad left us. I don't even remember him. Two-Bit and Audrey do though. They took it really hard. They were real close to him. Two-Bit tried to find him once. He walked all around Tulsa looking for him, but never found him. He was six at the time and I was three.

After that, our mom started working two jobs and Two-Bit, Audrey and I spent more and more time at the Curtis's house. Mrs. Curtis was a stay-at-home mom and Mr. Curtis was like clock-work. Always coming and going to and from work at the same times each day. We could depend on them. They were always there for us. Of course mom is there for us too, but when she is, she's always exhausted and overworked. It's been hard for her.

Even after all these years, we're still having trouble getting on without him. My mom's still wishing he comes back. Two-Bit says he doesn't want him to return, but we all know that he does. I don't like talking about it, but deep down, I wish he'd show up on our doorstep.

A few years later, when I was seven, Audrey was nine and Two-Bit was ten, we got news that he had remarried. Along with our stepmother came two step-siblings, Michael, who is my age, and Lori, who is a year younger. We don't hear from them at all, and since we found out, we knew he wasn't coming back to us.

Maybe that's why mom let Freddy move in with us. She had been dating him of and on for the past couple of months, and she said that a second income could help us with the bills. Although I don't see how another mouth to feed is helping. About a week after he moved in he told mom that he lost his job and was now collecting unemployment. That's when the fighting started. 

At first they tried to hide it. Avoiding each other until they thought they were alone, then letting all hell break loose. It would wake me up at night, and I would hide in my closet waiting for them to stop. The first morning we woke up to mom hiding bruises, Two-Bit told me that if I ever heard them yelling I could run to his room, and to never be left alone with Freddy. 

It's ten years, and I spend more nights hiding in my brothers room than I do in my own bed, even though most nights he's not there. Two-Bit and Audrey learned to deal. They quickly learned that it's best not to be home. I, however, turned to myself. Nobody can hurt you if you don't let anybody in. Normally Two-Bit will get me to tag along with him to the Curtis house, but things are always rowdy there. 

Kit and the brothers are nice enough, especially Soda. He always talks to me when I go over. Pony and Johnny let me sit by them and listen to their conversations. Steve normally doesn't bother with me too much. The only time I mind going is when Dallas Winston is there. He scared me to hell.