SONS of DON

by Brenda L. Harper

  But even that wasn’t the worst situation. She would have been okay if she’d stayed there until she aged out of the system. It sure beat the Tomlinsons. The memories of that place still made her shudder.

  She was twelve when she went to live with them. It seemed wonderful at first, a young professional with a kind, compassionate wife. They had no children of their own and had decided to take in foster children while they considered adoption. They were licensed for three kids, but Gwen was their first.

  What a nightmare it turned into.

  The wife, she soon discovered, was addicted to prescription pain killers. It was only with a handful of pills that she could function. The addition of a glass of wine—or a bottle—brought out the compassion. The husband, on the other hand, had a thing for little girls. The younger, the better. Gwen made the mistake of walking into his study late one night, quite by accident. She had been looking for the bathroom, which was right next to his study, and picked the wrong door. He was sitting behind his desk, watching videos on his computer. He invited her to watch with him. What she saw—

  She still had nightmares. It took a while to convince Paul something wasn’t right in that house. She had to barricade herself in her room at night. There was a desk with a heavy, wooden chair. She braced the chair under the doorknob the same way she’d seen countless characters do it on television. It didn’t work the first two or three times, but she finally figured out how to brace it so that pressure from the outside didn’t just make it slide down to the floor.

  Mr. Tomlinson wasn’t the first foster father she had who was a little more hands on than she wanted. There were a couple who liked to tuck her in at night. But with him she hadn’t been so young that she managed to block out most of the things he’d done.

  Tony was pretty scattered. But at least he didn’t come to her room at night.

  Gwen felt lucky as she sat there that night. All these weird things were happening to her, but she didn’t have things happening at home that divided her attention. She didn’t have anyone she trusted that she could talk to, either, but there was nothing new about that. She had learned a long time ago that she was on her own. She’d always worked things out on her own.

  She could work this out, too.

  Even as the thought slipped through her mind, a voice whispered against her ear:

  You are not alone.

  She sat up so quickly that she nearly fell sideways through the window. It she hadn’t left the other side of the double sided window closed, she probably would have. Her leg slammed up against the lower panes, making the window shudder, but not open.

  She jumped to her feet and backed up, staring at the window as though a face had just appeared, floating in the night air. There was nothing there.

  Her heart was pounding, but she told herself that this wasn’t what she thought it was. There had to be a logical explanation. She had imagined the voice. Or she’d overheard someone’s conversation, or a television. Noise traveled in a neighborhood like this, especially this late when all the noise of the traffic had settled down.

  But she knew that wasn’t it.

  She walked to the window, cautiously, touching the open window with fingers that shook just a little. She leaned forward, checking the long side yard, the view into the neighbor’s backyard, before her eyes moved to the long skyline that stretched out over the roofs of the neighbors’ houses.

  There was nothing there but the breeze and a few trees. Maybe a bird or two.

  None of those could have spoken to her. But she could have sworn something did.

  Gwen had never been uncomfortable in her own company. In fact, she had spent most of her childhood longing for solitude. But, tonight, in this moment, it was the last thing she wanted.

  She pulled the window closed and went back to her bed. But even the heavy, comforting feel of the blankets wrapped around her did not offer the security she suddenly longed for.

  It was stupid. She was not weak. She had survived things most kids her age weren’t even aware existed, let alone experienced.

  But she couldn’t be alone right now.

  She silently slipped out of her room and crossed the hall, hesitating as she approached the door to Cei’s room. She had never been inside, never laid eyes on his personal space. This was really not the moment to do so, either.

  She had nearly talked herself into going back to her own room when the door suddenly opened.

  “You okay?” Cei asked, rubbing sleep out of his eyes.

  The sight of him made Gwen forget her fright for a brief moment. He was shirtless once again, wearing only a pair of cotton shorts that clung to the bony protrusion of his hips, the muscular curve of his ass. She bit her lip as she forced her eyes up to his.

  “Sorry, didn’t mean to wake you.”

  “Are you okay?” he asked again, his gaze jumping to the open door of her room. “Did something happen?”

  “No. I just…”

  She didn’t know what to say. What was there to say? She had never asked for help before. She had never asked anyone for anything before.

  Gwen shook her head, her eyes dropping to the tired carpet under her feet. She suddenly felt completely stupid.

  “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have bothered you.”

  She headed back to her room, but Cei caught her by the wrist.

  “Do you want to sleep on the trundle bed in my room?”

  He must have felt her hesitate, because he didn’t wait for an answer. He pulled her into his room, sitting her in a desk chair while he busied himself picking discarded clothing off the floor to make room for the trundle. He had double sized bed that sat low to the ground, but not so low that it couldn’t hide a platform bed on wheels stuck underneath. It was already made up with matching navy blue sheets and a heavy blue comforter, just like his bed.

  “It’s fairly clean,” he said. “I changed the sheets a couple of weeks ago.”

  “You don’t really have to—”

  “It’s fine. Tommy sleeps up here sometimes. But not recently.”

  The consummate big brother.

  Gwen let him pull her from the chair and set her on the edge of the bed. He even waited until she had laid back so that he could lift the blankets over her.

  “Try to get some rest,” he said, climbing over her to get onto his own bed.

  “Cei, I—”

  “Don’t worry about it.”

  His breathing slowed almost as soon as his head hit the pillow. In just a few minutes, he was making this noise that was almost a snore, but not quite. The sound was almost familiar, like the breathing noises of the dozens of foster kids Gwen had shared a room with over the years. It was comforting, in a weird sort of way.

  She closed her eyes and fell asleep faster than she would have imagined possible.

  Chapter 16

  “Gwen slept in Cei’s room last night,” Richie announced as Gwen walked into the kitchen he next morning.

  “Mind your business,” Tony said without looking up from his breakfast.

  “But why was she sleeping in Cei’s room? Are girls supposed to sleep in a boy’s room?”

  Gwen crossed to the counter, pretending a blush wasn’t slowly creeping up her neck to her cheeks, and grabbed a clean glass from a cabinet for juice. She could feel Melanie’s stare burning a hole between her shoulder blades. The girl did not hide her crush on Cei very well.

  Theresa came up behind Gwen and put a hand on her shoulder. It was time for the questions Gwen didn’t want to answer: What were you doing in Cei’s room? Do you realize we can’t allow a teen girl to sleep in a teen boy’s room? Did anything happen between the two of you? Do we need to move you downstairs?

  Instead, Theresa asked, “Is everything okay, Gwen?”

  Would these people never cease in surprising her?

  “Fine.”

  “Are you sure? If you have something you need to talk about…”

  Gwen shook her head. “I’m fine, really. Just had a
nightmare.”

  “Well, I hope it was nothing serious. If it happens again, feel free to come find me.”

  Theresa seemed really sympathetic, the serious tilt to her head so unusual that it gave her face a different look entirely. It only added to the confusion, and the relief, that was swirling around inside her.

  “I will.” Gwen swallowed the few ounces she’d managed to pour into her glass as Cei walked into the room. She followed his movement, wondering if he was aware that the whole household knew what happened last night. If not, he was about to find out.

  Richie practically jumped out of his chair the moment he spotted Cei.

  “Are you supposed to have girls in your room?” Richie. “Cuz, if you can, why can’t I?”

  “It might be better to wait until you’ve gone through puberty, little man,” Cei said, rubbing Richie’s head as he walked past him.

  Melanie huffed and stormed out of the room.

  “Melanie,” Theresa said, shooting Cei a look before she followed after her.

  Cei caught Gwen’s eye as he crossed toward her, intent on the plate of toast sitting on the counter behind her. He was in the bathroom when she woke this morning, polite enough to leave her alone to avoid the embarrassment of meeting him in the stark light of day, but aware enough of what she needed that he’d left the alarm on his clock active. She wanted to thank him for that, but, like last night, she didn’t have the words.

  “We’ve created quite the scandal,” he said near her ear, laughter in his tone.

  “I guess we have.”

  “Do you think we should set their minds at ease?”

  Tommy and Richie were both watching them, almost like a small child watches Santa Claus as he waits in line to sit on his lap.

  “Maybe we should let them think what they want. Let them hold on to their little fantasies a while longer.”

  Cei was watching them, too. A slow smile spread over his full lips. “I have to agree. Wouldn’t want to burst their bubble, make them think they have nothing to look forward to as they get older.”

  Gwen bit back a giggle as Anna crossed the room to put her breakfast things in the dishwasher. It occurred to Gwen as she watched her that she had never heard Anna speak, except the one or two word sentences she occasionally offered Tony and Theresa. It made Gwen wonder what she’d seen in her short life that made her mute.

  “Time to go,” Cei said, touching Gwen’s arm lightly.

  Tony surprised them both by looking up and asking, “Are you coming by the university after school today?”

  “I am,” Gwen said. “About four?”

  “I should, too,” Cei said. “We have a little more research to do on that report for Ms. Dru.”

  “I thought we were going to work on that here at the house tomorrow,” Gwen said.

  “We are. But I wanted to take a look at a couple of those books in the university library. Just to verify what’s in my notes.”

  “Swing by my office when you get there, then,” Tony said. “I found a couple of books in my office that might be helpful to you.”

  “Thanks. We’ll do that.”

  ***

  Gwen made her way to what she had begun to think of as her favorite tree when Melanie, silent and angry, managed to get them to school with only one or two whiplash-inducing stops. She settled on the ground and pulled out her book, having returned to Here Be Dragons after finishing Dante’s “Divine Comedy” last week. The story was just beginning to get good. The Welsh prince, Llewellyn, married Joanna, King John’s illegitimate daughter, and she caught him in bed with his mistress. She dragged his mattress out into the courtyard and burned it in a scene that left Gwen laughing out loud as she read it.

  She was reading quietly, slowly becoming engrossed in the world of the 10th century. Llewellyn’s cowboy personality fascinated her, while his sense of morality made him seem more like the gallant gentleman of his time. She loved his character, loved his passion and his love for a woman he married for reasons that had nothing to do with the outcome of their relationship…to fall in love with the child of your sworn enemy, someone you married to make peace, only to be betrayed a short time later. And to continue to love her despite her father’s actions. It fascinated Gwen.

  And to think that it was all based on true events. Reading things like this made Gwen wonder if maybe she was making a mistake putting all her future eggs in the medical school basket. Maybe she would be better off becoming a history professor like Tony. Well, maybe not quite like Tony.

  Funny how she felt more hopeful since coming to Dewey High. Her dreams were beginning to come true. Maybe there was hope for her, after all.

  It was hard to have hope when living in the foster care system. She’d learned a long time ago not to count on anyone or any of the promises they made. She fought for everything she got, including getting into this school. She snuck away from her foster home to take the test, didn’t tell anyone about her two interviews with the dean until they were over. She did this herself because she was the only one she could trust, she could count on.

  But now—

  Trouble.

  Gwen looked up so quickly that the muscles in her neck protested. She was at the back of the school. Most of the kids were at the front, hanging out with their friends while waiting for the bell to ring.

  Who had spoken?

  Trouble coming.

  Gwen jumped to her feet. “Who’s there? What do you want from me?”

  And then a rock flew past her head.

  Gwen spun around. A woman she had never seen before was standing at the edge of the building. She was tossing and catching another rock, a large rock. There was a soft smile on her face as she studied Gwen. She had dark eyes, hair that looked like strawberries freshly sliced and laid on a serving platter, and bone structure that a supermodel would envy.

  Gwen had never seen her before.

  “Hey,” she called out. “Are you lost?”

  The woman continued to stare at Gwen, that soft smile never changing. She just kept tossing that rock—up, down, up, down—until it became almost mesmerizing. Gwen reached down to grab her backpack, thinking the woman just needed a little help. Besides, the bell was about to ring. But her bag seemed stuck on something. She leaned over to tug at it better when that rock flew over her head, barely missing her. She looked up just in time to see the woman rushing her.

  “What the—”

  She tripped as she attempted to move around the tree, a root reaching out and grabbing her foot. Another rock flew past her. It wasn’t until it hit the ground, just a few feet ahead of her, and melted into the earth that Gwen realized these weren’t rocks the strange woman was throwing at her. They were…she had no idea what they were. She had never seen anything quite like it in her life.

  Stunned, not sure where to go or what to do, Gwen stood where she was. She could hear the woman rushing toward her, just like she could hear the distant hum of her classmates’ voices traveling over the breeze from the front of the building. But she felt paralyzed, like she couldn’t make herself respond to what was happening. It wasn’t another panic attack, it was just an inability to comprehend what was going on.

  And then she was on the ground. At first, she thought the woman had tackled her, but then she felt something silky and cool slide over her. Then roughness. Branches.

  She twisted her head, and she saw long, slender branches—like those on a sapling—slipping over her body. They covered her, hid her. It felt like a cage, or a hiding place.

  “Let her go, Derrybawn!”

  Gwen shifted at the sound of that voice, a voice that spoke in that same, weird way the people in Gwen’s vision had done. She could understand her, but instinctively understood she was speaking some other language…another oddity to be analyzed later.

  A vibration moved through Gwen’s cage. The woman had kicked it.

  “You can’t protect her forever. You know who she is, what she is capable of. She has to be taken care of
.”

  It is not your place.

  That second voice, it reverberated through Gwen’s mind. It was the same voice that had warned her earlier, the same one she had heard more than a week ago when she prepared to return to class after lunch.

  If it hadn’t sounded so insane, Gwen would have been certain it was the tree.

  Crazy, right?

  “Bran can’t kill her. I can.”

  Doesn’t mean you should.

  Bran?

  Gwen shifted, tested the confines of her cage. It didn’t have much give.

  “Let her out!” the woman shouted, another vibration telling Gwen she had kicked the branches again. “If she’s so powerful, let her fight her own battle.”