Page 7 of Rescued
“I beat the shit out of him.”
I practice my own breathing exercises for a second.
“Arlo?” Salem says, a bit of a whine in his voice. “Arlo, please don’t be mad at me.”
“Not mad,” I say. “A bit disappointed.”
“That’s worse,” he mumbles. “Disappointed is worse. I didn’t have a choice.”
I sigh. “There’s always a choice, Salem. But…” God, I’m gonna regret saying this. “You did what you thought was right. Youknow I’ll always defend your right to defend yourself and weaker people.”
“I know,” Salem whispers.
He sounds much younger than his fifteen years right now. Scared and lonely in a world far too big and far too cruel for him.
“How long do you think it’ll be before you come and get us?”
My heart slams against my rib cage. “I’m trying my best. I almost have enough saved to get a bigger place.”
Getting Salem and Nora out of foster care and with me, where they belong, has been my priority since I found out right after coming to Silverpine and starting as a server at Daisy’s that they had ended up in the system.
“The rules are stupid,” Salem says in the way only a petulant teenager can.
“I know, kid. There’s a place in town that’s supposed to be coming up for rent soon. Just need to make sure I can afford it long term. Won’t do us any good if I get us a place just to be kicked out for not paying the bills.”
Salem sighs. “I know.” I can nearly picture his frown. “I miss you.”
My throat goes tight. “I miss you too, kid. We’ll get there, I promise. We’ll be together soon.” I’ll work my ass off to make sure of it. “Okay, so what’s gonna happen next?”
“They’re sending me back to the group home until they can find another placement for me.”
The hurt in his voice is gonna send me over the edge. “Okay,” I say, trying to be soothing. “I’m gonna call your caseworker and see what—if anything—I can do, okay? I promise I’m trying to get you two home with me.”
“I know, Arlo,” Salem whispers. “Just… hurry, please. I miss you, and I miss Nor, and I don’t want to keep doing this. I want to come home.”
His voice cracks on the last word, and I have to swallow hard a couple of times before I speak so mine doesn’t do the same. “I promise I’ll get you home soon.”
It’s a promise I’ve been making for far too long, but fuck, it’s so hard. The housing market isn’t great here, and if you don’t know someone, it’s almost impossible to get a place to live. I got lucky with my studio apartment, but the kids’ caseworker already told me I couldn’t bring them here.
I could just leave town, see if I could find somewhere else, but then I’d be leaving Luca, Theo, and Austin. And Jasper… Fuck, I shouldn’t keep thinking about him, but once I start, I can never stop.
Never mind the fact that I’d have to start all over with a new job.
“I love you,” Salem says, pulling me from my thoughts. “I’ve gotta go so I can pack up my stuff.”
My heart lodges in my throat. “I love you too, kid. Keep me updated, okay? Call me if you need me.”
“Bye.”
He hangs up before I even have a chance to respond. With a sigh, I drop back onto my bed, staring up at the ceiling.
Leaving home—and leaving them—was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I didn’t want to, but I had to.
Getting a call from Salem last year that they’d been taken into foster care wasn’t ideal, but at least they were safe. Then Salem got in a fight, and he got taken out of the home he was in with Nora, and things started to go downhill.
They don’t need to be in foster care. They need to be with me. Which means I need to grow the fuck up and get my shit straight so I can take care of them.
I’ve managed to save some money. Now I just need to find a place for us to live. With at least two bedrooms. The caseworker wouldn’t accept anything less. I get it, but it still pissed me off.
