“And don’t come back to this house again

“And don’t come back to this house again!” screamed Mrs. Aubrey. She slammed the front door closed on her eighteen year old daughter, Kirsten, and stormed off into the kitchen, fuming to herself.

Kirsten had been caught, yet again, with a small stash of drugs underneath her mattress. You would think that, after the first seven times of being caught and sent to re-hab after being kicked out of her home, Kirsten would have at least come up with a better hiding spot for her marijuana, but no, it was under the mattress as always.

“When’s Kirsten coming back mum?” asked teary eyed Lyla.

Fourteen year old Lyla was all too familiar with this scene. Her sister would be caught, her mother would yell, sometimes becoming violent, and very occasionally, the neighbors would call the police. Thankfully, Lyla heard no sirens, only the wailing of Kirsten and the pounding on the door.

“She has gone too far this time!”

Mrs. Aubrey threw down the plate that she was holding; letting it shatter as it hit the floor. Lyla didn’t even flinch, instead, she knew to go into the kitchen pantry and find the dustpan to clean up the mess. If she didn’t, nobody would, and her four year old brother would likely cut himself crawling around on the broken china.

“What if she promises to be better?” asked Lyla while wiping her eyes. She didn’t want her sister to leave forever. Even though Kirsten was constantly getting herself into trouble, Lyla loved her dearly.

“I’m sending her to live with her father in Ottawa. He has a nice enough place there. He can deal with her however he wants to.”

“But he’ll beat her, and you know it!” protested Lyla.

“Maybe a beating will do the girl some good!”

At that, Lyla dropped the dustpan, looking at her mother in disgust. She had never heard her mother talk about her children with such disdain for their safety. Lyla’s father was an alcoholic, and had left when Adam had been born. Kirsten, fourteen at the time, had taken to drugs to help her cope, and had been addicted ever since.

“Pick up the damn dustpan and clean up this mess you stupid girl!”

“You broke the plate, you clean it up.” At that, Lyla stormed out of the house, letting the door slam as she went by. Without a single glance back, she ran to Katie’s house.

Katie’s parents were used to Lyla using their house as a refuge, and had allowed her to keep a few of her clothes there. They realized that sometimes, she just couldn’t go home, and had always helped her out when she needed it. They were the perfect family by definition, and Lyla loved and hated them for it. She envied how Katie could walk into her home with a smile on her face, calling out to her parents and telling them how her day went.

Panting, she walked up to the front door. Before she rung the doorbell, she checked her reflection in the mirror. Her washed out blue eyes were puffy from crying, and even though she tried her hardest, she couldn’t make her auburn hair settle down. Eventually, she pulled out an elastic and tied her hair back, hoping that she looked reasonable.

“Lyla, come in dear,” said Mrs. Calderarra. She opened up the door, giving Lyla a quick hug before calling out to Katie to get off the computer.

Katie ran down the stairs of her two-storey house, skipping the last step as she jumped to greet her friend. Just as her mother had done, she gave Lyla a quick hug, knowing that the only reason she would be turning up on Katie’s front door step at 10:30 on a school night was if she had just escaped her mother.

“So, I’m guessing you’re staying the night,” said Katie as she walked back up the stairs, beckoning her best friend to follow.

“If I can,” said Lyla shyly.

Even though she knew that she was welcome, she always felt uncomfortable forcing herself upon the Calderarra’s. She knew that they wouldn’t turn her away, on the basis that if they did, she would end up wandering the streets for the night, so she felt as if she was giving them no choice but to accept her.

“Did your mum kick Kirsten out again?” Katie walked over to her closet, pulling out a mattress, blanket, sheet, and two pillows hidden behind piles of clothes and shoes.

“How’d you know?”

“More often than not, Kirsten is the reason you show up at my house. I can’t believe that she’s still doing drugs after, what is it now, eight courses of re-hab.”

“This time will be the eighth, if she goes, that is. Mum’s talking about sending her to Ottawa.”

“What’s in Ottawa?” Katie looked puzzled.

“My dad,” said Lyla, remembering that she had never told anyone where her father lived, or even that he was still alive. Whenever someone had made a comment about him, Lyla had avoided the question or changed the topic.

“But you said that he was abusive.”

“He is, and an alcoholic. Mum actually said that she thought a beating would do Kirsten some good.”

Katie’s mouth dropped a mile as she stared at Lyla in shock. Her family had never lifted a finger at each other. It was hard enough for them to understand what it was like to yell at another family member, harder still that Mrs. Aubrey threw things when she was upset, but to think that violence was a good thing; that was absolute insanity.

“But, she can’t, I mean, that’s illegal isn’t it?”

“You’re not exactly making sense.”

“I remember hearing that it’s illegal or something to put someone in immediate danger. Your mother knows that your dad is unstable. To send a child that he didn’t want to him is sentencing that child to begin hurt, or worse. You can’t let her go!”

Lyla stared blankly at her friend. She was almost positive that it was not illegal to send a child to their father, even if the father is unstable. She was even more positive that it was illegal to keep a child from their parent if the parent’s still had dual custody, which her’s did. Even more positive was Lyla that it didn’t matter what she thought, or what her sister thought, because if her mother was set on something, there was no changing her thoughts on the matter.

“Just forget I told you, okay.”

Katie was about to protest, but thought better of it. She set up the spare mattress for her friend and rummaged through her closet, eventually finding Lyla’s pajamas.

Mrs. Calderarra came into the room at 11:30 and told the girls to turn off the lights and go to bed. She gave Katie and Lyla a kiss on the forehead and said good night. After she left the room, Lyla could hear the sixteen year old twins complaining as they were told to go to bed.

Lyla slept fretfully that night, dreaming of Kirsten, lying in a comma after her father had attacked her. She dreamt that Kirsten was calling out to her, asking for her help, but she couldn’t make it in time. When she arrived at the hospital, Kirsten was dead and Mr. and Mrs. Aubrey were cheering. Young Adam was also in the dream, but thankfully, he was not hurt.

Katie was woken by her friend’s whimpering. She bent over and saw that Lyla was thrashing in her sleep.

“Lyla,” she cooed softly, “Lyla, wake up.” She rolled off her bed and gently pushed Lyla, while saying her name. She eventually woke up.

“Why am I covered in sweat?” panted Lyla. “Is it morning already? Are we late for school?”

“Sweetie, you were having a nightmare. You woke me up with your moaning. I’m really worried about you Lyla, this isn’t the first time I’ve had to wake you up because you were dreaming about God only knows what.” Katie was staring compassionately into Lyla’s eyes.

“I have to make sure that Kirsten never goes to Ottawa. She can’t live with dad.”

Lyla was determined not to let her sister fall to the terrible fate that she saw in her dreams. She went back into a light sleep, and after what felt like seconds, she was woken back up. All through breakfast, she was thinking about how she could save her sister. Normally, she was quite content to stare at the twins for as long as she could, but today, Kyle and James held no appeal to her.

Kyle, sensing that something was wrong with Lyla, started up a conversation to get rid of the awkward silence that filled the room.

“So, exams are coming up soon, are you two ready?” He looked over at Lyla and Katie. Not wanting to be impolite and get scolded by her mother, Katie, whose mouth was full of toast, didn’t respond.

“I’m never worried by exams. I always manage to pass by with a decent grade,” said Lyla. ‘I might not even be here for exams,’ she thought to herself.

Kyle caught her eye and smiled, his brown eyes twinkling as they reflected the warm light shining in through the open window. Lyla quickly looked away before Katie, or anyone else for that matter, could see her having a moment with one of the gorgeous but out of bounds and older twins. She could have sworn that James had been looking disapprovingly in their direction. Lyla had enough drama in her life without matters being complicated by Kyle.