Her Journey Begins by Karen Einsel Read Free Book Online Page A

ten already. ” Brandon unties his apron and lays it on the chair. “ How come we have to wear aprons and you don ’ t? ”
    Chris looks at Brad who is covered in flour and then grins at Brandon.
       “ Cause guys are messy. ”
       “ Yeah right and girls aren ’ t? ” Brandon smiles as he dusts the flour off of Chris ’ nose. Chris blushes, grabs his hand and leads him out to the porch swing. Brandon sits down next to her.
       “ I like your mom and dad. ”
    Chris smiles. “ I do too. I ’ m glad they kept me. ” Brandon tilts his head and Chris sees the curious look in his eyes. “ Brandon, you have to have known I am a foster child. Everyone at school seems to know. It ’ s not a secret. ”
    Brandon thinks about it for a moment, trying to think of the right thing to say.
       “ I wasn ’ t sure. I thought maybe it was just a rumor that was being passed around. ”
    Chris  shakes her head. “ No it ’ s true, I ’ ve been here since my twelve birthday. ”
       “ How long have you been in foster care? ”
       “ Hmm, I don ’ t know, since I was three or four, I think. ”
       “ Where were you before here? ”
       “ I was in a not so good foster home. The foster mom took us in mainly to collect the money, but I do have to thank her for being the way she was. She taught me a lot. ”
        “ Like what? ”
    Chris takes a breath and thinks about it.
        “ For one, that I didn ’ t want to be like her. I was almost 10 when I got placed with her. A lot of the foster homes want kids under 5, mainly because they don ’ t have kids of their own and when kids are younger, they haven ’ t really picked up bad habits and are still sweet. If people take in older ones, it ’ s usually to help take care of the younger ones, clean, cook, do laundry, that sort of thing. So those are things that I learned while being in her care. Not that she taught me how … so there was a lot of trial and error on my part, but I think being there shaped me into who I am. It made me stronger, so I was able to deal with other things in my life, like the kids in our school. ”
       “ Why doesn ’ t Barb pull you out of our school, so you don ’ t have to put up with being treated the way you are? ”
       “ She didn ’ t know until the day before I talked to you the first time. ”
       “ Why though? ”
       “ Because … I don ’ t like to create problems for anyone else. You know it doesn ’ t matter what kind of car you drive, or if you wear designer clothes, get your hair and nails done. None of those things make you a good person. Just because someone has more money, doesn ’ t make them better than anyone else. I think I never said anything because it ’ s made me a better person on the inside. When you started tugging on my hair every day, it made me feel good and yet at the same time, I was afraid that you were like everyone else. That maybe you paid attention to me just for the laughs you got. Even on that day when I stayed after school the first time to watch your game. You had told me to wait until you came out of the locker room and as I was sitting on the bleachers looking around and seeing that I was like the only one left sitting there, I started panicking that you were playing a practical joke on me and I would be the laughing stock of the school on Monday. ”
       “ Chris where ’ s your real mom at? ”
    Chris shrugs her shoulders.
       “ I have no idea. ”
       “ Have you ever thought about trying to find her? ”
       “ Don ’ t want to. ”
       “ Why? ”
       “ Because Barb and Brad are my parents, maybe not biological or legally, but in my heart they are and if I found my biological parents, things would be different and I ’ m happy right where I ’ m at. ”
       “ Don ’ t you think that ’ s being just a little bit selfish on your part? ”
       “ Nooo, because everything happens for a reason and some things are just