Chapter 14
CHAPTER
FOURTEEN
Addy
“You literally only saw him for two or so hours a week. Get a grip, Addy,” I grumble as I leave for the day.
I truly didn’t realize how much I enjoyed it when Mongrel came in for his appointments.
It wasn’t as if we had a ton of conversations, more like I loved how he interacted with JB, and how he looked at me.
While I was being honest with him about dating him right now, I really wish it was possible.
Instead, I’ll patiently wait. Or impatiently, as the case may be.
I run through a drive-thru to grab some dinner, since I plan to do some cleaning.
I know Betty would have a field day, especially since I was up with the chickens to get my Saturday chores done, but honestly, she doesn’t give me too much shit at the end of the day.
I need to get a grip on it, though, because I’m an adult now and will never live like that again.
“You didn’t have a choice, Addy,” I say out loud as I wait for my order to be brought out to me. Fast food isn’t always all that fast these days, but this place has wonderful salads, and they allow you to add extra protein to your order.
As I drive, memories flash through my mind and once again, I’m that little girl, Smelly Belly.
“Smelly Belly, why don’t you take a bath and actually use soap?” one of my classmates taunted.
I tried not to show her that what she was saying hurt me, but it did. Even as young as six, I was having to take care of myself since my mother was extremely neglectful. But I guess I thought that hot water would do the job.
“Smelly Belly, Smelly Belly,” several of her friends chanted. “Look at what she’s wearing!”
I glanced down and saw that one of my favorite T-shirts had a small hole near the hem, then there was a stain on one of my shoulders.
Plus, even I could smell that it needed to be washed.
But I wasn’t tall enough to reach the washing machine and the one time I asked my mom, she screamed and yelled at me before she passed out.
So, I would fill up the tub and dunk my clothes in the hot water, then hang them up to dry.
“She’s got dirt under her nails and her hair is greasy ,” Micah Jones stated. “That’s just gross, Smelly Belly, didn’t anyone ever teach you how to bathe?”
Actually, no, they didn’t, and I didn’t have anyone I could ask.
I wished my Aunt Betty wasn’t away at school because I knew she’d help me.
Sighing, I packed up what was left of the crackers I had for lunch, then left the table.
I was actually eligible for free lunches, but my mother wouldn’t fill out the forms. She said it was just another way that the government was trying to control the little man.
I didn’t understand because we were both girls.
I got up and threw away my trash and when I returned, I saw my teacher, Mrs. Castle, at my table.
She was chastising the three girls who were my worst tormentors and I overheard her say that she was reporting them for bullying me.
I held no hope whatsoever that it would change anything. It never did.
I’m still deep in thought as I pull into my parking spot, gather my stuff and head inside. I guess this is gonna be one of those nights. Once I’m inside and have locked my door, I head to my room to shower before I change into lounging clothes.
“Yep, you’re fucked in the head. If Mongrel ever finds out, he won’t want you. You don’t work outside, dumbass, so your morning shower is sufficient since the clinic is temperature controlled.”
Still, old habits die hard and while the hot water sluices over my body, my thoughts flash forward to when Betty dropped by one day. What she saw was the impetus for her to push to get custody of me.
I heard the knock on the door, but I knew my mother was waiting for ‘her man’ to show up, so I sat at the tiny kitchen table and worked on my homework. I was still being bullied on a daily basis and was at the point that unless a teacher talked to me directly, I didn’t speak while I was at school.
“Fuck, it’s you , Betty,” my mother sneered.
“Oh, my God!” my aunt exclaimed as she pushed inside the hovel we lived in.
That was a new word I’d recently learned and thought it fit perfectly.
“Addy, sweet girl, you’re coming with me,” she said as she made her way to my side.
“Come on, pumpkin, let’s get your stuff together. I’m taking you home.”
“It’s okay, Aunt Betty,” I whispered as my mother ranted and raved. “It’ll just make her madder.”
“While I usually try not to swear around kids, fuck her, Addy! Has it always been like this?” she probed.
I slowly nodded. I knew how we lived wasn’t right because of the shows I got to watch when she wanted me ‘out of her hair’, but I was only ten so I wasn’t sure how I could possibly accomplish it all by myself.
Finally finished with my shower, I shut the water off, take off the shower cap I wore, and step onto the bathmat, grabbing my clean towel off the toilet.
Then I go through my lotion, powder, and moisturizing routine, before I shuffle to the sink and do my nighttime cleaning.
Satisfied once I have cooling eye patches on, I snag my hamper and head to the laundry room.
“Thank God it’s a salad,” I ruefully spit out as I separate my towels from my clothes and start the load.
Before my head hits my pillow tonight, I’ll have fresh bedding on the bed, and everything else will be washed, dried, and put away.
I head back into the bathroom and give it a quick clean.
I still have to vacuum then dust, but those won’t take too long.
Once I have everything going for the time being, I grab my take-out bag and head to the kitchen. I need to put my favorite dressing on the salad, give it a thorough mixing, then refill my water tumbler. Time to veg out to something mindless while my memories kick my ass a little bit more.
The first few days at Aunt Betty’s house were an eye-opening experience to say the least. I brought next to nothing except for my backpack because she decreed that what I was given was shit.
Once we arrived that first day, she sat me down and talked to me.
Not only did she talk, but she also listened.
I saw varying emotions on her face as I told her how life was in my house, but when she started crying, I had no other choice but to join her.
“First things first, let’s get you into a bath so you’re clean, baby,” she said. “Then, I’m going to get my neighbor to watch you for a little while so I can go to Walmart and pick up something for you to wear tomorrow. I’ll go grab one of my T-shirts for you to wear.”
I giggled when I saw the T-shirt and told her, “Aunt Betty, that’s going to look like a dress on me!”
“Maybe so, but the niece I love and adore doesn’t have to wear rags that are unfit for most transients, let alone a pretty little girl,” she retorted as she started filling the tub.
She added some stuff that smelled really good, so when she told me to climb in, I watched her face fall as I rubbed my hands all over my body with the scented water.
“Here, let me show you how to bathe properly. Then, I’m going to wash your hair so we can try and get the tangles out,” she said.
“Now, this is a washcloth, and you need to use it every time you take a bath or a shower,” she instructed.
“First, get it wet, then grab the bar of soap and rub them against each other. Like this,” she demonstrated. “Okay, give me your arm.”
We did that for every part of my body, although she mimicked how I should clean my privates.
She then added another life lesson, telling me that only I could give permission for someone to touch me ‘down there’.
After I was squeaky clean, she let the filthy water out, then refilled the tub, before she washed me again.
It took three baths before she declared that I was as clean as a whistle.
I then sat through the tortuous process of having my hair shampooed.
Thankfully, she had some stuff that she sprayed into my hair to help her get the tangles out.
Still, she decided that a haircut would also be on the list for tomorrow.
Once I was done, she showed me how to use lotion to keep my skin hydrated, then she walked me through brushing my teeth.
At this point, she had called her neighbor to come and watch me for a little bit so she could get something new for me to wear tomorrow so we could go shopping, get me a haircut, and then call to schedule an appointment with both the dentist and the pediatrician.
Exhausted, I helped her clean the bathroom, then we took the clothes hamper to her laundry room.
She went ahead and washed my panties and socks but declared that the rest of the clothes I was wearing when she picked me up were not worth keeping.
Secretly, I agreed with her, but instead of saying anything, I carefully watched as she walked me through how to wash a load of clothes.
“Now, I’m showing this but it’s not so you can do it yourself, Addy. You’re a little girl, not a housemaid or servant. But you need to know so when we do our weekly chores, you can help by swapping them from the washer to the dryer.”
“Okay,” I whispered. I don’t know if I was in shock, but in the hours I’d been with her, I hadn’t been pinched, smacked, or yelled at, so I was feeling pretty good all-in-all.
“We’re going to order pizza for dinner, is that okay with you?” she asked. I shrugged; I’d never had takeout pizza before, because that was a ‘waste of money’ according to my mother.
“I guess as long as you have enough money,” I quietly replied.
“Addyson Marie, I make more than enough to splurge on a pizza for us if I want to. I’m not fussing, sweetheart, but you don’t have to worry about that shit any longer. Do you understand?”
“I think so,” I murmured.
By the time I hit the bed that night, my mind was whirling with an emotion I’d never dreamed I’d experience.
Hope.