Renga Fluff But I Hit You In The Head With The Skateboard Of Angst

16: foster family

When Reki got out of the psych ward, he met his foster family for the first time.

They were a slightly older couple, he guessed probably in their 50's. The wife was a woman shoulder length, curly brown hair. She was short and wore jeans and a hoodie with tennis shoes. It was chilly out.

Reki wondered when it had gotten so cold outside. He hadn't noticed the last time he was out how much chillier it had gotten.

The husband was a taller man, probably 6'1 with gray hair and a salt and pepper beard. It made Reki touch his own chin, remembering that he hadn't shaved in 4 weeks. Red stubble decorated his chin and above his lip. Just lightly.

The man was wearing a light grey collared crew neck with dark jeans and work boots. He smelled like cigars. A smell that made Reki cringe a little.

But his eyes were kind.

They introduced themselves as Cindy and Bill. Waiting in the warm car they had another foster kid, a girl.

When he climbed in the car, he met her. She was ten years old. Her name was Georgia. She was nice. The same age as one of his younger sisters he hadn't seen in a while.

Bill announced that their first stop would be back at Reki's house to pick up his stuff.

Reki paled. He didn't have anything to pick up. The only thing that might be left at his house was the empty bottle of pills on his bathroom counter.

The thought of it made his heart race.

When Reki didn't respond, Bill spoke up.

"Everything okay, kiddo?" He asked.

"I-" he stuttered, his eyes teary, "I don't have anything." He whispered pitifully, fidgeting with his dead phone.

Something immediately clicked in his new family's heads, "then I guess it's time to go shopping, yeah?" Cindy offered.

"I need a new pair of jeans, the seem of mine ripped recently. Maybe Cindy can take me and Bill can take Reki to get anything he needs?" Georgia offered.

"That sounds like a great plan. Are you cool with that Reki?" Bill asked.

"Yeah." He said nervously.

Once they got in the store, Reki got a couple pairs of jeans, some tshirts. A couple hoodies. Tennis shoes. Socks. Underwear. Toiletries including: a toothbrush, toothpaste, mouthwash, shaving cream and a razor, and a new headband to hold back his hair. It had been taken away at the psych ward.

He also picked up a charger for his phone and a pair of corded headphones.

Bill then asked him a question he hadn't been asked in a long long time.

"What do you want for dinner?" He asked.

It barely registered with Reki at first.

"Me?" He asked dumbfoundedly.

"Yeah you!" Bill said with a chuckle, "we can eat out if you'd like or me and Cindy and cook something."

"I'm not picky." Reki said, "whatever you all want is fine."

"Are you sure?" Bill asked.

Reki thought about it for a minute, "well there's this one resturaunt I really like that I haven't been to in a really long time. It's called culvers. Maybe we could go there if there's one nearby?"

"Sure! There's actually one near our house, we can definitely go!" Bill said with a smile, "are you a fan of their ice cream?" He asked.

Reki nodded, "I probably won't get any though because it makes my stomach hurt."