The Good and the Bad

Erin's Mom

Chapter Fifty-Four

*~*~*~*

Whore. Useless. Dirtbag. Overbearing. Drunk.

All of those words and more seemed to bounce off the walls of the Keltner household. Oliver and Taylor Keltner both growing red in the face as they went back and forth. Shouting insult after insult at one another.

Neither of them sparing a second to think about the nine-year-old girl that was tucked away in her bedroom. Tears filling her eyes as she folded her pillow around her head, trying to use it to cover her ears and block out her parents' fighting. All she wanted was for them to stop fighting. To have a happy family like her friends did, being able to enjoy a family dinner rather than playing witness to a fight about her dad spending too much time at work or her mom drinking too much.

All she wanted was a real family.

"You really wanna talk about my drinking?" Taylor's voice rang throughout the house. There being a heaviness in her voice that was always present after the woman had had a few drinks. "The only reason I drink is because of you. Why don't we talk about where you're always running off to?"

Scout's eyes flickered towards her bedroom window before looking to her door. A silent debate waging in her head for only a few moments before she made her move. Grabbing ahold of the blue and gray sneakers lying by her bed, she pulled them on before opening the window. Using her nightstand as a makeshift stool to climb out of her window, thankful more than ever that she was on the first floor.

The chill in the autumn air didn't bother her as she rounded the side of her house and set off down the darkened Chicago streets. Making the familiar trek to the Dawson household.

When she reached the house she forwent the front door, instead circling around to the back of the house where a small window looked in at the lone bedroom in the basement. She crouched down on her hands and knees, peering through the glass at where one Antonio Dawson was stretched out across his bed, busy working on his homework. It was only when he was greeted by the sound of someone tapping on glass that he looked up from his work. His dark eyes spotting the younger mousy haired girl with ease.

Antonio wasted no time in getting up from his bed. Hurrying up the basement stairs before sneaking to the backdoor, not wanting his parents to hear him from where they were in the living room with his sister.

"Come on," Antonio whispered when he reached the backdoor. Holding it open long enough for the girl to slip inside before they both retreated to his room. "It's almost eight, Scout."

"Sorry," Scout muttered under her breath. Her eyes downcast as she kicked off her shoes and climbed onto his bed.

"It's..." Antonio shook his head. A frown pulled at the corners of his lips as he took in the red tint in her eyes and the tear tracks staining her cheeks. "They fighting again?"

"That makes it sound like they ever stop," she scowled at the thought of her parents. "Can I stay here?"

"Of course," he nodded. "You're always welcome here. You know that."

*~*~*~*

Scout's head rested against the wall as she sat in the empty living room of her and Antonio's new home. The only light in the whole house coming from the streetlights outside that were shining in through the large living room windows resting just above her head.

Plenty of natural light... The windows had no doubt been enlarged by Matt and Antonio, both men well aware of her preferences.

She knew that she shouldn't be there. She knew that she was supposed to be at Molly's, celebrating Gish's defeat and death with everyone else-- celebrating the fact that Shay, Peter's dad, and countless others had finally gotten their justice. Matt had only left her back at the house because she had promised him that she'd be okay to shower and get ready on her own. Two hours alone and then she'd be surrounded by her closest friends and family in her own bar.