Always Summer Read Free Page B

leave us entirely alone, so I added (pulling my shirt open for emphasis) ,
“and he was going to do it to me too, so Sally stopped him.   You should leave now...” I say, beginning to
settle back down, but instead standing up abruptly again to request, “But make
sure you take that piece of shit with you, he isn’t allowed in our room.” I
finish; Marjorie swears frequently.
    Sally
sighs, a big defeated sigh.   “Sit down
chicken, and stop talking!” she croaks.
    “But I’m
trying to help Sal... I love you!” I reason.   She begins wailing all over again.

 
    Sally.
    The lady
detective and paramedic are actually really nice.   I don’t have to give a statement, not yet
anyway; and they are going to let me take Summer with
me to the hospital, she’s riding with me in the ambulance.   The detective, Kerry, has told me that I
don’t have to talk to Marjorie.   I told
her I don’t ever want to see her again.   She had nodded.   The stretcher is
here.   There are only girls in the room
right now, apart from the asshole lying dead on the floor.   I get on the stretcher, still naked from the
waist down.   They cover me with a sheet
and strap me in.   Summer is holding onto
my hand, and even though we are going to go down stairs she has told them that
she will not let go.

Chapter 2

 
    Summer.
    We were
really lucky with our foster care parents.   I mean, everyone hears the bad stories about the foster care
system.   I knew kids were frequently
separated, abused and neglected.   But this
wasn’t our experience.   Max and Debbie
were awesome!   It helped that the social
services chick was actually a friend of Debbie’s, and that she’d successfully
convinced them to take us in.
    I didn’t
see Sally for three months after that first night at the hospital.   She had to have surgery, and although I
stayed until she came out, so I could say good bye and tell her I loved her; I
wasn’t allowed to stay there.   We kept in
touch via telephone, while she recovered.  
    Apart from
Sally’s hospitalization, she needed lots of intense therapy.
    I was
living with Max and Debbie for almost two and a half months before Sally finally
joined us.   Although it wasn’t all fun
and games throughout that first year, Debbie and Max were determined people,
and slowly we made it through.  
    *
    I had
recently completed the 8th grade at Northport Middle School, and summer break
started two days ago.   I was 14 on the
11th May, so of course, I knew everything!  
    Sally, now
18, was already preparing for college, since she wanted to be a nurse.   Her boyfriend Henry was also going to
college.   He wanted to be a radiologist;
so obviously, they were both into the health sciences and all that.   They were both going to be heading to
Columbia University, which is a great school.   Sally got a part scholarship, and she and Henry were going to be moving
in together, although I didn’t know how they were affording to do that; but
Sally’s smart, I was sure she had it all figured out.   Max and Debbie had offered them both help
too.  
    Apparently,
Sally and Henry were off to get some stupid blood tests today, to check on
their immunity levels and so forth.   It
was important in their fields to have their immunizations up to date, in order
to reduce the chances of getting infectious blood born diseases from other
people... you know, hepatitis and stuff.
    Max and
Debbie have two grown up children, both of them lived in Manhattan.   They’re both girls too, so Max and Debbie
knew girls!   Max worked as an accountant
(boring), and Debbie was his secretary, however, she stayed home to be a
domestic goddess (her words) once we came to live with them.   It worked out okay, Max was in partnership in
a large firm, and he took care of some pretty big clients, so financially we
were okay, but it wasn’t like we went from poverty to rolling in riches either,
they liked to teach us the value of a dollar... we earned our