A Fresh Start

Chapter 3 August 2012

Tyler

I follow Dan and Mandy through the door, and I am met by two sets of green eyes staring down from the second floor. There's a half flight of stairs that go down to the basement and another going up.

I just look at them and give a slight wave.

Dan sees my action and follows my line of sight to his sons. "Boys. Meet Tyler. He's going to be staying with us for a while. Tyler. That's Eric," he says and the older one waves, "and Conner," followed by the younger one waving. He turns to me, " they're  in middle school, and they sleep on the top floor across from our room, and you'll be downstairs. Figured a high schooler would prefer the basement bedroom." He ends with a laugh and then puts his hand on my back, guiding me down the stairs.

I feel myself tense and jump at the touch, and the look on his face tells me it wasn't subtle.

Emma clears her throat, "Tyler, Why don't you go down and start unpacking. We need to go over some stuff before I leave," she adds in Dan and Mandy's direction. 

I nod my head, and we all separate. The basement is finished with a bathroom, a living room, a TV, and one open door with a bed. The garage takes up half of the first floor, so it's not as big as my house, but it will do.

I flip on the bedroom light and see a bare room. Nothing in it really, a twin bed, with blue bedding, a dresser, a desk and a closet with a mirror on it.

I look down at my three bags holding all my worldly possessions and realize that I really had nothing of my own after 14 years of living with my dad.

I hear a noise and turn around to see the older boy looking around the corner, and when we make eye contact, he bolts up the stairs. I don't have much to unpack, so I just plug my phone into the wall and head upstairs. I'll call my mom in a bit; she can wait.

As I walk up the stairs, the two boys are gone, but I can hear the adults speaking. I move slowly and quietly to listen to them.

It's Emma talking to them, "you just have to give him time. According to the girlfriend, his dad abused him in some form almost every day. Yelling, screaming, hitting. And based on his reactions, I think he has trust issues with adult men. But if you don't think it's a good fit, there's a family down south that is willing to take him. they just have older boys, and I was worried it would be something similar."

"No, no. It's nothing like that. I just need to be patient with him. It's just been a while since we had a foster kid. Actually, we've never had one older than our boys. So this will be new for us all," says Dan. He clears his throat and adds, " I just don't like being in the same category as a parent who would treat their kid like that. I'll win him over in time."

I make more noise coming up the rest of the steps, and the adults all stop and look at me as I enter the kitchen.

"Umm, I can come back if you need me to wait," I say to the room at large, but looking at Emma. I reflectively push my glasses up my nose.

She smiles and waves me in, "no, we're all done here. First, a few ground rules you have to follow. 1. Go to school. That's a requirement of the foster system. 2. Try to avoid getting into trouble. I spoke to your teachers, and they had nothing but good things to say, so I think that one will be easy. 3. Obey their house rules," she says, pointing to Dan and Mandy. "they're your guardians and wanna protect you. Anything to add," she says and looks at my foster parents.

Dan speaks up, "bedtime for you will be 10 pm. You finish soccer practice and come home unless you told us otherwise. No friends over unless one of us is here. No physical fighting. The boys can get a little wild, but if they bother you, just go to your room. They know to stay out of there. You'll have a few chores like they do throughout the week, and they're listed there on the fridge."