Twisted Deceit (Deceit #3)

Chapter 10

Age 15

Being fifteen wasn’t any different than being fourteen. Or eleven for that matter.

Age meant very little to me. It was just a number, like the day of a month. It made no change to how I lived.

The only thing that changed was where.

I wouldn’t change that spot right now, since I actually was starting to like being with Dawn, even if my days were numbered. She didn’t have to say anything to let me know that. I could read the disappointment when we got back to her house.

Rubbing the snot from my nose, I made my way to my room. I had enough people for the day. Enough of them for a lifetime, if I wanted to be honest.

My stomach cramped, not used to sweets, even if the cupcake hadn’t been that bad. The frosting, on the other hand, was too sweet. I was just thankful that Dawn hadn’t started dinner, because I wasn’t sure I’d be able to eat much.

Not sure what to do with the tablet, I set it on the dresser, keeping it in the box for now. I didn’t see a point in having one. It wasn’t a need. The phone, on the other hand, I took to the bed with me as I crawled under the covers. I left the notebook and pen from Dr. Shaw on the nightstand, not sure about that either, but it joined the one from Sarah. At this rate, I’d have tons of empty notebooks that would collect dust.

Pulling the blanket up over my head to hide the sun from my eyes, I breathed in the fresh, clean scent of the materials.

Clean bedding and clothes were things I got far and in between. Something I never took for granted. But even then, whatever Dawn used to wash the clothes with smelt better than anything before. And it didn’t bother my skin so much either. Before, the seams of certain things would cause rashes on my body, which clients hated with a passion. They’d all rather be able to leave their own marks on my skin rather than something I couldn’t control.

Growing up, there had been times where I wondered what life would have been like if someone cared about me, loved me even. I thought, just maybe, if there was a single person out there in the world who wanted me, I’d have been able to get every little thing my little heart had ever dreamed of. Like clean clothes, food, and so much stuff I didn’t know what to do with.

Those dreams died pretty quickly, given how much people hated me. They hated the tears, they hated the way my body sometimes didn’t react the right way they thought it should. Or just hated the world as much as they did me.

After so many times of my wishing burnt to ashes and swept away in a breeze, I stopped hoping. I stopped wanting. I pretty much stopped fighting too.

For so long, all I could do was go day by day, waiting for death to claim me.

Now, I didn’t know what I was to wait for, other than for the day that Dawn got tired of me. She had promised, more than once, that she’d never raise a hand to me. While that was believable, since she couldn’t even kill a bug that came into the house, it was likely she’d hurt my heart if I stayed here for too long.

With each passing day, I was growing to like it here more and more. Not just because of food and clean clothes, but because Dawn was that likable. She treated me like a person instead of an animal.

Living with Dawn was easy. Something that hadn’t been something I was able to have before.

Who knew that in a little less than two weeks, my life could change so much? It was an adjustment; one I wasn’t sure I was handling as well as I pretended to be. Things felt strange.

Pulling the blanket off my head, I pushed myself to sit up. My stomach cramped at the movement, but it was easy enough to ignore. Pain was something I knew how to deal with, even if I didn’t like it.

Flipping the phone over and over in my hands, my eyes tracked the movements while my head swam.

The device held so much, yet it was so little. What was I to do with it? I had no family to call, even if I wanted to.

Tapping on the screen, it lit up, showing me all the apps that it had. Too many that I had no clue what they were, nor would I ever. A blue one with a bold white F. A black app with some white symbol that was like a backwards Q, maybe. A couple of card games, I assumed. And so many more.

Sighing, I set it down in my lap, watching as the screen turned black. It made no sense why Dawn would get me something like this.

I had been warned so many times in the past to never, ever think about taking one of the client’s phones. Not to call someone, not to text or look something up.

Boys like me weren’t allowed to have one, let alone try to look at it if a client came in with it.

I only kind of know how to work one since there were a couple of clients that enjoyed me too much. They would put some show on while using my body, or they’d play music from it. I never touched one unless it was to hand it to that person when asked.

A knock on the door caused my heart to pound too quickly. I looked wide eyed as Dawn peeked her head around the frame. Her smile was bright and cautious.

“Hey, Koda. There’s a social worker here.”

I slowly nodded, even as my heart refused to slow.

“She’s nice. She’ll just ask you some questions and make sure I’m treating you well. She’ll also want to see your room.”

Another slow nod from me.

“Alright. I’ll…we’ll be downstairs. I’ll give you a minute to settle.”

Was I that obvious?

I sniffed, knowing I had to be. I never could keep my thoughts or emotions stuck in my head. They tended to leak out into my facial expressions too often.

Dawn gave me another small smile before leaving the door open and heading back downstairs.

By the time I made it to the kitchen, bare feet hardly making a noise on the clean floor, I found Dawn talking to another woman who had her back to me.

From what I could see of her, she was shorter than both Dawn and me. Her red hair was in a high pony, touching the top of her shoulders.

“Koda,” Dawn said when she spotted me. “This is Katie.”

The lady turned, her round face similar to Dawn’s, expression wise. Open, caring, and possibly adventurous.

“Hello.” Her voice was deeper than I expected. “I’ll be the social worker for your case from here on out. Next time, there will be at least a twelve-hour warning before I show up, but with your case, it’s a bit different and I wanted to make sure that you’re being treated right. You’ve been through the ringer.”

I only managed to blink at her.

“So,” she paused, pulling a notebook and pen from a bag I hadn’t noticed beforehand hanging off her slim shoulder. “For the moment, I’ll give you the option of Dawn staying in the room with us, or we can step outside while I ask a few questions. They’ll be yes or no, so don’t worry about not being able to verbally answer.”

“I find the band aid method works best,” Dawn took the option away, but I think she just knew me too well. “You go ahead and start and I’ll slip away in a few minutes.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Katie smiled, then turned to me. “Are you liking it here?”

A nod.

“You’ve gotten glasses. And Dawn said you visited Dr. Shaw today.”

Another nod. That second part hadn’t quite processed in my mind yet.

“What about a dentist?”

This time, I shook my head. Dawn hadn’t made that yet for me.

“That’ll be something I do after we get a couple more visits with a psychiatrist. Just in case there are any issues with someone messing around with his teeth and mouth. I don’t want to overstep any triggers.”

Oh . I hadn’t even thought about that. I tilted my head, and shot some sort of look at Dawn, which I hoped came out as thankful. I wasn’t sure if I did have triggers, whatever those were.

“I’ll make a note. But if you have any teeth pain, you should see one sooner rather than later.”

I lifted a shoulder.

“Do you feel safe?” A nod. “Do you get food?” A nod. And so on. Questions that so many doctors have already asked me, and my answers haven't changed since then.

As Katie questioned me, I took a seat at the island, snagging a cookie from the tray. At some point, Dawn slipped away, even though I was pretty sure she didn’t go too far.

“It seems like your aunt has done her research on a lot of things,” Katie finally finished, putting away her notebook and pen. “She’s done everything and more than what most people would do when they take in an abused child. And a case like yours is hard to research to find help or answers. She’s a keeper. Now, this would normally be the time I ask to see your room, but I don’t think I need to. Maybe next time, but I feel like it’s important that you find a space that’s just for you to feel like a spot you can go to when life gets a bit too much.”

Katie spoke of a few other things that didn’t stick in my mind. Something about keeping in touch, with me letting her know if I ever don’t feel safe here.

I don’t think I’d ever feel this safe as I do here.

Sitting at the island, it gave me a great view of the back yard. Two trees in the center, where one now had a swing hanging from one of the bigger branches. I squinted, trying to figure out when Dawn had gotten that set up, and how. Because she wasn’t any taller than I was.

Or maybe it’s been there longer than I thought and just couldn’t see it. My eyes really were pretty crappy.

I didn’t hear Katie leave, nor when Dawn came back. I jerked, almost falling off the stool when she placed a hand on my shoulder.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.” Although, her eyes sparkled in humor before she backed off a tiny bit. “You, okay?”

I nodded once. Then pointed towards the swing. It took her a moment before she figured it out.

“The swing? I had one of the neighbors helps get it up a couple of days ago. You were taking a nap.”

Oh, well, that made sense and helped fix my confused mind.

“You can go out and try it.”

My eyes bounced from Dawn to the swing. It wasn’t much. Just a brown wooden piece of something tied with rope that hung from a branch. But to me, it was better than the tablet and phone.

“I have to go return a phone call,” Dawn patted my shoulder again on her way out of the kitchen. “Mac and cheese and hot dogs okay for dinner tonight?”

I nodded. I’d eat almost whatever she cooked. And so far, it’d been easy food and sat well in my stomach. At least the cramps from the cupcake had eased off.

I waited about thirty seconds before I slowly slipped off the stool and made my way outside to the swing.