A Story of My Life - Part Two

     "No thank you," I said, shaking my head. I still couldn't believe what had happened. I felt numb as I sat on the couch and shoved chunks of cake around my plate.

     Sherry was not a tall towering figure with a knife. And she did have a chocolate cake, but she wasn't plump either. She was about Maria's height with shoulder length red hair and green eyes. Not what I was expecting.

     "Thanks for taking us in," Maria said kindly, smiling at Sherry. "I know it was short notice. I wasn't expecting to get robbed."

     Johnny raised his eyebrows at Maria in an angry way. I glanced worriedly at him.

     "Don't worry about it, Maria," Sherry said, shaking her head. "I can't believe you got robbed! Shouldn't we inform the police?"

     Maria shook her head. "No, no, it's not that much of a big deal. I don't want to worry anyone else…"

     "So they took everything?" Sherry asked, spooning some chocolate cake into her mouth. "I suppose you could earn the money back while staying here. Then you can buy yourself a nice home on the cheaper side of Neopia."

     "That's my plan," Maria said, nodding.

     "What!?" Johnny jumped up to his feet, chocolate cake dropping on to the ground.

     "Sit down, Johnny," Maria said, clenching her teeth. "Apologize to Sherry and clean up that mess."

     "It's not a problem, Maria," Sherry said quickly. "I think the kids are just a little bit tired from the walk. Maybe I should show them their rooms now."

     "You prepared rooms for them!" Maria exclaimed. "You shouldn't have!" She paused. "Where will I sleep?"

     "Well I don't have many rooms here since I live by myself," Sherry said hesitantly. "I suppose I could sleep in the living room and you could take my room…"

     "How sweet of you," Maria cooed. "I'll start on the dishes. You can show Carrie and Johnny their new rooms." She paused. "Temporary rooms, that is."

     "Of course." Sherry stood up and brushed off her jeans. She took me and Johnny by the hand and led us up the stairs.

     "I figured you two were close to each other," Sherry said. "So I gave you rooms right next to each other." She pointed at two doors. One was yellow and one was blue. I suppose the yellow one was for me. I glanced at my fur which now looked slightly grey.

     "Thank you, Sherry," I said politely.

     Johnny just nodded. It wasn't like him to be so silent. Or maybe it was me who was acting odd. Should I have been more intimidated by our new life?

     I opened the door to my room. Inside were a large bed, a desk, a closet, and another door that led to the bathroom.

     "It's amazing!" I said. I walked inside and went over to a large window on a side wall. Sunlight streamed through and the flowery curtains were pushed aside.

     "I'm glad you like it," Sherry said, sounding relieved. "I'm going to go down and help Maria with the dishes now. If you need anything, just call."

     I nodded as I opened the window. The thunderstorm had stopped and I thought I could see a rainbow in the distance.

     "You're really going to accept this?" Johnny asked, standing in the doorway.

     "I see nothing else I can do," I murmured, not looking at him.

     Johnny just stood there. Then he left.

     I still felt scared.

     The next day was much more promising. I fell asleep with a heavy heart, but awoke feeling light. I had forgotten about the previous days events. I climbed out of bed and then I realized.

     No school until we settled. And who knows when we'll settle?

     So I had the entire day to myself. I decided to spend it with Sherry to get to know her better. After quickly washing up I ran down the stairs.

     "Sherry!" I called. "Where are you?"

     I was about to enter the living room when I heard voices. Angry voices.

     "So explain to me again, please." It was Johnny.

     "I told you already, Johnny. I don't want to keep saying it."

     "I need to understand everything."

     "I went gambling. I lost all our money. The Neohome was taken away from us because I couldn't afford it anymore. Sherry has graciously taken us in. I lied to her and said we were robbed because I didn't want to worry her. I'll just end up gambling again if we go to play games. I don't know when you'll go back to school, possibly never. And we'll stay here as long as necessary."

     "Carrie, what are you doing?"

     I jumped and turned around. Sherry stood there with a flower pot.

     "Hi, Sherry," I stammered. "I was just looking for you. I thought we could spend some time together today."

     "That's sweet." Sherry smiled. "I was just doing some gardening. Care to join me?"

     "Okay!" I nodded and quickly ran out to the garden, Sherry tagging along behind me.

     "Would you like to start planting some tomatoes?" she asked me.

     So that's what I did for my morning. I planted tomatoes and potatoes. Carrots even. I saw some wild Cybunny, but I quickly shooed them away.

     Sherry and I had a lot of fun. We even joked around. I felt so happy I forgot about all our problems. That is, until Maria came and told us to come in for lunch. I remembered I hadn't had any breakfast. I was so hungry.

      Sherry served us different kinds of hot dogs. I gobbled mine up greedily, but Johnny ate slowly, giving Maria a look the whole way through. I felt tense as I finished my fifth hot dog. I gulped down my milk and stood up.

     "I, uh, have to go do something in my room," I said quickly, feeling uncomfortable.

     Sherry nodded. "Sure, sure, go ahead."

     I quickly ran up the stairs. Once inside my room, I reached under my bed where I had stored my suitcase. I decided to start unpacking. From what I heard, we wouldn't be leaving in awhile. I hung all my clothes (I didn't have much since Maria sold most of it to get money and gamble) in my closet, stacked up the few books I had in my bookcase, put a book and a pencil on my desk. When I was done I shoved the suitcase under my bed once again and brushed my hands off.

     "May I come in?" There was a knock on the door. I could tell from the voice that it was Maria.

     "Sure." I sat down on my bed and held my breath as the doorknob turned.

     "Hey," Maria said, smiling. She closed the door behind her and sat down beside me.

     "Hi."

     There was silence. I started picking at the edge of my blanket.

     "Look, Carrie," Maria said uncomfortably. "I know what I did was wrong and I wanted to apologize."

     "It's ok." Had I really said that? It really wasn't OK at all.

     Maria smiled weakly. "I knew you would say that. You're so good." Her face clouded over. "Unfortunately, there's still that Johnny. Honestly, I wouldn't have even adopted him if I-"

     She stopped and looked at me. "I'm sorry, baby."

     I shook my head. "It's OK" Again! Why did I keep saying that? Lies seem to slip out of my mouth before I grasp on to them.

     "To make it up to you, I'm going to take you shopping on your birthday," Maria announced, beaming.

     "My birthday?" That's right. My birthday was two days away. I smiled at Maria. "Thanks, that should be fun."

     "Just you and me for the whole day!" Maria said eagerly.

     I didn't ask what Sherry and Johnny would do. Instead I said, "We have no money for shopping."

     "So we'll window shop," Maria said simply. "Name all the things you want when we go to look and then I'll buy them for you later."

     I beamed. "Thank you!" How could Johnny say that Maria was cruel?

     The next day there was a gentle rain against my window. I awoke and lay in bed for a few extra minutes. I was day dreaming about the things that I might be able to see on my birthday when we went shopping when I heard a knock on my door.

     "Come in," I called.

     Johnny entered the room, quickly closing the door behind him.

     "Hi Johnny," I said, sitting up in my bed.

     "Hi." He hesitated. He held his hands behind his back. I wondered why.

     "How are you feeling today?" I asked timidly.

     He just shrugged. There was a pause.

     "Look," he said finally. "Your birthday's tomorrow so I decided to give you an early present."

     He dropped a package on my bed. Four holes were poked at the top.

     I looked curiously at him as I started to unwrap the present. I squealed with delight and surprise.

     Inside was a precious little Angelpuss. She stared up at me with large blue eyes and smiled.

     "Oh, Johnny," I whispered. "She's precious!" I held her up and she squealed. "Jill. Named after Johnny."

     Johnny laughed. "Jill, eh? I like it." He paused. "Take good care of her."

     I nodded. "I will." I paused. "Johnny…"

     "Yes?"

     "Where did you get the money for Jill?"

     Johnny smiled. "Allowance I had in my pocket. I only paid for half, though."

     "Who paid for the other half?" I asked, Maria coming into mind.

     "Sherry."

     Johnny quickly left my room, leaving me there, holding Jill.

To be continued...