The Neglected- Chapter 3

“I hope you girls realize how lucky you are that this offer came through,” said Bryan Brooks a week after our first meeting with him. At this point, he and I had become best friends. Since Olivia and I had to stay at the orphanage until foster parents could be found for us, Bryan had called us every night and met with us every day. He had tried to convince us that these check-ins were just to “get a read on our mental states.” I, however, was able to read people and knew that the real reason was that he lived alone and had a very limited number of other clients. Therefore, he enjoyed talking to me and seeing Olivia because it let him escape from that loneliness, even if these opportunities were brief. Of course, he also wanted to make sure that, as he put it, “we don’t get beaten up, or jumped in the lunch line or anything else that happens in those prison movies.” He had a very justifiable reason for concern; although to this day I have never been to prison, I am almost certain that it is very similar to this orphanage in which we temporarily resided. But all of that didn't matter anymore because this was our chance to escape.

“We really do appreciate everything that you've done for us, Bryan,” I said thoughtfully and sincerely. I had grown accustomed to speaking as both Olivia and myself, always saying “we” instead of “I” and just hoping that she agreed with what I was saying. I looked up at him with a slight smile on my face. He slyly grinned back. “Well, Jo, you’re just lucky that you and Olivia aren't hard to get along with.” This caught my attention. Bryan wasn't the type of person that always threw kind words around. If you got positive statements from him, you really deserved them. “Was that…almost a compliment?” I put my hand to my ear for dramatic effect. He laughed his deep, throaty chuckle. “Almost,” he agreed, and that was a good enough accomplishment for me.

We continued walking down the streets of New York City until we reached Times Square. I had to continually check on Olivia to make sure we hadn't lost her in all of the hustle-and-bustle of the city. The city that I grew up in, the city that I loved… I attempted to use looking after Olivia as a distraction from all of the memories I had of my mother, sister, and me in this same location. Unfortunately, this distraction was to no avail and as we got closer and closer to the place in the street where I remembered her last, the sting of her loss became unbearable inside of me. Before I knew it, the tears were streaming down my face. At that moment, Bryan glanced back at Olivia and I to see my face, glistening with the tears reflecting my pain and immeasurable sorrow. It took him a moment, but after his sudden but delayed realization, he came rushing to my aid.