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To Raise A Child
#9
Marta ran into her room and shut the door behind her before sitting down on her bed. The tears came soon and stung her eyes. She was confused. When she had started it, he had stopped it. Could it be that he really wasn't looking for that? The words he had said rung in her head - never again.

Ricky was just confusing to her. Marta didn't know what to think, but as she tried to put the pieces together, she remembered the earlier days - the meetings with the doctors and the big words that had been spoken. She now had the tools to figure out what those words meant.

Marta picked up her tablet. The first thing that she remembered was the word lease. She said the word aloud slowly, sounding out each syllable to figure out how to spell it. She typed Leese into the search engine. The results made no sense - there were people with that name, but it wasn't something that you did. She looked at the bottom of the page where the related searches were. She found another word - lease and clicked it. "A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the lessee (user) to pay the lessor (owner) for use of an asset." There were some big words in the definition, but she sounded them out and eventually understood what El Diablo had been doing to her. He had been selling her out to the men, but had she done the same to Ricky - Ricky hadn't treated her the same as the other men.

The next word she looked up was heroin - again sounding the word out loud. What she found was different - it was some type of drug that could be injected - had that been the liquid that the doctor had given her - she needed more information, so went to her next word - withdrawal. Seeing an article on drug withdrawal she clicked it and read. There were a lot of hard words, but she used the words surrounding it to figure out what they meant. The pieces began to come together for her. Withdrawal was what was happening when Ricky had first taken her in and she would suddenly get angry and sad at the same time.

More was needed though - a missing piece or two - she searched weaning, again sounding the word out. She found a definition page. There were several definitions, but only one fit in with her situation "to detach from a source of dependence."

Marta figure it out. She had gotten the shots of heroin at the brothel. She was dependent on it, and when she needed it, she got angry. Ricky had taken her to a doctor, and she remembered each time there had been less in the needle. They had slowly made it so she didn't need the drug anymore. She didn't even remember the last time she had needed it.

Marta felt guilt as she remembered all of the good things he had done for her. Marta didn't remember the last time she had felt hungry or thirsty. He took care of her when she felt sick. When she had run away, he found her and told her she was safe. Ricky had helped with her bruise. He sang songs to her and had taken her to the zoo. Ricky had really been nice. It hadn't been a trick, and in return, she had run away, broken things, torn the pretty dress he had given her, and resented him. She had been so bad.

Marta looked at her closet door. Ricky had replaced the one she had ripped, it was in a bigger size too. Marta realized she had been growing, but now she wondered what the last word meant. The one Ricky had said to her. She sounded it out and typed it into the search engine. Adopt.

Adopt: to take by choice into a relationship; especially : to take voluntarily (a child of other parents) as one's own child

Marta felt the tears begin again. Daddy had died when she was young. Mommy and Rafael had died shortly after she was taken. Ricky had taken her out of that place and had taken her in. He treated her like she was his own family. The guilt struck her hard. She had been bad. She had wanted to make Ricky push her away, and now she was worried that she had.

Marta stood, and left her room. Ricky's door was closed, she could hear him whispering - praying for her again. All the times she had overheard him came back. He had always prayed for her and meant them all. Marta moved away from the door down to the kitchen. She found some paper towels and began to clean up the mess she had made. Hopefully, Ricky would keep her if she started being good.

Marta heard Ricky approach and she faced him, seeing the kindness in his eyes. Marta trembled, still crying. "I'm sorry...so sorry. Please...I'll be good, don't push me away."
Marta had let her eyes fall to the ground, unable to meet his gaze.

It wasn't until she felt Ricky pull her into a hug that Marta realized he had approached her. "It's okay Marta. You were scared. I won't hurt you. Ever."


Marta turned to look at him again. She felt safe, and for the first time, she wasn't scared of that around Ricky. "I know now."
Marta said.

Ricky smiled and Marta did with him. "I'm glad Marta. Happy Birthday."


Marta hugged Ricky. "Thank you."
She hoped the words conveyed the amount of gratitude she really had. "What now?"
She asked.

Ricky smiled at her as she released the hug. "It's your birthday. What do you want to do?"


Marta felt really special in that moment. Today was her day! She could spend it how she would like. She thought for a minute and then came up with an idea. "Stay here! I'll be back."


Ricky laughed as she ran back up to her room and took the dress off of her closet door. She changed into it and walked back down the stairs. Ricky smiled at her when he saw the dress.

Marta approached, feeling the butteflies in her stomach. It was her birthday - a great day for a new start. "Ummmm...daddy, will you take me to the zoo for my birthday? That's what adopt means right - that you are now my new daddy?"
Marta was unsure, but she wanted this now.


[Image: Marta_zps1a4758b6.jpg]
Marta Gonzalez


Edited by Enrique, Apr 19 2015, 03:33 PM.
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Messages In This Thread
[No subject] - by Enrique - 12-31-2014, 11:25 AM
[No subject] - by Enrique - 01-02-2015, 12:10 AM
[No subject] - by Enrique - 01-19-2015, 12:58 PM
[No subject] - by Enrique - 01-20-2015, 04:29 PM
[No subject] - by Enrique - 01-23-2015, 03:32 PM
[No subject] - by Enrique - 01-26-2015, 05:29 PM
[No subject] - by Enrique - 04-16-2015, 03:52 PM
[No subject] - by Enrique - 04-19-2015, 12:20 PM
[No subject] - by Enrique - 04-19-2015, 03:23 PM
[No subject] - by Enrique - 04-20-2015, 10:03 AM

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