Charlie
We had been driving for a while, a few hours maybe, it was nearly night and the dark was starting to consume us, it came from behind as the sunset surrounded our cars, the road itself reflecting the brightened sun. We were all in three separate cars, though we probably only needed two as these were massive 7 seaters so to be honest we all could of squished into one car, but I guess they all wanted their own space.
Sam was still fast asleep with her head leaning on my shoulder but she was still strapped in just in case.
"What the hell was that?", I asked Raymond quietly, we were in a car with Adam, Raymond and Aiden as we sped down the road, a car behind and a car in front of us. Raymond was attending to Aiden's arm as it bled more, though he acted all tough like it didn't hurt though I could see him flinching every now and again.
He sat next to Sam and held her hand as he did it though, probably the only chance he would ever be able to get to hold her hand. In comparison, her hand fit around two of his massive fingers, it looked comically large compared to hers.
"It doesn't matter for now, we will discuss it when we get to the airport", Adam said quickly, the car going around 80mph, way over the speed limit. I just nodded, I had no energy to try and argue right now and he was trying to concentrate on the road.
"You alright? Does it hurt?", I heard Ray ask Aiden quietly as he grunted quietly in pain. I turned to see more blood than I thought trailing down his arm.
"I thought you said the bullet only grazed him?", I asked Ray quickly as Aiden rolled his eyes.
"You told him? What were you thinking man?", Aiden said in an annoyed tone as Ray just ignored him, as if I wasn't part of their little group that I didn't have the right to know what was happening.
"He was thinking that I could hear the gunshots and even if he didn't tell me, it wouldn't take a genius to put two and two together and figure out what happened", I said back slowly, making sure not to wake Sam though she was starting to stir now, her hand gripped onto Aiden's for a moment as she turned in her seat. Aiden looked like his heart was about to break from her cuteness.
"She is so amazing, what was she like as a toddler I wonder?", Ray asked me, stitching up Aiden's arm which didn't seem like the greatest idea in a car going extremely fast through the backroads.
"Difficult. Extremely difficult but also very cute though she has never been a cuddly person nor has she ever been a stupid person", I said with a smile, remembering all the headaches and tears over raising her, social media makes you think raising children is easy work and that they listen to you though sometimes they just do whatever they want because they don't know the consequences yet. And they cry, a lot!
"I bet, she seems like a smart kid now", Adam said, giving quick glances to her every now and again though I could see the small smile on his face.
"Oh yeah, she started talking at 6 months, way quicker than majority of kids her age and started walking at 10 months, which is super early for a kid. Though she could talk, she barely did so, but you could tell she understood everything you were saying, though it took a while to understand everything she was saying", I said back with a smile of my own, remembering all the amazing times I got to experience with Sam.
"The first time she walked was right into my arms, her first words were Charlie, though it was a lot more adorable and said slightly differently as she couldn't pronounce her L's properly yet. She's more like a daughter than a sister to be honest with you", I said quietly, listening to Sam's cute snores.
"I'm sorry", Adam said quietly, causing both Raymond and Aiden to stare at him in surprise, obviously sorry isn't a word he says often if at all. I turned to stare at him, confusion written all over my face.
"For what?", I asked him quietly as the car went slightly faster.
"That you had to do that on your own, you were a child yourself and you had to raise a small baby with the loss of your mother soon before, thinking that we all abandoned you, that we all hurt you on purpose. We did try and find you, but your name was changed when you were put into the system when mother changed it, to protect you", He said quickly, his voice got deeper as he spoke instead of higher, as if his nerves went down as he spoke more.
"Sorry? Why would you apologise for the best years of my life! My bond with Sam wouldn't be the same if those things didn't happen, sure it was hard, but completely worth it and if you guys wanted a relationship like that in the future then that would be her choice, but don't say sorry for something that wasn't you're fault.", I said, ignoring his lies about them not abandoning me, there bullying and cruelness of my childhood will not be forgotten just because of one simple apology.
They would have to prove to me that they were sorry.
That they didn't mean to hurt me in such a cruel way, they did abandon me and I understand that they were also children at the time, but they were nearly teenagers, they could of spoken up but they stood in silence as they watched us leave, I still remember Max's little smirk as my mother dragged me out of the door.
Why me?
"Why me?", I asked them as the car turned to silence except for Sam's little snores.
"What do you mean?", Aiden asked, playing with Sam's tiny hand.
"Why did I get sent away and non of you guys did, I just want to know why father let our mother leave, give birth and die without any of you guys around", I said, my voice getting louder as I spoke, the anger starting to build up inside me, anger I didn't realise was so large until now.
"There was no reason it was you. It could of been any of us. Father let mother choose and of course she chose her youngest son, she called us the spawn of Satan which is rather ironic as we all came out of her, but instead of complaining that you were our mothers favourite, be happy that she took you", Aiden said with slight rage in his voice, as if it was my fault.
"Sure I got taken with Mother, but all of you guys got to stick together, are you saying you would rather someone else got taken with her? huh? Because all of you were like cats in a cradle, always close with each other and whispering and having secrets without me, I was a kid too you know?", I said loudly, almost shouting which then caused Sam's eyes to slowly open as she yawned.
Aiden quickly moved his hand away from her and covered up his arm though Raymond just put a coat over it but kept working away. As she rubbed her eyes with sleep, she quickly sat straight up and looked around before her eyes landed on me.
"When did I fall asleep? How did we get here? Where are the others?", She asked rapidly which caused Ray and Aiden to stop moving for a moment as Adam cleared his throat.
"We are going on holiday for a few weeks", Adam said strongly in a deep voice though he kept giving glances at her through the mirror, as if he was trying to console her.
"That didn't answer any of my questions", She said quietly under her breathe as she gave me a small smile though it was clear her head was buzzing with ideas and questions of her own on what happened at the house.
"We are heading to Rome, you get to meet some of your cousins and uncles and aunts, also your grandparents live there and they are all really excited to meet you, both of you", Adam said, sounding more excited than I had ever heard him which is mildly excited for a normal human being with actual emotions.
You can see when Sam gets her sass from.
"Rome? Italy?", She asked though she nodded her head to show she knew it was a stupid question.
"Yep poppet, plenty of family to make you feel like home even if they are a little eccentric if I do say so myself", Raymond said with a smile, giving her a nod as she nodded back, though I could see her little brain whizzing with questions she could ask them.
After a few minutes we pulled into what seemed like an airport, probably because there were planes everywhere, flying about.
"You ready for your first time on a plane?", I asked her, though she nodded I could see she was nervous. Alright then, time to meet some of the family, though I remember most of them vividly and they weren't too fond of me either.