Little Lost Girl: The Complete Series by Angelique S. Anderson

Author:Angelique S. Anderson [Anderson, Angelique S.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Creative Angel Design and Publication
Published: 2016-03-06T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 7

Home Is Where the Heart Is?

Star had not seen her father for almost a year. He had called a few times, but the Johnsons wouldn’t let her talk to him for more than a few minutes. They were worried that contact with her father would change her behavior. More than once, Star wanted to mention it was Darcy’s behavior that had changed; but she knew her child’s point of view would not be well received so she said nothing. When Star learned that she was being sent to Las Vegas to live with her father, the news came as a welcome relief, and she was excited about being reunited with her dad.

On a sunny morning in mid-April, Star left the Johnsons’ home with her two suitcases and boarded a plane for Las Vegas. She wasn’t looking forward to seeing her stepmother again, and when Betty picked her up at the airport, the reunion was strained. Star didn’t know what to expect when she got home.

It turned out that “home” was a small two-bedroom house a short distance from the Las Vegas Strip. The house was old and not in the best condition, but it was much more than Star had expected. She had her own room, and that was a huge relief. She made friends with a next-door neighbor and started fifth grade.

Her parents had started smoking again, but they weren’t drinking. Her father was good about taking his medicine, and he was more laid back—more like the happy daddy that Star remembered from better times. They often played chess together or watched football.

Betty had changed for the worse. She became violent with Star, often whipping her with a wire flyswatter that left painful welts across Star’s legs. Star took the mistreatment in stride, hiding the welts under jeans or a long skirt and never mentioning the whippings in school. It became more difficult to conceal the day Betty hit her in the face with the flyswatter and left a welt on her cheek that turned into an ugly bruise. She told her friends at school that she had walked into a door and laughed it off.

Star’s parents went back to gambling, and soon, they started drinking again. Star knew it was just a matter of time until they not would be able to pay the rent on their two-bedroom home. When that day came, they moved out of the house and into a two-bed hotel room just down the street.

Days turned into weeks, and Star was left alone in the hotel room almost every night while her parents went out gambling. Betty gave her a stern warning:

“Do not let anyone in!”

Some days when Star came home from school, Betty would be gone, and she found her father sitting on the side of his bed listening to music and talking to himself. She tried to go on with her life, avoiding her parents as much as possible. She took the bus to and from school and sat outside in the afternoons, doing homework, or writing poetry and dark stories.

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