Chapter 15

Jonah

       To save more money for the vacation, we all decided to get a hotel with three bedroom since it was somewhat cheaper than getting three different motel rooms. It wouldn't have been much different for us since we all were going to still have our privacy in our bedrooms. The only difference was we had to share a washroom.

       Which was a complete pain because of Ezra taking forever in there in the mornings.

       Linnea, Ezra, and Madison went to the grocery store to pick up some food for us to store in the fridge since I was usually the one who went and I was starting to get annoyed with going. That, and I wanted to talk to Reed about what he was going through.

       I waited for a few moments after the others left before sitting down beside Reed at the dining room table. He was just staying quiet the whole time, stirring the bowl of yogurt sitting in front of him. He had been a lot more quiet since he told me everything, oddly enough.

       "I think we should tell my mom and dad about that man," I said, which was enough to make Reed look at me, his eyes widened.

       "No, we can't," Reed said. "I don't want anyone else to know about it. It was hard enough telling you."

       "Okay, but they're your foster parents," I said. "They're supposed to take care of you and if that means telling them about everything you're going through, including some man that's trying to pimp you out to pay off your father's debts, then that's something you're going to have to deal with."

       Reed didn't reply. He just stared at the bowl in front of him before getting up and bringing the bowl to the kitchen, then heading to his bedroom. He closed the door behind him, but at least it wasn't with a hard slam.

       I sighed and leaned back in my seat. I really think it would help Reed a lot more if Mom and Dad knew what was going on, but it unfortunately wasn't my place to tell. I finally gained Reed's trust and I wasn't going to throw it away.

       But maybe I could give him some motivation to tell them.

       I pulled out my cell phone and sent a quick text to my mom: SOS. Need you and dad here.

       It didn't take long for Mom to reply, and she didn't even question why I needed them here. She just told me that they were on their way, so I also sent them the directions to the place and our hotel room number.

       I really hoped this worked.

       While I waited for my parents to show up, which wasn't going to take too long since it was only a half hour drive, I grabbed my guitar and my song book so I could work on one of the songs I had been writing for a while.

       Maybe I could even finish this song by the time summer finished. It normally didn't take me so long to write a song but for some reason, I was absolutely stuck on this.

       But I couldn't even abandon it because I was way too in love with what I came up with so far.

       When the others came back from the grocery store, Linnea smiled at me while I was strumming away. "It's nice to see you working on the song again," she said, sitting down beside me on the couch. "Any luck?"

       "Sort of," I said. "I think I finished the chorus but I won't know until I have the rest of the song to see if it actually flows with it all."

       "Well, I know you'll be able to finish the song soon," Linnea said. "You are amazingly talented."

       I smiled. "Thank you. Oh, and by the way, my parents will be here soon."

       "Whoa, wait, did I hear right?" Ezra said, moving away from the kitchen where he was putting the groceries away to walk closer to where I was. "Did you just say your parents will be here soon? Dude, this is supposed to be our vacation. Just teenagers. Parents are going to kill the mood."

       "Oh, relax, they're not going to stay long," I said. "There are just some... family issues we need to sort out."

       "Are they coming to take Reed home?" Ezra asked.

       "No, but I know they'll be more than willing to take you home if you keep treating my brother like crap," I shot back.

       "Alright, chill, I was just asking," Ezra said. "I literally don't know any other reason they'll drive all the way here."

       "All the way?" Linnea asked. "It's a half an hour drive."

       Ezra shrugged before heading back into the kitchen. I knew I was stubborn about Reed coming along but at least I was making the effort with him. Ezra and Madison could at least try to do the same thing.

       My parents showed up sooner than I thought, which was probably only because Dad decided to speed while he was on the highway. He did that a lot no matter how many times Mom told him to stop.

       When they did show up, Linnea, Ezra, and Madison took that as a cue to leave the hotel room for the family issues we had to sort. Reed hadn't left his room the whole time so he had no idea Mom and Dad were here, let alone on their way.

       So when I called him to come here, he looked completely shocked.

       And a bit annoyed at me.

       "So why was I sent an SOS?" Mom asked. "Is everything okay?"

       I didn't say anything. I just looked at Reed, silently telling him to say something. He didn't either. He just looked down.

       "Well?" Mom asked. "There has to be a reason your father and I drove here instead of just talk on the phone. What is it?"

       Again, neither of us said anything. The only sound that was made was Reed sniffing as he wiped the tears from his eyes.

       "Reed? What's wrong?" Dad asked.

       "Everything," Reed said. "Everything is wrong."

       Mom gently grabbed Reed's arm and led him to the couch, the both of them sitting down and Dad sitting down on the other side of Reed. "Our duty as foster parents isn't just to give you a place to live," Mom said. "We're here to do what every parent should. If there is something going on that's really bothering you, we are going to help you out. All you have to do is talk to us."

       Reed nodded and took a deep breath before talking. "My dad had a gambling problem which ended up causing my family to be homeless. And before that, he sold a lot of my things like my horse and my instruments. Not only that, but he owes this man a whole bunch of money. And he..." He tried continuing but he couldn't. The tears were too much for him.

       "It's okay," Mom said. "Just take your time and if it's too much to talk about, you don't have to say anything."

       Reed looked over at me. "Can you tell them?"

       "If you want me to," I said and Reed nodded, so I sat down on the chair in the living room. "Since Reed's family was homeless, his dad couldn't pay that man the money he owed. So the man thought of another alternative to get the money, which involved Reed. And since both of Reed's parents passed away, the man has been going after Reed to get the money."

       "How much money is owed?" Dad asked. "Because we will definitely help."

       "Yeah, I want to as well but Reed said it's like tens of thousands of dollars," I said. "That's not all. That man is in this town right now. He ran into Reed once, and we have seen him a few more times after. And when he did see Reed, he brought up the other alternative."

       "What is it?" Mom asked.

       Reed still didn't want to talk but he gave me a look to continue telling my parents, so I did. "First off, when the alternative was suggested when Reed's parents were alive, his dad agreed to it. Even though Reed is fifteen. It's to be pimped."

       "Are you serious?" Mom asked, looking at Reed. "And your father agreed to it? He actually agreed for his fifteen year old son to be a prostitue? Okay, I think we're going to stay here for a few more days so we can sort this mess out. We will get you away from that man so you won't have to owe him anything."

       "We really will," Dad said. "Even if we have to somehow pay all of it. You are not handling all of this alone, Reed. You don't deserve to go through this at such a young age. We will make sure this ends no matter what."

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yes now the whole swan family is protecting my angel of a son reed <3

i might even jump into the book to help out. spruceworth isn't too far from meadowcliff so letizia and ender can always make a surprise visit...

lol jk jk. i'm staying in spruceworth.

and ive been so active with this book yay. it feels like summer for me since i wont have for four months so it definitely helps ahahaha