Page 6 of Broken

Entering the boys’ bedroom, she was not surprisedto see the room clean. She had no doubt the same could be said for the girls’room as well.

“Hello there,” Petal said.

Petal hadn’t visited her parents in a few weeks.According to Rosalie, they had heard about her being in the hospital, but Petalknew they wouldn’t visit for fear of being landed with the debt. Warden and theclub had taken care of her hospital bill. She didn’t have to worry about payingit off.

Picking up the little guy, she smelled his diaperand knew he needed a clean one. She walked downstairs with him, where she sawthe rather battered child’s bag. As she changed the diaper, her fatherappeared. He was buttoning up his shirt as he came downstairs, and smiled whenhe saw her.

“Pumpkin,” he said.

Her father’s name was George, like her olderbrothers.

“Hey, Dad,” she said. This man was clueless andutterly besotted with his wife. He walked up to her and kissed her on theforehead.

“It has been too long, honey. I would love to stayand chat, but I’ve got to head out to work.”

He was a good worker. A hard worker.

“It’s fine. Uh, you do know there’s no food in thefridge, right?” Petal asked.

“Shit, again? Fuck, I thought I got Daisy andRandy to get some stuff.” He pulled out his wallet and handed her severalbills. “Be a doll, would you, and fill the fridge?”

Just like so many times before, she took the billsand nodded her head. There was no point in arguing or fighting him. “You gotit.”

He kissed her head. “Don’t be a stranger. Also, doyou mind taking little David with you? Your mother has been so tired of late,and I don’t want to wake her to take care of him.”

And there was the problem. Did he even realize hiswife rarely took care of their kids?

Petal nodded.

David, her baby brother, had snuggled up againsther, and she didn’t even want to think about why. He was a new baby seekingcomfort, and already she had a feeling he didn’t get enough of it.

Her dad left, and Petal wanted to go upstairs andberate her mother, but that would only make an enemy out of their father. Thatwas what George, her brother, did, and in the end he left. She hadn’t seen himin several years now. Petal hoped that wherever he was, he was enjoying a goodlife.

“It looks like it’s just you and me, buddy. Comeon. Let’s go shopping.” She kissed his cheek, and then decided to clean him up beforeshe left.

She tried not to think about the baby she hadlost. This was her little brother. She had done this countless times over theyears, taking care of a brother or sister. Imparting the wisdom Gabrielle hadgiven to her, to her sisters.

Petal wondered if this would be her parents’ lastchild. They needed to stop, because they were getting a lot older, but she alsoknew her brothers and sisters were getting tired of raising their siblings.

There had been no one in the house, which wasgood, as it was a school day, but when she lived home, sometimes she missedschool to take care of the new addition. She did that with Francine, and sheknew her sister had graduated high school and skipped town.

Her parents in total had ten children. LittleDavid would be number eleven. Six boys and five girls.

She cleaned David up, found a nice new set ofclothes, and changed him. Grabbing the used car seat, she placed it in her car,secured it in place, and gently put him inside the seat.

Climbing behind the wheel, she turned over theignition and headed off in the direction of the supermarket. Little David seemedquite content on the drive. He didn’t scream or make noise.

For a Friday, it wasn’t too busy. She found aparking space and got out, reaching for the car seat. She locked the door andmade her way toward the cart bay. She found the cart that would have the childseat, secured it in place, and smiled at David. The little boy was so sweet.

Walking her way through the supermarket, shegrabbed some vegetables, only the ones she knew they knew how to cook. Oncethat was done, she made her way through each aisle spending more time at themeat section. She found several cuts on sale, which she knew she could bag andprepare for them. Canned items were the easiest and at times the cheapest.

It was halfway around the store that she came to astop when she saw Rosalie with Colt. There was also a couple of the MC members,one of which was Dirty.

She tried to pull out of the aisle but David chosethat moment to gurgle and alert people to their presence. She forced a smile toher face.

“Petal,” Rosalie said, rushing toward her. Withinseconds, she let out a gasp as her friend attacked her in a fierce hug.

“Hey,” Petal said.

---