Page 161 of Invisible String
I grab her hand and guide her shaking body. My body is shaking just as much as hers.Keep her safe.
Navigating the slick surface of the wet cement proves challenging. Each step feels precarious as we strive to maintain our balance, with Jason’s boots echoing heavily behind us. The uncertainty of where to escape gnaws at me. Drake is nowhere to be found, and the barren landscape offers little in the way of concealment.
“Sol, get back here. I need to talk to you,” he slurs, his words thick and unsteady.
I glance over my shoulder to gauge his distance, but it’s too late. His hand shoots out, tangling roughly in her hair. She stumbles backward, her feet scrambling for purchase on the slick tile before she crashes to the ground. He hauls her across the floor, her fingernails scraping against the ground in a desperate attempt to resist. With a harsh motion, he plunges her head into the cold water.
I rush forward, adrenaline surging through me as I pound on his back with clenched fists. “Let her go,” I shout, my voice echoing off the walls.
A force knocks Jason and me down. Drake throws a chair at him. Sol is gasping for air. I reach for her and pull her up.
“Leave them the fuck alone, you piece of shit, drunk motherfucker.”
Jason punches Drake, knocking him down, then grabs Sol again, but I kick him.
“Run inside and lock the door,” I shout, my breath coming in ragged gasps. She takes off, her feet pounding against the pavement, but Jason lunges forward, his fingers brushing against her wet swimsuit. She stumbles, her foot catching on the chair on the ground, and she crashes onto the cement with a sickening thud, her head striking hard before her body rolls into the pool. My heart stops at the sight of the crimsonstream flowing across the pavement and spreading in the water. Without hesitation, Drake dives in, his body cutting through the water as he reaches Sol. He lifts her limp form out of the pool, cradling her as he carries her to safety and gently places her unconscious body on a nearby chair.
“Call an ambulance,” Drake shouts.
Panicking, I searched for the phone I had left on one of the chairs. Jason’s gone. He fucking left.
“She’s breathing. She has a pulse,” Drake shouts.
I dial 911, and Drake talks to the operator. My pulse is skyrocketing. I grab a towel off the floor and place it on her head gently.
“Wake up, sunshine. Wake up.” Tears fill my eyes. “Please, please.” My mom always prayed. I do just that—I pray. “Please wake up.”
Drake has his finger on her pulse, and the operator asks him to check. Drake tells them what happened.
“Sol, Sol, can you hear me?” I shout.
Five minutes later, the ambulance and police fill the backyard. Lights light up the neighborhood. They take her, leaving me and Drake. I hate that she’s alone. She doesn’t like being alone. She has no one.
When Mrs. Sara arrives home, she rushes over to us, apologizing. She explains Jason has been arrested. She never imagined he could do something like that, although she did. She saw the marks on us, the fear in our eyes. Mrs. Sara once told Drake she couldn’t have kids. It’s why she decided to become a foster parent. She informs the police that he has never physically harmed her, but he is verbally abusive. I pleaded with Mrs. Sara to take us to the hospital. I begged, but she said she couldn’t because she wasn’t permitted to. She explained she was under investigation, and we would likely be taken away from her care.
Four days later, Mrs. Sara received a phone call. They informed her that Sol had woken up, but she couldn’t remember any of it or where she was. I also overheard a family taking her in and possibly adopting her. My chest hurts, my heart hurts.
I go upstairs and sit on her bed. I miss her. She’s my only friend. For six months, we were joined at the hip. She can’t be alone. She’ll cry.
A week passes, and it’s been ten days since I’ve seen Sol. She’s not coming back. I begged Mrs. Sara again to ask the people she’s living with to let me see her.
She knelt and said, “She won’t remember you, honey. She hasn’t gotten her memory back. Doctors don’t know if she will. It took her days to wake up because of the swelling in her head, plus the trauma. She doesn’t remember that she lost her parents.”
She has to remember me.
“I can help,” I said to her. She shook her head. “Can I be placed with her?”
Mrs. Sara gave me a sad face. I knew I would not see Sol again. I would soon be placed in a new home when they find a spot for me.
“Are you all right, buddy?” Drake asks, his voice low.
I don’t answer right away. I open Sol’s family album and flip through all the pictures. She’s not going to remember her mom and dad. She loved talking about them. “What if she needs us?” My voice cracks.
“Mrs. Sara just said the family is going to adopt her. She’ll have a new family, a mom, a dad, and an older brother. The family had been looking to adopt. They can’t have more kids naturally,” he says. “She won’t have to jump around like us. She’ll be happy.”
My head drops, a tear slides down. “She’ll never remember I was her friend. She won’t remember me. Us.”
Drake ruffles my hair. “I’m sorry, kiddo. Look, I know it’s not the time, but I’m leaving. I can’t do this again. I can’t go to another place. I’ll be seventeen in a couple of months. I’ve saved up money.”
