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Shook Chapter 9 Part 3 : Life And Death
The Blues are in to sleep for the night. But somethings plaguing Dyans thoughts, something important....
Eventually, the Blue’s ate at a restaurant and drove to a hotel.
The hippie van was parked into a parking lot and everyone quickly headed to the hotel to escape the cold air. As Dyan was busy rubbing her arms and staring at the foggy breath in front of her, she heard a plane woosh overhead.
“Are we near the airport?” asked Wild Yonder.
Mr. Blue smiled. “Maybe.”
This caused lots of chatter to erupt from the Blue children. Dyan looked up and stared at the plane in the sky with a tad bit of fear. Did she ever mention she was scared of planes?
She soon put her worries at rest as Mr. Blue rented a connecting room and the family was on the elevator for their floor. (The family was so big, they had to make two trips.)
Mr. Blue unlocked the door to room 31 and everyone spilled inside a small room with two beds and a TV against the wall. Dyan could hear faint sirens and car horns from the city outside.
“So what are we gonna do next?” she asked eagerly and looked around the room.
“Sleep,” Mr. Blue smiled with droopy eyelids.
This got him a chorus of Aw’s from the children.
“Common, you’ve all had a long day. Don’t you want some rest?” asked Mrs. Blue, holding the snoring baby Teal.
No was the only answer she got.
Mr. Blue handed Royal the key card to door 32 and the older kids piled in.
30 minutes later Dyan was sitting on a bouncy bed in her new fuzzy pajamas, thinking worried thoughts while the boys slept and Maya and Royal argued back and forth.
“Maya! Stop spoiling the movie!” yelled Royal.
“But we’ve seen this a billion times before. You know what’s going to happen!” said Maya
“Yeah, but it’s still nice to watch the movie without someone yelling out each scene! Plus, we don't know if Dyan’s ever seen it.” said Royal, and then pointed the remote in Dyan’s direction, where she sat silent and staring at the dresser.
“I bet she has. Dyan, have you seen this movie before?” Maya asked.
“Oh! -” Dyan jumped, shook her head and turned to Maya. It took Dyan a moment to answer. "-No."
Dyan’s weird behavior made Maya raise an eyebrow. “What’s wrong? You seem out of sorts.”
Dyan swiveled her attention to her bed sheets. “It’s just…well, listen!” She nodded to the door that connected them to Mr. and Mrs. Blue’s room.
Royal turned the TV’s volume bar so low the color indicating sound was barely visible, and the three girls listened to the other room.
“Listen to this,” Went Mrs. Blue’s faded voice. “I’ve got an email from someone who might know Dyan. She writes that her name is Edalina Moleti and she was the foster parent of Dyan when the fire took place, only she wasn’t at home.”
“Why wasn’t she at home with Dyan? Foster parents are supposed to watch their kids so they don’t get into trouble!” Mr. Blue’s voice was louder and more accusing than Mrs. Blue’s.
“I don’t know, but she is a registered foster parent. We should ask Dyan if she knows her.” Mrs. Blue said. Their voices became whispers, and Dyan could barely pick up anything they said.
“Well isn’t this good!? They found someone that might be your guardian. Wait, you do know that Edelina lady right?” Maya smiled.
“SSSSHHH!” Dyan hissed at her. Why did Maya have to be so loud!? She huffed. “I do know her, but I wish I didn’t.”
“Why?” whispered Royal.
“Because she’s mean! And because I’m tired of living in foster homes. I’m tired of moving from place to place to different people who don’t know me or don’t care about me. I wish I could live in a permanent home with a family of people who love me and are cool. A family like yours! A family that would actually help me face all my stupid fears! At this point, I’m 10 and I feel like I’m the most fearful person alive! But no one’s gonna adopt a 10 year old, because I’m already out of the one-digit age that everyone wants! I’ll be lonely forever, and I'll never make it living by myself!” Dyan sniffed up a huge mound of snot that had gathered at the edge of her nose. Tears were about to burst from her eyes, but she held them back with all the mental strength she had.
“Aw, don't cry!” Royal looked at Dyan sadly. This made Dyan feel worse! “Aw” couldn’t turn Dyan from 10 to 9 again so someone would adopt her. “Aw” wouldn’t conjure up a family as magical as the Blues for Dyan to be adopted by.
Maya was still staring at Dyan, her eyebrows lowered in confusion. “I don’t understand, what is it that you are so afraid of?”
Find out what happens next in the next part!
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