I
don't remember which day it was. But it was nearly Christmas. It was
chilly evening when our doorbell rang. We lived in big house at that
time. We had moved just few months earlier into a big house. It was
huge change from the tiny apartment we used to live. I still liked
the spacious house with many rooms. I finally got my own room. Before
that we had slept in a same room with my mothers.
We
had big backyard and tiny carage now. My mom spent lot of her time to
make the garden beautiful. Mom Julia helped her as much as she could
but I think I helped her more since Julia had so long work commute.
My
mom went to open the door. Julia was in the shower and I was watching
tv. I didn't hear anything but suddenly Niki sat next to me. My heart
skipped a beat and I just stared at them surprised. Niki didn't say a
word but they seemed unhappy. My mom and Niki's mom went to kitchen
and the two of us watched tv. I remember my mom called Julia to come
down.
I
was nervous when I turned my eyes to Niki. I looked her for a while
and then asked what had happened. I remember my heart raced rapidly
in my chest just because I was so nervous and concerned about Niki.
Niki shaked their head not looking at me. They tried to avoid my eyes
as they spoke: Dad hit mom really hard again.
Niki
had told me many times that their father was a bit aggressive. Not a
bit but a lot aggressive. Niki always said that I should be quiet
about it. It was a secret, but I knew. Also Lukas, Alex, Henry and
Jonas knew. We just didn't talk about it.
Now
Niki told me that their father had hit their mom really hard. Way too
hard. Niki told that they came to ask if they could stay at our place
for a while. Just so that Niki's mom could arrange everything. So
that they could get a safe place from Niki's dad.
My
mom and Julie asked me to take Niki to shower with me. They had
something to talk with Niki's mom and it wasn't good that we heard
it. I took Niki to bathroom and we took long hot shower together. All
the time Niki seemed really sad. It made me sad but I didn't know
what could I say to them. I didn't have dad anymore. I haven't seen
him in years not that I could even remember him.
My
moms talked with Niki a long time and told them it wasn't their
fault. Nothing was Niki's fault. Why would have anything been Niki's
fault. There was nothing Niki could do to make their father stop
being aggressive and scary.
Niki
didn't want to sleep alone so I let them in my bed. Niki crawled next
to me and hugged me really tight. So tight I felt like I could
suffocate any moment. But I didn't. I hold them next to me and hugged
them saying that everything would be fine tomorrow. I knew that it
wasn't possible and I believe Niki knew it too but they nodded
stating that I was right. But Niki continued that everything would be
fine as long as I was there. I told them that I wasn't angel.. that I
couldn't make everything to be fine but Niki laughed telling me that
I should just shut up and let them hug me. We laughed together for a
while before falling asleep.
After
that day Niki and their mom lived with us. I really liked it. We
spent a lot time together with Niki. Lot more than we had before. Few
times Niki's father tried to call to Niki's mom but Emily wasn't
interested. He even tried to visit our place but he was dead drunk
and mom Julia ended up calling the police. They came and took Niki's
father with them. Somehow I knew that Niki's mother had decided that
they weren't going back to where they used to live.
Emily
looked for a job all the time. She really tried her best to get her
feet back to ground – so that she could rent an apartment and live
with Niki. It was hard for her. My mothers told her that they could
stay as long as they needed to. They were helping Emily with job
applications and other stuff.
While
Emily was alone at our house she often cleaned and cooked. She did
laundry and took care of the garden. She wanted to do something just
to repay all the kindness my two mothers had given to her and Niki.
They became really good friends the three of them. I was secretly
really happy that Emyly didn't find or get any jobs. As long as she
didn't I could live with Niki. We were like best friends and sisters.
I was really happy about that.
I
once told Niki that it felt like we were sisters and they did correct
right away that we were like siblings. I didn't understand it. I
never did understand why Niki said that they weren't girl. It was
confusing to me but I understood that Niki was really unhappy about
it. They weren't really unhappy about their body.. but they didn't
want to be girl. I knew that Niki was really jealous for boys.
Because boys had stronger body. Because boys were often taller than
Niki was.
When
we went to sleep every evening I hugged Niki and told them that
everything would be fine. Niki always nodded and said I was right. It
was something we always did. We hugged and fell asleep together.
We
had really nice Christmas. It was nice to have Niki and Emily around.
Niki laughed now much more than before. They seemed much happier and
more relaxed. It was nice. Really nice.
The
story is fully fictional. All the similarities are pure coincidence.