Chapter 2

Madison

I woke up staring at the ceiling in a room that was unfamiliar to me and smelled like cigarettes. I sat up. I was wiping the sleep from eyes when I realized Daniel and Alyssa were not in the bed with me. I got up quickly, headed towards the bedroom door, and threw it open.

Alyssa was sitting in a high chair in the kitchen. Jackson was standing behind her. “Momma!” she shouted. I ran to her side. Daniel was sitting across from her chewing on a pancake.

“Momma, I’m eating pancakes. They’re good!”

“I see the both of you are being well taken care of. Thank you, Jackson.” I looked around the room expecting to see Stone. He wasn’t there. “Where’s Stone?”

“Um…he decided to stay in Syracuse.”

“Getting our stuff from the house, right?” I asked nervously.

“Well…to tell you the truth, he’s not coming at all,” he said nonchalantly.

“What are you talking about? He needs to be in protective custody. He needs to be here with us!” I shouted.

Daniel and Alyssa stared at me. Jackson picked Alyssa up from the high chair. She smiled at him but reached out for me. He didn’t give her to me.

“There are some things we need to talk about Madison,” he said.

“I’ll take her,” I said, reaching out for her. He held her tighter and Alyssa began to cry.

“Let’s talk,” he said placing her back in the high chair. “Daniel, can you be a big boy and watch Alyssa? I have to speak with your mommy.”

“Where’s daddy?” he asked.

“He’s coming soon, champ. Stay with Alyssa, okay?” I interjected.

I walked into the bedroom with Jackson and left the door open wide enough to see the kids in the kitchen. I felt uneasy. I was afraid that I might have to grab the kids and run.

“What is it? What’s going on?” I asked nervously.

“Stone isn’t coming back right now. I…I’m taking custody of Alyssa until we can find you a home with Daniel.”  My heart sank into my stomach. Taking Alyssa? Why?

“Why are you taking Alyssa? Is she sick?”

“Alyssa is my niece, Madison. I think I’m her best option right now. I can give her things you can’t.”

“Excuse me? Alyssa is my daughter. I’ve raised her since birth. What have you done for her?” I said angrily.

“It’s not up for discussion. The court gave me full custody of her. You can’t do anything about it right now.”

“Are you fucking crazy? Those kids are my life. You just can’t take them away from me!” I yelled.

“You have no choice. She stays with me until you can get your shit together!” he shouted.

“No! No! You can’t do this! I won’t let you!” I ran to the kitchen and grabbed Alyssa and Daniel by the hand.

Before I knew it, two men in suits grabbed me and took Alyssa from my arms.

“Take the girl to the car. I’ll be right out.” Jackson told the men.

“Why are you doing this? You will destroy her, she’s just a baby.” I cried.

My hands were shaking, my body growing weaker and weaker as I heard the door slam behind the man carrying my daughter.

“Momma, where’s Alyssa going?” Daniel asked crying.

“She’s going to the hospital. She has to get better.” I lied.

“Are you going away, momma?” he asked.

“No, no…never again. Never again.” I picked him up and held him in my arms. He cried on my shoulder.

“Jackson, when will I see her again?” I asked as the tears skated down my face.

“I’ll call you.  Gather whatever you have. They are coming to take you to your new location.”

“Where?” I asked.

“Nebraska.”

“Nebraska? What the hell am I going to do in Nebraska?”

“It’s far enough from here so Andrew doesn’t hire someone to kill you and your family.”

“But what about Alyssa? I’ll never see her living so far away.”

“We’ll make arrangements.”

“Please don’t do this. Please…I beg of you.”

“Gather your things. We have to go. I’ll be outside.”

I walked into the bedroom with Daniel and locked the door behind me. I had seconds to think about what I was going to do next. I lifted the bedroom window, crawled out first, then grabbed Daniel. I placed him on my back and ran to the house across the yard and knocked on the door.  The door opened slowly.

“Can I help you?” She was a tall slender woman with deep green eyes.

“Please help me. Someone is in my house…they are going to kill me and my son.” She opened the door and let us in. I stood staring at her not knowing what to do next. She grabbed me by the arm gently and took me down to her basement.

“Stay here.” She closed the door behind her as Daniel and I sat on top of a plastic bin near the cold concrete wall. We had no choice but to stay there. I felt I needed to run, run as fast as I could to get to Syracuse, to get to Stone.

I had been alone with Daniel for what seemed like hours in the icy basement of our neighbor’s house when I heard the door unlock. I grabbed Daniel and looked for the darkest corner of the room to hide in. Then, I heard the footsteps of the unknown person approaching us.

“Madison, let’s go.” It was Jackson’s voice. I peeked out to see him standing with my green-eyed neighbor, his arms crossed against his chest. “Madison?”

“Please Jackson, give me Alyssa. I can’t live without her.” He grabbed me by the arm and I stared into my neighbor’s devious, dark green eyes as he yanked me across the basement. I held Daniel tightly as he began to cry against my shoulder.

“Momma.” He whimpered.

“Shhh…champ. It’s okay.” I whispered into his hair.

“Get the fuck in the car!” Jackson shouted as he shoved me in the car and sat next to me.

“What are you doing?”

“You know…I tried to help you. I really did. I wanted to help. But now, I know why Andrew did what he did. You’re trailer trash Madison. My brother fucked up, but he doesn’t deserve to be in jail. You killed my brother Sly. You deserve to be in jail.” I glanced up into his dark blue eyes.

“He was going to rape me,” I whispered as I held Daniel’s head against my chest.

As we sat in the back of the car, the privacy window in the front revealed the driver and the face of the devil reappeared…Andrew. I jumped back in my seat and started to scream.

“No! No! Open the door! Help me!” I cried. I started to grab the handle of the door when I felt my hair being pulled and was knocked to the floor of the car.

“Stop the car!” Jackson shouted.

“No! No! don’t let him come back here! Keep driving!”

The car stopped suddenly, and I heard the front door on the passenger side slam shut. I knew he was coming for me. I placed Daniel on the floor and kicked Jackson in the face, making his nose bleed as he tried to grab at me. Alyssa was screaming in the front seat. I grabbed Daniel and pushed open the door but before I knew it Andrew had punched me so hard in the face I fell against the car and Daniel fell out of my arms onto the ground.

“Bitch! Look what your fucking brother did to me!” He unbuttoned the top of his dress shirt to show me the bullet scar where Stone had shot him.

My vision was blurry as I reached out for Daniel. I couldn’t see him. The pain in my face was disseminating towards my temple. I grabbed the side of my face where it began to swell.

“Momma!” Daniel cried. I tried to adjust my vision, but I couldn’t see for a moment. I shook my head clear and saw Andrew holding Daniel.

“There, there, little angel. Momma tripped.” My eyes widened as I saw the gun next to Daniel’s waist. “Get up Madison, Daniel needs his momma.” He said with a wicked grin.

“Grab that bitch and handcuff her to the fucking door Andrew.” Jackson shouted.

“Get up bitch!” Andrew said as he grabbed me by the hair. My legs were like jelly. I stumbled into the back of the car. Andrew sat Daniel in the front with Alyssa. She quickly stopped crying.

“Alyssa, don’t worry, it’s me…me Daniel.” Daniel said, trying to comfort her.

“Start driving.” He shouted to the driver in the front. Let’s get the fuck out of here before the nosy neighbors call the police.” Jackson laughed, then looked at me angrily.

“You thought you got away…didn’t you.” Andrew growled. He grabbed me by the hair. “Shut the kids up before I throw them out of the window of the car!”

“Take it easy, Andrew. You don’t have to hit her anymore. Alyssa is ours. Why are you threatening the kids?” Jackson was staring at Andrew intensely.

“You’re right. I’m turning over a new leaf. Once we get to Mexico, we’ll start our new lives.” Mexico? Who’s going to Mexico?

“You’re going to Mexico. I’m going overseas on business,” Jackson said, smiling as he watched me squirm on the floor of the car.

“I can’t believe you got me off, Jackson. You never cease to amaze,” Andrew said as he crossed his leg over his knee. Re-buttoning his dress shirt.

“That’s what brothers are for. Besides, this piece of shit trailer trash deserves everything she got and more. No one kills my little brother and gets away with it.” He stared at me for a moment, then must have remembered Sly and kicked me in the stomach so hard I lost my breath. I was struggling to breathe when I heard Andrew’s voice.

“Don’t do that Jackson. She’s going to carry my children. We can’t damage her.”

No matter how much pain I was in at the moment, the thought of being with Andrew again hurt more. How the hell did I get into this mess? Fuck my life. My mother…I’m glad she’s dead. I placed my head between my hands and muffled my cries with my elbows covering my face. I felt a hand grab me and lift me up by my elbow.

“Come, sit here Madison. We need to get you cleaned up before we go to the house. Make sure you take those two kids with you, Jackson. I don’t care about either of them.”

“Why don’t I just leave them with Stone…or at least leave Daniel? I’m taking Alyssa with me.” The conversation made me sick to my stomach, but I was afraid to speak because I thought they would kill me. I glanced at Andrew.

“Oh…you want to keep them, don’t you?” Andrew whispered.

“Please Andrew, I’ll do anything.” He glanced over at Jackson, his face stern and cold.

“Yes, keep them. We’ll keep them.” He said sharply.

“What? No!” Jackson shouted.

“Yes, we have to think about the connection. If they end up somewhere without her, the police will come crawling back to me…then you. Get it? Besides, you don’t know how to take care of a little girl.” He pursed his lips to the side and rolled his eyes. I grabbed Andrew by the arm.

“Thank you.” I whispered.

“You’ll pay for it. Trust me.” I looked over and Jackson smiled.

“Pull over…I’m out of here. Good luck Andrew. I’ll be in touch when I get back.” He stared at me, got of the car and slammed the door shut. My life was over.