2.0 - Edited by: Rellawing, AlliterativeArts, Raleon, Trismegistus Shandy - 8/7/2020

“Oh thank God,” Goonie cried softly after having left the hospital room. Quinn rose off the ground from where she had sat against a nearby wall, having been unable to handle seeing Leo with all those devices hooked up to him. She hummed softly while waiting for her mother to explain, putting her negative thoughts out of her mind. Since they went directly to the hospital, Quinn still wore the same cutoff shorts and sneakers stained from walking in her uncle’s ruined home. 

“I’m sorry you had to wait, Quinn.” With a slight shake of her head, Goonie let out a small sigh of relief.

“Good news then?” The girl asked, her green eyes awash with concern. “He’s really okay?”

Goonie’s own green eyes gleamed as she ran fingers through her daughter’s blonde hair. Quinn came to be when her mother got pregnant nine years ago after she’d had a fling with a charming hippie. They’d enjoyed each other’s company, but he was never one to be tied down. He paid child support, but it was intermittent because he couldn’t quite grow past his hippie lifestyle. Goonie shook her head wondering what she’d ever seen in him. It may have been that they were both vegetarians. That mattered because, while she’d dated a lot of people, meat eating was something she would not do. Sadly, Quinn, despite her mother’s best efforts to break the habit over the years for the sake of her health, still craved meat. 

Even without being given the protein source she might have preferred, Quinn had still grown up to be well built, athletic and energetic for her age thanks to protein supplements, or so Goonie thought, but Quinn had actually started buying burgers and chicken nuggets with her allowance on the sly.

“Is he going to be my brother now?” Quinn asked with a inquisitive look. “I always wanted one.”

“Well, I hope… but we still have a huge legal tangle to get through.”

“Is it really all that complicated?” Quinn puzzled, drawing her face ever closer to her mother’s. “Why can’t we just take him home?”

“We can, since we’re family, but he needs to be nursed back to health before that. In the meantime, I’ll talk to my lawyer and see if he’s able to set a court date soon. I honestly don’t think that good-for-nothing father of his will come back, but you never know. While he’s out of the picture, we need to settle this. If he proves himself to be a decent human being, we can talk about it after the fact, but for right now he doesn’t even deserve the chance to try and defend his actions... Or to be anywhere near Leo.”

“He really left?” Quinn asked, aghast. “Uncle ran away?”

Laguna nodded and sighed. “Her death broke him maybe. He was always drunk when I called to check up on them. His excuses turned into irrational anger and I started worrying about what would happen to Leo. It was clear that Albert was falling apart. What happened hurt me too, but that’s no excuse to harm your child! Leo won’t smile!”

“Why? All you need to do is think about happy things and the smile will come naturally, right?” Quinn asked.

“It isn’t that easy… you can pretend, but inside you’re hurting and your heart is caving in. It’s far easier said than done to put on a true smile.” She gently pat the bright sandy blonde hair of her daughter.

Albert eventually turned up in a flop house close to a bar, and the bar was where he tried to sleep most nights. The bar manager wouldn’t let him lay down on one of the pool tables despite Albert’s best efforts to do just that every night and so, he was tossed out. While the manager considered banning Albert, he took pity on the poor broken man. One day he finally called the police to get him some real help.

While in the drunk tank, Albert received the subpoena for the neglect of his child and had to appear before a criminal court. His eyes were downcast, his face unshaven and his voice mute as the jury pronounced him guilty.

“We, the jury, in the case of the State of California versus Albert Walker finds the defendant guilty of the charge of the gross abuse of his child which is a felony.  In addition, we find the defendant guilty of misdemeanor public intoxication, your honor.”

The judge spoke, “The jury is thanked and excused. Court is adjourned.”

After spending the next several days in jail,  Albert was once again called back to court where the judge handed down his sentence, “Mr. Walker, you are hereby sentenced to two years of jail without possibility of parole. Furthermore, as you have shown to be an unfit father, Leo Walker will be placed in the care of his aunt Laguna Ramses, closest of living kin.”

Laguna was Goonie’s real name, but everyone called her by her cute and strange nickname. Particularly Leo, who had taken to the nickname simply because it was easier to say.

“A restraining order has been approved and will henceforth be placed upon you. Do not come within 100 yards of Leo Walker, or else you will receive a prison sentence.” The gavel struck the striking block with the sound of unambiguous finality. 

Albert lost his mind and started laughing uproariously.

“Do you think I care about that twink brat?! Hah! That hippie bitch, really? She couldn’t raise a crop!” His tirade devolved him to apehood which earned him another year of jail on top of the previous two since the judge was initially being lenient.

“So I guess you’re staying for good after all.” Quinn said with a broad smile. Leo nodded numbly, licking his lips. “C’mere you!” she exclaimed and scooped her little cousin up in her arms. She hugged him warmly. “Y’know, we’re cousins and all, but I always wanted a little brother and I’m really happy you’re here!”

Leo smiled weakly and looked around the home of Auntie Goonie and his cousin Quinn. It was a two-story townhouse with a small yard. Recalling his previous visits, the kitchen was fragrant as usual from the amazing cooking of his aunt, but now he was there to stay. 

Knowing that it was now home, the place had a new magic to it. But then he remembered the face of his mother, smiling warmly at him, snuggling him for no good reason. He always squirmed away and pouted, but now he wanted it back. How he missed her.

Tears of deep sadness streamed down Leo’s cheeks. Goonie scooped him up and snuggled him relentlessly. Leo continued to cry at first but eventually giggled as she rubbed her face against his wet dewy cheeks. 

“Don’t cry… you’re not alone.”

After that, a year passed and while Leo never forgot his mother, the walls he’d built up slowly came down brick by brick. It was a long project, but nothing worth doing ever comes easily.