I followed Mrs. McGillivray-Sullivan (I didn't want to call her Noreen since I had enough manners to show some respect to my elders) down to the spacious dining room where my foster dads and the boys were all waiting for me with a heavenly spread that looked straight out of a cooking magazine ready to be served. "Everything is to your liking, Demario?" Joel asked me as I took my seat in between the older man. "We knew that you could use some upgrades in your wardrobe and all."

I nodded. "It's all right," I replied. "I didn't have much nicer things back home at Fairlake Arms. Mom didn't want to be bothered with me to have anything that my brothers and sisters had gotten. And I preferred to have secondhand things, anyway. I didn't want to be frivolous."

"Well, you deserve to have some nicer things," Taylor said, his eyes narrowed at the mentioned of my late family. "Gianna didn't like how you talked down to yourself like that and neither do the rest of us here. It's high-time that you live it up     for a change."

Easier for him and his brood to say. They all had experience with the high life while I had to be thankful that I survived yet another night without being killed.

"I think that it's best to let Demario in on the rules of the family," Joel said.

I braced myself for what's ahead. No company after six p.m. No free time until chores and homework are finished. No cell phones allowed. No going out on weekends. Curfew is strictly at seven. If there was one thing that I learned about the foster community, there were so many restrictions that kids like me had to prepare for. So I had to prepare myself for the worst. And besides, I was ready to be a homebody with a lot of time on my hands.

"Right," Taylor agreed. "Demario, we value these rules as a family, so please make sure to obey them. First off, we value communication and honesty to one another. We never hide the truth or leave anything unsaid. So it's best to be transparent and open if you want to be taken seriously. Second, we value family time, meaning no phones allowed at the dinner table or when we have our family outings on the weekends."

"Also, we value respect to one another," Joel went on. "Everyone wants to be taken seriously, so being courteous and having manners is a must in this household. It means letting each other know where we are when we can't be around each other or helping each other out. Speaking of which, we all pull out own weight to keep what we have in this home. We like to have cleanliness, so we work hard to enjoy things in life."

I nodded. "That can work," I hummed.

"We have more rules to discuss, but these are the main rules we follow to the letter," Taylor continued. "And after dinner, my husband and I will talk to you personally about what we expect from you regarding your road to healing. We've talked to the judge, your therapist, and everyone else here before you arrived to make sure that we all pitch in to help. But the main thing for you to remember is that you are to help yourself."

"All right," I breathed. "I can remember all of that."

Joel smiled. "Good," he said.

The meal began as I took in questions from everyone about what my life back home was like. No, I didn't have much friends at the apartment complex other than the Tuckers. Yes, I made sure to help out as much as possible. I was looking forward to being more open, but I had a lot of reservations about my place here ("That'll change once you start hanging out with us," Antonio said to me, his tone brooking no argument. "You'll soon thrive with us and at your new school.").

Once the dinner plates were cleared (I had helped out with washing them despite Taylor's insistence to take time off), I joined my foster dads back in the dining room. "Son, I think that my husband and I can agree that how your family treated like the help and old furniture was a crying shame," Joel began. "Your mother, being the ringleader and all, didn't even care about your well-being yet knew that you were hurting from her rejections. She favored everyone else, even her spineless husband- who should've known better- over you. Has she even watched Ordinary People and learned about the consequences of favoritism in family?"

"Clearly not," his husband grumbled. To me, "Demario, your suicide attempt was a cry for help that should've been attended to by your extended relatives who are no saints because they all agree with your mother. They all never gave you a fighting chance, just hoped that you died and be out of their lives. They showed their true colors towards you despite you giving them nothing but kindness. Like the judge said, there's a special place in hell for people like that and I hope they all get their just desserts."

I nodded. I had heard it all before, but silently knew that my former family members were going to skate by with life by their statuses and all.

"We're going to help you with your road to healing," Taylor said. "We know that you like to keep a strong front for the sake of keeping everyone off your back and to make everyone appeased, but you're only hurting yourself by remaining silent. You may not have had a charmed life so far, but it's time that you learned to love yourself and embrace your self-worth. You'll have weekly therapy sessions with Dr. Nguyen as stated by the judge, but we'll also sign you up for group therapy in the future. You'll need support from teens who have attempted suicide."

"And when school starts, you'll have counseling sessions with the therapist and the school counselor as well," Joel added. "And we've made sure that all the teachers and staff members at Pacifica Glades know what you went through since you'll be attending there with the boys. But most of all, we want you to know that you can come to anyone- myself, Taylor, Noreen and her family, and even the boys- if you need someone to talk to. We're all ready to help,but you have to take the initiative to let people in. Help yourself."

"Well, I appreciate your offers," I said after a few minutes of silence. "I just don't know if you all truly mean what you say."

"We mean every word," Taylor said. "If you can't trust us, who can you even trust?"

"For the moment, I can't even trust myself. But I guess I need to start. Just promise me that you'll stick by your words. I rather be given the brutal truth and be left alone than to be stuck with people who don't give a damn yet send me on my way to ruin with false promises."

"That won't happen with us," Joel vowed. "We won't lead you to ruin, Demario."

For his sake as well as everyone else's, I hoped he was right.

Looks like the stage is set for Demario for his road to recovery. But with his mindset tainted by his mother's words and her hatred of him, it's not going to be an easy ride.

In the next chapter, Demario is getting ready for bed and wonders what's next for his life here before he gets a journal to help him record his feelings. Stay tuned.

Dedication: Ashe_frost.

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