Page 17 of Love Legacy
They were guys that were also regulars at the bar she frequented.
None of them signed up for a kid, especially not one that had the behavioral issues I did at the time.
They’d put up with it only for so long, and then that’s when the verbal abuse started,” Sage says, her body trembling, her tears soaking my shirt.
The memories still brought her so much hurt today, and I feel awful for bringing it up.
“After a little while, my mom would catch on to how they were treating me and kick them to the curb. But after boyfriend four, I think she just stopped caring herself.
Boyfriend number five was the first and only one that stayed around long enough to hit me. My mom didn’t do anything about it. No, mother dear scolded me for pissing him off.
So I ran away. I tried to crash with one of my friends I stayed with before. Her mom saw the discoloration on my cheek and finally called DCF, the department of children and families, to report the abuse and neglect.
They didn’t investigate for very long. We were overdue on all our utility bills, the bank was in the process of foreclosing on our house, and my mom was never around for the home visits. Add to that the reported abuse, they put me in foster care. And she never contested it either.
I bounced from home to home for a couple years before I ended up with Theia and her parents at fourteen. I had been with them for about eighteen months when they decided they wanted to adopt me.”
Sage sits up, wiping her now red eyes, the mascara streaked down her cheeks. I rub her back in soothing circles, wiping my own eyes with my free hand, and giving her a small smile. “Well that’s good, right? You were adopted into a loving family.”
She shakes her head. “I wish it had been that easy. When I was originally put into foster care, after six months, if my mom hadn’t gotten her act together or didn’t try to claim me, my case worker was supposed to file to have her parental rights severed, allowing me to be adopted.
That never happened. And we didn’t know that until the Davises tried to adopt me four years after I went into the foster system.
After all this time, she was still legally my mom.
So the courts tried to track her down, to give her the opportunity to voluntarily relinquish her parental rights or reunify with me.
But it was as if she dropped off the face of the earth.
No one could track her down, and there was no record of her death either.
Not only was it costly for Melody and Ken to fight this in court, it took forever too.
By the time the judge finally agreed to terminate her rights in her absence, I had aged out of the foster system.
The Davises never treated me differently though. They always saw me as their daughter, regardless of my foster status. I’m named right alongside Theia in all their legal documents, even their wills.” Sage sits next to me, leaning into my side, playing with the ring on her middle finger.
“Is that ring from the Davises?” I ask. Sage wears that class ring on a daily basis, it’s clearly weathered and discolored, so I knew it wasn’t hers. Hearing how important the Davises are to her, I assume it’s one of theirs.
She shakes her head. “Actually, it was my dad’s. When I was removed from my mom’s care, I took it, along with a few photos and his dog tags. I was surprised she hadn’t pawned it yet, like she did her wedding rings, so I took with me before she could.
Melody and Ken got it resized for me for my eighteenth birthday so I could actually wear it instead of just keeping it on the chain with my dad’s dog tags. I never got to meet him, so this is my way of keeping him close.”
I give her another tight hug, pressing my lips to the top of her head. “I’m so sorry that you’ve gone through all this, Sage.”
She gives me a soft smile and a small shrug. “Now you know why Kappa Theta Alpha means the world to me. These girls, my sisters , they’re the family I always wanted.”
Noticing that the sun’s begun to set, I pull away from Sage, relieving some of the tension of the moment. “I think we should probably head back to the car. Before we get stuck out here in the dark.”
She nods, standing up to help me clean up our mess and blanket. We head back to the car in silence, walking hand in hand. Sage offers to drive me back home but I decline, telling her I’ll just meet Alex at work.
“Thanks for listening to me, Naomi. It was…cathartic,” she says softly, leaning back and leaning against the driver’s door of her car.
I give her hand a light squeeze, smiling up at her. “I’m glad I got a chance to know the real you.”
Sage looks down at my face, at my lips, and I feel a sudden surge, the same one I felt the night of the Kappa Halloween party. Deciding to throw caution to the wind, I follow that urge, stepping close to press my lips to Sage’s.
This kiss has none of the urgency of the last one and yet more passion. My lips part slightly and she takes that as invitation, deepening the kiss, pulling my body into hers. We mold together, breathing in sync, the outside world disappearing as we get lost in the emotion shared between us.
If I had any uncertainty before, it’s gone now. I’m positive. I’m falling for Sage Carpenter and falling fast.