Precious Jewel Read online

  TITLE PAGE

  ONE

  TWO

  THREE

  FOUR

  FIVE

  SIX

  SEVEN

  EIGHT

  NINE

  TEN

  ELEVEN

  TWELVE

  THIRTEEN

  FOURTEEN

  FIFTEEN

  SIXTEEN

  SEVENTEEN

  EIGHTEEN

  NINETEEN

  TWENTY

  TWENTY-ONE

  TWENTY-TWO

  TWENTY-THREE

  TWENTY-FOUR

  TWENTY-FIVE

  LETTER FROM THE AUTHOR

  Precious Jewel

  Megan Fatheree

  Precious Jewel

  Copyright © 2012 by Megan Fatheree. All rights reserved.

  This title also available as a Kindle ebook.

  Kindle is a registered trademark of Amazon.com

  ———————————————————————————————————

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other – except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the Author.

  This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons living or dead is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of either the author or the publisher.

  Printed in the United States of America

  For my mom and dad. Thank you for being the support I’ve always needed and thank you for encouraging me in my dreams.

  ONE

  A sunny, carefree day was just beginning as Seth, Drew and Peter Livingston cruised down the highway as fast as the speed limit allowed. Peter, the youngest brother at fourteen, held a large package that had been carefully gift-wrapped. Not by the boys, of course. If the gift-wrapping had been up to them, they would have bought a bag.

  “Mom is going to love it!” Peter exploded. “She might even deem it the best birthday ever!” his arms flailed about uncontrollably.

  “Don’t get ahead of yourself,” Seth laughed, glancing at his little brother in the rearview mirror. “It is a great gift, but not necessarily the best ever.”

  “But you gotta admit, it is pretty good,” Peter smiled.

  Drew laughed and turned so he could see his little brother in the backseat. “It sure beats the year we bought her a toaster oven. That was just plain stupid of us.”

  “But she’s mom!” Seth shrugged. “She loves us anyway.” He pulled quietly into the driveway and the boys stealthily entered the house through the garage.

  It was the same sunny morning, but not the same great situation. Jewel Hanlin stood holding her locked bedroom door closed, her hands over her ears and her eyes shut tightly. This couldn’t be happening to her, not again. She was so sick and tired of this happening again and again. After almost eight years in foster care, she had not once been taken in by a good family. It was always some drunk with an anger issue. This one was worse than most.

  Earlier that morning, he had nearly beaten his wife to death. Jewel had called 911 without him realizing it, but now he was coming after her. Why couldn’t the cops get there faster? When she didn’t want them showing up, they were everywhere. She was scared and tired, but didn’t dare go to sleep for fear that he would actually succeed in breaking down the door.

  Finally, distantly, Jewel heard sirens. She breathed a sigh of relief and sank to the floor. Only a few moments later, she heard people rush into the house, yelling and probably wielding weapons. When the beating on her door stopped, Jewel slowly opened it just a crack.

  A tall police officer with kind eyes and spiky brown hair saw her and slowly walked to kneel in front of the door.

  “My name’s officer Kingston, miss, is it ok if I talk to you?” he asked kindly. He smiled wanly.

  Jewel felt the place on her leg where the drunk had landed a punch and winced. She slowly nodded her consent and opened the door, turning to face the officer as she did and hugging her knees.

  “What is your name?” officer Kingston asked.

  “Jewel,” she answered, wiping some blood off her arm and pulling a large chunk of the door out of her shoulder.

  “You want a paramedic to look at that?” officer Kingston sounded honestly concerned.

  “I kind of just want to sit still for a minute.”

  “How long have you been in there?” officer Kingston sat down in front of her. Behind him Jewel could see some paramedics wheeling the man’s wife out of the house on a stretcher.

  “Since I made the nine-one-one call. Is she going to be ok?” She glanced nervously at the man’s wife. She was so sweet, and she didn’t deserve this.

  “We don’t know yet. Is there someone you could stay with? A family member or something?”

  Jewel shook her head, almost sadly. “I’m a foster child. They were my foster parents.”

  He paused for a moment. “You know I have to call a social worker, right?”

  “It’s procedure. I have my social worker’s number, if you want it.”

  “Thanks.” He handed her a cell phone and she dialed a number.

  Kingston took the phone back and, after a brief conversation, shut it and stood up. “She says she’ll be here in a few minutes. Let’s have a paramedic take a look at that wound.”

  Jewel nodded gratefully and, accepting a helping hand from Kingston, stood up. Together they walked to the ambulance parked outside.

  “Happy birthday, mom!” a chorus of voices yelled as soon as Mrs. Cassandra Livingston entered the kitchen.

  Cassandra hated to rain on their parade. They were so sweet, and so proud of themselves.

  There, in the middle of the room, was the gift they had bought. The thing they were sure their mother had been wanting for months. A coffeemaker. Given, it was a nice model and it made exactly six cups of coffee, but it was just such a guy gift. One of those things that only a guy could think was a perfect gift for someone. Even if she was their mother.

  “Oh,” she said, trying not to sound disheartened. “It’s lovely, boys, really.”

  Drew and Seth’s faces fell a little, but Peter believed the fib.

  “Do you really like it, mom?” he asked ecstatically. “Because we picked it ourselves and we thought it would definitely beat the year we bought you a toaster.”

  Cassandra had to laugh at that. “Yes, it is better than a toaster.” she grabbed her coat from the rack and turned towards the door. “Anyone want to come birthday shopping with me?”

  The boys groaned.

  “No, thanks,” Seth decided for all of them.

  “If only one of you had been a girl,” Cassandra laughed. “Well, I’ll see you later, anyway.” She kissed them all on the cheek, grabbed her keys, and headed out the door.

  “I can’t help but think that maybe she needs a daughter,” Drew said with a wry smile.

  “Yeah, like there’s a space that hasn’t been filled,” Seth agreed.

  They didn’t have time to think on the subject any longer. They all rushed to the window when they heard sirens down the block.

  “Isn’t that Mr. Roberson’s house?” asked Peter. “Cause I never liked that guy.”

  “Yeah, it’s Mr. Roberson’s,” agreed Drew.

  Seth was the first one out the door and onto the street. His brothers quickly followed him.

  “What’s going on?” asked Peter.

  Though the question hung in the air, no one had to say anything as they watched Mr. Roberson being led to a squad car kicking and fighting. Mrs. Roberson was brought out on a stretcher a few minutes later. The boys were about to go back inside when a tall police officer led a terrified teenage girl with a nasty bruise on her leg out to the paramedics.

  “Hey, I know him,” Seth said, shocked.

  “You do?” Peter asked.

  “We all do,” Seth replied, heading down the walkway.

  Jewel was too scared to complain when the paramedic wiped down her arm with antibiotics. She winced a little and glanced down the street for any sign of Miss Angelica Barouche, her social worker.

  Officer Kingston had walked away to go over his notes, and was sidetracked when a couple teenage boys came over to talk to him. The tall one seemed to know Kingston from somewhere, and they seemed happy to see each other.

  Jewel barely had time to smile before a car screamed around the corner and spun into a parking spot. Tall and birdlike, but very kind, Angelica leaped from the car and nearly ran to where Jewel was sitting in the back of the ambulance.

  “Are you ok?” She asked, engulfing Jewel in a one-sided hug.

  Officer Kingston and the three boys were all watching her.

  “I’ll be ok. It’s nothing I haven’t been through before,” Jewel confessed, cringing a little at the thought of it.

  “Well, let’s get you out of here. You can stay the night at my house.” She put her arm around Jewel’s shoulders and escorted her towards the car.

  “Thanks for everything, officer Kingston,” Jewel managed as they passed by.

  Kingston smiled and waved.

  Jewel got into the passenger seat, buckled up, and waved back. Then they careened away, headed to Angelica’s house.

  “I am so sorry, Jewel,” Angelica apologized
again. “I swear I ran background checks on them. They have never had an incident like this before. I really didn’t know.”

  “I believe you. When I met them, they seemed like nice people. And then I saw the bad side of them. Everyone has a bad side, you know. Just some are worse than others. I end up with the worst. It’s like a curse or something.”

  “Jewel, it is not a curse.” Angelica gave her a stern look.

  Jewel just shook her head and fell into silence for the rest of the trip.

  Seth, followed closely by his two younger brothers, walked down the street until he finally reached the yellow police tape around the crime scene.

  “Hey!” yelled a policewoman, coming over and holding down the tape. “You can’t come in here!”

  “We know that officer over there,” Seth explained, pointing to officer Kingston.

  “You know Kingston? My partner?” The girl asked.

  “Yeah, we went to high school together. Well, for one year, he was a senior and I was a freshman. We were pretty good friends.” He forced himself to shut up. He was definitely babbling.

  She still looked skeptical. “Hey, Kingston!” she called over her shoulder.

  The officer looked up from helping a girl to the ambulance and smiled. He waved them over. They met him in the middle.

  “Seth, my man!” officer Kingston joked. “It’s been a while.”

  “Yeah, it has!” Seth and Kingston shook hands. “These are my brothers Drew and Peter.”

  “Nice to meet you,” Kingston said, staying fairly professional.

  “So, what’s going on here?” Drew asked, just as a car parked and the girl from the ambulance was rushed away.

  “We got a call about an hour ago, domestic violence. By the time we got here, the wife was close to death and the daughter had a few bruises on her.”

  “So, that was the daughter driving away? With who, an aunt?”

  “No, that was the girl’s social worker. She was a foster daughter.”

  “Really?” Peter asked.

  Kingston smiled a little. “Yeah, really. It seems she has a history of abusive homes. In fact, I’ve been on the case for several of them. She’s been in at least twelve homes.”

  “Twelve?” Seth couldn’t believe it. “Why does she keep ending up with abusive homes?”

  “Foster care will just put her with the first family that clears background checks. These homes didn’t have an archived history of abuse.”

  Peter glanced at the ground and kicked a rock with his foot.

  Drew nodded solemnly.

  Seth thought for a minute. “What’s her name?”

  Kingston cocked his head in confusion, but answered simply, “Her name’s Jewel. Jewel Hanlin.”

  “Well, thanks for enlightening us,” Seth smiled. “We’re gonna head home now. Drop by sometime.”

  “Oh, I will!” Kingston called after them.

  Angelica slammed down the phone and plopped down on her couch next to Jewel.

  “What’d they say?” Jewel asked, looking at the floor.

  “They’re placing you in another foster home tomorrow. A family this time. The Capriccio family, to be exact.”

  “What’s known about them?”

  “They seem to be a happy family. Father, mother, son and daughter. The kids are aged nineteen and twenty-one. The boy is older, and his name is Gregory. The girl’s name is Chia.”

  “Chia? Like a Chia Pet?”

  “Don’t make fun. Some people have to live with their names.”

  “I’ll try. But I’m not guaranteeing anything.”

  “I don’t blame you.”

  Jewel just picked up the remote and flipped on a television movie.

  TWO

  “So we all agree on this?” Seth asked his brothers.

  “Yeah. It’s a great plan!” Drew agreed.

  “All we need to do is run it by mom,” Peter, usually the practical one, pointed out.

  “Run what by me?” asked Cassandra as she entered the house and removed her jacket. She set her shopping bags by the stairs and smiled widely.

  Seth glanced at Peter and Drew. They were not going to be of much help, considering their jaws were heading towards the floor and they were both stammering “ums” and “ahs”.

  “We were thinking, mom.”

  “Oh, were you? And what exactly were you thinking about?” she knew them too well not to know they were up to something.

  “Well, we think you need a daughter.”

  Cassandra laughed. She was obviously trying to keep a straight face.

  Biting her lip at times to do so, she answered, “Boys, you know you can’t plan for me to get pregnant, right?”

  “That was not at all what we were thinking of,” Peter was quick to answer with a disgusted look on his face.

  “Then what were you thinking of?” Cassandra was still trying not to laugh.

  “We were thinking of foster care.”

  “Oh! Or adoption!” Peter piped up.

  Cassandra nodded her head. “That is actually a very good idea, boys. I will look into it.”

  “That’s the thing,” Drew finally found his voice, “we think we found the perfect candidate.”

  “Really? Who?”

  The conversation ball rolled back to Seth. “Her name’s Jewel Hanlin. Her social worker is someone named Barouche.”

  “I’ll look it up. Thank you for the information.” she smiled and exited the room.

  The boys gave each other a look and then high-fived all around. This was one of their plans that might actually work.

  Cassandra couldn’t help but smile to herself as she slowly walked to her bedroom.

  God, I am so blessed to have boys like them.

  And she was. She knew it. Only a very blessed mother could have boys that thought of her happiness before themselves.

  She wiped a tear from her eye.

  This girl sounded so sad. She sounded like she needed a real home, a real family.

  Father, did you put this girl in our lives on purpose? Was it You who led the boys to that house and inspired the questions they asked?

  She wasn’t sure about the answer, but she knew she was going to chase the lead. She sat down at the computer in her room and, quickly dashing away tears, pulled up the Internet.

  Now the big question occurred. What did she search to find this Miss Barouche and Jewel Hanlin? Shaking her head in confusion, she typed in the words “social services, Chicago” into the search box. A list of options pulled up. Unusually, the first option was the site that she was looking for. It gave her an email address and a phone number for a Ms. Angelica Barouche. She jotted it down and stood up.

  “Now, where did I put that phone?” she asked herself in a whisper.

  “Why do you need the phone?” asked her husband as he entered the room.

  “You would never believe me,” Cassandra smiled at him.

  “Sure I will. Shoot.” Brandon Livingston kicked his shoes off and sat on the edge of the bed.

  “Well, the boys decided I should foster a daughter.”

  “I know, they told me.”

  That gave Cassandra pause, but just for a minute. “I looked up the number for her social services worker.”

  “Good.” Brandon stood and kissed her on the cheek. “Call her. I’m going to go make myself a sandwich.”

  Cassandra smiled as she watched her attractive, if sometimes naïve, husband walk slowly out the door.

  Where had she put that phone? She remembered picking it up that morning and calling Tamara, her best friend. She began to retrace her steps. Into the bathroom, in her makeup bag, back to the hallway, in her purse, down the stairs and into the kitchen.

  Putting her hands on her hips, she shook her head. She heard voices coming from the living room. The boys. Maybe they knew.

  “Hey, boys!” she called, heading into the living room. She could smell popcorn and a movie was blaring on the television. “Have you seen the phone?”

  Drew held it up over his head and waved it.

  Cassandra grabbed it and headed out. “Thank you.”

  “No problem-o!” Drew gave her a thumbs-up.

  She dug the piece of paper out of her pocket and dialed as she walked. Someone picked up on the third ring.