If He'd Only Known

An uncle takes in a troubled neice. Revised:-)

         The sound of the motor and the crunch of gravel beneath tires retreated into the distance until it disappeared. He stood and waited- he heard the whispering of wind through the tall grass and the chirp of insects- he'd forgotten what silence sounded like. He straightened his back and began the long walk down the dirt road to home.

         Grady let out a long, deep breath. "Alone again," he said to himself, standing in the darkness of the once overlit room. He thought he'd be able to take this parting so easily. He could finally return to his way of life. The silence is what he longed for the most. Peaceful, quiet days without blaring music, or the constant slamming of doors.

         He had forgotten what is was like to be a teenager and even worse, he had no ideas on how to care for a teenage girl. But he was loyal to family, whether distant or not, and when his sister asked if he could take her daughter, Chelsie, in for a while, he did not refuse. He was the only person who seemed available at the time and his sister was very desperate, but from the moment Chelsie walked through his door, Grady regreted it.

         It was to only be for a month or two, just until Chelsie could straighten out her tattered life. What he didn't know, until she showed up on his door step, was how truely bad her short life had really become.

         Chelsie came to his small, country town from one of the larger, overpopulated cities where kids grew up on their own, maturing way before they were supposed to. She seemed to be angry at the whole world, including her uncle. He could have said no to her mother and Chelsie would have been happy leaving her own home to live on the streets, as long as she was left alone. She feared being with her uncle, in his home, was going to be Hell on Earth and she didn't have a problem with letting him know just how she felt. Chelsie reminded him daily for the first two months that she was not happy living in his small, dismal, out of touch with society home.

         During the third month she stopped talking and just slammed doors, blared her music and the television, and cursed at everything and everyone. There was no talking to her and Grady realized that very early on. She came and went as she pleased as long as she followed the few, simple rules he layed out and left him to his own. She went to school, as far as he knew, and she got a job after school as a waitress to help pay the bills she started adding on to his own. Phones, cable, all that high tech stuff Grady had no need for.

         Except for the music and slamming doors, things worked out for the best between the two. Grady knew nothing about her and Chelsie had no interest in his lonely life either, which suited him just fine.

         But after that rough fourth month, things did begin to calm down. Chelsie started cooking meals and sitting with him while he read the paper and even asked from time to time if there was anything of importance going on in the news. They still didn't talk about their personal lives though, it seemed Chelsie just didn't want to open up to him, her problems were hers alone and he knew he had no clue how to help her anyway. She at least knew her uncle was there for her and maybe that was all she needed.

         Chelsie finally began calling home and at least trying to sort things out with her mom. After a while, she was ready to return home and start over again. They agreed to wait, though, since there was only a month left of her school year.

         During that last month, both of them grew on each other, growing accustumed to each others ways of life and styles in which they lived them. They had become used to doing things together like watching television and on occassion they even went into town together to do the household shopping. Grady meet the friends Chelsie had made in her short stay with him and Chelsie got used to the array of neighbors that came by to sit with her uncle for a while sometimes. Grady depended on the home cooking and Chelsie counted on him just being there when she returned from school or her job.

         They never discussed personal experiences or the reasons Chelsie was there with him now, which is the main reason he thought letting go would be so easy, but now, back in the quiet house, it felt too empty, too quiet. There was no more music. The glaring lights from the television were gone and he felt like he was surrounded by total darkness. Just hours ago the smell of bacon and fried eggs that Chelsie had made for breakfast filled the kitchen and now, now there was nothing. A feeling of total emptiness consumed him and Grady, for the first time in his life, hated being alone.

  Oh.. if he had only known she was going to come into his life and turn it completely upside down, he never would have let her in.