Surviving Love Read Online Free PDF Page B

toys and clothes cover the floor.  
    I bend down to pick up a framed picture of Presley and Mia, becoming infuriated. The glass is splintered and it distorts the image held in the frame. This is the final straw.  
    My life needs a change, and it will have one, starting with getting my baby girl back. Looking at the broken picture is the wakeup call I need to get my life back in order. I once had order, and after everything that’s happened, I need it to be restored. I need the control back. It’s the only way I knew how to live before, and over the last three years, the order has been slowly dismantling, but no longer.  
    My appointment with Cindy at the CPS office went well. She has expedited the paperwork to the courts and I have a hearing next week. She feels confident I will get Mia back. In the meantime, I will need to hang in there—Cindy’s words, not mine. I’m barely hanging on. She has informed me that Mia is staying with a good foster family and is well cared for, but I don’t give a shit. She’s not with me. Therefore, she’s not well cared for. Only I know how to take care of my baby.  
    I’ve talked to Rich after everything that has happened. He’s told me he can’t guarantee me a position. I have a week to get my shit together, or they will replace me on the crane. I can’t afford to be without a job, and the crane operator position makes a pretty good salary. I know Rich is going out on a limb to keep me employed, but my baby comes first. And if it costs me my job, then so be it.  
    ***  
    It’s been five extremely long days. I just got off the phone with Cindy, who has a hearing scheduled on Monday. The house has been put back together with the exception of the basement. The energy in the house is hateful, though.  
    Reggie and Darcie are at each other’s throats because she’s siding with Jeremy. Well, not siding with him, but she understands why he has done what he did. I, on the other hand, won’t even fathom any other idea than Jeremy is a selfish prick who royally fucked up. Reggie is appalled at Jeremy selling drugs to make money. He and Darcie go rounds about how it’s no different than Jeremy hustling at drag races for cash, but Reggie doesn’t see it that way. And neither do I.  
    We were raised by a drug addicted woman who ultimately chose drugs over us kids. When Reggie taught Jake and Jeremy the hustle game, he was clear from the start to never get involved in the drug game; it will only fuck up your life.  
    And now, Jeremy will have to eat those very words as he spends the next several years rotting away in prison.  
    My thoughts are disrupted when Jake comes trudging through the door. Darcie picked him up an hour ago from jail and apparently he received another slap on the wrist. Tom Willington has been able to get Jake off on the assault charges because the one person the DEA truly has wanted is locked up.  
    I have heard through random conversations that Ronnie was arrested the day after Jeremy. I’m happy about that. Ronnie won’t last a single day in prison, especially when he’s turned into someone’s bitch. He’s weak and I hate him. Just as I hate my own brother and the murderer of Presley. I’ve never hated anyone as much as I hate the three of them.  
    “Hey,” Jake says while popping a can of Mountain Dew.  
    “Hey,” I say back, not really wanting to have a conversation, but I have missed my brother. “How was jail?”  
    Jake looks over at me like I’ve lost my mind, and I can tell he wants to snap at me, but right as the anger surfaces, it dissolves just as quickly. “Oh…it was a fucking joy. When do you get Axl back?” Jake looks at me through pitiful eyes and I know he’s hurting just as much as the rest of us.  
    “I have a hearing on Monday, and if all goes well, I will get her back on Tuesday. It’s been almost a week and I’m going out of my mind.” Jake nods in agreement and slaps his hand on my shoulder.  
    “Are you