Give Me Grace

Chapter 2

Part One

One day, when I was nine, my mom got a new job. We had been struggling and my dad was unreliable. Suck in a single-bedroom apartment, my mom was finally able to support us again. After about a year, my mom moved us from our apartment and into a small house out in the middle of nowhere.

The person she was taking care of covered everything. Looking at him, you’d think he was as poor as we were. Skinny, feeble, and reserved. He was lonely, and his lack of valuables did not go unnoticed.

But still, he saved our lives by allowing us to move in. My mother told us he was letting us live there for free and to be grateful, which we were. Especially since our father finally came back. He was always in and out, and we never knew if he’d still be there when we woke up or came back from school.

When we first moved into the house, we were terrified of Mr. Bates. He didn’t speak much and always mumbled his words. He seemed upset and the sudden change in his living arrangements seemed to make him regret his decision. My siblings and I did our best to avoid him for months.

Avoiding Mr. Bates was harder than we thought. When we first moved in, he told us that being children was not an excuse to not work. His condition for allowing us all to live with him for free was manual labor, and we hated it.

Every day, we had a strict schedule to follow. We would get up early because the drive to school was almost an hour with traffic, do our homework the moment we got back, and then, before dinner, Mr. Bates would take us out to work the fields. On the weekends, we spent all day in the field. We helped Mr. Bates on Saturday to prepare for the farmers market. On Sunday, we would set up, and man the market. It was cruel.

Even after a couple of months, we avoided Mr. Bates the best we could. But there was one Saturday that Mr. Bates allowed us to take the day off. My sister was invited to a birthday party and would spend the night. My brother spent the day at a friend’s playing video games and I was left alone by myself.

It didn’t bother me, I was usually alone. My siblings were the popular ones with a ton of friends. But their need to please others and be accepted made me happy to not have that kind of stress. I was okay being alone. People didn’t bother me and I didn’t bother them.

Having the day free to do whatever I wanted was boring. I didn’t know what to do. Before, my sister and I would play together, but she was with her friends. I had gotten accustomed to working in the fields, harvesting the crops, and preparing for the market, but I didn’t have to do that.

I sat outside on the porch looking over the vast land. Rows of crops lined the endless yard. As much as I hated it at first, harvesting the crops gave me a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction, something I lacked in my short nine years of life. But there was more than just harvesting crops on the farm. So much more.

As I gazed out over the land, I noticed a red barn in the distance. It was far, separated from the crops, but still somewhere I could reach on foot. That’s when I remembered the farm animals Mr. Bates talked about. He said there were horses, cattle, and chickens. Other animals I didn’t care to remember because I was solely focused on the horses.

Excited, I ran from the porch towards the barn in the distance. I ran as fast as my legs could go, and after a few minutes, I was out of breath and slowed to a walk. Still, I was excited. I want to see the horses and ride one. I wanted to pet and feed one up close. My nerves and giddiness drove my feet into another sprint as I got closer to the barn.

I was shocked to see how big the barn truly was when I got closer. It was massive. The stench grew stronger as I closed in on the barn, and when I finally made it, I started second-guessing if I actually wanted to go in or not. But after coming all this way, I was determined to peek inside, in hopes of seeing a horse.

Waking up to the giant red and white barn doors, I used all of my strength to slide the heavy wooden door open. Expecting to see the barn full of animals, I was disappointed and heartbroken to see it empty. I had run for so long to get here; burned my nose from the smell of manure, and it was empty.

All wasn’t lost though. This barn was colossal, and I wanted to explore it. There was a loft inside so I started there first. I found the ladder that led to the loft that overlooked the rest of the barn. There wasn’t much up there besides bales of hay, old blankets, and some random tools. Looking around, it seemed like a cool hangout spot, if ever I could get used to the smell.

Getting back to the main floor, there was not much to see. Aside from the rows of stables and gated areas, it looked pretty similar to what you would see on TV. There was a closet on both ends, filled with more tools, feed, and blankets.

Despite it being a barn where animals lived, the place was clean and almost spotless, as if someone cleaned it regularly. By the time I finished exploring, I no longer noticed the foul odor that this barn first hit me with. Even though I didn’t get to see the horses, I was still in a good mood and happy I came here.

With all the space in the barn, I figured I could turn it into my secret hideout. More specifically, I could turn the loft into my secret hideout. The thought alone excited me. I started skipping around and doing cartwheels inside the barn as I thought about how I would decorate it.

As I cartwheeled around the barn, I was too caught up in my thoughts that I didn’t hear Mr. Bates coming in. The sound of the metal shovel hitting the ground startled me and I ended up slipping as I was landing my cartwheel and fell. It hurt like hell, and I couldn’t hold back the tears as I cried part in pain and part in fear of being caught.