On the Border

By Olivia Marie

Janie Mills hated her life. After her dad was killed by a gang shooting while on the job as a police officer in south Texas, her mom took to hard drugs to cope.
Being on her own, and with an agenda, Janie joined the US Boarder Patrol to fight the crime that took her parents from her.
Content with her choice, she is asked to join the K-9 division when it became clear she had trust issues with people.
Would she be able to learn to trust and heal with the help of her Belgian Malinois, Tank? Or would she remain closed off and guarded forever?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Crazy Ink
• Release date: Aug 28, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201820664

Book preview

A dog with its mouth open Description automatically generated with medium confidence

Dedication

When you fight the battles of your past, don’t forget to look ahead to your future, too. Losing someone you love is never easy, but staying stuck in that moment stops you from having anything to live for. Find that passion inside of you and push ahead.

To all the Janie Mills out there – stay strong.

CHAPTER ONE

South Texas

1984

Janie, come over here, my mom called from the kitchen.

It was Sunday morning, and I could smell the sausage, bacon, and fresh bread baking. It was the one day a week we were all home, so she would make a big breakfast for all of us. Some days I was convinced she thought there were a dozen people that lived in our house and not just the four of us.

Hey, kiddo, my dad’s best friend, Bill, said when I poked my head out of my room.

Hello, I said, quickly trying to get past him and beat my dad to the kitchen.

Slow down. You about knocked me over, Bill said and picked me up, blocking me from getting farther down the narrow hall.

Let go. You’re gonna make me lose, I yelled when he held on tighter.

Lose to what?

My dad. I shot him the maddest look I could, but it was hard to do when he had me half upside down and cinched around the waist.

He knew the game we played. It wasn’t like he was new around there or hadn’t helped my dad come up with it. Bill was just being Bill and, while he thought he was funny, he could go over the top sometimes. I’ve heard my parents fight over it more than once. Not knowing the full reason why Bill lived with us, I really hadn’t thought too much about it because Uncle Bill had always been there.

Oh, you mean the midget that just squeezed past us?

What? Let. Me. Go, I said while clenching my fists and getting ready to punch my way out.

Slow down there, killer. Do you have bail money? Or enough to hire a lawyer?

What? No. Why would I need that?

Because if you hit people, you go to jail. Ask your dad. I think he just put one there last night, Uncle Bill said and started to tickle me until my dad spoke up.

It’s true, Janie. You don’t want to spend time with the bad guys, do you?

No, Daddy.

Then get over here and give me a hug. That’s the only thing that will save you today.

Running to him, I flew into his arms, and he scooped me up, holding me right under his chin that was scratching the top of my head from not shaving in the past thirty-some hours. He never shaved on his days off. His outfit of choice when he was home was his jeans and a very old T-shirt he told me he got when he was in college.

I love you, my little ball of trouble.

I know.

Smells good in here. Are you hungry? my dad asked.

Yes, I said just as my stomach growled. He looked at me, poked my belly, and laughed.

Bill, did you know we have a birthday coming up?

No, I didn’t. Whose birthday is it?

It’s mine, I said to him.

No way. How did I forget that? Uncle Bill teased.

I still can’t believe my baby girl is going to be six. Will you stop getting so big? What’s going to happen when I can’t carry you like this anymore?

I don’t know. I can’t stop getting bigger, you know.

I don’t know. I bet if Mommy stops feeding you so good, we can make you stay this little.

But I don’t want to stay this little. I want to grow up and do what you do, Daddy.

Honey, this is a hard job, and there are a lot of bad people out there. You’re so sweet. I wouldn’t want the bad guys in the world to change that about you. Promise me that you will always stay sweet and good. Don’t let the bad people out there take your sunshine from you. The world needs more that are as pure as you are.

Jesus, Todd. Why are you being so ominous? She’s not even out of elementary school yet and you’re talking about the world turning her bitter. Let her think the world is made up of rainbows and unicorns for a little longer, Bill said pointing his crooked right index finger at him.

I hated when he used that hand. The way the tip of that finger just dangled lifelessly after he’d slammed it in a car door when he was coming home drunk with the last woman my mom kicked out. Uncle Bill was a stubborn mule according to Mommy, and he never went to the doctor for it. His finger had broken, and he never had it fixed, so when he stuck his hand out, you could see the end of his finger point down and twist a little to the right. It was a different color than the rest of his hand too, and no matter how he moved his finger, that end never moved.

I like to keep her looking at life realistically. Do you want her to think one thing and then not be prepared for the real world? We know what’s out there waiting to swallow a pure soul like her up in one gulp. Why do you want her to think that there is nothing but good out there and set her up to get hurt or worse? She’s my daughter, not yours, and I have to raise her the way I think is best for her.

It was the first time I’d ever seen my dad get really mad at Uncle Bill, but there had been a few things in the house that seemed off to me lately. The biggest one was how my mom was spending more time with Uncle Bill than she was spending with Daddy. He would look at her, and he looked so sad when she would move closer to Uncle Bill than him.

Relax. I didn’t mean anything by it. Uncle Bill had his hands up and was backing away from my dad without turning his back on him.

I won’t grow up too fast, I said to him, hoping to make him feel better.

My dad was so handsome when he was happy. His jet-black hair and deep chocolate-colored eyes only added to the richness of his tan skin. Being a police officer in southern Texas, he was out in the sun a lot, and where his uniform hadn’t covered, his skin was a deep brown. Not overly tall, he still towered over my mom.

She was the opposite of him. Her skin was so light, she reflected the sunlight. Add in her light blonde hair and baby blue eyes, and they looked so opposite when they were together. She looked more like Uncle Bill than she did Daddy. He was taller than Daddy, but he wasn’t as strong. His hair was a light brown and stuck up in the back no matter what he used to get it to stay down. He was lighter skinned like Momma, and his eyes were a deeper blue.

Uncle Bill didn’t work as hard as Daddy did, and it seemed like he was always in the house. He said he could work a few hours at night and still make more than what the cop brought home. Daddy would get mad when he would say that and tell him that what he did mattered more than the shit jobs Uncle Bill would take to bring in a little money. I wondered all the time if Uncle Bill made more money than Daddy, why he had to stay with us.

It seemed like him being there made them mad all the time. My parents had been fighting more and more, and it was getting to the point they would keep me up at night with their screaming. It made me worry more about my dad because he had to stay sharp on his job, so he didn’t get hurt. I knew they weren’t sleeping much because when they really yelled, it was hard not to hear it through the paper-thin walls and the curtain I used for a door. Sometimes, when they really got after each other, I thought about running away or making it so Uncle Bill had to leave. Anything to make the yelling stop and to see my parents happy again.

Mom had cried a lot in the past few months, and Uncle Bill seemed to always be there for her. Sometimes, they would even go in her room, close the door, and talk really quiet for hours. I never told Daddy that though because I knew he would get mad that she was letting someone else help her when she was turning my dad away every time he tried.

My dad, who used to be so strong looking, was getting bags under his eyes, wrinkles around his mouth and on his forehead, and he was starting to take antacids several times a day. Seeing him look so sad all the time hurt, and I tried my best to be extra good for him.

It would be a few months later that everything would start to change. I would watch my family start to go through a very hard season, and it would have me questioning everything I thought I knew.  

CHAPTER TWO

Five months later

I’ll take her and go, my dad screamed from the other side of his bedroom door.

Like hell you will. That’s my daughter, too, my mom fired back.

You don’t act like a mom when you’re always out trying to find another man. When did I become not good enough for you? What did I ever do to you besides love you that made you feel like you had to look to someone else for love? I give you everything I have, and all you do is take. Why?

Listen to yourself. All you do is whine like a little girl. No real man would be talking like that, and I’m sick of having to walk around your emotions.

You know how hard my job is. All I have is you and Janie to come home to every night. Are you really going to take that away from me? What about her? How do you think she’s going to take this news? And right before the holidays? You have no heart, do you?

Screw you, Todd. I gave up so much so you could have your career and your kid. It wasn’t your body that got all jacked from it. You weren’t the one staying up all night nursing or helping when she got sick. All you do is go through life thinking it’s all perfect and let everyone else handle the rest for you. You go to work and come home to be pampered. I’m sick of it. At least Bill is around more.

He’s around more because he can’t hold down a real job.

That’s not fair and you know it. People like him with records can’t get work as easy as you can.

Listen to yourself, Lorene. You just said the point I am trying to make. He has a record. What stability could he give you? I pay for everything here, and when I’m gone, you’ll have to rely on him. How will that work? He makes what, a hundred a night? If he’s lucky. And you want me to be okay with my daughter growing up in the environment he is surrounded in? It goes against all I’ve worked so hard to fight. This isn’t going to be good for you or her.

Mom? Dad? I asked coming around the corner. I couldn’t sit in my room and listen to them scream at each other anymore. It hurt too bad, and I wasn’t even sure who to go to first, but the look on my dad’s face was ripping my heart in two pieces. Mom sat at the edge of the bed with her arms folded over her chest and refused to look at me. Dad looked sad, and Mom looked pissed off.

What are you doing up, sweetie? Did we wake you? Dad asked holding out his arms for me to go to.

I was already awake.

You’re going to be tired in the morning if you don’t get back to bed, my mom snapped but still hadn’t looked in my direction.

Are you fighting? I asked my dad, ignoring her comment.

No, honey. Sometimes adults sound like they’re fighting, but they’re really just talking.

Don’t lie to her. Yes, Janie, your dad and I are fighting.

Why?

Because sometimes adults end up wanting different things out of life and one of them has to realize the other’s changed. Some people have a hard time with that though, so it makes them put up a fight.

But don’t you love Daddy anymore? Is it something I did wrong? I asked her.

She snapped her head in