Cruelty of the Kind
WARNINGS: child molestation/rape, young pregnancy, adult themes
The sweatshirts weren't working anymore. They worked for the last three weeks, no questions, no glances, but they weren't working now.
Francine was staring at herself in the mirror, the baby bump poking out like a cartoon's injured thumb. It throbbed as the baby moved inside, as the baby grew bigger and began to test its new limbs. Francine didn't want this baby, she never did, but she could tell anyone what he did to her, what she'd let him do.
She heard movement in the hallway. She threw on the sweatshirt. They couldn't see her like this because they'd know.
The sweatshirt was on but the footsteps passed. She exhaled slowly, a sign of relief, but she wasn't relieved. She was worried. Six months with the secrets. Six months of her knowing and him knowing but no one else. Six months of secrets, lies, and covering herself up.
The sweatshirt wouldn't work anymore. It was far too hot in Elwood City, the sudden heat causing glitches at the thermometers in town. Some read 100, but more just had pixels or horizontal lines. The machines couldn't tell her the truth about the temperature, but the people could. The sweatshirt cover-it-all-up-act wouldn't work anymore.
"Francine, you've got a letter!" her sister called from the front of the apartment. Francine eyed herself. You could see the bump from under the sweatshirt. You could tell she shouldn't be wearing the shirt either, for comfort or any other reason. She couldn't go out there; she'd be caught. "Francine, it's from the school! If Mom or Dad sees it, they will open it!" Catherine warned, stepping into her room and shutting the door.
The coast was clear. She picked up the letter from the table, but she could tell it wasn't an official school letter. Her address was handwritten, and the pages inside were handwritten as well.
He was blackmailing her.
"I know what you're hiding, Miss Frensky. I have your transcripts here, the last written gradebook of your sixth grade year, of your entire school career. Don't mess this up for yourself. You're too young to fall through the cracks, too young to disobey," he warned.
Francine ran into the kitchen, snatching a box of matches from the drawer. She threw the letter and most of the box of matches into the pot. Then she lit one and put it inside.
She didn't expect the flash, the sudden ignition. The fire alarm blared as she stepped back from the flames. Catherine entered the room, her face pale and shocked as she watched her little sister stare at the flames. She pushed her back, grabbing the fire extinguisher as the other tenants began to search for the source of the alarm. Soon the apartment was full, and though it was obvious what had happened, the tenants decided to leave.
"Talk to your sister, Catherine," the landlord whispered, disengaging the alarm and slipping back to his duties.
"Francine, have you lost your flipping mind?" Catherine asked, pulling her sister towards a chair. "I don't know what was in that envelope, but you nearly burned the whole place down! Francine, are you even listening to me?" Catherine asked. Francine nodded weakly. "Then tell me why. Mom and Dad are going to hear about this. They're going to find out, and I can't lie about this. It's too big.
"Francine?" Catherine whispered, taking up her sister's hand. "I want to help you through this. What was in that letter?"
"I don't want to talk about it," Francine murmured, turning her gaze from the tabletop to the floor.
"Francine, I...I want to be honest with you about something. I know about the pregnancy," Catherine muttered, leaning forward as Francine tried to jerk away her hand and run. Catherine's grip was strong, however, and she was forced to stay put. "I saw you one day in the bathroom, and I knew what that bump was. I knew what happened to you, but I didn't know how. Whoever did this to you wrote that letter, didn't they?"
"I can't tell! He'll ruin my life!" Francine cried.
"He already has, Francine. The only way you can fix this is to tell the truth, no matter who you have to hurt along the way. He did this to himself, and you need to understand that. He's wrong; you're right. You need to tell the truth to the authorities so they can punish them. You need to tell Mom and Dad so they can help you," Catherine said gently. "If you don't tell, I'll have to. You should've kept the letter as evidence, but it's okay. He'll probably send another."
"I don't know how I'm supposed to do this," Francine said in a choked voice, her eyes opening like floodgates as the sobs began to come. "I can't do this! I'm too young!"
"You are too young," Catherine agreed, standing and moving behind her sister. She draped her arms over her, wrapping her arms around Francine's shoulders that rocked with sobs.
"What's going on here?" Laverne asked, slamming the front door shut behind her. Her anger quickly faded when she saw her daughters. "Does someone what to explain this to me? And I thought I told you to get out of that hot sweatshirt, Francine. You're going to give yourself heat stroke.
"Mom, sit down," Catherine said, gesturing to the chair she'd just stood from. Laverne could tell from the girls' expressions that she should listen, so she put her purse down on the counter and sat down. "Francine has a little problem, something she needs to discuss with you."
"Is that why I got a call from an angry fire marshal about leaving my silly girls at home alone?" Laverne asked with an accusatory tone. Catherine shook her head.
"No, it sort of was," Francine sniffled, clearing her throat. "P-Principal Haney raped me."
"What?" Laverne gasped, looking to Catherine for confirmation. Her expression was solemn. She wasn't coaching her sister to say such a thing. It really happened. "When did this happen, Francine?"
"When school first started, before hockey practice this January," Francine croaked, her voice weak. She sniffled again and cleared her throat, "But he'd done it before too, a few times at Lakewood before we left there. I-I feel like he followed me! He threatened me not to tell anyone! He wrote me a letter, and-"
"That's why I got the call," Laverne nodded weakly, eying her daughters with a stunned gaze. "Why did he stop? That was six months ago."
"Mom, please don't play naïve right now," Catherine whispered. Laverne gasped again before lifting Francine's sweatshirt, revealing the baby bump underneath.
"Oh my baby!" Laverne cried. "We need to call your father and our lawyer. We have to charge him, Francine. I know you're scared, but we need to take action."
"She knows," Catherine nodded. Francine nodded too, "I know."
Days later as a jovial Principal Haney left his office, two officers placed cuffs around his cold wrists, ending his cheery, whistled tune mid-note. He was charged with multiple counts of rape, and soon more were added as other young girls stepped forward. Francine was the only one he'd gotten pregnant, but that pregnancy likely saved other girls from becoming victims too. Her identity was never released, so only her family and the other victims, all sworn to secrecy, knew of her involvement.
When her time came to give birth, she decided to give up her baby. She'd never be able to give the child a decent life, and he would only be a reminder of his father's cruel deeds. She never even looked at the child before a social worker carried the baby to a local childless couple who promised to take care of him.
Francine was never the same, and neither was her family. The toll of the trial and legal proceedings exhausted her parents, but Francine was empty from carrying so many lies, from carry a child she never wanted. She stopped speaking, and soon she was sent away to a school for teens with special needs. She was never to recover, just like her cruel principal wanted.
Theme 032: Hidden Secrets
To complete the themes yourself, I have the list posted on my profile. The list is for any type of fan fiction (one-shot, drabble, etc.) and any fandom. Challenge yourself in other ways to make it more fun, and enjoy!
A/N: I wrote this piece a while back but had a hard time deciding whether or not I should post it. I don't like this piece. It's depressing and just...I don't like it. That's why I posted the warnings in case others don't like the themes either. So, if you're going to flame the piece, I don't blame you, but just remember that I don't like the story either.