CHAPTER 2

Sara was running late for the first time in her life. Miss Kimble wasn't at the front of the school again which Sara was very relieved.

Her parents were fighting in the living room when Sara entered her home. It was the third time this week and the last two, her mother had gained bruises on her face for something the girl didn't have a clue about.

She tried to pass by the living room without being noticed, but didn't have any luck. Her father saw her in the corner of his eye and grabbed her by the arm – the smell of alcohol coming off his breath.

He started shaking her and yelling at her and in the end he threw her against the wall so hard that Sara twisted her wrist.

The fight was over. Her father walked away without looking back and her mother went to kitchen, screaming at her to go to her room and stay there. Neither one of them took the time to look at her wrist.

When she woke up, her wrist was looking pretty ugly and Sara had to find something – anything which her parents wouldn't miss - to hide the bruise. It was a little difficult but she managed to find an old long glove of her Mom's and ran to the school after that.

She entered in the second class and paid attention to it, hiding her left hand under the table. If her father could choose one of the hands to damage, he would have chosen the right one, the one she is good with.

Because no student was allowed to be in class during recess Sara went to her secret spot behind the tree to read her book, alone. She didn't realize the time had passed until she heard the bell that signaled the end of recess. She got up from the ground and turned to leave, only to collide with a taller person.

"Are you ok?" a female voice asked.

"I'm fine" she answered, hiding her arm "I'm sorry for bumping into you, I should have looked."

"It's ok, Sara. I should have warned you of my presence" Sara raised her head just to look into Miss Kimble's caring eyes. Not knowing what to say, she waited for the teacher to speak. "I'd like you to come to my office when your classes are over, please"

"Why?"

"I want to talk to you about something."

"Crap! Maybe she caught on, and now she's gonna ask me questions, and then secretly call Social Services on us! I'm so doomed!"

"Is it really necessary?" Sara asked concerned

"I think it is, why?"

"I just don't know if I can talk to you today, I have to...um... go home, but if you insist than I'll be there and deal with the consequences later." she answered offering a shy smile.

"What consequences?"

Sara looked away. "I shouldn't have said that. I should not have said that!"

Not getting an answer from the little girl the teacher continued "Why do you think there'll be any?"

"I have learned that every action has a consequence that can be bad or good depending on the person who does it."

"And the act itself,"

What? Sara looked at her teacher with confusion written all over her face.

"Sara, are you talking about consequences or punishment?"

"What is she talking about? 'And the act itself? Consequences or punishment?'My parents have never said to me before only what I just said.

Seeing the confusion still written in Sara's face Miss Kimble sighed. "I think you should go to class before Ms Spencer gets concerned. But Sara, I do want to see you after class."

Her tone was serious this time so Sara didn't hesitate to agree. Miss Kimble motioned for her to go ahead with her head and Sara held her book closer to her chest. 'And the act itself.' She had never heard that before. Does that mean they can't hurt her? But they always do and her mother always reminds her that girls like her, bad girls, stupid ones, should always be punished and there is nothing anyone can do about that.

Sara pushed the thought aside and listened to Ms Spencer, her History teacher and Mr. Roberts from Science before it was time to meet Miss Kimble. She stopped in front of the door and raised her hand to knock deciding against it. How long would this conversation take?

"I have an idea. I'll just go in, make it seem like I'm in a hurry and if she's asks, I'll just say I have a dentist appointment I forgot about, or we're having guests over and having an early supper so I can't stay too long. I just hope she believes me. I can't be home late. That's one of the items of his long list of rule in the house."

Taking a deep breath, she raised her hand and knocked. Oh god, maybe she is not done with whatever she is doing. She was about to turn the knob when the door opened startling her.

"Hi there," said Miss Kimble with a smile. "Sorry about scaring you, come on in"

"Dammit!"

"Excuse me" she said, passing through and closing the door along the way. She took a seat in one of the chairs in front of the desk and stared at the floor.

"For a moment I was wondering if you would show up."

"I didn't have a choice, did I?" Sara asked only to herself.

"One of the reasons why I wanted to see you is because I remember you telling me that the Math exercises were pretty easy"

"Yes,"

"Am I going to get into trouble for being better at Math than the other kids? Maybe she wants me to pretend to be stupid so the other kids don't feel bad?"

"Because of that I talked to Mr. Johns and he agreed to give you a few exercises, more though of course, besides the ones he gives to the whole class"

"WOW! That's definitely not what I was expecting!"

Sara couldn't contain the smile in her face. She would have more distractions now and that was awesome. "How much?" the girl asked smiling.

"He didn't say but I'm sure you can choose"

"Ten!" said Sara happily. Miss Kimble laughed at her happiness and agreed "Thank you, Miss Kimble."

"No problem".

"Okay, good, now I can go! Oh waits she said 'one of the reasons'... oh no!"

Before she could tell what was in her mind, Miss Kimble walked beside the girl and took seat in the empty chair. "The other thing I want to talk is… This" she said reaching for Sara's left hand. Sara instinctively pulled the hand away. "It's ok sweetie, I don't wanna hurt you."

"That's it! I screwed up... I'll not be able to run from the beatings tonight... Why couldn't she just let it go? Forget that anything happened?"

"I know. I just… I'm sorry"

"Did your parents do this?"

"Just act dumb, pretend you misunderstood the question and everything is going to be fine."

"No. I did the bandage."

"I know that, but did they hurt you?" Sara shook her head. "Are you sure?"

Sara nodded, "I'm sure."

"Sara,"

"I tried to climb in a tree and it didn't go well."

"Kids do that all the time, right? Climb trees and fall and break an arm, hand, leg... Good thinking coming up with that! My parents would be proud..."

"Climb in a tree? Why?"

"To pick up a flower. I like flowers." She lied.

"And why didn't you come to me when you got here?"

"I knew you would be mad and I didn't want that so I thought if you didn't see it then everything would be ok."

"I don't have any reason to be mad at you, Sara. I'm just concerned. This bruise can be more than just a bruise and you have to let someone check it."

"Might as well get it over and done with... Have her look at it, put some ice on it, bandage it back up and say it'll be healed in a few days; it's just a bad sprain... Right?"

Sara didn't want that but she had to do it so she started taking off the bandage. "No sweetie, this time you need a specialist to take a closer look"

"NO! I can't go to the doctor's! I can't!"

"But you said…"

"I'll call your parents so they can take you to the hospital."

"NO!"

"No please don't!" pain washes through her body as she uses the wrong hand to prevent her from dialing her number. "Take me there Miss Kimble but you don't have to call them. It's not like they will believe you anyway,"

The last part surprised the teacher. She looked from the girl to the machine and started dialing again. Sara felt her eyes start watering and she grabbed her bag ready to run away from there but then she heard Miss Kimble's voice.

"Elliot, this is Elisabeth… yeah, it's been awhile…"

"Who is Elliot?"

"Good, I'm good. Are you at work?… I need a huge favor. One of my students hurt her wrist and she needs… Really? That would be great. I'll be there as soon as I can… Ok. Thank you so much!"

Miss Kimble grabbed her purse and jacket and walked to the door. "Come on. He will see you, if we hurry"


Sara kept her eyes down until the door from the hospital opened.

"My Goodness, you still are stunning" he said giving the older woman a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "And who is this cute little kid?"

"My name is Sara and I'm not cute!" oops. Miss Kimble shot her a serious look and Sara looked to the floor mumbling a 'sorry'.

"I guess people don't say that too much to you, do they?" he asked the girl.

"You bet they don't. Why would they anyway? Hello, you have eyes don't you?"

Sara shakes her head from side to side. "Well, I have one thing to say, they are completely blind"

"Not really" The seriousness in the girl's voice surprised Dr. Elliot who looked to his friend with an eyebrow up. The only thing Miss Kimble could do was smile sadly.

"Okay let's see what I can do about your hand," he said pushing a chair closer to the bed. Sara didn't flinch or take her eyes off the hand, although a few times she really wanted to scream in pain. "Did you put ice on it or used some ointment?" Sara shakes her head 'no'.

"I don't think we have any in the house, and it's not like I can put any ice on any part of my body. I have to be strong. I have to deal with the pain like grow up so I have."

"Well, it's not really broken but I'll have to do an x-ray just to be sure you don't need to wear a cast for awhile."

"Do I really have to?" Last time I had a cast, Dad cut it off saying I was only doing it for attention and it wasn't broken and he hit me for it. I couldn't go to school for a week!

"I need to be sure your hand won't move at least not for a few days. Time enough for it to heal"

"I won't move it. I promise. You can trust me" she pleads. "just please don't make me wear it!"

Elizabeth smiled at her friend and sat beside the girl "No one can be careful all the time, sweetie. Not even me." she said touching the kid's hair. "But I'm sure it will be just for a couple of days,"

"Not if my Dad has anything to do with it... More like a few months..."

"Yes and I'll even let you choose the color, ok?" Sara continued shaking her head in fear. She was going to get beat so badly when she got home already for being late; she didn't want to give them any more reasons to hurt her.

"Can't you fix it without making me use a cast? Everyone will notice!" HE is going to notice!

"I'm afraid the cast is the only option in your case Sara, but I promise it won't hurt you. It may stink a bit but your wrist is going to heal in no time and you'll be able to take it off"

"When do adults actually listen to us kids? Fine, get the cast on, then try and hide it for a few days... Let's hope I succeed. Sara jumped off the bed and wiped her tears with the back of her hand. "Let's do this fast then."

"Okay. Follow me." Miss Kimble smiled to Sara and tried to hold her hand but the girl didn't let her, and nor did she look at her.

"This is all her fault... If I die tonight from my dad beating me to smithereens, then it'll be on her head... Maybe then she'll learn to butt out of people's business!"

"Just put your hand on the table until I say you can move, okay?" Sara didn't say a word. He saw her friend was about to reprehend the girl for the attitude but stopped her with a hand on her shoulder and then shaking his head. "She is hurting right now but it will pass. You did the right thing by bringing her here."

"No she didn't"

"I know, thanks"

The x-ray was pretty quick and it showed what the doctor already knew. Sara had a small fracture in her wrist. Sara pointed to the color of the cast, black, very neutral.

Miss Kimble stopped at a cafe on her way to Sara's home because they had missed dinner and Sara ate everything although very slowly as her stomach felt weird, still not saying a word. She tried to make things better by turning the radio on but it didn't have any effect, Sara continued looking outside with her head resting on the door.

"Can you park the car over by that blue house on the right, please?"

"If any of them see me coming back in a car there will be a lot of yelling. This day can't get any more worse"

"Sure"

As soon as she does that Sara is out of the car quickly. "Thank you for everything,"

"Sara, wait!" the girl stops after the first two steps. "I know you are mad at me for insisting and I'm sorry. I did what I thought was best for you."

"I know. I just wish my parents weren't a monster and more like you" Sara looked down and nodded. "Here, there is something I want to you to have."

"What's this?"

"It's my phone number. If something happens or you want someone to talk to, about anything at anytime, please call me ok?"

"That would be great if I could use the phone!"

"I'll try to remember" she mumbled. "Thanks."

Sara walked to the blue house and waited until her teacher's car was far enough away to walk to the other block where her house really was.

"Well, it's now or never... Maybe they didn't hear me come up on the porch and I can just run away? Here goes nothing..."

TBC