Word of Rosie's hospitalization spread quickly, and by six pm, she'd had a whole slew of visitors, but the one that meant the most was her favourite of all her Twelfth family people - Carey Parrish-Robbins. He was like having a big brother, even though he was younger than her. Something about him was larger than life, and like her, he understood what it was to be multiracial like her.

He and his siblings had visited her and they'd shared snacks of banana pudding together while playing a card game called 'Uno' - Rosie had never heard of it, but right now she was just thankful to be included since holding cards was easier than trying to draw with her cast on her right hand.

'What this one do?' Finn asked, holding up a card with swivel-ways arrows on it.

'That means the direction of who goes next changes,' Violet explained patiently to her little brother. 'So instead of going to me, it goes back to Rosie.'

'Oh, okay. Rosie, you' tur',' Finn said sweetly, looking at her cast. 'Wan' moosh beddah?'

'Sure.'

Finn put her little fingers to his lips and with a smacking 'mwah' kissed them, then laid them on her cast-covered wrist. 'Fee' beddah, bones.'

'Thank you Finn.'

Carey could see Rosie's eyes filling up so he patted her good hand and smiled. 'You'll be out of here in no time and doing magic tricks, just you watch, Rosie.'

'Thank you Carey.'

Violet could sense the tension that had suddenly sprung up, so she reached across the pile of cards and tapped Finn's hand. 'Come on, Finn, Carey needs to talk to Rosie alone.'

'Wha' 'bout?'

'Big kid stuff.'

'O-kay. Finish game?'

'After they have their talk. Why don't we go and find something to drink for Rosie?' Violet filled her voice with enthusiasm and Finn nodded, looked at Rosie.

'You like oh-shay?'

'I love OJ,' Rosie laughed, and watched Finn babble away to Violet as they went into the hallway. She thought of pretty Lanie, all smooth cocoa and Dave, so handsome with skin like almonds and how her three friends weren't so different from her.

But those bullies, they'd made her feel so different, so...worthless, like just because she had a beautiful Puerto-Rican mami and a Scottish-American daddy, that made her out of place with the white and Puerto-Rican kids, like she had no home at all. The thought of innocent little Finn and sassy Violet being treated like she'd been treated made Rosie's eyes fill up again and she was crying openly. She tucked her knees up towards her chest and put her forehead against them, her little shoulders shaking like a leaf in the high wind.

She didn't even register that Carey was still there, or that he'd moved from his chair to sitting across from her until she felt his steady hands on her head, petting her like she was Arturo.

'It's okay to be scared, Rosie, it was a scary thing that happened to you.'

'But why did it happen, Carey? I wasn't mean t-to them. Why did they decide to pick on me?'

'Because people are afraid of what they don't understand.'

'That's silly. Why can't they just learn about something they don't understand, like we did with Shane and Chanukah?'

'Because some people just like being mean and picking on people.'

This did little to comfort Rosie, Carey could tell, so while she continued to cry he hugged Rosie with her tucked-up knees and all. He breathed deep the smell of her hair; somewhere beneath the sterile soap and sweat and fear, he could smell her butterscotch smell.

'Rosie,' he said to her, thinking of what the priest at the church always said, 'are you a good person?'

'What?'

'Are you a good person? Do you lie or cheat or steal, do you pick on people who can't stand up for themselves for fun, tease people different than you?'

'No, I would never do that,' Rosie said firmly to her feet.

'Do you protect your family, stand up for Duncan and your daddy and your mami, be nice to as many people as you can be?'

'Of course.'

'What will you do if you ever see bullies like that again?' he asked her.

'Ask them why they're being mean and go get a grown-up for help.'

'Then you've already won.'

'Won what?'

Carey watched her lift her head and look at him, curious as to what he meant. 'Won against those bullies. They meant to be mean to break your heart, but the joke is on them because you are still Rosie George-Esposito and they didn't change that. So you win.'