Ms. McKinstry
The clock struck 3:00 p.m. The school bell had sounded, releasing all of the children to their afternoon freedom. The sun was shining, reflecting brightly on the yellow school buses that were waiting in the school parking lot to pick up the students. In addition, what seemed like hundreds of personal vehicles were lined up near the curb, with parents waiting inside to pick up their children.
One of the vehicles was a red pickup truck equipped with silver ladders mounted on racks over its rear bed. Outside the truck, near the passenger side stood a slim man, around 30 years old. He wore a red flannel shirt, a pair of blue jeans that appeared to have been worn from manual labor, and brown work boots. He had been waiting patiently at the school for around ten minutes, awaiting his children to arrive to make their trip back to his house.
The Kanker sisters had been dismissed by their teacher, and were currently making their way out of the schoolyard towards the parking lot. Annalee and Annemarie were still quite shaken up from their encounter with bullies earlier in the day. The two hadn't spoken a word about the incident since it had occurred, out of necessity to repress the traumatic feelings they were currently experiencing. In addition, Annalee had no desire to scare Annamae, and was glad she was able to avoid the entire conflict due to being in speech therapy.
Today, the girls did not have to endure the potential for even more harassment from their tormentors as they made their way home from school, as their father was scheduled to pick them up for a visit to his house. It didn't take long for them to spot their father, as his red truck stood out against the sea of yellow school buses.
"There's Daddy over there." said Annalee as she pointed to the man near the red truck, "Let's go!"
The girls ran towards their father with smiles on their faces. The man, named Rod leaned down to eye level with his daughters, smiling as he greated them.
"Howdy Princesses!" said Rod as he embraced all three of his girls, "I missed you so much this week, ready to rock and roll!?"
All three girls simultaneously yelled "yes", after which Rod opened the rear door of his truck to allow the girls to take their seats. Annalee and Annemarie took the left and right window seats, respectively, as Rod strapped Annamae into a car seat positioned in the back center seat due to her small size. In a manner of minutes, the vehicle had exited the school parking lot and was beginning it's journey back to Rods house.
As the truck traveled down the street, Rod decided to open a conversation with his girls.
"So how was school today today?" asked Rod.
"Good." said Annemarie in a hesitant manner. As usual, all three girls elected to remain silent about the abuse they received from Rebecca and her friends out of fear of any further repercussions.
"Annamae went to the speech lady for the first time today." said Annalee
"That's right!" said Rod, "How was it!"
Annamae smiled before she began speaking at a rapid pace.
"Ms. Sheilds was weally...R..Really nice!" said Annamae, "We talked a lot about ponies, especially about Trigger, and she says she has a little girl my age who likes dolls just as much as me!"
The speech teacher was very skilled at her job. With some introductory questioning, she quickly discovered Annamae's main interests, and used them as an icebreaker to allow the shy little girl to come out of her shell. Once Annamae had opened up, the conversations, unbeknownst to Annamae, were actually being used as a training exercise to combat her speech impediment; in one single session, Annamae had already picked up on her errors and was making an effort to correct them as she spoke.
"I told you she was nice!" said Annalee. "See, there was no reason to be scared."
"The best part is that I found my bear in my back pack!" said Annamae as she clutched her prized stuffed animal to her chest. "I don't w...r...remember putting him in there!"
"I figured he could help you not be scared." said Annalee, "So I put him in your bag for you to take with you to the speech class."
Annamae smiled at her big sister as she clutched her stuffed bear. Rod, overhearing the conversation of between his three girls, smiled at the compassion Annalee showed towards her little sister.
It didn't take long for Rods truck to reach it's destination; a rather spacious three story twin house located on a relatively narrow city street. Rod parallel parked the truck on the street, after which he and the girls exited the vehicle and began walking toward the house.
The front porch of the house contained a few chairs, as well as a small bench that hung from chains, serving as a swing. The side of the porch facing the neighboring home had a small gate, allowing free passage from Rods property to the adjacent property when opened.
The afternoon sun was shining brightly, and the temperature was a beautiful 70 degrees. Accordingly, Ms. McKinstry, Rods elderly next-door neighbor, had made her way outside and had taken a seat in her rocking chair. She was a woman of around sixty-five years of age and was wearing a yellow dress accented with pink flowers. Her white hair was cropped quite short and she was currently wearing a pair of reading glasses, allowing her to fully enjoy the book she was reading.
Ms. McKinstry's attention was soon broken away from the world of her story when she heard the distinct sound of the Kanker girl's voices. She placed a bookmark to save her page, closed her book, and rose up out of her seat as the girls walked up the stairs to Rods porch. The girls made their way through the open gate to Ms. McKinstry's porch, arms outstretched and smiles on their faces.
"Ms. McKinstry!" yelled all three girls as they ran up to greet their friend.
"Hello little Angels." said Ms. McKinstry in a soft, grandmotherly voice as she wrapped her arms around all three girls, "How have you little sweethearts been doing!?"
"Good." said all three girls simultaneously.
Ms. McKinstry turned her attention towards Rod.
"Rod," said Ms. McKinstry, "I swear these little ones get cuter every time I see them."
"They're certainly growing like weeds!" said Rod with a smile on his face.
After a few more moments of light conversation and greetings, Annalee tugged slightly on Ms. McKinstry's dress to get her attention.
"Ms. McKinstry." said Annalee, "Can we please borrow your crayons and some paper to make a card for our Mom's birthday?"
Ms. McKinstry smiled and placed her hand on Annalee's shoulder.
"Absolutely." said Ms. McKinstry, "You know my little Angels are always welcome to borrow my crayons."
"Thank you!" said Annalee as she and her sisters smiled from ear to ear.
"So polite and sweet." said Ms. McKinstry as she began making her way into the house to retrieve the supplies. She briefly turned towards Rod. "You and Tabby have raised a fine little lady."
Rod smiled and thanked his neighbor, after which she disappeared into her house. After a few moments, Ms. McKinstry emerged from the house carrying not only a pack of crayons and construction paper, but also a plate of cookies.
"One pack of crayons, some paper, and your favorite, chocolate chip cookies!" said Ms. McKinstry.
"Thank you!" yelled all three girls simultaneously as they each reached for a cookie.
The two adults smiled as the girls began working on their card. After a few moments, Rod began making his way toward the door of his house.
"I'll be right back out," said Rod, "I'm just going to put my keys and wallet inside, do you mind watching them for a few seconds?"
"Not at all Rod," said Ms. McKinstry, "Take your time."
"Thank you," said Rod after which he opened the screen door, unlocked the inner door, and entered the house.
Ms. McKinstry walked back to her rocking chair, and took a seat, observing the girls as they happily conversed and worked in their birthday card. After a few seconds of observing, Ms. McKinstry noticed the hair that Annemarie had purposely kept out of her pony tail to cover her bad eye was irritating her as she bent down to pick up crayons. She kept pushing it out of the way, only for it to fall forward once again.
Ms. McKinstry rose out of her chair and walked over towards Annemarie.
"Come here sweetness," said Ms. McKinstry, "Let me fix your pony tail so that hair stops bothering you."
Ms. McKinstry removed the hair tie securing most of Annemarie's hair behind her head, and began rearranging her hair in preparation for a proper job. Ms. McKinstry's face was soon filled with surprise, as Annemarie's hair was not only obscuring her bad eye, but also the bruises she had received at the hands of the bullies earlier in the day.
"My goodness Baby Girl," said Ms. McKinstry in a surprised manner, "Whatever happened to your face!"
Annemarie paused for a few moments. The torment she and her sisters had faced in school had conditioned them to do anything they could to hide the truth.
"I fell off the swing in the playground." said Annemarie rather softly as she looked towards the ground.
"Oh no," said Ms. McKinstry, "We're going to have to get your Daddy to put some ice on that when he comes back out."
Annemarie remained silent as Ms. McKinstry finished placing her hair in a proper pony tail. Once she had finished, she turned her attention to Annalee, who was currently writing some words on a piece of yellow construction paper. She was currently struggling with the same problem as her sister; her long red curls continuously fell in front of her face, making continuous writing difficult.
As with Annemarie, Ms. McKinstry walked over to Annalee and suggested that she help put her hair up in the interest of keeping it out of the way. Annalee continued writing as Ms. McKinstry gathered her red curls and began to guide them back over her ears. It was at this moment that she discovered that Annalee's ears were quite swollen, and a series of small cuts lined the outer edges of each of the pinna.
Ms. McKinstry said nothing and continued working on Annalee's hair. Her years of experience in life had convinced her that it was no coincidence that both girls had suffered injuries during the course of the day, and that some form of foul play had taken place.
Ms. McKinstry completed the task of tying Annalee's hair back, after which she turned her attention toward Annamae. Annamae was currently coloring pictures in a coloring book, and completely immersed in the task. She didn't even notice that Ms. McKinstry had lifted her ponytails from the sides of her face to check for any signs of injury. She was relieved when she found no signs of harm to the youngest sister.
At that moment, the door to Rods house opened, after which the young man stepped out onto the porch. No sooner than he had stepped out, Ms. McKinstry made her way over to his position and leaned into his ear.
"Rod," said Ms. McKinstry, "Did Annemarie mention anything about falling off of a swing at school?"
"No" said Rod with a look of concern, "Why did she say something?"
"I noticed her and Annalee were struggling with their hair so I tied it back for them." said Ms. McKinstry, "When I moved Annemarie's hair, I noticed that her entire right cheek is bruised. She told me that got it from falling off of the swings"
Ms. McKinstry paused.
"I believed her at first, until I helped Annalee tie her hair back. As I pulled the hair back over her ears, I noticed that they were swollen and torn open in a few places. It looks like someone grabbed and twisted them. Go take a look, I hope it is not what I think."
Rod walked over towards the girls who were currently preoccupied with their coloring projects. Rod leaned down next to Annemarie and inspected her face with a somber expression. After a few minutes of analyzing, he turned his attention toward his oldest daughter. He stood behind her, slightly moving her red curls out from behind her ears to get a better look; Annalee remained fixated on her words, not even realizing she was being inspected. Sure enough, Rod laid eyes on Annalee's injured ears, at which point his facial expression turned to one of sadness.
Rod returned to Ms. McKinstry's side, his gaze focused on his daughters.
"What do you think Rod?" asked Ms. McKinstry.
Rod paused for a few moments prior to responding.
"Those are definitely not accidental injuries." said Rod, "It looks like someone or something hit Annemarie. And someone definitely twisted Annalee's ears."
Rod turned towards Ms. McKinstry.
"I feared this would happen." said Rod, "Tabby told me that she struggled all throughout her childhood with bullying when she was a little girl, and again when she was in high school. She told me horrible stories about the things that happened to her and her family. They were shoved into lockers, punched around, had rocks thrown thrown at them, and all kinds of other unbelievable things."
Rod looked towards his daughters.
"I can only hope that it isn't true and that these injuries are just accidents." said Rod, "If it is, I don't know whether to be furious or heartbroken."
Ms. McKinstry placed her hand on Rod's shoulder.
"I hope it isn't true," said Ms. McKinstry, "How can anyone want to hurt those little sweethearts?"
"It's really sad to say this," said Rod, "But being nice can sometimes make you an even bigger target for bullying."
Rod glanced towards his elderly neighbor.
"Before I talk to Tabby and call the school, I am going to sit with the girls later tonight and talk to them about this and see what they say." said Rod, "Until then, let's just let them be."
Ms. McKinstry nodded. The two adults took their places in their respective chairs, both with melancholy expressions on their faces as they watched the girls happily work on their art projects.