Chapter 16
Karen McCormick

"Stop it! Give it back!" Karen sobbed and jumped up, trying to get the doll back from the bully. It wasn't just any doll. It was her favorite childhood toy that she got from her big brother. The only thing she couldn't bear to ever get rid of, even as she entered middle school.

Sometimes, on really bad days, she'll bring the old thing to school in her backpack. She never took it out, but just knowing she had it always brought her a sense of comfort she couldn't explain.

"Awe~ Does the 'wittle baby want her precious dolly back?" The bully stood a good foot taller than her, a large girl with broad shoulders and an ugly sneer that could curdle milk with its disgust.

Karen had big fat tears welling up in her eyes and rolling down her too-thin face, devoid of the typical baby fat a girl her age and size should have. The bully held the dolly higher in the air, none of their peers that stood by watching as they waited for their parents stepping up to help. Her chin wobbled as she kept trying to grab her doll back from the bigger girl.

It was the end of the school day and most kids had left on their buses, were picked up by caring parents, or had already started walking home. This left just a small handful of students in front of their school without a single teacher in sight.

Karen felt another sob bubbling in her throat as she fell to the ground after yet another failed attempt at getting her doll back. The snow soaked through her pant legs and the wind made her wet face ache.

"The 'wittle baby's crying! Oh no! Does she need her blanky? What about her paci?" The girl snickered and was about to use her foot to knock Karen onto her back….only to be stopped by a gloved hand grabbing her wrist. Particularly the one connected to the hand holding Karen's doll. The bully started screaming and trying to pull her arm away.

Karen looked up through her mussed hair, staring with wide bloodshot eyes as her second big brother took her doll back and tossed the other girl to the side, causing her to start screaming and threatening him. This did little to bother Kenny as he carefully inspected Karen's doll for any damages before kneeling and placing it in her lap.

"K-Kenny?" She whimpered quietly.

It was hard to tell Kenny's expression from behind the hood and mouth covering of his parka, but Karen could tell he was smiling by the way his eyes crinkled in the corners and how his cheekbones looked a little fuller.

"Are you ready to go?" His words were muffled and would have been impossible to understand normally, but she had been raised with and partially by this boy. Karen gave him a watery smile as her brother helped her onto her feet again. "Piggyback?"

"Aren't I too old Kenny?" She giggled but still climbed onto his back as he knelt in the snow, soaking his own knees.

Karen had clutched her old doll close to her chest with one hand and held onto Kenny with the other as he stood and began the long walk across town to their rundown home.

"You're never too old, Kare-bear."