Cullen
A strawberry blonde teacher came out of a classroom.
A Mom arrived late with her son.
Kimble opened the classroom door.
"I'm sorry Zach's late. The car wouldn't start."
She squatted down in front of him.
"You better be a good boy. I love you."
The Mom stood up.
She walked away.
"Hi, champ." The strawberry blonde teacher greeted, placing her hand on his back.
"Oh!" "Zach" commented.
"What's the matter?" She questioned.
"Oh, no." The strawberry blonde commented when she saw bruises at the top of his back.
"I fell down again."
She looked in the direction she went.
The strawberry blonde walked off.
"Hey. Wait a minute."
The Mom turned around.
She was walking backwards while talking with her.
"Uh... I forgot to close the door to the Basement and Zach had a bad fall. The Doctor says it looks much worse than it really is."
"Sure. You all say the same thing. "The kid fell down the stairs." Don't you have anything better to say than that?"
"It's true!"
A male stepped out of a car.
"Look. I don't have to justify myself to you!"
The strawberry blonde's hair blew up in the wind.
A big indent was on the back of her neck.
"You don't have any right talking to me like that."
"Listen to me. Woman to woman. Mom to Mom. Abused Wife to... Abused Wife."
"You're not married."
"I'm not exactly proud of it but I am legally married. Let's list it as a youthful indiscretion."
The strawberry blonde sighed.
"That little boy looks up to you, Clarabelle. He expects you to make the right decision for him. Take it from a DV survivor. But I never let him hit my son. I stepped in front of him every single time."
Rachel used to step in front of Junior when I got angry enough and was gonna hit him.
"How did you leave him?"
"It was the hardest thing I ever had to do in my life. But I knew if I didn't, he might've taken it too far one time."
She sighed.
"It's never gonna come down to just a battle of strength, or smarts, or even wills with me. Ultimately, it's going to be a battle of values. My values versus my enemy's. And if I'm willing to abandon those values, what makes me better than him?"
The strawberry blonde sighed.
"How many times did he nearly kill him as baby? Nearly dropping him on his head? Shaking him too hard to try to make him be quiet?"
I had nearly dropped Junior on the head multiple times but Rachel caught him every time.
She had yanked him out of my arms since I used to shake him too hard to try to make him be quiet.
The Mom looked down.
"Exactly my point."
"I can't raise Zach on my own."
"This is these sick guys' objectives."
"What?"
"To make you depend on them financially. It's bullshit. Trust me-- My husband is rich. Do you have any idea how many people are looking for me? People that can just blend in?"
"Wow. Your husband sounds terrible."
"You don't know the half of it. He's Satan. The fucking devil in carnation."
Clarabelle laughed.
The strawberry blonde headed over to the male.
She was watching her.
"You must be the Mom I heard about from Dominic, Damon, and Aria. How are you?"
The male grunted as Rachel slammed him against the car.
"You know, yesterday I noticed a bruise on my son. I certainly didn't do it. And then I saw Zach this morning. And put the pieces together."
"You are crazy."
"You hit the kid, I hit you."
"You bitch!"
She didn't duck in time.
The male's fist connected with Rachel's throat.
She spit blood out of her mouth and onto the ground.
Rachel punched him in the gut.
"What is she doing?" A passing Mom questioned.
She had her fist raised.
"Excuse me." It was Miss. Schlowski.
She was surprised to see Rachel over there.
"If you ever lay your hands on any of my kids again... I swear to God! I will kill you and I mean that!" She yelled before letting go of the male.