"Ragged and Redeemed" Part Three

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I remember the first day I saw Melinda. She had a black eye and several bruises littered her arms. In spite of all that, she was still beautiful, smiling, and surrounded by friends. For one second, as I sat down in Language arts, our eyes met and her green eyes showed kindness and a guarded feeling that I couldn’t read. She looked away to respond to a skinny blonde and then sat down at the front as our teacher walked in.

                                    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

First day of 6^th grade. I saw a new kid today. Pretty cute guy. For that split second that my eyes met his, I felt safe, surrounded by his warm brown eyes. My right eye keeps throbbing, dad came home extra drunk last night. But thank god that all he did was beat me. Nick is still safe from that monster, although we had to find a new place to hide him since dad found the last one. This morning when we walked to school, Nick smiled at me, a smile that lit up his whole face. “Sis, I love you” he said and I almost burst out in tears right there. If only he knew….. Nick ran the rest of the way to school, he has two new friends, twin friends, Tyler and Austin. I am still smiling over those little words that made a big difference. I may be only 11 but I love my brother and will protect him, Even if I am protecting him from our father.

                                    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

School was pretty interesting today. I actually made a friend today! His name is Chad and he seems really cool Chad told me about Melinda, the green eyed girl. She has a little brother, Nick, who I hear, from Tyler and Austin, is one cool little dude. I asked Chad about her many bruises. Chad’s eyes looked down and he whispered to me “She always says something happened at one of her sport practices, but no one believes it. She is a very nice girl, and the most popular one around, but no one dares to ask her the truth. She seems okay but no one knows.” The bell rung for the end of the day, I told him bye and rushed out of the room. I collided with someone and gave myself a whack on the head with an open locker.

                                    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I am SO sorry” the New guy said while rubbing his head. I choked down a laugh, my books were scattered all over the place and despite me being on the floor and embarrassed, I began picking up my books. The new guy gave his head another rub, then kneeled down and began to pick up my stuff also. The hallway slowly started to empty as kids rushed home and out of the dreaded school. The silence was deafening and I silently cursed my ability to overstuff and overcarry. “I’m sorry” he said again as the number of books on the floor slowly dwindled. “Its okay” I replied, my voice echoing in the hallways “Hows your head?”  He winced “ I might have lost a couple thousand brain cells, but oh well I have no use for them anyways. Its all good”

                                    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She laughed a tinkling laugh and I finally picked up her last book. “Whew” she said and stood up. She rubbed her elbow and inspected another forming bruise. “At least this one is actually from falling down” she murmured out loud. I stayed silent, not knowing what to say as her face became one in shock. “Did I just say that out loud?” she whispered. One look at my face answered that question, for a second I saw fear nestling in her eyes.

                                    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I could not believe I said that out loud. For one minute, I laughed with him, I bonded with him, relaxing like I never have with anyone, then I had to speak my thoughts. I almost told him my secret, almost spoke of my pain. He stood there mutely still. I told him thanks and bye and then I walked down the hall to the door, tears forming in my eyes. “My names Matt by the way” he said behind me, I turned around and I found him looking straight at me, understanding in his eyes. “Mines Melinda” I yelled back. He smiled and ran out of the door at the other end of the hallway. I stood at the door, for I don’t know how long. If I had been with another of my “friends” , they would have never left me alone, but Matt….

                                    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

accepted me. She didn’t ask questions or talk about anything about me. She just talked to me…but then that murmured sentence that I caught, her spoken confession. Something is wrong with Melinda, and I want to know who would hurt her…but what about Nick? Why isn’t he bruised? Why is he always happy?? So many questions about her, none of which I can ever ask. I finally got home, and for once in as long as I could remember, my mother was not only cooking, but she was smiling too. Tyler and Austin were doing their homework when I stepped in the door and then my mom came over to me and sat me down. Tyler and Austin looked over at me with eager eyes and my mom began:

“Matt….your father contacted Meg today…” She must have seen a flicker of pain or annoyance because she spoke in an even quieter voice “ He said he is getting married again, but he is also going to pay me child support”. Her eyes lit up and a smile transformed her tired face. “Matt, he is going to help us pay for everything…everything!”

                                    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am still thinking about Matt, he didn’t even bother me when I let out that piece of guarded information. I could see the questions in his eyes but he still didn’t ask and inside, I thank him for that. I made it home with Nick, and that’s when I noticed how quiet he was. “Nick” I asked “ Are you okay little buddy?” He turned away from me,  his eyes looking down. I got on my knees and held his face in my hands. That’s when I noticed the bruise on one side of his head. He started to cry, “ Daddy found me Melly, he found me this morning when you were in the bathroom. I tried to tell him to stop, but he said I was a bad boy and I deserved it. I didn’t do nothing Melly.” He put his arms around my neck and held on tight as he cried. I clenched my fist in anger and I heard myself saying “Nick, there is nothing wrong with you, you are one of the best boys I know , you have done nothing wrong, You hear me??” He nodded and I wiped away his tears. We walked to the door and found dad gone and mom on the ground.

                                    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There was complete silence in the room, Tyler and Austin returned to their homework when I stuttered out

“T-That’s great Mom, it really is”. I have never seen mom smile from ear to ear like she did now. Then she headed back to the kitchen to resume cooking. I think I even heard her humming!