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"I was in the corner by then. I'd gone there the second he walked in, trying to make myself quiet and small. I told myself later it was because there was nothing I could've done. That's true, as far as it goes. I was eight years old with a ruined foot and no strength worth speaking of, and he was a grown man who'd clearly carried off worse than one skinny girl before. "But I didn't try. That's the part I've never been able to really come to terms with. I didn't even try, and Ren did, and she was the one who ended up carried out that door into the dark and the rain. "She never looked back at me. I don't know if she even remembered I was there, in the corner, watching, doing nothing. Maybe it's better if she didn't. There are some things a friendship doesn't survive. "I never found out where he took her, not then. It was a long time before I heard her name again, and longer still before I understood any of what had happened that morning. And by the time I did, we were both something other than what we'd been at Auntie's. But I still think of her sometimes, sitting next to me on that bench, that almost-smile at the corner of her mouth, and I think of her kicking and cursing at a man four times her size while I made myself small in a corner and did nothing. "Anyway, I guess what I'm saying is, you know, pick your own battles, sure. But maybe think twice about that one." :: Keeping your thoughts to yourself, you just file the :: :: information away. "Looks like your order's ready," you :: :: say, nodding at the counter where a small package sits :: :: in front of the young man. :: | |