Chapter 2.44- Surrender

          She had no idea how she’d managed to get on top of him, much less any idea if she’d even managed to injure him or not. For all she knew she was the injured one but she couldn’t feel it if she was. She also didn’t know quite where she was or who exactly the small knot of kids surrounding them were or how many of them had come over to watch. She only half registered that technically Roger was standing just out of bounds and that made her angrier.

          That twit would probably get in trouble for being out of bounds while she was the one pounding on Andre because Benji and Andre were picking on him again. For the thousandth time this month picking on him while he stood there and took it, holding his tears in until they went in from recess and she had to sit next to him hearing to his quiet sobs while trying to listen to what the teacher said. It wasn’t fair and she’d had enough.

          “Geez, Andre,” Benji’s voice floated to her from somewhere far away. “You’re getting beat up by a giiirl. I thought you said you beat up your sister all the time.”

          “Leave him alone, Benji,” Kelci’s voice had the same through-a-tunnel sound for Mariah. “He’s trying not to hit her since you don’t hit girls. Not that she should count as a girl. She’s just a freak.”

          Fueled by the disdain of her classmates Mariah finally landed a punch with enough force that Andre gasped while the surrounding kids groaned.

          “What on-” And Mariah felt herself lifted off of Andre, arms and legs still flailing in an attempt to injure the boy.

 

          When Mariah finally decided to stop swinging she found herself facing Andre with a very angry Mrs.Byrd at her side. The other kids had all fled. All except for Roger, who Mariah took no notice of.

          “Alright,” Mrs.Byrd began. “Alright, who start-”

          “-She did.” Andre interrupted, glaring.

          “I did not,” Mariah spat.

          “Uh, yes. You did.”

          Ears starting to burn, Mariah balled a fist and gritted her teeth. Stupid little-

          “You are the one who always gangs up with-” Mariah snarled. She even surprised herself with the force she put behind her words.

          “-Am not.” Andre interjected.

          “Mariah! If you don’t calm down-” Mrs. Byrd added as Mariah made to lunge at Andre.

          “-that stupid Benji-”

          “-We do NOT call names Mariah-”

          “-to be mean to Roger”-

“-we’re not being mean-”

“Andre? Roger?”

“-you’re about to learn what happens to people who are mean! I’ll kill you, you PlumbBob damn-”

          “You’d kill me just over-”

          “Shut up, you evil- If you don’t watch out, I bet you’ll find your shoelaces undone one day and you’ll trip and break your leg!”

          “Enough! Enough enough enough! Watcher.That’s.Enough!”

          Andre and Mariah stopped when Mrs.Byrd finally managed to make herself heard over their squabbling. However, they did not stop glaring at each other.

          “Andre, take a hike. Recess is half over and I think you ought to be playing and getting some of that energy out.”

          At that, he turned, sticking his tongue out at Mariah once he was behind the teachers back.

          “And as for you Mariah-”

          “-Yeah, what about me?”

          Mrs.Byrd sighed, her expression hardening slightly as she tried to hide the pity in her eyes.

          “We all know this is a very sad time for you after your losses, but it’s not an excuse for you to beat up on your classmates, or to threaten their lives. You’ve got to keep your temper under control.”

          Mariah swelled slowly, anger coloring her vision and rendering her speechless.

          “I mean it Mariah,” Mrs.Byrd added, seeing the red face in front of her. “I really don’t want to call your grandmother again.”

          Eyes suddenly slits, Mariah hissed between her teeth.

          “My mother returned home this weekend. You don’t ever have to call my grandmother again.”

          “Well then,” Mrs.Byrd narrowed her own eyes in response. “I’m betting you really don’t want me to call her.”

          The two glared at each other for a few minutes until Mariah finally deflated a little and lowered her gaze.

          “Good,” Mrs.Byrd rolled her eyes and sighed. “Now go play. And please keep your temper!”

          Slowly, heavily, Mariah made her way to her favorite recess haunt, the picnic table farthest from the playground. So long as she didn’t turn her back the teachers didn’t seem to mind her sitting there. They seemed to think she used the time to be grieve, or ‘sort out her emotions.’ Usually she used the time to plan on that days escape from Abuella Sabria. Today she used the time to calm herself down.

          She had no idea what had come over her. Since the first time she’d gotten into a fight on the playground she’d done her best to keep her emotions in check and her temper in control. She landed in a foster home for a week when the school had called the social worker assigned to her.

 

Seems they were afraid she had “social adjustment problems” that were exacerbated by recent events. Once she was allowed to go back to her grandmother she’d carefully kept her temper in check. She might have hated having Abuella Sabria taking care of her, but the foster home had been worse.

          Of course, now that her mother had finally been released from prison things weren’t too much better.

          Layla had kind of snapped, broken, once she’d pulled the trigger on that pistol. And of course, there wasn’t anything anyone could do to bring back her daddy. Uncle Raul had already killed him. Layla had only killed Uncle Raul.

          At least the DA had agreed it was all self-defense. If he hadn’t her mother would probably still be in prison. Probably forever. And she couldn’t slip up again. She couldn’t let anyone ever take her away from her home. Her mother needed her too much now.

          If the bench boards hadn’t shifted due to the added weight Mariah probably wouldn’t have noticed that she’d been joined. She stiffened, nostrils flaring. None of the other kids had ever bothered her here before. They all counted her as a freak whose mother had killed her father and uncle. She’d allowed them their ignorance in return for her peace. She didn’t much appreciate the intrusion even now.

          They turned to each other at almost the same instant. Both wide eyed, both still silent.

          If she weren’t afraid he’d spend the next hour crying in class she’d have sent a sharp rebuke his way to frighten him off. That method had proved most effective so far.

          So she sat quietly, waiting to see what Roger wanted, not even daring to blink.

          Her eyes burning, Mariah finally blinked.

          “Pleasedon’tkillme,” Immediately, Roger’s hands flew up in surrender and Mariah frowned at him.

          “I’m not going to kill you,” she answered sternly. She knew all the other kids also thought that since her mother was a murderer that she could be one too if she wanted to be.

          “I just- I just- I- just- it’s that- I just-” Roger spluttered.

          Shaking her head, Mariah sighed. Usually, she wanted to be feared so the other kids would leave her alone. With Roger though, she wasn’t sure if his fear of her would make his crying worse or better.

          Roger’s hands lowered slowly and his stuttering slowed to a halt. Mariah turned back to him to make sure he was alright.

          “You’re not going to kill me?” Roger’s voice squeaked in disbelief.

          “No. I’m not going to kill you,” Mariah answered. “I don’t kill people. But no one believes that.”

          “You said you’d kill Andre,” said Roger, a hint of fear coloring the curiosity in his tone.

          “Roger, I was really angry. Have you ever said something when you were angry that you didn’t really mean?” The counselor used that line a lot during Mariah’s sessions.

          For a few minutes he sat next to her silently and Mariah relaxed a little bit. She wasn’t sure if he was really contemplating her words or if he was just trying to figure out how to run away from the freak. Then his face lit up and he turned to her with a bright smile.

          “Yes,” he said proudly. “Yes, I have said things when I’m angry that I don’t mean.”

          Mariah stifled a giggle. According to the counselor it was natural to do that, but not something to be happy about.

Now that he’d established that she didn’t really intend on killing him he’d run back to the other kids to establish her as a liar, cementing her epithet and ensuring her solitude for another few months. So she turned away from him and lapsed back into the silence she found most comforting.

          But he didn’t leave. Instead Roger sat there beside her and intruded on her thoughts. And the more she thought of him, the angrier she became.

          Unable to take it any longer Mariah turned to Roger abruptly, startling him.

          “Why do you let your brother and Andre pick on you every single day?” she demanded. “You should stand up to them! Or tell someone. Why don’t you tell your mom if you don’t want to tell Mrs.Byrd?”

          Rogers eyes widened and he blinked at her intensity, but he didn’t answer her immediately, making her temper rise all the more.

          “Roger!” Mariah cried. “Roger this is not something you should stand for! I can’t believe you plan on just letting them bully you day in and day out for the rest of your time in school!

          “This is not something where you can just stand by! Did you plan on perhaps spending the rest of your life crying every afternoon? Do you ever want friends?”

          “But I have a friend. I thought.”

          Mariah snorted. “If you thought Andre was your friend you are sadly mistaken.”

          Mariah adopted the same tone her counselor used when Mariah dared to voice her actual opinion on things. It was an exasperated tone used slowly as you explained the reality of things.

          “Roger,” Mariah began. “Roger, Andre is never nice to you. He makes fun of you, threatens you, and will sometimes use you as his ‘escape goat’  when Mrs.Byrd catches him doing something wrong.

          “A ‘friend’ is someone who will stand up for you, and who doesn’t make fun of you and who is nice to you and you like them. Has Andre ever been nice to you?”

          “I wasn’t talking about Andre,” Roger answered. “I was talking about you.”

          That took the wind out of her sails. Stunned, Mariah turned away from him once again.

          “You’re always nice to me in class,” Roger continued. “You talk to me. No one else does. And you stood up for me today when Benji and Andre started making fun of me. So that makes you my friend, right?”

          Mariah’s jaw dropped slightly. That booger. Using her own arguments she’d gotten from the counselor on her.

          “Fine,” she said. “Fine, I’m your friend. But don’t expect that to mean anything. Ok?”

          Roger’s face split into a huge grin as he nodded happily. “Alright.”

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          I’ve actually had these pics for about 2 weeks now, but life, the universe, and everything. You get it right?

          Raul had already beaten Ignacio to a pulp and he just didn’t survive that. So Ignacio was already beyond reasonable help when Layla pulled the trigger on Raul. She wasn’t aiming for anything vital on Raul but being drunk and a first time shot she missed spectacularly and killed him. Ignacio was the only thing keeping Layla together and the awareness that she probably had a hand in the events that led up to his death was more than she could handle.

          While generation 2 is still in charge (and in game- Ignacio is alive. Rules yo.) we’re going to go ahead and shift focus to Mariah in story. So this is still Generation 2 until Mariah hits YA. She’s going to prove a very interesting heir with a really… interesting… roll and I’d like her story to get going so here we go!