Interrogations

She was driven out of her thoughts when she felt a tug on her dress. She looked down and saw 6-year-old Joana looking up at her with her two big Heterochromia eyes of the shades green and blue.

“Your dress is dirty,” Joana stated, touching the torn part of Rebecca’s dress.

Rebecca squatted and took Joanna’s little body into an embrace, pecking her cheeks.

“Yea, I fell in a puddle.” Just that statement left a bad taste in her mouth. It brought back the thoughts of earlier events.

“What are you guys eating?” she said, trying to expunge the thoughts from her head, and stop herself from bursting into tears.

“Umm…Mrs. Butterworth gave us this…uh, yours is in the flask over there,” Brianna answered, pointing to a small green food flask on the table.

Rebecca carried Joanna into her arms and walked the short distance to where Brianna and 8 years old Michael sat, still eating.

She touched Michael who hadn’t noticed her presence. He looked up and saw her. A huge smile engulfed his face as he leaped to his feet and dived into her open arms.

“Where have you been?” Michael signed with so much brio.

“I’ve been out,” Rebecca signed back.

“Why then do you look so dirty?” He signed, furrowing his brows in confusion. “And what are those?” he signed, pointing to the dark patches on her face and wrists.

“It’s nothing,” She signed back.

Brianna who was still eating ravenously looked up and saw Rebecca’s face. She widened her eyes, dropping the plastic spoon she was eating with.

Just then, the robust Mrs. Butterworth, walked in, a tray of cookies in her hand. Even with her plump body and stout frame, she had a briskness to her gait, like someone in a hurry to complete a task.

“Oh…you are back, sweetie,” she said, dropping the tray on the table next to the green flask.

When she turned around and saw what everyone else had seen, she released a pitchy gasp, holding on to her robust chest.

“Dear Lord, what happened to you?!” she asked. Every word that came out of her mouth made her cheeks jiggle slightly.

She moved quickly and grabbed onto Rebecca’s face, examining it from side to side. She grabbed her hands and began inspecting the dark marks that went around her wrist.

Brianna had jumped up earlier and had moved to stand beside her sister, peeping into what Mrs. Butterworth was scrutinizing.

“Did you get into a fight?” Brianna asked.

“No, I didn’t,” Rebecca answered with a roll of her eyes. Leave it to Brianna to put two and two together.

At thirteen, Brianna acted more than her age. Maybe it was from all the books she read or just her natural endowments, whichever the case, whenever she opened her mouth, you’ll most likely be left in awe or annoyance, considering her overly honest utterances.

“Are you sure you didn’t get into a fight, dear,” Mrs. Butterworth asked, a worried expression on her robust face.

“A man dropped her off. He wanted to have his hands on her, but we intervened…” James said, entering the room with his brother in tow. They had been waiting outside when Rebecca had entered.

The room felt smaller than it was because their heights and sizes covered a good portion of the tiny room.

“Is this true dear?” Mrs. Butterworth asked, the same worried expression on her face.

“It was just a small hassle, nothing really,” Rebecca defended.

“This doesn’t look small,” Brianna stated matter of fact, gesturing to Rebecca’s entire appearance.

“Shut up,” Rebecca muttered to her. “ It’s alright Mrs. Butterworth, I’ll be fine. I just need to go have a bath and come eat your delicious food. Thank you so much for your help…I don’t know what I would’ve done,” Rebecca said, grabbing Mrs. Butterworth’s hands.

“It’s okay, sweetie. I knew your parents. They showed me kindness when I hadn’t much. I still don’t have bountiful but I’m glad I could help in the little way I could. You guys should take care, I’ll go get my first aid kit and tend to you, dear,” she said and turned to leave.

Rebecca hugged her from behind, allowing the tears she’d been holding in since her food items perished, fall freely from her concealed face. Her remaining strength crumbled. She felt the tiredness, the body aches, and the pain all at once.

Mrs. Butterworth raised her hand over her shoulders and began patting Rebecca’s head.

“It’s okay dear. It’s all good.”

Joana who had been sitting quietly where her big sis had dropped her, scurried over and hugged Rebecca. Michael couldn’t hear what was being said, but from the expressions on their faces, and their actions, he understood it was an emotional moment. He too moved and hugged Rebecca, followed by Brianna.