She's Bad News

Chapter 9

“I want to know why you have cuts on your face and a bruise under your eye,” she said stiffly, threads of anger making their way into her tone.

“Thank you for your concern Sandra but it’s really not a big deal. I fell in gym class and landed on my face. No need to lose any sleep over it,” I said blandly, turning my head to face the stairs fully once more, mounting the first step and then the second when suddenly I felt a firm hand grip my wrist and tug, almost making me lose my balance but I managed to find my footing as I landed on the floor, bent over awkwardly in front of Sandra as I tried not to fall.

“What the hell are you doing?” I hissed, straightening my spine and glaring at her.

“Reena?” Jake said softly and when I glanced over at him his eyes were wide as he looked back at me, obviously worried.

“It’s okay,” Jessica said softly, wrapping her arm around his shoulders and he leaned gratefully into her. “Let’s go get a snack while Mom talks to Corinna, okay?”

“Reena?” Jake asked, hesitating and for a second, I lost all my anger and gave him a small but genuine smile before heading over to him and wrapping him in a tight hug, pulling him away from Jessica as I lifted him up until his feet were dangling off the ground.

“What’s wrong, buddy?” I asked, leaning my head back so I could look him in the eye.

Slowly, he reached out and ran a small finger over the bruise that was still darkening under my eye. “You got hurt,” he said quietly, his big brown eyes shiny with tears as he looked at me. “And now Mommy is mad at you for something. Did you do something bad, Reena?”

I swallowed hard, trying to get rid of the lump in my throat as my heart swelled with love for my little brother. “No,” I finally croaked, shaking my head and putting a wobbly smile on my face. “I’m just really clumsy so I fell down really hard and hurt myself. Nothing bad, I promise.”

“Really?” he asked, his eyes narrowing on me as if trying to figure out if I was telling the truth.

“Really,” I said, my lips twitching as a smile spread across his face. I put him down and tickled him lightly on the stomach, making him giggle. “Now go put some cookies on a plate for us and pour me a glass of milk. I’ll be right there, okay?”

“Okay!” he said cheerfully, holding out his hand to Jessica who wrapped her fingers around his and let him lead her into the kitchen. She gave me a questioning look before disappearing into the kitchen with Jake and I breathed a sigh of relief that he wasn’t there to listen to whatever Sandra was going to say to me.

I took a deep breath and straightened my spine, planting my usual smirk on my face as I looked at Sandra whose eyes flared with anger as she looked at me. “All right, I’m all yours. What was it that you wanted to say to me when you dragged me down the stairs?”

“Stop lying to me,” she hissed, taking a furious step towards me and gripping my arm hard as she glared up at me. “Do you think I’m stupid? You don’t even have gym class so how dare you tell me that you had an accident there. It’s obvious that you got into a fight again so don’t treat me like I’m an idiot. I’ve been taken for a fool too many times in the past by your lies, I’m not going to be falling for them again.”

I quirked an eyebrow at her and gave her a humourless smile. “Okay,” I said, my tone flat and uncaring.

“What?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper and her body perfectly still as she stared up at me.

“Okay,” I repeated in the exact same tone of voice watching as heat infused her cheeks and her eyes lit with anger.

“Okay? Okay as in you’ll just continue to lie to me to see which ones I catch and which ones I miss? Is that what you’re saying okay to?” Her voice rose as she spoke, her tone becoming increasingly shrill with every word.