The Forsaken

Chapter Thirteen - Victims of Denial

Gwen stares down at her plate, mindlessly pushing the mashed potatoes, roast beef, and green peas around in interesting designs with her fork. She can feel four separate pairs of eyes on her, their curious stares causing her skin to prickle in a most uncomfortable fashion.

“Aren’t you hungry, Mary?” Mrs. Judy Keller, a thin, frail, plain-faced brunette woman in her late thirties asks.

            Gwen looks up at her foster mother.

            “No, I guess not,” Gwen replies. “And please don’t call me Mary, or Marianne for that matter,” Gwen adds in an aspirated tone.

            “Don’t you talk to her like that, girl!” Mr. Dennis Keller warns, his thick New England accent adding a belligerent quality to his chastisement.

Gwen looks at him blankly for a long moment, challenging him with her eyes. The two begin a staring contest, each willing the other to be the first to accept defeat, to look away. Finally, after several minutes in awkward silence, Mrs. Keller reaches out a hand to place it over her husband’s. He notices this move and gives her an annoyed look, moving away from her unwanted touch. Judy Keller responds as though he has struck her, shrinking back, her face burning red. She avoids the children’s eyes as she returns her attention to her plate.

            Mr. Keller, forgetting all about Gwen, goes back to eating his supper, shoveling a spoonful of peas into his tobacco-lined mouth.

The Kellers’ two other foster children, Aaron and Cara, sit on either side of Gwen. With deliberate malice, Aaron stomps on Gwen’s foot abruptly, causing Gwen to fling her fork in the air in surprise, crying out in pain. Everyone looks at her, alarmed.

“What’d you do that for?” Mr. Keller asks, his expression suggesting that Gwen might be a bit unbalanced.

“Aaron stepped on my foot,” Gwen replies, shooting a look of warning at her foster brother, who only looks at Mr. Keller with an innocent expression on his face.

“Nonsense, he didn’t touch you. Now shut up and eat your food!” Mr. Keller commands.

Gwen reluctantly does as she is told, but makes sure to casually elbow Aaron in the ribs in such a way as to seem purely accidental. Aaron grunts in pain at the contact, but says nothing.

Gwen, having flung her fork somewhere, picks up her spoon and scoops up some mashed potatoes. As she eats, she returns to her own thoughts, pondering her bizarre foster family.

Aaron, the oldest foster child, is twelve. Unfortunately, Gwen has several of the same classes with him at the local middle school. He is an ugly redheaded boy with a large, broad nose and a constant glare on his freckle-littered face. From day one he’s made it very clear that Gwen is not welcome in their home. He’s gone as far as to harass her at school, at home, and any time any adult isn’t looking. Gwen hates everything about him.

On the other hand, there is Cara, the youngest, who is only seven. She is a shy, timid little mouse of a thing with deep-red hair flowing to the middle of her back and a sweet, pale, china-doll face. Cara has instantly become Gwen’s shadow, and, as bothersome as that sometimes can be, Gwen has become fond of her. Every day when Gwen and Aaron come home from school in the afternoon, Cara will be sitting on Gwen’s bed, waiting with her sketchbook or a storybook in her lap. Gwen has been helping Cara improve her reading skills, while tutoring her in drawing on the side.

As for Mr. and Mrs. Keller, it took only a day for Gwen to decide that they are not to be trusted. Mr. Keller is a two-faced, lying crook who is beloved by all the community as an honest guy. He acts one way in public, treating his wife and foster children with respect and kindness, but when alone, in the privacy of his home, he is someone else entirely. He is abusive to his wife and short-tempered with the children, always proclaiming how useless they are. He is an alcoholic, and Gwen suspects that there might be some drug abuse as well, but she has no proof.