Crazy but Sweet, Sweet but Crazy

2: a smile and a prey

A month passed without ever seeing the boy who'd been beaten to a pulp. Unsurprisingly perhaps, he didn't re-appear in the park.

After some thought, I realised he might have specifically chosen that spot, the place behind the bushes. He'd chosen somewhere he wouldn't be seen.

The picture of his mismatched shoes stayed in my mind for an uncomfortably long time.

It signalled at one high possibility- that he'd run away from someone responsible for the state he was in, and that someone was likely to be at his own house.

"All good things are coming in a bundle, honey," Sonia rejoiced.

Fifty-six year old Sonia Adams was employed by my mother the year I was born and my parents and I were living in Texas.

Without any explicit discussion, she'd naturally moved with us when mum and I moved to California a month ago.

After miscarrying her first and only child when she was thirty-seven, she'd divorced her husband, and a year later, started working at our house.

With eye-catching auburn curls always tied back in a low ponytail and large blue eyes in the backdrop of a wrinkle-free sun-kissed skin, she was a tall and plump woman who perpetually had many worries.

"Mrs. Horan is coming tomorrow. Today is your first day at Valley Oak Academy in this beautiful town. Mr...Horan seems to be in great health, from the press photos of him in New York. And even the sunny-side up is perfect."

The sizzles of the bacon on the frying pan filled the air, and Sonia filled my plate with a sunny side-up that looked as perfect as a stock photo, beans, and toasted bread.

"I really think this is enough, Sonia," I mumbled through a mouthful, as she set down a cup filled to the brim with milk.

"Mr. Horan knows, you know, Mrs. Horan knows and I know." Sonia had a tendency for selective listening that I was well aware of.

She placed the bacon on top of the half-eaten toast. "We know the truth, about what happened. We know that the Horan Holdings was wronged. So when you go to school today, honey, look straight and look smart. You're blameless."

"Mm-hmm," I chewed, hardly unable to taste the food in my mouth.

Blameless.

A couple of titles printed on newspaper articles flashed across my head.

Glancing at my face, Sonia placed a handful of vitamins next to my plate.

"This one is calcium. This one is magnesium- apparently it's very good for your brain. You sure you don't need Mr. Johnson to drive you to school?"

"Bianca is coming to pick me up today."

"Ah, your childhood friend from back in New York. Glad you have someone you know in the new school. Are her driving skills to be trusted?"

"Yes, Sonia." I smiled slightly, making my way to the bathroom. "She's been driving from the very month she was legally allowed to."

"How can eighteen year olds be trusted to drive," I heard Sonia muttering in discontent, a halfway between talking to herself and to me, as she often did. "Still babies."

I brushed my teeth, examining myself in the mirror in the school uniform.

Valley Oak Academy mandated the wearing of uniforms for all students.

A white collared tee shirt, short-sleeved in spring and summer and long-sleeved in autumn and winter, matched with a navy blue skirt above the knee for female students and long pants in the same color for the male students.