Don't Get Angry

6- Dalta: The Rumors Had It

I slowly walked up Betty's front step with a ball in my throat. I wasn't sure if Betty had known that I had learned about what had happened to her. I rang her doorbell and waited with hands clasped behind my back for someone to answer. With a wide smile and bright blue eyes, her father opened the door. They would've been the first thing I had noticed, like I always did, but after summer break, there was something off about him. He had a scar under his eye and there were rumors going around about where he'd got it. He had claimed that he'd attempted to claw his eye out jokingly, but a lot of the town believed his daughter, Betty, had attacked him. Why? Because Betty wasn't "all there." Betty was "a psycho", "a tramp", "a cliché pastor’s daughter." She had no boundaries and her father was ashamed of her. "Dalta," he cheerfully greeted me. "How are you? What can I do for you?"

"Hi, Pastor Mike," I replied, trying to match his level of energy. I said all of my words in one breath. "I'm great, actually. I'm here to see Betty. She wasn't in school today and I was worried. Is she okay?"

"Slow down, little lady," Pastor Mike laughed heartily, holding his chest as he did. "Betty's fine. She's just a bit sick today. Stomach cramps are what she called it. You can come inside." He stepped aside.

"Thank you." I walked into the house with eyes scanning every inch. The smell of freshly baked cinnamon rolls in the kitchen brought me back to my childhood days. Pastor Mike would bake them whenever he and Betty had a falling out. She'd fight with him on purpose just to get him to bake them. I looked at the vegetable clock on the kitchen wall and felt a smile spread across my face. Betty used to joke about how ironic the clock being mounted on the wall was as we ate baloney sandwiches sitting under it. Veggies for protein was something her mother always suggested, being a doctor who lived her life eating mainly plants. After quitting her job to stay at home for Betty, she decided to raise Betty on a healthy diet, mounting a vegetable clock on the wall as a reminder of what should be eaten in the Fitz household. But, Betty hated vegetables. Back then, she was eleven and didn't care about what she ate. Now, after her mother's death, she decided to become a vegan. Tragic, I know. And sadly, I had abandoned her after the funeral. I was afraid of how our friendship might change...how much she might.

I stood in front of Betty's door with the ball in my throat and clammy hands arguing with myself. "What's wrong with you? Why are you this nervous? It's not like you guys haven't been talking." I looked up. "I mean...you haven't been talking much..." I shook my head. "But, that's beyond the point. She needs someone right now. And you're her only real friend. Just go in there and-"

"Dalta?"

My head shot towards the voice. Betty stood a few feet away, her curly hair in a mess. She was still wearing her purple Hello Kitty pajamas. There were deep red circles under her eyes and her skin looked pale...like zombie pale. She had even gained a bit of weight near her stomach. "Betty..." My throat went dry. I hadn't seen her in a while. We were nearly a month into school, and I had been so focused on my friends and Penny and Peter, that I hadn't noticed Betty missing from classes. "How...W-what-"

"What are you doing here?" Her voice, though weak, was full of what I assume to be anger.

"I came by after I heard-"

"Heard what?" She shook her shoulders as she spoke, her eyes jumping from my shoes to my face. "About me and Chad? Come to see for yourself?"

"To see what? I don't understand."

She shook her head, irritated by me, then held her stomach.

I gulped pushing my suspicions aside. "Betty, if this is how you're handling a break up then-"

"It's not about that..." Her lips curved downwards. She bowed her head. "You'll judge me if I told you."

"No." I quickly walked towards her with outstretched arms. I hugged her, then looked at her. "We've been through everything together. I would never judge you."