Hidden Valley (D. SWING)

XXIII. Emotions

The earth stood as still as it possibly could.

Lucille and Paulette sit before Cynthia. Practice has been over for an hour now. All of the girls have showered, giggled, left. Paulette stayed behind to talk to her friend. It quickly became a blur of emotions. One of the most important messages that Paulette has ingested since speaking up on the entire situation would be for her to listen to her gut. She sensed and she acted.

"So... are you going to tell Don," asks Paulette after an entire minute and a half of agonizing silence. There have been a lot of pauses between statements as Cynthia reflects and her saviors digest.

"No." Lucille turns to face Paulette, her ponytail training behind her neck. "Why would I do that?"

"Because his—" Paulette catches herself as she recalls the deal she and Cynthia made. Cynthia would only confess to her mentor, Lucille, as long as Derek's name did not come up. To keep from releasing who the assaulter actually was, the location, the DeGrate residence, and Derek's accomplice, Antoine, were kept confidential after Paulette learned of the experience. "Never mind, man." It becomes clear that she is going to end up losing her friendship with Cynthia due to betrayal because she can only let Derek walk for so long.

"Wait, hold on now..." Lucille's gaze turns back to Cynthia as Cynthia sits on the bench closest to her locker with her focus falling in and out. "Why not? You tell Don almost everything." 

Cynthia shrugs. "Screw, Don." She gets up, reaches into her open locker, and pulls back her bookbag. Slinging it over her shoulder, Cynthia takes one final look at her coach and her friend. Her reasoning rests on an old memory for support.

"What's goin' on?" Her eyes weren't tightly shut anymore. She opened her eyes to see Lil' Don in a baggy t-shirt and a pair of plaid pajama pants. It looked like he'd changed after talking to Talia, which was not long ago. It's almost like he wasn't even the person on the dock talking to her to begin with. He noticed her patched up arm. "What were y'all doin'? Why are you up? I can hear Cynthia all the way from our cabin, man." He's mostly talking to Dalvin. It looks like he's getting in trouble until he gives her that same look. She thought she was in trouble too. "Get in the bed!"

She jumped a bit, completely taken back by the bass in his voice. He sounded like... Javon.

Dalvin smacked his lips, scratching his arm. He jumped off of the edge of the window, standing directly in front of Don. "Can I go pee first?"

"Gone," Don said.

She climbed up the ladder and sat on top of her bunk. Javon's twin stood down on the ground watching her every single move. It's Don but it isn't Don, you know? She didn't know what to do so she stared back at him. He came up and climbed up the edge of the ladder, sitting right next to her on the edge of her bunkbed. He took a breath before he took her blanket and placed it on top of her lap. She had never been next to a familiar stranger before... even when aunts you've never met start squeezing your cheeks, it's one single feeling. Right now, she thinks she is the most confused almost-eleven-year-old in the world.

Don's eyes met her own for the first time ever. She never looked him in the eye. She always imagined the moment that she did, it would be different. She loved him but he looked really mad. "Whatever you did... don't do it again, okay?" She nodded her head with a heavy heart. She disappointed Don. She thought her life was over. "I know you can keep a secret so let me tell you another one." She let out a soft 'Okay' and stared back into his eyes. "I always wanted a little sister." The look on his face says he means that. "Then, I ended up with Derek and Dalvin. You're probably the closest I'm ever going to get to a little sister so don't hurt yourself, okay?"