Chairo Will Prosper

Chapter 2 Sera Eleven years later

It's been eleven years since mom passed. The attic is now my room, my only sanctuary and solution to staying out of dad's way. I was pulled out of the school district and put into homeschooling under him, who comes in every five hours to teach me my basic education. The only view I have to the outside world is my window overlooking the block and fading village off in the background. I watch the kids wait for the bus and people live their daily lives. The hustle and bustle of life is all too real outside. Even though I remain here, life continues on. There was a certain group of interesting people that I had been keeping my eye on, precisely at 7:15 and 3:34. They all looked to be around my age group and clearly all went to the same high school in this area, and I gave them all nicknames.

There was sunshine: she seemed to always have a stern face, yet she looked friendly. She always met up with Grinny. Grinny always was smiling and waiting for her. He smiled and had a cup of something in his hand. Sunshine had blonde golden hair and always wore a purple coat in the winter. Grinny was dark skinned, and had dark hair. He always wore a sweatshirt in the winter time. I longed to meet up with them and actually know their real names, but despite my persistence, father has concluded that I stay here and that was final.

Time and time again I'd come up with the idea to my father about me going to school. My father had a different excuse each time. First it was the fact that I was terrorized by seeing my mother dying in front of me, then it was the fact that I was too dumb and wouldn't be able to catch up. Then there was the excuse that it was too expensive, which all in all was a lie. Then it was that I have no social skills, and the list goes on. I knew the truth, and it was because I'm a freak.

I peered out my window and then saw Crayon; I called her that because her hair color was always altered. This time it was a scarlet tone, like the Autumn leaves. She approached Grinny and Sunshine while Holy followed behind.

I know who Holy was because father sometimes takes me to church. He claims, it's "to get the demon out of me." Every time I'm there I see Holy. Of course I wasn't allowed to speak with any other children. I would see her kneeling down at the benches in silent prayer with her pastel pink rosary in hand. Holy was blonde, always had her hair up in a bun, and had green eyes. Always with Holy was Navy, her twin. Every Wednesday, Navy dressed up in an army-type uniform for a special program she's enrolled in that's apparently sponsered by the school.

Navy followed Holy, she looked like she was shouting. Following Navy was Latie, and I called her that because she was almost always late. Word around the village is that she's a fast runner, one of the fastest in our state and soon heading for nationals. She has brown hair and is pale. She is such a skinny little thing. I watched this group of kids, my age, wait for the school bus. Sometimes in the winter I open my window, and I gather up some snow. Then I throw the snowballs at them, really my own way of "communicating", if that's what you'd call it. Of course they figure it was each other and not some estranged girl locked up in an attic.
Right now the time is 7:13, two minutes until they show up. I waited eagerly at my window, awaiting these strangers' arrival.

"Sera!"

I turned my head. My father was in the doorway. I stood up and perfected my posture:arms at sides, head straight up, all weight on my toes. I'm stiff, my eyes look straight ahead.

"Sera darling, why do you look so tense?" He asked in a concening tone - Something is up. Dad's never concerned about me. As far as what I am in his eyes, I'm a liability. After years of his continuous lying, I know better than to fall for it.

"Sera, sweetheart, you're going to be late to school. Get dressed."

Was he being serious or is he just making me look like a fool? I knew better than to talk back. I bit my tongue.

"Come on dear, get dressed, and tell the nice policeman that you love your school."

There it is. I nodded. I didn't show any emotion, but on the inside I was leaping for joy. I got dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt and headed downstairs with my bag.

Dad's a lawyer. He lies for a living, so he taught me to do the same which benefited me. You see my father left for the grocery store at presisly 4:50. He'd be gone for about twenty minutes to an hour, depending on what he got. I would sneak out in that time frame to the library. Of course I still didn't speak to any children my age. The only people whom I spoke to were the librarians. I taught myself so much over the course of the years. Mom once told me that we don't need money to travel, all we need is a good book. Keeping that in mind I carried that lecture with me. Right now, I'm reading Shakespeare, with the recommendation of one of the librarians.

I grabbed my books, placed them in my bag, and walked out the door. I saw the policeman. "I love school!" I said, smiling. The policeman beamed brightly and nodded. He offered to drive me to school. "Sure," I answered. I looked to my dad and he nodded. I went into the car, the officer started the engine and we were headed on our way.

"You've never gone to school in your life."

"How would you know?" I asked, monotoned.

"Because I've seen your expression before." He answered.

"What now?" I asked

"It's school. This is your first day." He answered.

I simply nodded.

"Let's get you enrolled. What's your name?" He asked, keeping his eyes on the road.

I smiled. "Sera. Sera Chairo."