“Nothing.”
“That’s what I thought.”
Just then, Devlin walked into the kitchen. He planted a kiss onto Regina’s powdered cheek and said, “Good morning love.” Then, he turned to Ruby, and he frowned. His voice grew sharper as he disciplined, “why are you just standing there and watching? It doesn’t smell like breakfast is ready, now does it? I’m sure you have already managed to give your mother a hard time, and the morning just started. You need to learn how to treat your mother with more respect. After all, she is your mother.”
“Stepmother,” I corrected, not loud enough for them to hear. “Get your facts straight.”
Devlin reached for her hair and pulled her towards him. “What did you say?”
Ruby tried to squirm her way out of his grasp. “I said I’m sorry. I’ll try to be better next time.”
“I’ve said this to you many times before,” Devlin said, letting go of her hair. “Pretty soon, I’m going to get tired of telling you this and you will have to face the other consequences. Now hurry up and get my food. You know I like to eat the minute I’m up. Get your facts straight.”
Ruby readjusted her hair band and quickly went to work. She prepared the fastest thing she could think of, eggs and toast. As soon as she finished with the food, she hurried through the dishes and the rest of her chores. She only had half an hour before school started, and it was nearly impossible to finish all her work in such little time.
She walked into the school an hour late. She apologized to her teacher, Mrs. Marigold, and quickly took the only available seat, next to Charlie. Mrs. Marigold turned back to her lesson, and Charlie looked at Ruby queerly. Ruby blushed and told him to forget about it, and she turned her attention back to the lesson. ‘Finally,’ she thought. ‘Freedom.’
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