The Silence She Speaks✔

Nineteen-Leigh

I watched Quinn run out of the house, her navy blue jacket that was too big for such a thin girl swaying. She looked pained, and scared. When I had held her I could feel her shaking. What had happened to my little Peaches?

"Come on, it's best you sit when you hear this," Cam sighed. She led me into the kitchen and pulled out a mug to fill with coffee.

"Thanks," I said when she handed me the cup.

"Where to start," my little sister mumbled as she took a seat. "Well, I guess I should just be straightforward with you. You're an adult, you should be able to handle it."

"What?" I asked in confusion.

She took a deep breath. "Quinn—Quinn is all that's left."

"Left of what?" I questioned, looking at her skeptically.

"Of her family," she replied as she adjusted her glasses.

"No way, are you serious?" I stood up abruptly and stared down at her. This had to be some kind of sick joke. "How? When?

"I don't know. All I know is that she lived with her grandpa after that, and he abused her. And paid somebody to—to hurt her in a way she will never recover from."

"And that scar on her face?"

"I think her mom had something to do with it, but I'm not sure. Alex knows the full story. I just know that her grandpa hurt her."

"So Sammy and their entire family," I trailed off,.

"Are dead," she finished.

I walked over to the glass door and looked out at Quinn. She was out there throwing a ball for the dogs. She wasn't smiling, she just looked... dead.

Camryn came up next to me and rested her hand on my shoulder. "She's done a lot better since she came here, she smiled a few times and even laughed once. We've been able to hear her speak a few times too."

"I'm glad. She was shaking when I held her. And she was so afraid of me when I came in."

"She isn't a very trusting person. She was hurt by her family. And when your own family betrays you, it's hard to trust people again." The way she spoke reminded me that she was speaking from experience. I'm still the only person who knows what happened when Camryn went to visit her birth parents. The names they called my poor girl... if I ever meet those dirt bags, I'll make sure to get Camy justice.

"I guess she wouldn't remember me anyways. She was only a baby when we moved," I said.

We were silent for a while. We just stood at the door watching the little girl. She looked up at us after a while. Cam waved and she waved back.

Oreo decided that it would be a good opportunity to take Quinn by surprise and tackle her. She fell back and squirmed from underneath the large dog. Cam and I laughed as Oreo licked her face.

"It's a dog pile," I chuckled.

We watched Quinn move around for a bit longer before she gave up and laid there.

It started to snow just then. It was light and it wouldn't stick to the ground, but it was pretty. Quinn looked up at the snow and just barely smiled. Her smile faded after a moment and she stared at the snow expressionlessly. The gentle snowflakes danced around, as if they were putting on a ballet recital just for her.

"I should call her in," Camryn said after a moment. "It's too cold for her to be out there in such a thin jacket."

She opened the door and stepped out onto the porch. Camryn called for Quinn and Oreo, and the two of them raced to her. Quinn took last place because she tripped and fell along the way. She skinned her knee a bit, so Cam gave her a piggyback ride into the house.

"Hey Leigh, can you get me a bandaid?" Camryn asked. I nodded and ran up the stairs to find one.

When I came back down, I eavesdropped a bit on their conversation. I know better than to do it, I swear I do, but I just really wanted to.

"Don't worry, Quinn, she's a nice person. I know you don't really like new people all that much, and I don't blame you for it. People have lied to you and cheated you out of so many things, but I promise I won't lie to you. Leigh is nice, and an amazing big sister. She loves you way, way more than you know, and she wouldn't do anything to hurt you."

There wasn't any noise from Quinn.

I decided to just come out. I acted like I hadn't heard anything and gave Cam the bandaid. I had also gotten him a washcloth.

"So, when is everybody going to get back?" I asked.

"Mom is trying to get a bunch of hours in now, so she won't have to go to work on Thanksgiving. I'd guess that she'll be gone all night," Can sighed. She dabbed Quinn's bloody knee with the cloth, then placed the band aid on. She ruffled our little sister's hair and smiled warmly, then threw the washcloth in the washer and sat down to speak again. "Devin and Alex should be here soon, they took Dakota to the vet, and Mason is with Dad. They're doing a moving job and Dad wanted to have Mason help him. They'll get home pretty late."

"Sill as active a family as always," I laughed. "Well I guess that I'll have to get dinner for you kids then."

"Seriously? You are going to make dinner?" Cam asked with concern. Quinn tugged on her sleeve and gave her a questioning look. Cam leaned in and whispered into her ear, "She can't cook."

"Do you really think I was going to cook?" I laughed. "I was going to order pizza."

Camryn sighed in relief. "That's one stomach ache avoided."

"What was that?" I asked. I jumped on her and pinned her to the ground. "You should be thankful that I'm getting dinner for you."

"Quinn help!" Cam called playfully. I looked over at Quinn but she just sat there looking confused. "Quinn save me!" She called again.

"Quinn won't save you," I laughed. "She's too weak."

What I said must have taken a toll on Quinn's pride because she came over and started punching my back. I laughed and got up off of Cam. Quinn was really small, so it was easy to pick her up.

She squirmed in my arms and tried to pull away, but I had her. I let out an evil laugh as she pushed at my shoulders to get away.

"Oh no, Quinn's been taken!" Cam cried out. "Attack!" She rushed over and messed with my hair, making it a big black mess. I laughed and fell onto the couch, Quinn tumbling down onto the couch beside me. Cam laughed too and fell beside us, leaning over me to ruffle Quinn's hair.

Quinn looked up at us. She didn't smile, but she looked happy. She smiled with her eyes, if that made any sense. She reached up and fixed my hair, her little hands gentle as could be.

"Thanks Quinn," I laughed. She blushed a bit and tried to move away a bit. "Oh no you don't!" I pulled Quinn onto my lap and hugged her. "You may not remember it, but when you were little—well, littler—you would always climb into my lap."

"That's right," Cam recalled with a wide smile. "It had to be Leigh. If she was there, then you would only sit with her. And if it wasn't Leigh, it was Chance. But even that was rare."

Quinn blushed a vibrant pink from ear to ear. She pulled at her sleeves and looked down shyly. My sister and I couldn't help but laugh at how adorable our baby sister was. She hid her face in her hands, making me lean down a bit and kiss the top of her head. She shook her head and I pulled her hands back to see her tomato-red face.

"Awe, my Peaches is the cutest little thing," I cooed as I pinched her cheek teasingly. I thought she was a tomato before, but now I knew she was.

We all sat together for a while. I turned the TV on for Quinn while Conner and I caught up. She stayed in my lap, though, and at one point Quinn laid back on me. She looked so tired—the poor little baby. I played with her hair to help get her to rest, and soon she was asleep in my arms. It was only a light sleep, so I had to turn the T.V. off in case it woke her up.

Cam sat quietly and watched her sleep. She stroked her hair, smiling softly. "She must have really been tired," she whispered. "She has really bad dreams and always gets scared, so it's rare for her to sleep."

"Really? She looks so peaceful, though," I whispered back. "It's strange to think that she would be scared to sleep."

"Alex told me the same thing once," Camryn chuckled. "She fell asleep with him and he swore that she looked like a baby. He said that when he saw her like that, he forgot everything that she went through."

"I wouldn't think that anything had happened to her either," I agreed.

Cam' expression changed to pain. She reached down and held Quinn's hand, rubbing soothing circles on the back with the pad of her thumb. Her whole body was tense as she watched Quinn with attentive eyes.

"What?" I asked.

"Nightmare," Cam muttered. She stroked Quinn's hair with his free hand. She watched her for a few minutes, her attention solely on the little girl in my lap.

"Is she alright?" I asked. She stayed silent and kept her eyes trained on our little sister.

"She's good now," Cam announced with a sigh after a few excruciatingly long minutes. "I guess it wasn't as bad as I thought."

Alex and Devin came in an hour later and seemed pretty shocked to see me. They both hugged me from behind so they wouldn't wake up Quinn. She ended up waking anyways, her little hand in fists as they rubbed the sleepiness from her pretty eyes.

"Sorry Quinn," Alex whispered. "We tried not to wake you." Quinn shook her head and yawned. Devin got up and went upstairs for a moment, when he came back down he had a bear and handed it to Quinn. She nodded and cradled the bear to her chest. Devin smiled and leaned over the couch to kiss her cheek. She almost smiled as she laid back on me, cuddling with her little bear.

"So when did you get here?" Alex asked as he gave Quinn's forehead a peck and sat down.

"An hour or two ago," I said.

"How long are you staying?" Devin asked.

"Not long," I muttered bitterly. "I'll probably have to leave the day after Thanksgiving."

"Well that sucks," Camryn sighed. "We miss having you around."

"Oh yeah?" I laughed. "I miss you guys a lot too. My roomies all have relatives that either work at the college or go to college with them so they never seemed to miss anybody."

"Well why don't you just call Chance and have him become a teacher at your school?" Devin joked.

"That doesn't make any sense Devin," Camryn sighed. "Chance is in law school."

"Oh, yeah well," Devin mumbled, trailing off. Alex snickered and tried to cover it up with his hand.

Quinn decided to slide out of my lap and climb into Devin's, straddling him and looking up into his eyes. Devin took the bear from Quinn and held it softly.

"Thanks Quinn," Devin smiled. She nodded.

Quinn's face had no expression to it, and yet all of the boys understood her. Devin knew that she wanted to give him the bear somehow. Conner knew that she was having a nightmare. What am I missing?