"Lynn, where have you been?" Thomas shakes my arm. "We haven't seen you in forever.""Never mind that," I say, dodging the question. "You two trouble makers still haven't told me what you were up to this close to curfew." I cross my arms expectantly.
The boys look at each other sheepishly, then down at the ground. "We were hungry," Daniel says quietly.
Guilt wraps around my heart as I lookh behind them at the overturned trash cans. I haven't been by in so long, and I've forgotten how bad it can get sometimes. I try to help by distributing a few things when there's enough that the crew won't notice a shortage, but there are times when it isn't enough. Most Standards don't live in absolute poverty and get by fairly well, but the lower sectors truly have it the worst.
Daniel and Thomas gaze downwards, their bare feet kicking at pebbles.
"Hey," I say, lifting their chins to get them to meet my eyes. "I won't tell your mother, okay?" No need to add to her guilt; she has too much of that. "But you have to promise me that you will never, ever, do something like this again. No matter what. You could get hurt – who knows what's in those things. Whatever it is, it's definitely not good. You two are lucky neither of you got hurt."
Its then I notice Thomas is holding his arm strangely. He's shifted to deliberately hide it behind his back. "Thomas," I say gently. "What's wrong with your arm?"
"Nothing," he squeaks, stepping back. Daniel looks at his brother, confused.
"Thomas, it's okay." I reach out and take his arm. He doesn't resist. I turn it over and inhale sharply at the cut along the half his forearm. Daniel gasps. The injury doesn't appear to be very deep, but blood trickles out and runs down his arm. How did I not see it earlier? I should have felt it when he hugged me. I twist my shirt around, and a smear of blood stains the fabric.
I gape at Thomas. Any other child would have been bawling at just the sight of blood, not to mention the pain. "Thomas, why didn't you say anything? Doesn't it hurt?"
He nods, his eyes filling with tears. "I didn't want you to be mad at me or tell Mama. I don't want her to be scared like she always is when we get hurt or sick. Then she'll find out what we were doing or think something else really bad happened."
"Oh, Thomas, I could never be mad at either of you." I wrap my arms around him and he cries into my shoulder. Daniel watches with wide eyes.
Thomas's concern for his mother and her fear for them fill me with sympathy and pity. Children shouldn't have to keep their pain or fear from their parents. But it's not as simple as that.
Once Thomas's tears have dwindled into sniffles, I gently pull away from him. I tear off the hem of my shirt and take Thomas's injured arm, wrapping the material around the cut. "Listen, Thomas – and you, too, Daniel. You don't need to keep it to yourself if you're hurt or scared or anything at all. You can still tell your mother. She isn't scared, she's just worried because she cares about you and doesn't want anything to hurt you. Just don't put yourself in situations where you could get hurt. There," I tie off the ends of the makeshift bandage, the black fabric a sharp contrast with Thomas's pale skin. "Now you have an armband, and no one can tell there was ever anything there." I wipe away a tear that slips down his cheek. "Now, enough of the tears. If I'm not wrong, isn't it someone's birthday in a week?"
Their faces light up. "You didn't forget!" they exclaim in unison.
"Of course not. How could I? You two will be six. You're getting big."
"Will you come? Mama says we might even have a cake," Thomas says.
"I wouldn't miss it for the world." I smile.
An idea pops into my head "But hey, if you ever need me to stop by... we could have a little signal, just between the three of us."
"A secret?" Daniel quips.
"Yep, our little secret," I laugh. "Whenever you need me, just place a marker at the front of the alley and I'll see it." I don't usually go outside every day, but I'll manage to find a way. "Can either of you find something for us to use?"
The boys jump up immediately, heading to the trash bins. "Wait! Stay away from there!" I yell. The boys shrink away. "Just," I exhale deeply. "Look somewhere else. In the yard, maybe?"
They dive into the clusters of weeds in front of their house, the same type of weeds that greet every shack in the alley.
After a few minutes, they spring back up with a shout of "Found it!"
The boys scramble over each other in an attempt to reach me first. Thomas beats his brother by a second."No fair." Daniel stomps his foot. "You pushed me."
Thomas shrugs. "Only because you tried to trip me."
"Hey, no fighting," I gently reprimand. "Now, show me what you found."
Daniel and Thomas open their hands, cupping their findings. They look up at me with eager eyes.
"Mine's better, right?" Daniel raises his hands up. "We can use mine for the signal."
"No, mine is better." Thomas lifts his own arms to match Daniel's height.
I pick up each of their items. Daniel found a stunning multicolor stone, like an opal, about the shape and size of a coin. Thomas brought a blue flower. It's picked from the small larkspur stalk me and the boys brought home to their mother. I decided to take them with me to the market one day while their mother rested at home.
The two look up at me earnestly, each vying for their little treasure to be chosen.
Finally, I place the flower back in Thomas's palm. Daniel whoops and Thomas gazes down, crestfallen.
Then, I pluck one of the blue petals and rest in my palm. The twins watch me curiously and I show them the two objects, one in each hand.
"This can be our signal, our secret." They peer down at my hands. "By themselves they're nice, right?" They nod slowly. "But together," I place the stone above the petal. "They're beautiful."
The petal's color brings out the colors of the stone, adding to its vibrancy. "Now both of you are a part of the secret. Whenever you need me, even if it's something small, just take this stone," I drop it back into Daniel's hand, "and a petal from this flower," I return the petal to Thomas, "and put them together."
The boys glance at each other, and Daniel slowly drops his stone onto the petal in Thomas holds.
"How's that for a secret signal," I say with a wink.
They look at each other, then at me, and grin. They nearly topple me over again when they throw their arms around me. I hug them back, squeezing for a moment as I silently hope for a better life for the family.
"Daniel, Thomas," A voice calls from inside their home. They freeze and turn to the house. "Thomas? Daniel?" Their mother's voice grows panicked as her calls are met with silence. "Boys? Where are you?"
Daniel and Thomas quickly peel away from me and race to the door as it's thrown open. A young woman stands in the doorway, her blond hair disheveled. Her panicked expression relaxes as the twins reach her, wrapping themselves around her legs.
I follow the short, broken path to their home as their mother crouches down to embrace them. "What have I told you two about leaving the house while I'm asleep?" Her eyes dart up to the pink-tinged, cloudy sky, her expression growing troubled. "Especially this late." An anxious edge creeps into her voice. "You scared me when I woke up to the house empty."
The boys hold their mother tighter. So sweet and young. The guilt is written on their faces. This is exactly what they didn't want.
"We're really sorry, mama," says Thomas. Daniel nods vigorously.
She sighs and squeezes her eyes shut. It's all right, she mouths to herself, then says it louder. Opening her eyes, she scrutinizes them. "But what made you go out?"
The twins stiffen, eyeing each other. Before either of them can say something to add to their mother's excessive stress and heartache, I speak up. "That's where I come in,"
Their mother looks up to me standing a bit away from them. Her lips stretch into a small smile. She releases her sons and stands. "Oh, Lynn, it's so good to see you. It's been a while."
I walk to her, trying to ignore the little twist my heart gives. "Hello, Lia. Don't blame the twins. I took a wrong turn and they saw me from the window. I'm sorry, I've been meaning to stop by for a while. I've been really busy lately."
Lia gives a dismissive wave of her hand. "Don't worry about it, you don't have to concern yourself with us. We're fine." I can read the lie in the new lines between her brows and tired eyes. "Still, it's no reason for the boys to leave with me knowing." She gives them a stern look.
They lower their head, a small "sorry" leaving their mouths again.
Lia smiles and ruffles their hair. "All right, it's almost sunset. Go inside, I'll be in soon."
The twins turn to me and I give them another wink. They nudge each other with a smile and run inside.
Hey all. So like I said in the first part of Chapter 2, I'm posting a trigger warning in the part right before the part where there are mentions of sexual assault. The following part(2d) is the only one that mentions sexual assault, and the part right after(2e) doesn't contain and mention of sexual assault. Again, there isn't a description of what happens during the assault, all that is mentioned is the lead up. The character does NOT go on to describe how they were assaulted, they stop before they get to the detail and skip over it. If you are someone who is sensitive to things such as this, you may want to skip the next part, but it is up to you. If you have any concerns about the next part, please pm me. I am in no way trying to disregard horrific events such as this. Thank you.