Sister Please
"Mary Sue! Report to my office right this instant!"
The words leapt through the intercom of the bedrooms and echoed throughout the halls of the aging Foster Home. This happened way too often for anyone to have any noticeable reaction. I walk as slowly as possible out of my room and into sister Theresa's office. The office was warm, as if steam shot out of her ears. She had her back towards me, staring out of the dusty and bleak window behind her desk. I took a step forward onto her old and dirty green carpet, bracing for the inevitable "talking to" as she calls it. I knew exactly why I was here.It was NOT going to end well, but I couldn't care less.
"Twenty Foster Homes. This makes Twenty Fosters that have brought you back. You haven't been able to stay with a single foster family for more than a few months. I'm used to this, but this time is different isn't it?"
"Are you really surprised at this point? The families that you put me with are horrible people. I figured that you'd want me with a good family over a shitty one-"
"What I want is for whatever devil is causing your rude behavior to leave you, but we both know that will never happen. Instead, you'll keep going on and on to torment these innocent people with your arrogant and horrid behavior."
"Like you're any fucking better."
"Watch your Goddamn mouth Mary Sue." For the first since walking in here, Sister Theresa turned her attention to Mary Sue. Sister Theresa was an older woman, but with a look in her eye of such hatred that it seemed to keep her going. Most of the other children in the Orphanage have never encountered Sister Theresa's evil side, but those that did would never forget it. Least of all Mary Sue, who was used to Sister Theresa's true colors by now.
"Or what? You'll yell at me some more? Maybe even hit me harder than you have in the past? Fuck that."
"I've had it with your disrespect you little brat. I want to know why you are back here, and why the Burrow's say that you have been nothing but a problem for them."
A cold chill ran down Mary Sue's spine at the very mention of that family. The Burrows. If Sister Theresa thought SHE was a devil, then she clearly hadn't come face to face with the Burrows' true colors. The Burrows we're a married couple in their Mid to Late 40's with the worst temper and rudeness she's ever seen. Joseph Burrow was a cruel and sadistic slob with a massive gut comprised entirely of cigarettes, beer, and takeout food. He smelled just like those things as well. Heather Burrows on the other hand was the complete opposite. She was a walking skeleton who thrived solely on the pain and suffering of those around her. Mary Sue almost felt sorry for their son, Kaden , who she was glad to have forced on her whenever the Burrows felt like smoking dope.
"What goes around comes around. It doesn't help that they barely feed me or give me clean clothes to wear."
"The Burrows are some of the most respectful people I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. The other children love them, and they've been fostering since before you were born. Enough with the lies."
"And you wonder why I am the way I am. Even if I tell you the truth, you brush it aside and call me a liar. You don't know a Goddamn thing about me, and I'm tired of pretending that everything is okay!" Mary Sue was now standing with a few tears streaming down her face, and her fists clenched tightly against her body.
Sister Theresa has had enough of Mary Sue's behavior, and her patience was growing thin. "You are a liar, and a disappointment to everyone around you. I've put up with your bullshit for the last ten years, and this is how you repay me? You sling mud at my face and talk badly about those who try to help you? Well tonight you don't deserve anyone’s help. You are to go straight to your room with no dinner for the rest of the evening."
"But sister I haven't eaten since Friday. Please sister Theresa don't do this to me!" Mary was now pacing the small office out of fear of going hungry,she was growing more anxious and desperate by the second.
"What did I just say, I'm done talking! GET OUT OF MY OFFICE NOW!"
Mary Sue stormed out of the room slamming the door behind her. Defeat and hunger weighed heavily on her mind.
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Sitting in her old creaky bed consisting of a ratty blanket and a hollowed out pillow, surrounded by 5 other worn out bunk beds ,with sleeping girls ranging from the ages of 10-13 years old. Unable to sleep Mary couldn’t stop herself from staring out the window covered by rusted bars , wondering how it would feel to have a real family, a family who would love her unconditionally, hug her when she’s sad ,and feed her no matter what! Shaking her head immediately to get rid of those toxic thoughts, which will only cause her to feel disappointed when it never happens. She Closed her eyes turned to her side and was ready to go to sleep when Grrrrr “owww” Mary shot up and clutched her stomach in pain while wet hot tears streamed down her rosy red cheeks as the hunger pains really got to her!
“ I can’t go without food tonight” Mary whispered to herself, “I need to find some food”. Placing her feet on the creaky wood floor, Mary quickly tiptoed to her little drawer, where her small amount of items live, got a pair of jeans with no more than 5 holes in them, and a long red sleeved shirt that is two sizes to big on her, and quickly got changed.
As quietly as possible Mary went down the long and narrow hallway to the closet bathroom. Making as little noise as possible she opened the door and then softly closed it. Mary ran to the large window above the toilet, climbed on top of the disgusting toilet and latched her hands around the curtains, and began to slowly pull her weight up till she was able to open the window and land on the roof. Taking a deep breath Mary Walked to a hidden part of the roof, and took the long rusted ladder that her only friend Clint showed her before he got adopted ,and picked it up. The ladder was extremely heavy and nearly had her falling off the roof from the extra weight, but she managed to place it down on the ground ,swiftly go down the ladder and run like a caged animal just being realized , towards the closest restaurant which was about a 15 -20 minute walk.
Slowing down into a walking pace,to prevent exhaustion Mary couldn't stop thinking about the last thing Clint said to her before he was adopted .“ Mary, never give up, promise me you’ll never give up, life sucks right now, but you need to keep pushing like I did! Look at me now, I’m a 12 year old deaf kid getting adopted! You keep pushing, and do me a favor , find a new name for yourself, a name that you like, a name that will stop kids from bullying you. You need to do this for me especially since I won’t be here to protect you anymore, I need to know that you at least have a name that makes you happy, even if I know your life sucks , at least I know every time someone calls you, you won't feel like gagging. I remember promising Clint that I would never give up and that I would find a new name. I remember sitting with Clint for hours that night looking for the perfect name for the new me! we never did find one. Stopping to take a breath, Mary looked up into the beautiful sky where the bright stars and moon live,for what feels like the first time in forever! The one constant she has ever had in her life was the sky and she smiled! It took over 2 years but she finally found a name that she likes, a name that makes her smile, and a name that makes her feel safe, Skye, and it’s all thanks to Clint and his stupid ladder that helped her remember that promise she made all thoes years ago! With a huge smile Skye continued her journey to the closest restaurant she could find.
After about another 10 minutes of walking, A restaurant finally appeared, a fancy Italian restaurant that immediately had her belly growling for the delicious smelling food! The restaurant looks to be a small family owned business. Outside the restaurant there are six tables, with only one table being occupied by a couple who look to be in their mid to late 30’s! The couple at that table seem to be in the middle of a conversation with a lot of gooey eyes , a flirty conversation i’m guessing. At the end of their table there is about 3 tiny pieces of bread.with her eyes locked in on the food, Skye is hoping that the couple are distracted by one another, as she slowly walks up to the table, grabs 2 pieces of bread that were about the size of her palms, and runs.
As Skye was running, she heard a lady scream “Hey”, and a man say,”Mel let her go, it’s fine!”
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Melinda’s POV
Sitting at the small round table, outside on a beautiful warm night, I couldn’t imagine a better anniversary dinner. 15 years ago when we just started dating, this place, “Vincenzio’s”, was where we had our first official date.
“Happy 10th anniversary babe” Phil said, “Happy 10th anniversary,” I replied.
As we continue talking, time flies by, bread is delivered to the table, and wine is poured into our glasses.
It’s nice to know that even after 5 years of dating and ten years of marriage we are still able to connect with one another, laugh, hear new stories, and best of all love each other!
As we are talking ,out of the corner of my eye I see a very skinny little girl, that looks to be no older than 8 years old, with long brown hair, and big brown eyes. As I was about to ask her if everything was alright, the little girl grabs a handful of bread and dashes.
“Hey”, I yell
“Mel let her go it’s fine, let her have the bread”
I take a deep breath , “I know, I don’t care about the bread! I'm more concerned about the kid getting hurt! There were no other adults around other then us, and she is way too young to be out by herself”
“ Wait, you're telling me that the kid’s parents weren’t around?, do you think we should go look for her, make sure she’s okay?” Phil replied worriedly, knowing the dangers of this world.
“Yeah, I think we should Phil, I have a bad feeling about this”.
As I was getting my things, I saw Phil put a good amount of money down to pay.
“Lets go Phil , she went that way!” I say, Pointing across the street.
Phil and I looked for the girl for what felt like hours as best as we could, but were unable to find the small child!
“ I hope she got home okay” Phil says in a sad voice
“I hope so too, let's just go home! She can be anywhere at this point from how fast she runs! She might be small but she sure is fast”
“You can say that again!I don’t think I ever seen a little girl run so fast in my life, she must have been terrified” Phil replied
“She definitely was terrified , no little kid should ever look so scared Phil! She flinched so hard when I called after her, and then managed to run even faster!, At this point I really just hope she’s safe now and in general ”
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4 weeks later
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Skye's POV
It’s been a month since I had to go out and find food, and to say life got easier is just a complete lie! I was able to get back to the orphanage before anyone noticed and put the ladder back in it’s hiding space. The food really did help me.
The next morning when I went down for breakfast Sister Theresa told me that she lost all respect for me and that I would need to earn it back, and she absolutely refused to call me by my new name Skye!
A few kids at the orphanage refer to me as Skye but most don’t. Especially Landon, Landon has been making my life a living hell for most of my life, but this month it has been worse. Landon is an older boy who’s about 17 years old. He’s a tall, long -legged bully with green eyes , dirty blond hair and a smirk that just makes me want to hide. Landon has hated me as long as I can remember. He wanted the Hopkins, a foster family at the time, to take him not me. They chose me instead of him, and It all went downhill from there. That happened 6 years ago, when I was 4 years old.
Sitting down on the long lopsided couch, I started on my homework for the day. Sister Theresa told me if I didn’t bring my grades up that I would never get a family because no-one wants a dumb child. I really am trying but nothing makes sense, and it does not help that the teachers think im retarded and refuses to help me. As I was about to erase some of my work, landon comes up to me and snatches my work out of my hand , and say’s “So, what do we have here Mary Sue Poots”
“My homework Landon, so give it back now!”
Landon looks at me and gives me an evil smirk that makes me flinch,and move back into the couch some more to protect myself. “Well Mary, It’s all wrong anyway, so what's the point” he says as he rips the paper into a bunch of tiny pieces, opens my bookbag and does the same with the rest of my hard work.
Tears are running down my cheeks, as I see all my hours of hard work in tiny unreadable pieces. I’m so angry that I couldn’t even think straight.
“What the fuck Landon, What’s your problem, I worked so hard on all of that work” I scream into his face standing on the couch , my hands squeezed into fist so tight that my knuckles are white.
Landon looked at me and pushed me down, and as I fell I hit my head really hard on the back of the couch. He comes up real close to my face, so close that I can smell the breakfast on his breath from a few hours ago which almost makes me gag, and says “You don’t talk to me like that, you understand me you mutt” then he slams his huge fist in my face and stomach.
I tried hitting him back as best I could, but that only caused Landon to hit me harder and laugh at me. He was just too strong compared to me. Once I was crying and begging him to stop he decided to stop the relentless body blows, and walked away.
As I got off the couch, I felt like I just got hit by a car. My stomach hurts, but my face hurts ten times more. As I look around the room I see a bunch of kids just staring at me ,and all I could think is I wish I had at least one friend who would help me prevent Landon’s torment. I know some of the Nun’s had to have heard me scream, but they just don’t care either. Walking to the bathroom to check and fix myself up, I remind myself that It’s only 8 more years, better than the 9 years the previous year, and the 10 years before that.
As I walk out of the bathroom with a huge black eye that I can’t even see from, a bruised jaw, and some bruised ribs that cause immense pain when ever I breath or walk. I hear Sister Theresa.
“Boys and girls, this is a reminder that at 12 some foster families will be coming to look for some children to foster,so please remember to all be on your best behavior. I want everyone's chores to be finished by 11 o'clock, so chop chop.
I take a deep breath, and immediately wince, "stupid ribs" I mutter to myself.I don’t know how I’m possibly going to complete these chores, but I have to try. By the time 11 o'clock hits I'm about halfway through with all my chores. All the sudden sister Theresa is next to me, “Why aren’t you done with your chores like everyone else?”she seemed angry with a hand on her hip, and her foot taping on the wood floors, I'm cleaning.
I looked up at Sister Theresa from where I'm cleaning and said, “It hurts really bad when cleaning, so it’s taking me longer”. With an angry growl Sister Theresa looks at me and shakes her head , “I'm very disappointed Mary, maybe if you would stop getting into fights you wouldn’t have loss your food privileges for today and tomorrow”.
I looked up at sister Theresa with big surprised eyes. She has never punished me like this before when it came to late chores, she usually just scolded me and gave me more work to do. “Please Sister Theresa,I’m sorry. I really am trying”!
“ I don't believe you Mary Sue! Your word do not mean a thing to me due to your constant lying. Your probably bullying the rest of the kids and fooling around , instead of working on your chores. You need to be taught a lesson about fighting and responsibility, and let me tell you Mary Sue , you really let me down today! I do not condone irresponsibility and I definitely don't condone fighting.My old punishments don’t seem to work. The only thing that seems to work these days is taking away your food privileges and giving your bottom a spanking. The only reason I’m not spanking you now or even today, is because it looks like you're in too much pain from the fight you started , but tomorrow morning you are to come to my office, while the other children are eating and and receive your punishment. Do you understand me?
Feeling utterly defeated and knowing that my punishment at this point will be so much worse if I say anything to defend myself, I just give up “Yes ma’am I understand”!
“Good finish up your chores, take a shower, then get dressed before the families come Mary.”
“Can you please call my Skye, I mumble”!
“Stop mumbling young lady and I thought we already went over this, but I guess I have to repeat myself! But what should I expect when speaking to a stupid child like you! the reason I won't refer to you as Skye is because that is not your name Mary, Mary is your name so that is what I will call you.
Feeling like I just got punched in the face again,and even more defeated then before, I finish up my work just in time to take a quick shower, put on some of my best clothes with the least amount of holes ,and make it downstairs just in time for when the families begin to arrive.
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Coulson House
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“Okay kiddo’s were about to leave” say’s Phil. The children come sprinting down the stairs of the big house
"Mom,mom,mom, dad,dad,dad , you're going to the orphanage today to get my baby brother or sister today right”? Natasha asks with a hugs smile, bouncing on her toes.
" Yes baby , but how do you know we will be getting you a little brother or sister, it might be an older brother or sister" Melinda teased with a straight face.
"Mama, I can’t do another big brother Hunter's enough, and I really, really, really want to be a big sister ..... so can you please get us a little brother or sister! “ Natasha begged.
All she said was “Maybe” with a tiny little smirk.
Hunter gasped and said "Hey, I'll have you know that I'm an awesome big brother, but I agree I want a younger sibling also! The kid can be older than Natasha though, all I care about is staying the oldest!" He remarked.
Rolling her eyes Melinda didn't even respond to Hunter
Looking at both of his kids Phil took a deep breath and prepared himself for any reaction he can get, he’s just hoping for no tears . “okay kids listen carefully,as you know the process for fostering is a long one so it might take a few weeks to get all the paperwork like it did hunter or it might take a few hours like Natasha's. So I don't want you getting your hope's up about us bringing your older or younger sibling home immediately. okay.
Hunter and Natasha looked at each other, both feeling a little sad that they might not be able to meet their new sibling tonight, but understood that it’s a process.
"Okay dad we understand " Hunter said for the both of them.
"Thank you Hunter" Phil said surprised but happy.
“ OK we are going to get going now , both of you be on your best behavior. Hunter you’re in charge.”
"Okay mom, don't worry I'll take care of our little Natasha" Hunter replied slickly.
Looking put out, from what Hunter just said Natasha looked at her mom with a hurt expression, "Mom, I'm 14 years old I don't need Hunter watching me, I can take care of myself".
Melinda gave Hunter a nasty look , a look that said that was not necessary, and then turned to Natasha. "That might be so baby, but Hunter is older so that makes him in charge”.
looking at Hunter again and taking a deep breath,“I know I can trust you hunter to not take advantage right".
"Of course mom " Hunter said quickly, kinda feeling badly about causing a problem for his parents before they left for the orphanage.
"I promise you hunter , if that happens,if you take advantage of your authority, I will have your Aunt Maria come over and watch both of you for the foreseeable future! Capisce
"Capisce"
Melinda nodded her head and opened the door
“Good” Phil clapped loudly “ I’ll see both of you later on tonight, there is money for pizza on the counter for when you get hungry”he said in a sing song voice
Both kid yelled “yes” excitedly!
As the couple were walking to the car Melinda couldn't help herself , “ did you have to give them money for pizza Phil, we have plenty of food in our fridge. Pizza is so bad for them.”
Phil couldn’t help but laugh, “Babe they almost never get Pizza,a little pizza never hurts, and anyway it’s a special occasion, were about to get another kid!”.