The Hidden Truth

Chapter Thirty-One: Confusion and Sacrifice

As Monday morning arrives I drop Sara off at school again, giving her two precise commands in the hopes that it works flawlessly. Afterwards I return to the house for some much needed tidying up along with running a few errands without her around. The last thing I need is for anything to disrupt my day.

The day rolls into the late afternoon and I still haven't received the phone call I'm expecting but I didn't dismiss it just yet, the week has only just started. However as the evening moves in I decide to attempt the homework task once again. Sadly it's just as unsuccessful as before. It's as if she doesn't know the answers let alone how to find them when I do give her the textbook to look at for help. So I send her to her room and complete her homework myself with the correct answers as I have done up until this point.

The following week is no different so I went out to a local used book store to gather some old textbooks and supplies. Most of the local schools exchange their older books for new ones every year and those books are then sold to people who tutor or homeschool children. I plan on starting her out with some of the basic facts then go from there to find out where she lacks the most. The last thing I need right now is for her next school to hold her back a year or more.

On Friday, I decide to go to the market to gather some more fresh fruits and vegetables. As I'm standing in line to pay for my food, I receive a phone call from the principal's secretary. She quickly tells me to come to the school immediately. Not giving me any details about why. I rush to pay the clerk and leave, placing the bags in my trunk as fast as I can before heading directly to the school.

As I enter the building I hear my sister screaming at someone but I'm not sure who. The secretary comes running out of the main office and frantically leads me down the hallway and around the corner. There holding a chair with the legs out is my sister. Behind her is a beefy boy sitting near the wall with blood dripping from his nose all over his white school shirt. She's screaming, "Stay back!" while using the chair to block anyone that comes near her.

Father Damien spots me and rushes over as I ask, "What is going on?"

"As far as I understand Sara punched the kid behind her as they were returning to class after lunch but she refuses to allow any of us to go near him. Instead she insists that the only way she will release him is if we expel him from this school but for some odd reason she won't tell us why. I looked into the boy's school records and the child has never had so much as in infraction to this date. Other than that I can't find any reason to kick him out. We've tried to reason with her on this matter but all she did is take the chair out from under him and is now using it against us. We were thinking that maybe you can talk some sense into her."

I stand there staring at my sister watching as her body quivers while thinking about how I want to proceed for a few seconds before I ask, "So now what?" before turning to Father Damien and continuing, "I can get her to drop the chair and you can get the other child to safety but that's all I can do." I want to tell him more but if I told him anything about my sister - the sister I knew - he would cast her out for sure claiming she's the devil's child or something along those lines. I've heard it all before.

"Sir, I'm sorry to say but then I'm going to have to expel her from this school, indefinitely."

I take a deep breath and reply, "So be it." as I lock on to my sister's eyes concentrating on lowering her anger and replacing it with that of grief and sorrow.

Little by little as the chair lowers the staff surrounding her moves in but she raises it above her head in frustration as she screams, "Leave me alone!" they remain in place turning their attention towards me.

I try even harder. This time as soon as the chair lowers just a little bit, I command, "Sara, walk away!" she immediately drops the chair with a loud clanging that resonates through the hallway while she runs off down the corridor the opposite direction from us. At that point one of the staff members starts to head the same way. I immediately holler, "Don't follow her!"