Hell Above

21

Sola is woken up by a shaking sensation on her bed. Cara sat at the foot of Solas guest bed and was shaking it. Sola sits up with a tired face and stretches. Cara used to always do this when Sola slept over, so Sola was almost used to it.

“What time is it?” Sola asks looking for some sort of clock. Sola takes her headphones out and listens to Cara for an answer.

“About 9 o’clock.” Cara says with a smile. She was already dressed for the day. “Are you ready to tell my parents?” Cara asked.

“I guess.” Sola said not knowing how this was going to go. Sola pulled on a pair of jean shorts and a white t-shirt. When she is finished dressing they start walking down the stairs together. They walk into the unfinished kitchen where her parents are sitting at the table having coffee and her dad is reading the paper.

“Sola!” Cara’s mother said. Sola realized then she hadn’t given Cara’s parents a proper greeting.

“Mrs. Davis!” Sola said as she hugged her. Mrs. Davis could feel the burns on Solas arms as they pulled away. Sola looked down at the floor as Cara’s mom looked at her arms.

“Mom, Dad we need your guys’ help.” Cara said with seriousness. “Sola isn’t safe in her home situation. We want to help her get out of there and into a foster home until she’s 18.” Cara continued.

“Alright I’ll look up the number.” Her mom said as she pulled her eyes away from Sola’s arms and turned and walked over to wear a laptop sat unopened. Cara’s mom opened it and logged in. She started typing. Sola and Cara looked at each other. Then they turned back to Cara’s mom who was writing down numbers on a small pad of papers. She stood up and walked over to where she had placed her cell phone. She picked it up and started typing in the numbers that were written down.

“Hello?” She said. “Yes, I was calling to report an incident of child abuse.” She pauses and listens to the person on the other line. “My name is Alexa Davis. My daughter’s friend Sola Fernandez living situation has become life threatening. She needs to be taken out of there immediately.” She then told her Sola’s address, parents names, and some other information.

Sola sat down at the table, Cara grabbed them two bowls and poured some cereal and milk in them. She grabbed two spoons and placed the bowls on the table and sat down. She slid one of the bowls over to Sola and moved the other one closer to her. She picked up a spoonful of corn flakes and put them in her mouth. She started chewing her cereal and looked over at Sola.

Sola was looking down at her bowl of cereal. She wasn’t eating. She frowned. She looked very upset. But she was getting out of her awful house. She would no longer have to stay with her abusive parents. Cara didn’t understand.

“Why aren’t you eating?” Cara asked.

“I’m not that hungry…” Sola said still looking down at her bowl.

“Oh come on Sola. Why are you upset? You’re going someplace so much better. Where people will treat you like you’re an actual person.” Cara said trying to reassure her friend.

“I know… I just wish it didn’t have to be like this. I love my parents. I don’t want to leave them. But I know I should.” Sola said. Cara looked shocked she couldn’t believe what she had just said. How could Sola love someone who hurt her and treated her so badly?

“How could you love someone that did that to you?” Cara asked looking at Solas scars and bruises. Cara looked hurt. Sola looked at Cara and saw that not only was Cara her only friend but Sola was Cara’s only friend. Cara didn’t want to lose her only friend. Just like when Sola was little she didn’t want to lose Cara. She knew it had to be done; it was the right thing to do.

“Cara, I’m not going to back out of this. I know this is the right thing to do. It’s just I’ve lived with them for my whole life. I love them because they are part of my life. No matter how you look at it they’ve always been there for me. I know it’s hard to understand but sometimes things don’t have to make sense.” Sola looked in Cara’s eyes. Cara understood that when she said they were always there for her, she was talking about when Cara couldn’t be there for her.

“I would give anything to go back and try to be there for you Sola. You know that right? I didn’t want to leave you. You were like my sister I always wanted us to have each other’s backs. That’s why I have to do this for you. Because I couldn’t help you then and now that I’m back I have to be there for you.” Cara was on the edge of tears. She wanted so badly to help her friend. She didn’t want to lose her again.