Jane softly knocked on Sally's door. It was pretty late, and she didn't expect Sally to be awake. Sally opened the door slightly and poked her head out.
"Jane? Hurry, come in or Liu's gonna kill me!" Sally quickly pulled Jane in by her shirt. Once Jane was in sally shut the door. Jane sat on Sally's floor as Sally hurried on her bed.
"Sally, I wanna talk to you about something. Have--"
"If you wanna see my back then fine. It seems like everyone has found out about it anyway." Sally shrugged. She started to pull up her nightshirt and Jane caught a glimpse of one of her large scars. Once she did, she rushed Sally to pull her shirt back down.
"No, no, Sally. I meant.. Something else. What I was gonna say was, have you ever felt useless?" Sally thought to herself. She twisted her lips and played with her thumbs before answering.
"Sometimes, yeah. But you've only got yourself to blame."
"Me?"
"Yes. Well..not specifically you, but.. Sometimes you guys make me feel useless."
Jane was quiet. She didn't know what to say. Yeah, at times, sally was a bit of a bother and kind of annoying. But she never thought to make her feel that way, let alone useless.
"Sally... I don't want to make you feel like that. Its just -- I can't explain. But as you get older you'll understand that it's hard to talk to little kids --"
"Exactly!" Sally interrupted, standing on her bed, "you guys all see me as a little kid! I hate that fucking word!"
"Sally, watch your language."
"Fuck you! Everyone else in this house is treated like a fucking god, except me! Just cause I'm smaller, doesn't make me a fucking moron! I may be 6 but I assure you I am highly intelligent. I spend most of my time with Liu and Diane, at least they make me feel like I'm not a fucking retard!"
"That's enough, sally!" Jane was standing now. Sally jumped off her bed and walked up to Jane. Their height difference was far from equal, but sally was so full of rage that she didn't care.
"Even after I prepare a speech for you ungrateful motherfuckers I've yet to see any change. So you guys don't care about me. You guys don't care about anybody but yourself. Ben was close to my age. Not really close, but close. And you guys treated him like a fucking adult. Why am I any different?"
"Sally, I've had enough of your language."
".....shut the fuck up, Jane. Get out!" Sally pushed Jane out her door. "I hope you die, you stupid bitch!" Sally screamed before slamming her door. Jane stood there in awe. She'd never have a little kid talk to her that way. But she was praying nobody heard the door slam. Praying that mostly everyone was outside or asleep.
______
The next morning Sally was lazily eating her cereal. Even if she wasn't in school, Mondays were awful. She silently grunted when she saw Jane enter the kitchen. Jane caught her little sound and sighed.
"Sally, I know you're mad at me. And you have every right to be. But, just know, I'm sorry. And if you talk to me the way you did ever again, I will not hesitate to kick you like a football.. OK?"
Sally stared at Jane, and Jane stared back. They both had cold hard looks on their faces. But their cold looks soon faded into smiles and laughter. Sally hugged Jane and they went on with their day..
