Storm Sisters

Chapter Ten

~1~

Audra

Life in the orphanage was far more structured than one would expect, and most of that structure was enforced with meal time. There were typically two meals in a day: Breakfast was very early, before sunrise, and if you overslept, then you didn't eat until dinner, which was later in the evening after 6pm. So by the time dinner rolled around, all the girls were understandably very hungry.

Hunger was constant, and used as a tool for motivation. If you misbehave then you'd lose a meal, but if you do the bidding of the staff, then you'd get rewarded with extra rations here and there.

That's why a few girls angled to become prefects for the special privileges, even though it meant treating your fellow orphans with cruelty. But for some, the opportunity to be cruel was an added bonus. Marybeth Sanders was one of those particularly cruel prefects who seemed to relish in it.

One morning, after breakfast, Audra and Jenessa were washing dishes together since that was the task they had been assigned. The gruel stuck to the bowls with the adherence of a strong glue, not to mention the vomit-like texture of the stuff.

Jenessa muttered complaints to herself underneath her breath. Ever since that first day when they had met, Jenessa and Audra had barely spoken two words to each other. There was a mutual disdain between the two that would only turn to violence if exasperated. Both girls seemed to understand this unspoken fact, and with neither of them wanting to face the penalties for fighting, which involved a week in the isolation cupboard for punishment, so they engaged in a sort of truce of avoidance.

But with the joint responsibility of dish duty, avoidance had become increasingly difficult. It was Jenessa's job to wash the dishes, then hand them off to Audra who would wipe them dry with a rag, then place them back into the cabinets.

On this particular morning, Jenessa seemed more agitated and distracted then usual. She handed Audra another bowl, that was still covered in muck.

"Jenessa." Audra finally snapped, "Look at this bowl.. does that look clean to you?"

"About as clean as your face." Jenessa shot back.

Audra bit her tongue to hold in the torrent of insults she felt brewing inside her.

"If you don't wash them properly the first time, then they'll just make us wash them again during our free period." She said, hoping that a reasonable approach would be more effective.

Jenessa didn't respond, instead she just went back to washing and muttering to herself. Then Audra caught a glimpse as Jenessa snook something from her pocket and stuck it into her mouth, real quick and conspicuous.

"What was that?" Audra asked.

"What was what?" Jenessa tried to play coy.

"I saw you eat something just now Jenessa."

"I don't know what your talking about." Jenessa dismissed her.

"Then let's see what's in your pocket." Audra reached for Jenessa's pocket and she jerked away, taking a defensive posture as if she were ready to fight.

"Fine," Audra threw up her hands, "We'll see what Marybeth thinks about."

Jenessa stared at her with warning eyes, as if to say, 'you wouldn't dare.'

"Lets see what Marybeth thinks about what?" a different voice spoke from the side hall entrance to the kitchen. In walked Marybeth along with another prefect girl called Sam.