Good Luck, Babe!

Star

Pearl White.

I felt horrible.

Not just because I couldn't feel my bottom lip or had a black eye, it's because I completely ruined Mrs. Sato's dinner last night with these people I don't know by telling them about what Daddy did to Momma. Maybe they are new neighbors? I haven't asked them.

But now I'm scared they might try to go to the police, I can't even imagine what would happen to me if Daddy found out I saw him that night. I made them swear they wouldn't tell anyone. No offense, but who would the police believe? The white guy they've known for years, or the non-white people they avoid. It didn't make sense to me. Everything didn't make sense to me at the moment.

The Sato's were kind enough to let me stay on the couch. As long as I do not have to go back home for a bit, I guess I will be fine.

                                                                    —

We sat around their dining room table once again, golden beams of light hitting my face in a way that made my vision full of white light. A plate of food sat in front of me. I want to eat it, but I know I shouldn't. If I do I can't stop, I refuse to be seen as a pig. My face was sore and hurt to move, my nose now had a band aid across the bridge of it.

"So, there is a lake a bit farther into the woods, if you guys want to go." Mrs. Sato tells us.

"That would be nice!" Kenji says.

"Yea!" Isamu agrees.

"I don't have a swimsuit." I look at her.

"That's fine! You can borrow one of my old ones!" She smiles at me.

I force myself to smile, not because I'm not thankful for her letting me borrow it. But because it was embarrassing that I probably will be able to fit into it. Mrs.Sato was always a smaller woman, but if I fit into her swimsuit, that meant I was bigger than most girls.

Of course I already knew I was, but I didn't want everyone else to find that out as well.

I really need to stop eating before I become fatter.

"Is anyone else going to come?" Kenji asks.

"I was going to invite the Rodriguez's, and Hazel and her daughter." Mrs. Sato responded.

"Who?" I ask.

"Do you know Lia Burg?" She asks

Ohh

"Yea, she's nice." I look back at the floor, my cheeks heating up for some reason.

"Well her mom is Hazel." She clarifies.

I nod, I really didn't want anyone to see me in a bathing suit. They are going to see me and regret inviting me.

                                                                     —

The walk to the lake was quick, I was lucky I had a shirt to cover up my body for the time being. The bathing suit wasn't bad, it was a simple one piece and quite comfortable in fact. But the problem was it fit. It fit well enough that it wrapped around my torso in a way that I wouldn't have anything to cover up with.

"Here it is!" Mr. Sato said as we walked into a clearing.

It was a large lake, surrounded by trees that provided a cover. The sun only came down in small skinny rays when it hit the lake, I was grateful for that because that meant the sun wouldn't beat down on us the whole time. The dirt turned into sand the closer you went to the lake, making for a mix of light yellow and dirt brown that led up the dock.