italy | sweet pea

t h r e e

Eight Years Ago
Kathryn

I ran to the bus stop and sat next to the ticket booth. I looked at the map behind me too see how far away things were. I got up and looked over in the direction of Greendale. I got up and walked my way to the church in Greendale.

I had walked for hours to get to the church. I sat on the steps and waited for it to be morning. There was a store across the church so I got up after the store light turn on. I walked into the store and walked down the aisles. I found the snacks and picked up some chips. I walked to the counter and reached up to put my food along with my money. The cashier looked down at me and refused to check out my items.

"Sweetheart, where's your parents?" He said. He had a thick Mexican accent and his hair was still wet as if he just got out the shower.

"My mommy sent me to get snacks. I live down the street," I lied.

"Alright," he hesitates. He scans my item and takes my money. I left the store and walked over to a house next door to the store.

I knocked on the door, but there was no answer. I sat on the steps and waited. After about ten minutes, I knocked again. A woman had answered, she was short and had reddish hair. She looked at me with worry across her face.

"Yes?" She asks, bending down to my height.

"Can you help me?" I say.

"Honey, where's your parents?" She says, putting her hand on my shoulder.

"My mommy and daddy don't want me," I say.

She brings me inside and calls someone on her phone. I sat on her couch and looked around. She had a little dog who didn't bark and a chubby cat who sat behind me. I ate my chips and waited for the woman to come back.

"Honey, someone is going to help you okay?" She says. "My name is Ms. Mollie, are you hungry?"

I showed her my empty bag of chips and nodded. She had made me some pancakes for me. Ms. Mollie had stepped out to answer the door. A police had walked in and sat next to me. He started to ask me questions but I refused to answer. Ms. Mollie pulls the the officer aside and speaks to him about me and foster homes. I got up and turned on the TV.  "Ms. Mollie?" I called. "What's this show called?"

I point at the television and look up at her. "It says Adventure Time, sweetheart," She says softly.

I watched the yellow dog on the screen and waited for Ms. Mollie to say something. After a while of mindlessly watching the animated show, Ms. Mollie had taken me outside to where the police officer had parked. It wasn't until I got into the vehicle that Ms. Mollie realized I grabbed something from her home.

"Sweetheart, that ring doesn't belong to you," the officer said, holding out his hand.

Ms. Mollie touches the officer's shoulder saying, "It's alright, she can have the ring."

He shuts the door and talks to Ms. Mollie once again. The officer eventually got into the driver's seat and drove me to the police station.

Present
Marci

Sweet Pea bends down and reaches for the switchblade. He grabbed the blade and examined it. Abel and I bent down to look at where it was buried as Sweet Pea was so enticed by the blade.

"This was her blade..." Sweet Pea says. "This was her dad's. She cut my hand with this blade..."

I looked down at the spot where the blade was and noticed something off.