here without you

70

"I punched a girl today."

My mother chokes on her water. My father pats her back and hands her a napkin. Then he looks at me and says, "You did what?"

"I punched Mackenzie Campbell."

"Are you kidding us, Roze?"

I shake my head.

My mother has stopped coughing. She looks at me, saying, "Please tell us you have a very good explanation for that."

"I do. She provoked me."

Both of them have stopped eating. They are looking at me, waiting for a clearer explanation.

"She insulted Jade and Olive. She said Jade is a slut and Olive a freak."

For a while there is silence. Then I say, "And she was... She was seeing Jack. While I was with him. It hasn't got anything to do with why I punched her, but..." I shrug. I take a sip of water.

"Well," my father says, "I hope you broke her nose."

"Arthur!"

I laugh, but stop when I see the look on my mother's face.

"Roze, you can't just hit people when you feel like it," she says.

"I know that."

"But..." She hesitates, then says, "I can't deny that Mackenzie might have deserved that."

I go back to eating my pasta, a light grin on my face.

"So what's your punishment? Detention?"

"Not exactly. I... Well, I sort of didn't get any."

"You punched some girl, and you didn't even get any punishment?" My father starts laughing.

"Arthur, stop it! This isn't funny."

I manage not to join in his laughter. I say, "I had to talk with Mr Andrews."

"The school counsellor," she says.

I nod. "I'm going to see him again. On Wednesday."

"Because of Mackenzie?"

"No, not because of her. I have... I have agreed on counselling."

I see my parents exchanging a quick look with each other.

My father says, "That is... That's very good, Roze."

Both of them are widely smiling, looking like I have just delivered them really great news. I smile back at them, rather timidly.

"You know," I say, changing the topic, "I never thought I could ever hit someone. But it actually felt nice."

"Roze!"

My father laughs and says, "I would have never expected you to do that."

"Neither would I have," my mother says. "That's rather something your sister would do."

"That's true." I smile a bit, and I think back of how she punched Jack when I found out he was cheating.

"I remember having to talk to one of her teachers when she hit that one girl." My mother shakes her head, but like me she's smiling a bit.

"Well, that one girl was a horrible bully. She would always make fun of me and my art."

"I do remember that. She was quite a mean kid."