In The Rain

Chapter 13

The sound of the page turning was becoming painful by this point. Leigh's mom was close to where Jesy had started writing and Leigh felt like she would notice.

Her mother had just come home and was still in her work attire. Sairah was in the kitchen also, sitting at the table in her Pizza Hut uniform and eating what Leigh had made them for dinner.

"Can't believe you got in a fight though." Said the older sister. She was looking where her mother was leaning against the counter with a notebook in hand, paging through and examining each page with reading glasses on. Leigh was standing in front of the lady, appearing guilty for a reason Sairah wanted to know.

Leigh frowned her way. "It wasn't a fight. She was being disrespectful and-"

"For the last time, I do not want to hear anything about what she did. I only care about how you responded because that is what got you in trouble. Nothing a person does should incite you to act violently Leigh-Anne. You have no excuse." Her mother was paging through still with a focused brow. She still sounded upset about what happened with her daughter.

Leigh-Anne shut her mouth shamefully and looked to her feet. "Sorry Mum." She mumbled. She watched her toes draw images on the floor and imagined green strokes appearing on the floor as she stroked. That made her feel less miserable. I wonder if Jesy ever imagines things like these.

When her mother got to a certain page she hummed in thought.

Leigh looked to her in fear. Did she notice?

Sairah raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong?"

Leigh fanned at her while keeping her eyes on her mother.

The woman stared at one page for a while then turned. "Hmm . . ." She kept paging. "You must have gotten tired by then." She murmured to herself while continuing to page. After the last page she gave the child back the notebook. "Good. I hope that you learned your lesson. I never, ever want to hear of you fighting in school again. If you so much as get in trouble again I will take action to punish you worse than this. Am I clear?" She said strictly pointing a finger.

Leigh nodded. "Yes Mum."

"Good, now sit down right there." She pointed to the seat Leigh usually occupied.

Leigh-Anne put her book on the counter and walked to her seat quickly.

The mother sighed and decided to eat, leaving her work for later. She sat down with her girls. "Now about that girl . . ."

Sairah giggled. "Is she the same one you were talking about who was teasing you about having no boobs?" She remembered a while ago, what Jesy and Leigh were talking about the day before. It made her laugh. Did that little girl really pick a fight with her sister over that?

Leigh-Anne blushed. She did not want her mother to know the reason around the fight. She gulped and examined her mother's reaction.

Their mother turned a frown to Leigh-Anne then appeared as if she dismissed what Sairah said. "If she wants to pick fights with you then just ignore her. Do not respond to her because when you do you make her feel as if she's winning. When you go to school tomorrow, do not utter a word to her. If you do and another fight happens then you will face the consequences." She started eating after.

Leigh nodded. Ignore Lilly. Got it. "I won't fight again." She said softly before eating too. She wondered what it would be like to go to Jesy's school. There was no Lilly there and nobody from her class who would make fun of her for sucking her thumb. She said that her friends play. Was it a calmer environment? She wanted to know what Teddy looked like and who the faces behind the names Jesy listed were. I wish I went to her school. She sighed. Maybe I should visit.