The black rose and the silver butterfly

Gift

Nora went home and laid down on her bed. She was happy that she didn't have to go to work today. She saw a letter on the floor and sighed. She got up and picked it up. She read it and scoffed. "I don't give a shit about this." Nora said. She threw it on the table and went to her room. She took a bath and went to sleep. The next day she went to the principal's office and he looked at her surprised.

"How did you get in trouble this early?" The principal asked.

"Why didn't you tell me i was your niece?" Nora asked.

"Your dad told you." The principal said.

"Yeah. I'm also gonna have this talk with auntie counselor. She's not off the hook either." Nora said.

"Look i know your upset that we didn't tell you but your father was overprotective of you. He didn't want us seeing you even once when you were born. He thought you would be influenced by us." The principal said.

"You could have taken care of me when i lost my father. When i was alone for 5 years. I always set aside some bail money and paid it off slowly. But you could have helped me get him back. The only reason he's getting out soon is because i finally paid all the bail money." Nora said.

"Is that so?" The counselor asked.

"Yeah. I paid it off. Alone. Why didn't you guys tell me that we were related? I want a real answer.  Not that bullshit." Nora said.

"Watch your tone young lady." The counselor said. Nora punched her and stormed out. "I guess we deserve that."

"We abandoned her and we could have saved her. This is our fault." The principal said.

Nora walked in her classroom and saw Kino with a brace on his hand. She sat next to him and Gage flinched. Nora put her head down on the table and Kino put his jacket on her. She threw it back at him and laid her head back down. "Um...Nora. Is everything okay?" Kino asked. She turned and glared at him.

"No." Nora said.

"Is there anything i can do to make you feel better?" Kino asked.

"No." Nora said. She went to sleep and a pair of hands tapped her. She woke up and saw her dad. "DAD!" Nora hugged him and everyone gasped.

"Nora's showing affection?" Chase asked. Nora glared at him and her dad put his sunglasses on her.

"Sweetie. I'll be home for a bit. For now I'm on parole. I can't make any mistakes otherwise you know what will happen." Her dad said.

"Gotcha. I'll help out as best i can." Nora said.

"I went to your job today. Picked this up for you." Her dad said handing her a check. The principal and the guidance counselor walked in.

"Hello brother." The principal said.

"Not here. Not now." Her dad said.

"Why don't you tell your daughter what she needs to know?" The principal asked.

"This is why i didn't want you near her in the first place you manipulative little-

"Dad." Nora said. She noticed that Max and Lulu walked in and she sighed in annoyance. They walked to her and she glared. "That's close enough."

"We came to see if you were gonna attack my brothers again." Lulu said.

"No. Unless we have a repeat of yesterday." Nora said.

"Oh right. Which one of you assholes ripped out my daughter's hair?" Her dad growled. Chase held his hand up and they saw her hair wrapped around his wrist. "You're so-

"Dad." Nora said.

"Well she clearly gets her temper from her dad." Max said.

"What happened to your mother?" Lulu asked. Nora punched her and Lulu held her eye. Before Nora could continue to attack Lulu, her dad grabbed her and held her back.

"I wanted to talk about that. They found her." Her dad said.

"Can you sign me out? i don't wanna stay here much longer." Nora said. Kino walked to her and gave her a note. "Wow what grade are you in? Kindergarten? Just tell me what the just of the note says. I'm not gonna read this." Nora said.her dad took the note and opened it.

"Nora i wanna talk to you but now isn't the best time. Here's my number i wanna talk to you later over the phone. Hahaha. Wow work on your thoughts. This was cheesy as fuck." Her dad said. Nora looked at the note and chuckled.

"Nice penmanship." Nora said.

"A complement...from Nora?" Gage asked.

"Gonna ignore that. Let's go dad." Nora said. She began walking out the classroom and her dad smiled at her.

"She's just like me." Her dad said. He followed her out and they went driving around.

"So honey...your mom lives in Florida so it'll be a while." Her dad said.

"You have her specific address?" Nora asked.

"Yes. They guys found her. She now is married to some other guy. She's happy." Her dad said.

"Well she's about to get a rain of terror from the person she abandoned." Nora said.

"People she abandoned." Her dad said. He stopped the car and reached in the back seat. He handed Nora an outfit. A black vest, a red shirt with a black rose on it, Black leather pants and a pair of boots with heels on them. "Here. A gift."

"Thanks dad." Nora said. She leaned on his as he drove and he smiled.

"Nora since its only the two of us here right now...i know you're upset. Wanna tell me everything that's wrong?" Her dad asked.

"I'm about to meet my mother. My dad could be leaving me soon. My principal and Guidance counselor are related to me. I've been alone ever since you've been in jail. I've had to do so much on my own and had to learn it the hard way. Now i won't even be able to relax because I'll have to pay bills still." Nora said.

"Nora I'm sorry i wasn't there for you but i went to jail to protect you. Do you know why i was in jail?" Her dad asked.

"I don't know the whole story." Nora said.

"Back when you were a child one of my members tried to take advantage of you and i caught him. I beat him to death for touching you. You're all i have left and for a brief moment someone saw my weakness was you." Her dad said.

"Dad...i love you." Nora said.

"I love you too. I'm glad you understand." Her dad said.

At home Nora went to her room and packed a bag. She quit her job and her dad made her dinner. She looked at the note Kino gave her and sighed.. she texted him and he texted back. They talked for a little bit and Nora went to sleep.