The Girl That Care Forgot ✓

37 • The Very First Friend

Standing in her daughter’s school grounds, Eva found herself thinking once again of that business card tucked away in a safe, unsuspecting corner of the kitchen where the chances of Vincent finding it were slim to none. Once again, she thought of Millie Morgan and her offer from several years earlier.

She’d seen Mrs Morgan since that time, though not as often as Eva liked. And the busier both of them had become, with Millie opening up an outlet somewhere else and Eva having her hands full with Lillian, the shorter their conversations grew on the rare occasions they did get to run into each other. Even if by chance Millie had called to check on Eva and made plans to come visit, Vincent would suddenly come up with something else, causing Eva to cancel those very plans at the last minute.

It had somehow always been easier to disappoint Millie Morgan than anger Vincent. It hadn’t soothed the guilt – but it’d been easier. The consequences were nothing but Eva’s aching heart. And she’d always believe an aching heart was relatively preferable to bruising skin and fractured bones.

After all, she was familiar with the pain of both.

Sighing, Eva blinked herself out of her trance and cast her eyes about the parking lot, and over the entrance area of the building. Lots of the parents stood in groups of three or more, conversing amongst themselves and waiting by till they spotted their kids. There was a large enough part of Eva that wanted to join in – at the very least, to associate with one of the other mothers there. But how? Back in high-school, Eva wanted to be left alone. And now, as a woman who’d come to see how much her world differed from those of others around her, she didn’t like the solitude all that much. She wanted to learn, to know.

But maybe that was the reason to remain isolated from the other parents. She was younger than a majority of them, and they were undoubtedly more aware of how normal homes should be. What if they spotted something odd about the way Eva carried herself? With the way she wouldn’t know how to properly interact with others? What if they asked her the wrong question? Worse, what if they found out and tried to help her – and then it only backfired? Eva would definitely face the consequences then – she’d see a side of Vincent so abhorrent that she’d never be able to come back from.

Was it worth the risk?

“Mum!” Lillian’s delighted squeal snapped Eva out of her thoughts. And seeing her daughter running towards her, her pigtails flying in the breeze, Eva couldn’t stop the smile that consumed her face.

No, she figured. Not worth it. What if trying to get help only resulted in Vincent teaching Eva a lesson through Lillian? Definitely nothing was worth seeing her child get dragged into the ugly side of this life.

“Hey,” Eva laughed lightly as she bent her knees and steadied her arms for the impact of her daughter’s body colliding into her embrace. “You’re in an especially good mood,” she pointed out, feeling Lillian’s smaller hands wrap around her neck, “anything big happen?”