The Crutch's Sister

Teacher

I had finished selling papers earlier than I had expected, so I had started heading home to prepare for tonight. I was walking down the street and I smiled at the city. I stayed on my route until I became more familiar with my surroundings. I recognized the buildings and certain people, so I slowly began to let my guard down. I reached the Lodging House and when I walked in the door, the boys were sitting on crates, barrels, and the floor with little black boards in their hands.

"Where have you been?" Crutchie asked sarcastically. I laughed and put my bag down on the ground.

"I was just taking my time walking home." I explained. "Where did you get those things in your hands?" I wondered.

"The World replaced their chalkboard and threw the old one out. We broke it apart and we're using the old pieces." Specs revealed. He handed me a piece of chalk. "Here's something for you to write with. Just write on the wall and you can wipe it off with a wet cloth." I nodded and walked up to the front. I started to write the word cat.

"I KNOW THIS ONE!" Jojo shouted. He lifted up his board to reveal his shaky handwriting that copied the word on the board. I laughed and nodded.

"That's right, buddy." I smiled. His smile brightened and I moved over to the side. I started writing apple. I turned back around and watched as the boys wrote on their boards. "Alright, let's see." I said. "Lift up your boards." They all lifted up their boards and I scanned their writing. Some of them had pretty neat handwriting, some were a bit messy, and some I could barely read, but everyone was doing pretty well. "You guys know more than you think." I revealed. 

"What can we say?" Mush said. "We've got one hell of a teacher."

After an hour or so, I closed out the class for the night. It was still early in the evening, so I decided to go down to Medda's. I started my walk and I smiled at the lights of the city. "I definitely like Manhattan at night than in the day." I said to myself. I turned down the block and I approached the theater. I walked in the back door and I walked around backstage, looking for Medda.

"Kicks! Is that you?" I heard Medda exclaim. I turned around and smiled at her. I ran up to her and gave her a hug. "Where have you been hiding, kid?"

"Y'know, work's been tough, been sick, recovered. Life's just been up and down." I explained. "How have you been?" I asked.

"Business has been good!" she cheered. "People are still pouring in and hoping that you perform." I laughed.

"I should probably come back soon." I said nervously. She chuckled.

"Come in whenever you feel like. Anticipation and surprise is what's keeping the people from leaving." she revealed. I nodded and drifted back to my thoughts. "Is something on your mind, kid?" she asked. I looked up at her and shook my head.

"I'm just tired." I said. "I've been working more and on top of that, I've been teaching the boys how to write." Her eyes narrowed. "Are you sure you don't want to talk about?" I took a breath.

"Lately, I've been having this dream. And it's really been scaring me." Medda nodded for me to continue.

The Dream

I was in a room. Just an empty, gray room with nothing special about it at all. But then, I saw my parents. They were just staring at the wall behind me. I watched them quietly.

"Why can't you be like your brother?" Father asked.

"What?" I wondered out loud.

"He was easy to get rid of. Why can't you be as easy to get rid of as him?" He still wasn't looking at me. "YOU STUPID KID!" he screamed. I covered my ears and drew my knees to my chest.

"Dad?" I started.

"WHY DID WE EVEN BOTHER WITH YOU!? WE NEVER SHOULD HAVE HAD YOU!"

"Mother..." I whispered. "Say something..." As normal, she stayed silent and stone-faced. Father grabbed my arm and lifted me up slightly. He jabbed his knee into my stomach multiple times and I doubled over. When I looked back up, ready to fight back, my parents were missing. 

I was in a different place.

I slowly stood up and looked around. I was back at the Refuge, but I was alone. There were bars over the small window on the door and the window on the wall. I walked to the window and looked out. I could hear the whispers of people from nearby. I stretched my neck for a better view of what was going on. I could see hundreds kids sneaking out of the Refuge. "Hey! Hey!" I called to them, trying to move the bars on the window. "Help me out of here!"

None of them noticed me.

I began to panic and look for another way out. I turned back to face the room and I saw a mural on the wall. I moved so that I was looking at it straight. 

It was a large group of stick figure people, drawn in black in with their fists in the air. They were facing a large building that had 'The World' written on it in a red paint. Above the building, in the same red paint, were the words, 'Written in ink or in blood, it's the same either way.' I reached up and rubbed my fingers on the red paint. I sniffed it and my eyes widened.

It was blood.

Suddenly, I heard a scream that was, unfortunately,  all too familiar. "Crutchie?" I called. I ran to the door and desperately  tried to see where he was."CRUTCHIE?!" I screamed.

Then, I woke up.

Back to Present

"I was so scared that when I woke up, I was in a cold sweat, I was breathing hard and my hands were all clammy. And I can't really talk to anyone about this, let alone the boys." I explained. I looked back to Medda, who seemed a bit overwhelmed by what I had just revealed to her.

"I-I don't really know how to respond to that, kid." she said. "I heard or read somewhere, I forget where, but it was that dreams are a way for our subconscious mind to try and solve problems our conscious mind can't. Just something for you to think about." 

"Thanks Medda." I started. "That does make me feel a bit better." I stood up and began to walk to the door. "I better head home. I need to go to work in the morning." Medda walked with me to the door and gave me a tight hug.

"Anytime you need someone to talk to, my door is always open." she assured. "I'll see you soon." She closed the door behind me and I walked back home. As I walked home, I looked at all of the brightly lit windows of the city. I could see people laughing, smiling and enjoying themselves and each other and I smiled. When I walked inside the Lodging House, I found all of my boys asleep. I sighed and quietly tiptoed over their sleeping bodies and up to my room. I got a little scared when Crutchie wasn't in our room, but I knew the only other place he could be was up with Jack in the penthouse. I climbed into bed and began to fall asleep.

"Nothing bad is going to happen." I assured myself, closing my eyes. "It's all in my head."