Women In War

1

~~|1930|~~

"No! ¡Devolvérsela!"

"Speak English, you little wretch!"

The ninth grade boys taunted and teased the young girl as one of them held her schoolbag far above her reach. They laughed as tears formed in her eyes.

"¡Por favor! Please! Give it back!"

One of them pulled a face for her. She could neither reach her bag nor break out of the ring. Across the playground, another young girl walked between her brother and his best friend. She looked over curiously. "James," she said, yanking her brother's sleeve.

"What is it, Beck?"

She pointed. "That girl. She's in our class."

"Yeah, I've seen her around. Really quiet."

"It's 'cause she doesn't speak well. Let's go help."

"No! No, you don't get involved in other people's battles, Rebecca. Especially not when they're the older boys. They're rowdy and rough and they could hurt you."

"But, James! She's just a little kid like us! They're gonna hurt her! And you helped Steve!"

"She has a point," Steve, the tinest of the trio, said as he shrugged.

"Don't start," James warned, throwing Steve a glare. He turned to Rebecca. "Steve's half our size and picking fights with everyone he can. He needs a bodyguard to hold him back."

"And she just needs someone to help her. If you don't, then I will."

"No!" James cried, catching Rebecca's wrist and yanking her back. He eyed the ring of boys warily. "You stay with Steve."

Rebecca smiled as James walked up to the group of older boys. "My brother's a hero," she told Steve, for probably the sixth time that week.

Steve nodded, humming his agreement.

Both gasped when one of the boys took a swing at James from behind, knocking him down. Steve, even if he had been quick enough, couldn't stop Rebecca as she sprinted across the playground. With a violent yell, she launched herself onto the boy's back and pulled at his hair.

"Don't touch my brother!"

"Rebecca!" James scolded as he stood up. One of the other boys went for James while a third hurried to help the first with Rebecca. The other two, one of whom held the girl's schoolbag, slowly stepped away.

All that was on James' mind was Rebecca getting hurt or into trouble, so he fought as hard as he could and probably broke the boy's nose. Once he'd pried Rebecca away from them, the boy who had first hit James herded his friends and they left, tossing the girl's backpack down.

Rebecca didn't let Bucky fuss over her as she knelt to help the girl. "I'm Rebecca."

"Cr-- Crystal."

Rebecca smiled as she gathered several pens and a scissor. "That's a pretty name."

"I don't like it much."

"Oh. That's fine. What do you want me to call you, then?"

The girl was so stunned by Rebecca's honest niceness, she almost forgot to answer the question. "Maggie. It's what Papá calls me at home."

"Maggie," Rebecca repeated, passing the stationery and two books to her, "that's nice. You look like a Maggie anyway."

Maggie smiled. "How's that?"