Runaways (5 page)

“What kind of stories? Have boys been spreading lies about you?” I was suddenly so angry I wished I had been in that car to tell Gary what I thought about him and his slimy friends.

Raven took a few deep breaths and then began. “When I was younger and I lived with my mother, I swore I would never be like her, Brooke. Every time she brought another man into our home, I hated her more, not for what she was doing to me as much as what she was doing to herself. I never could understand why she was like that.

“Afterward, when I came here and started to go to school, I hated that we were all thought of as being ‘Those orphans, those foster care girls,' like we were so inferior. Then, I saw how boys were attracted to me and how easy it was to feel like someone when I walked down those corridors looking a little sexier than most girls. Sure, I guess I tease a lot, but I felt good, almost powerful sometimes. I wasn't just one of those ‘orphans.' Maybe my mother did what she did so she wouldn't feel like nothing. I know it doesn't make sense to you, but maybe she was trying to be noticed, too, and she just got caught up in it all, the drinking, the drugs . . .

“That's not going to happen to me, Brooke, but I'm not ashamed of having boys look at me and want me. I guess I don't hate my mother as much. I've changed a little, but we all change, don't we, Brooke?”

“This place makes you change,” I said, unable to hide my bitterness. “I don't really blame you for flaunting yourself, Raven, but just remember it's dangerous.”

“I know. Gary said that a lot of the boys I've gone out with said we'd gone all the way. That's not true, I swear. That's going to always be the big difference between me and my mother, Brooke. I really have to care for a man before I'll be that way with him. Those creeps make things up. It's so . . . frustrating. I want to be liked, but I don't want the bad reputation.”

“That doesn't matter, Raven. You know who you are. People who care about us, people who really matter, will understand,” I said.

“Will they? We're orphans, Brooke. We don't have anyone to defend us. Who we are doesn't matter as much as who people think we are.

“It's all like a curse, some curse we can't quite throw off,” she muttered. “And we did nothing to deserve it,” she whispered and turned her back to me.

As I drifted off to sleep, I wondered if she was right. I sincerely hoped not.

Butterfly had no word about the Lockharts all the next week. Finally, one morning at breakfast, Louise stopped by our table to tell Butterfly that the Lockharts wouldn't be able to take her.

“They're not ready for children yet,” she said. “But don't you worry, darlin'. Someday soon, some nice couple is going to come by and scoop you up. All of you,” she added, looking at Crystal, Raven and me.

“We won't hold our breath, Louise,” I said.

“That's not a good attitude, Brooke. Be positive,” she lectured.

“Oh, I'm positive,” I said. Raven swung her gaze back to me and smiled.

Louise pulled herself up and marched to another table to instruct someone how to use his silverware
properly. Butterfly looked like she was wilting. Her head went down and she toyed with her food, pushing her eggs from one side of the plate to the other.

We all looked at each other and then Crystal went to work.

“Don't be sad about it, Butterfly,” she said. “If they don't want you, they weren't going to be good parents for you anyway. You don't want to be with the wrong people again, do you?”

Butterfly looked up and shook her head, her eyes glazed with tears. It was as though all four of us had been rejected once again.

“When the right people come along, you'll know. There'll be a sort of chemistry between you, a good feeling. It will be like you had known them all your life,” Crystal continued. She was going to make a great doctor, I thought. She knew just how to make someone feel better.

“They liked me,” Butterfly said, “and I liked them, too. They were nice.”

“If they changed their mind, they weren't good for you,” I chimed in. “You heard what Crystal said. She's right.”

We didn't want to tell her how Louise had sabotaged her chances. Without hope, she could become even more withdrawn than she was. I knew that much because I felt that way myself.

“Besides,” I said, winking at Raven, “I have another idea I'm going to bring up soon.”

“Don't,” Crystal warned.

“Don't worry. I won't talk about it until I have a good plan.”

“To do what?” Butterfly asked, now intrigued.

“To . . .”

“Brooke.” Crystal widened her eyes and raised her eyebrows like she did when she was angry.

“Just be patient,” I told Butterfly. “It's a surprise.”

Crystal shook her head.

“False promises can hurt more, Brooke,” she warned.

“This won't be false. You'll see,” I said.

“I'm with you,” Raven declared, turning her black onyx eyes on Crystal.

“Why is it that I'm not surprised to hear that?” Crystal said with a shake of her head.

We went back to finishing our breakfast.

This was the last week of classes. Most of the time now was being spent in review for final exams. There was the usual excitement in the air anticipating the summer break. The older kids at the foster home could apply and get jobs. Companies, retail stores, even professional offices that needed summer help would send a notice over to the house and Louise would post it on the general bulletin board. Those who were interested filled out applications that Louise then forwarded to the businesses. It was part of the state agency structure to appeal for cooperation from area enterprises. To us it sometimes seemed more like charity. The company usually bragged that they were employing foster children. Crystal, Raven and I had worked last summer and still had a little money in our savings accounts. I had plans for that, but it was going to take something more dramatic to convince Crystal and I knew without her, it would be impossible to include Butterfly. Besides, despite her pessimistic attitude and her lectures, I really loved Crystal. I loved all of them and they all loved me.

That Friday night, the last weekend before finals, Louise came up to our rooms before dinner and barged in on Crystal and Butterfly. Raven and I
had just started studying when we heard Louise's shouts.

“You know the rules about cigarettes in this house!” Louise was saying to Crystal and Butterfly. “Gordon gets very upset. This building could go up in flames in minutes.”

“We don't have any cigarettes,” Crystal said. “Neither of us ever smoke. I know what smoking can do to you.”

“Of course she doesn't smoke,” I said, practically laughing as I stepped up beside Louise. “She would be the last one to have a cigarette in her room. She's always bawling out everyone else. If you really looked at us and saw us for who we are, you'd know that,” I said defensively.

“Mind your own business, Brooke, or I'll give you ten demerits.” She turned back to Crystal and Butterfly, who was cowering in her chair. I could see she was beginning to hyperventilate. “This is just as unpleasant for me as it is for you,” she continued. “I wish you girls hadn't put me in this position, but I am a parent.”

“Why are you doing this, Louise? Who told you Crystal and Butterfly were smoking?” I demanded.

“Never mind,” she said. “Just go back to your room. Both of you.”

Raven started toward her and I grabbed her arm and shook my head.

“Just wait,” I said. “She'll realize how wrong she is in a minute.”

Suddenly Louise crossed the room, went to Crystal's makeshift bookcase and began pulling the books off the shelf, finally revealing a pack of cigarettes. She held it up with her thumb and forefinger as if it were diseased.

“And what is this, might I ask?”

Crystal shook her head, her eyes wide.

“I don't know how that got there, Louise.”

“Maybe it walked in,” Louise said. She glared at Butterfly, who was crimson with fear. “This will be twenty demerits. The two of you are confined to your room for the weekend.”

“But I have to go to the library tomorrow to use the computer,” Crystal wailed.

“Not tomorrow you don't. You two get your meals and come back here. Your names will be posted and your room is off-limits to everyone else,” she emphasized, glaring at Raven and me.

“You know that someone else put those there, Louise. Crystal wouldn't have anything to do with cigarettes, and you can't possibly think Butterfly did,” I said.

“Did you put them here, Brooke?” she asked, her eyes small, as if she could see right through us to the truth.

“Of course not. None of us smoke, Louise, you've got to believe us.”

“I'd advise you and Raven to turn around and return to your room before I give you twenty demerits, too.”

I was about to respond when we all heard Gordon come up the stairs.

“What's going on?” he demanded.

“Nothing. It's under control,” Louise said quickly. She seemed terrified of him. He glared at Raven and me and then looked at Louise and saw the cigarettes. “Whose are those?”

“I have it under control, Gordon,” she said a little softer. “The guilty parties have been given their punishment.”

“Lucky for them it was you and not me,” he muttered, the muscles in his jaw straining. All sorts
of rage erupted inside Gordon Tooey, I thought. One day he was just going to blow apart. He was, as Crystal often said, combustible. He marched past us, his boots pounding the wooden floor down the corridor toward their private quarters. Everyone, even Louise, released a trapped breath.

“This isn't fair,” I said. I was going to say more, but I saw Crystal shake her head and practically beg me to remain silent. “Ridiculous,” I mumbled, turned myself and Raven around and retreated.

After we heard Louise leave, we snuck back to Crystal and Butterfly's room. They both looked stunned, Crystal slamming her books and grumbling to herself.

“I just have to get to the library to use the computer. There are some things I need to finish my papers,” Crystal complained.

“Just write out what I have to get and I'll go to the library for you, Crystal,” I offered. She sank in her seat.

“Who did this to us?” she asked, bewildered by the speed of the events.

“I don't think I have to take too many guesses,” I said. She looked up. “Sweet Megan Callaway. She's been plotting to get back at us for days, especially after I embarrassed her in the dining room.”

“Then why didn't she put the cigarettes in your room?”

“She probably thought it would hurt you and Butterfly more to be confined than it would me and Raven,” I said. “And she knew that what happens to you, happens to all of us.”

“I hate this place,” Crystal moaned. She wasn't one to say it so vehemently. “It turns us all into . . . monsters.”

“I'll take care of Megan,” I said.

“It won't do me any good now,” Crystal wailed.

“I don't like staying in the room all day,” Butterfly whimpered. “Especially when it's nice out. Little flowers need sunshine,” she added, mouthing something she often recited, something her stepmother had told her.

“Give some more thought to my suggestion, Crystal,” I said, fixing my eyes on her. She stared at me for a moment, glanced at Butterfly and then turned back to her books.

Some of the other kids had come out of their rooms to see what had caused the commotion. Megan and her roommate were at the far end of the hall and I could see the look of satisfaction on Megan's face when everyone passed the news down the corridor.

“I'm just going to go down there and let her know we're on to her,” I told Raven. I turned to walk toward Megan, but Raven held me back.

“I have another idea,” she whispered. “Come on.”

Confused, but intrigued, I followed her down the stairs. We went to the supply room and Raven snapped on the lights. She nodded at Patty Orsini's Polaroid camera.

“It has film in it too. She's saving the last three pictures for a special occasion. She told me yesterday,” she said.

“So?”

“I have the special occasion in mind,” she continued with a sly smirk, taking the camera off the shelf.

“You can get fifty demerits for this,” I warned her.

“We'll just borrow it. Don't worry.” She stuffed the camera under her blouse and we quickly re-treated,
returning to our room where she outlined her idea.

“Raven, you little devil,” I said excitedly. “Why didn't I think of that?”

She lingered at the door, which we kept slightly open while we waited. The girls were taking turns getting ready for bed. Megan Callaway, as usual, came out of her room with her towel. She wore her robe and went to the bathroom to shower. As soon as she closed the door, Raven nodded and the two of us slipped out and made our way to the bathroom. We listened at the door. When we heard the shower going, Raven opened the door by wedging her plastic library card between the tooth of the lock and the jamb. I had the camera in hand. Raven moved slowly, quietly and then we entered. Raven pulled back the shower curtain and I snapped the picture before Megan knew what was happening. It was a great shot, all frontal. She screamed and we were gone.

Hysterical with excitement, we returned to our room, shut the door and waited for the Polaroid to develop. The image emerged, clear and perfect. Revenge was at our fingertips. We put the camera back and then showed our prize to Crystal.

“What if it wasn't Megan who planted the cigarettes?” she wondered.

“I'm sure it was and even if it wasn't, she was somehow behind it, Crystal.”

“We're all going to get into more trouble, you know,” she said.

“At this point, I really don't care,” I said, but Crystal looked toward Butterfly. “Don't worry, we won't involve her or you. Leave it to Raven and me.”