After school, as Zhenna and Kaitlyn made their way to the school's front gates, they glimpsed Ms. Roche having a heated conversation on the phone, pausing to bark orders to one of the basketball players, who immediately took off running towards the gate. Curious, Zhenna approached the teacher.
"Ms. Roche, is something wrong?" Zhenna asked.
"Hey Zhenna. We're a player short for the match." The teacher explained, looking around at the other girls headed for the gates.
"I can play," Zhenna offered.
Kaitlyn grabbed Zhenna's arm, "Zhenna." She called in a reprimanding tone.
"Nicole said you injured your hand." Ms. Roche added, looking the girl over.
"I can still play. I can just band my arm tighter." Zhenna said enthusiastically.
"And what am I going to tell your parents? You said you were banned from playing this year."
"It's an emergency; they'll understand."
"No."
"I don't have to be centre. I'm just making up body count on the court."
"Absolutely not." Ms. Roche said slowly walking towards the quadrangle.
"If we miss this match, we lose the championship again this year!"
"Little girl, go on your way." Ms. Roche said, annoyance creeping into her voice.
Before Zhenna could continue arguing, Ms. Roche called out to another student and walked away.
Kaitlyn tugged at her friend's arm. "Come on, let's go."
Kaitlyn walked Zhenna to the street before her mother's office before the two said goodbye.
64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOApugfhagk
Zhenna awoke to the echoes of shouting just before midnight. She lay on her back, listening to the muffled shouts. They were her mother's shouts. Moments later, she heard the sound of things crashing. Zhenna jumped out of bed and headed to her brother's room.
Reuben lay turned away from the door, his head sandwiched in his pillow. Seeing the state of her brother, Zhenna headed for her parents room. The light was on, and inside, Zhenna's mother was angrily stripping the bed while her father lay on the floor with a pillow and a sheet pulled over his head. Clothes had been pulled from the closets and cupboards and lay strewn about the room.
Zhenna stood in the doorway, angrily watching the scene in front of her. Her mother raged on about her father's infidelity; her latest accusation involved Reuben's sitter. She accused him of being openly unfaithful since Reuben's birth. Every interaction he had with a woman led their mother to accuse him. Her mother was breathless and sweating as she swore, kicking the man lying on the floor as she walked around the room. Thoughts raced through Zhenna's mind as she wondered how to stop her mother without further injuring herself. Thoughts immediately vanished from her mind when she saw her mother pick up a wooden bat near the bed.
"MOM!" Zhenna yelled, stepping into the room.
"You stay out of this." Her mother pointed at her with the bat.
"Will you stop this? It's the middle of the night!"
"I said stay out of this!" Her mother spat.
"Go back to your room, Zhenna." Her father's muffled voice came from the floor.
Zhenna walked up to her mother and grabbed hold of the bat, pleading with her mother to calm down. The two struggled briefly until her mother yanked the bat free. "This doesn't concern you; get the hell out!"
"It concerns me! I can't sleep with all the noise you're making."
"Zhenna, go to bed!" Her father ordered sternly.
Hearing her husband's voice, Zhenna's mother turned around, poised to strike him with the bat.
Zhenna's mother cursed at her. "Let it go!" she demanded.
"Or what? You'll do me like you did yesterday?"
"Zhenna!" Her father called sternly. "Go to your room; this doesn't concern you."
"It concerns me," Zhenna said, her tears spilling over. "Reuben and I can hear you from our rooms. Why can't you two just sit down and talk it out?! This happens every week; it's always the same arguments, nothing ever gets solved, and then you guys act like nothing is wrong afterwards. Do you have any idea how confusing it is for us? I'm tired of this shit! Mom, you're a fucking lawyer! Why is it so hard to listen to Dad and solve your own problem? You give other people the same advice for their marriage!"
Despite her mother's seemingly calm demeanour after her outburst, not ten minutes after she left, Zhenna's mother started up again, albeit quieter than before. Zhenna spent the rest of the night comforting her brother, like she always did.
ns 15.158.61.48da2
