Page 16 of Regrets

Red hot rage soars through my body when I see her right eye is swollen and purple. “What the fuck happened?”

Colt moves to her, pulling her into his arms, holding her close. “Pea, what happened?”

She buries her face in his chest and doesn’t say a word.

It’s clear what happened, but we need to hear it, and I ask, “P, did your foster father do that to you?”

She lifts her head out of Colt’s embrace, turning to look at me shyly. “It’s not a big deal.”

What the fuck is she talking about?She’s told us some shit over the years about living in foster care, how she’s bounced from house to house since she was six and how most of the time it was fine. She would get the occasional bad one where the food was terrible or the parents’ heat was turned off because they didn’t pay the bill, but not once did she mention physical abuse.

“Not a big deal? What the fuck is the matter with you, Penelope? That’s a big fucking deal.”

Colt tucks her to his side, glaring at me. “Take it easy on her.”

“No fucking way, Colt. You can’t be okay with this.”

“Of course I’m not, but calm the hell down.”

I turn to Penelope. “What happened?”

She shrugs her shoulders and looks down at the ground as if she’s ashamed, and I don’t like it. She has my family thinking she’s a meek little girl, shy and pristine, but I see something different. I see her strength, the fire burning in her eyes.

“He was drunk and pissed-off that I left my shoes on the floor.”

“So, he fucking hit you?”

She nods, lifting her eyes to look at me. “It came out of nowhere. He’s never even raised his voice before.”

“That motherfucker.”

Colt looks pained. “We have to report it.”

Now Penelope looks panicked as she shakes her head. “No. You can’t.”

He looks at her confused. “Why not? He hit you, Pea.”

She pushes out of his hold, which is strange for little Ms. Perfectly Behaved. “It doesn’t matter. I don’t want to move again. I just want to ride out my time and get to graduation.”

“But he hit you. What if it happens again?”

“It will,” I add, knowing this isn’t an isolated incident.

She looks directly at Colt. “Promise me you won’t say anything. I don’t want to deal with cops and then getting moved again. I’m tired of it, Colt.”

He swallows, contemplating actually not doing anything.

“We’ll do it for you then.”

She turns to me. “No. You can’t. They’ll still question me. They’ll moveme. Notyou.”

“So fucking what. They’ll move you somewhere better.”

She looks disturbed, her red lips turning into a frown. “Are you kidding? The next place could be worse. It’s like playing roulette, and I’m tired of spinning the wheel.”

We’ve always known Penelope was in foster care and goes to a different school than us, but she’s never seemed any different. Facing the harsh reality of the vastly different way she’s grown up is unsettling.

“Okay, fine. I’ll talk to the fucker myself and make sure he never does this again.”

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