Page 20 of Our Broken Pieces
I glanced at everyone, bewildered, but it was when Mrs. Lemas averted her eyes that my heart sank, and I knew.
Mrs. Berny gave me a small, sad smile. “Mystic, honey, why don’t you take a seat,” she said softly.
Even though I knew, I had to ask anyway. “What’s going on?”
“That’s what we’d like for you to tell us,” my father snapped.
“Gene,” my mother murmured, trying to calm him down.
I sat down and immediately wish I hadn’t. I didn’t like that, with the exception of Mrs. Berny, everyone else was standing. It felt intimidating. However, I stayed seated, not saying a word. I wasn’t going to offer them a shred of evidence until I knew for certain what this was all about.
After a couple of moments of uncomfortable silence, Mrs. Berny finally spoke. “Mystic, uhm, Mrs. Lemas came to me with some concerns.” My eyes flashed towards Mrs. Lemas, but she was still avoiding my gaze. “There are some concerns over…uhm, some bruising that you may have.”
I closed my eyes, and I could feel my heart drop so far down, I wasn’t sure if I’d ever find it again. When I opened them, Mrs. Berny was looking at me like she knew everything. And maybe she did. She was, after all, trained to spot child abuse and neglect. Maybe she could see what no one else could.
I said the only thing I could. “I appreciate the concern, Mrs. Berny. However, I’m fine.”
“This is horseshit!”
“Gene,” my mother rushed out.
“Ms. Anderson, can you tell us where you got these bruises?” Mr. Grant asked.
I turned to face him. “I’m clumsy sometimes,” I lied.
“Those are not accidental bruises, Mystic,” Mrs. Lemas said, finally facing the shitstorm she kicked off. “I’ve seen bruises from accidents or playing sports. Those are not them, Mystic.”
I could feel myself snarling at her. “They’re none of your business, is what they are, Mrs. Lemas.”
“Mystic!” my mother exclaimed. “This is serious!”
I turned in my chair to face her.“What is?Why are you all here?”
“We’re here, so you can tell us who the hell is abusing you!” my father roared.
I stood up out of my chair. “No one isabusingme!” I yelled back.
“Mystic-”
My head was spinning with so many people in the room trying to speak to me. “What, Mr. Grant? What?!” My eyes searched their faces and I was panicked.
Fucking. Panicked.
“Mystic, we know it’s Gage Evans, honey,” Mrs. Berny spoke, nearly dropping me to my knees.
I whirled around on her. “You know it’s Gage Evans thatwhat?”
“Oh, honey,” my mother cried. “Margot told us everything.”
I dropped in my chair, stunned.
Absolutely, positively stunned.
“Wh…what?”
“Once Mrs. Lemas brought her concerns to us, we called Margot in to shed some light on…what was going on, since she’s your best friend,” Mrs. Berny explained.
“Was.”
