Member-only story
I Never Told You But
Simone wailed, “Oww, Trevor, that hurts. Don’t we have something that doesn’t burn when you put it on a scraped knee?”
“Simone, we can’t keep doing this to keep it quiet from Boss.” Trevor protested. He pushed back his brown hair from his eyes. Keeping his caregiving gentle, afraid he might cry at hurting his little sister. Nearly twice her age but powerful as he attended middle school, and she was in grade school. “We need to get him involved to stop your lunch money thief.”
Simone sniffed, and her big eyes teared up. “It’s not just me but some of the other kids too. Mostly the small girls like me.”
“Yeah, I get that. Boys aren’t supposed to hurt girls. This guy’s a jerk. I know when you’ve been robbed ’cause you come home starving. I’m trying to hide the extra food you need, but we could get caught. Maybe I’ll lean on this brute so we can see how he likes it.”
Simone shook her head, feeling terror in the pit of her stomach. “No, please, Trev, don’t. If we tell, he’ll make it worse if he catches any of us alone. The rotten bully covered all the angles to trap us. Maria told the teacher about him. Two days later, he tripped her as she ran back to class after recess. She piled into the steps leading up to the room and split her lip. She went to the nurse’s office and was too scared to tell. Nothing happened to him.”
