Broken Wings 2 - Midnight Flight, Andrews, C. [classic books for 10 year olds .TXT] 📗

all of us, into trouble if she didn't keep that mouth shut.” Gia fixed her eyes angrily on me.

“So why didn't you write her name on the paper?” Dr. Foreman shot back at her like a prosecutor in a courtroom.

“I should have,” Gia replied without hesitation, glaring at me. “I'd like to change my vote in fact, from Teal to Phoebe.”

■

“Phoebe, what do you say to all this?”

“Gia's just being vicious and spiteful. I know she thinks Teal is the weakest.”

“Maybe she's not. Maybe it was courageous to try to escape like that,” Robin muttered like someone thinking aloud.

I spun on her. “You don't believe that. You're just trying to kiss up.”

“Don't tell me what I believe and what I don't believe, and I don't kiss up.” Robin smiled at me, her lips twisting toward the right corner of her mouth. “I'll tell you what I don't believe. I don't believe you when you say you only hurt that boy with a statue. I bet you weren't really just defending yourself. I even think you killed him.”

“What?”

“What are you saying, Robin?” Dr. Foreman asked.

“She told us she's here because she hit someone and supposedly put him in the hospital, but I'm beginning to wonder if that was all that really happened and if it really happened the way she said it did. She makes herself seem like such a goody-​goody while the rest of us admit to doing bad things. That's not honest, is it, Dr. Foreman?”

All of them were looking at me.

“Is that true, girls? Does Phoebe make herself out to be a victim?”

“Yes,” Teal said. “She does.”

“What do you think, Mindy? Could Phoebe have been the right choice?”

“Maybe.”

“Is that right? You're the one who's always warning everyone. You're the one who might be the most afraid and weak here,” I practically shouted at her. “You're the one who talks about this Posy.”

I immediately felt the heat rise up in the room. Mindy sank in her chair and looked quickly at Dr. Foreman. Gia, who never looked afraid, suddenly had eyes filled with terror.

“Is that so, Mindy? You talk about Posy?” Dr. Foreman looked more at Gia, who quickly shifted her eyes away guiltily.

“No,” Mindy said. “I don't.”

“How would she know her name if you hadn't talked about her?” Dr. Foreman leaned toward her, grasping the pencil the way I have seen boys grasp switchblades.

“It... I didn't say anything. I just mentioned her.”

“How did you mention her, Mindy? What did you say about her?”

“Nothing. Really,” she wailed.

“I thought you weren't going to talk about Posy anymore,” Dr. Foreman said to Gia.

“I don't!” she exclaimed. “She does!”

Dr. Foreman sat back. Mindy looked down. Gia was biting down hard on her lower lip, so hard I could feel the pain in my own. Silence seemed to fall like an iron curtain between us.

“Okay, girls,” Dr. Foreman finally said. “These sessions are what I call purges. We get some of the hateful, spiteful, evil things out of our system. We don't have to be deceitful about any of it anymore. You all have much to do to repair yourselves, and this has been a beginning.”

She held up the slips of paper. “We'll take this vote again sometime soon, perhaps, and it will be interesting to compare the results. For now, I want you all to return to the barracks and do your schoolwork.” She stood and opened her office door.

We rose and filed out. The m'ladies were waiting for us in the hallway.

“Be sure they go directly to the barracks and get to their schoolwork,” Dr. Foreman told them. Then she reached out and touched Mindy's shoulder. “I'm not angry at you, Mindy. I have great faith in you. I know you're going to continue to do well for me, for yourself, right?”

Mindy nodded, and Dr. Foreman lifted her hand from Mindy's shoulder.

No one said anything. We put on our shoes and in a silent parade marched across the yard. I heard Natani on his drum in his hogan. No one else seemed to notice or care. After we entered the barracks, the door was closed and we all went to our respective bunks.

The silence and heaviness in the air was so thick, I could have molded it into a dark plate to put into the kiln.

“Are we going to work together or what?” I asked.

No one said anything.

We might as well all have been in separate buildings, I thought. I started to read the chapter in science, but my eyes drifted off the page.

Mindy was staring at the floor. Suddenly, she started to tremble.

“Stop it,” Gia told her.

She didn't. She grew worse, shaking harder.

“What's wrong with her?” Robin asked.

Teal stood up. Drool was running down the sides of Mindy's mouth and she was making a small but deep moan.

“Maybe you should call for someone,” Teal said.

“No, leave her alone.” Gia got up and seized Mindy's shoulders, shaking her. “Stop it, Mindy. Stop it. You know what will happen if you don't.”

She shook her head. “It... doesn't... matter. She'smad at me, really mad at me this time,” Mindy gasped. Her eyes were wide with such terror, it took my own breath away.

I turned to Gia, pleading with my eyes for her to do something.

She smirked and took a deep breath. “She's not mad at you, Mindy.” Then Gia shouted at me, “Damn you. Did you have to tell about Posy?”

“I didn't tell anything. I don't even know who Posy is!” I cried. “She's the one who mentioned her. How were we supposed to know we shouldn't say the name?”

“Who is she?” Robin asked. “What's all the damn mystery about that y'all know and we don't?”

“Yes ” Teal followed. “Who is she?”

“Why can't we mention her name?” I demanded more firmly.

Gia rose and looked at us while she kept a hand on Mindy's shoulder. Mindy continued to tremble and held on to her.

“Well?” I said. “Who was Posy?”

“She was Dr. Foreman's daughter,” Gia said.

Broken Wings 2 - Midnight Flight

Posy's Story

What do you mean,