Kaya was having fun with some of the toys I had in my room, playing with them when I heard something in the hallway. Peaking out of my room, I saw my Dad bring Elain to the guest room, speaking softly to her.

“I need to use the bathroom,” Amalie said to Kaya.

With Kaya distracted, I went into the hallway, my Dad brought the door closed, but he didn’t move. Instead, he leaned against the door. He was listening. Even from the back, I could tell, his smile grew. What did she say?

“Dad?”

He turned to face me, his smile was still the same as it always was. “Yes, Sweetheart?”

“How’s Elain?”

He went on one knee for us to be eye to eye. “She’s in the guest room. For now, she’s resting. She’s not too badly hurt if that’s what you’re worried about.” He placed his right hand along my cheek as his thumb moved back and forth. “For now, can you and Kaya be as quiet as possible while Elain rests?”

“We can go into the living room,” I said in response. “If you think we might be too noisy.”

“I think you’ll be fine,” he says as he kissed the top of my head, then looked at me and asked. “Do you have something else you want to ask me?”

Why were you leaning on the door? But I wouldn’t say it out loud. “May I get a snack for Kaya and me, please?”

His smile grew. “Of course, Sweetie.” The two of us went down the stairs; my Dad went towards the basement, while I went to the kitchen’s fridge where Dad kept homemade cookies that I would sometimes have. That was when I noticed something, a bottle I have never seen in the kitchen before. Something that spelled: M-E-L-A-T-O-N-I-N.

Mel-A-Tone-In.

Huh, I never saw a word like that before. And why was a bottle like this in the fridge? What could it mean? Was it something that Dad took, like the things he’d take in the morning or the vitamins I’d have too, that was good for a person’s body, but this seemed different than that.

I left it where it was, placed some cookies on a plate and took it upstairs. Only to stop when seeing Kaya sitting on the floor, her dark eyes filled with worry.

“It’s not your fault,”

Kaya looked at me the moment I said it but then looked back to the floor. “It doesn’t feel like that.” She mumbled, hugging her knees close to her chest. “I mean… I try not to think about all the bad stuff, but… my sister was hurt…”

I put the tray on my desk before sitting down next to her. “Do you know how she was hurt?”

“I know a bit, the people who bullied her did it, but my Mom doesn’t like talking about it, and I wouldn’t even know what to look up online. And… I’m scared too… I don’t know what I’ll find if I do, because… what if it’s wrong? A lot of adults talk about things like ‘fake news’ or how people lie all the time online. How do I know what’s real and what’s not? I mean, I’m just a kid, and I’m not that smart…”

“You look plenty smart to me,” I tell her.

She didn’t bother to lift her head. “Thanks…” I don’t think she believed me.

That did sound like a big problem, one that I could only guess at how long Kaya was thinking it over. I wanted to help but, I wasn’t sure how to.

“Can I show you something?”

Kaya looked at me. “Like what?”

I moved away to open a chest where I kept my toys and pulled out two in question. Razzle and Dazzle were two goats with red and pink fur and stitched black eyes with wings.

Kaya looked at the fluffy soft, plush toys that I held in my arms. “What are they?”

I handed her one. “They’re fluffy goats. My aunt had them made for my birthday when I was four.” It was the one thing I really liked that she gave me. Even though I don’t get to see her a lot, she would always try to send something for Christmas and my birthday.

“They’re soft. What are their names?”

“The red is Razzle; the pink is Dazzle.”

She looked more at it as her hands ran over the soft fluff, then asked me. “Why do they have wings?”

“So they can fly!” I said with a happy smile. “At least that’s what my aunt says. They don’t actually fly, but it’d be neat if they did. And they always make me feel better whenever I’m feeling sad.”

For a bit, Kaya seemed to forget her worries. “What makes you sad?”

I sat down next to her, holding the red one close to my chest. “People who bully others.”

She looked surprised. “That doesn’t make you mad?”

“No, because I know that some are hurting deep down. Though if I had a friend who was bullied, then I’d be mad.”

Kaya looked confused. “What makes you think they’re hurting?”

“Well, because that’s normally the reason for it, in other cases, they do it to feel stronger than the person they hurt. That they think it’s their right to do it to others. My Dad always says if someone hurts me, then I should hurt them back, but… It won’t change anything. It never does.”

“You’re weird,” Kaya said, and all I could do was give a nervous smile. “But, you’re smart, and you seem to know a lot of big words, so it’s not all bad.”

Hearing her say that made me remember something. “Do you have a cellphone?”

“Yeah,” Kaya then pulled out a phone from her front overalls pocket. It had a pink cover and looked a bit bigger than her or my hands. “Why?”

“There was a word I saw recently, but I don’t know what it means. It was a big word; think we could look it up?”

Kaya put Dazzle in her lap as she pulled up Google. “You don’t have a phone, or iPad, or laptop to do that?”

“My Dad doesn’t like me spending all my time online. And he keeps my phone with him when he’s at home. I only use it when we go out or at school, same with my laptop.”

Kaya gave a confused look. I couldn’t blame her for how strongly my Dad kept technology away from me, given how many kids were always on their phones saying that prolonged time was bad for your health.

But there was also another reason, something in the way my Dad acted with Elain bothered me. I didn’t want to tell Kaya because it would make her worry.

“Wow, your Dad is super strict!”

Was he? It was just a rule he had in the house, it didn’t stop me from watching a movie with him or anything, plus I had my books to read and toys to play with if I wanted. “It’s not like that. Besides, I like reading from real books.”

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

She nodded. “I getcha’. I’m like that with comics. So, what’s the word? Can you spell it?”

“It’s M-E-L-A-T-O-N-I-N. Melatonin.”

“Mela-what? I don’t think I’ve heard that before.” She says as she types it in. “Where’d you see a word like that?”

“What’s it say?” I ask, changing the topic. The less she knew or asked me, the better. I wasn’t that good at lying.

“Uhhh… it’s something from our body? And that it’s used to help you sleep. Hmmm, oh, there’s a bottle here for pills and one in liquid. I think I’ve seen my Mom take this when coming home from a night shift at work in the hospital back when we lived in the U.S. She’d normally put it in food or drink since it has no taste. At least the kind she get’s.”

A feeling of worry hit me. Did my Dad give something like that to Elain? She didn’t need to sleep; she was only hurt. A feeling began to press on my chest. I put Razzle on my bed, went into the hall, and looked downstairs. Dad was still in the basement. The door was even ajar, and I could hear that familiar song being played. That feeling I had kept nagging, telling me that what was happening was not good. I needed to do something quickly.

“Amalie, what are you doing?” Kaya asked with surprise as I made my way to the guest room. I didn’t respond as I slowly and quietly opened the door, peeking inside before going in. Kaya followed with a look of worry.

I peered at Elain, who was now asleep. I looked to my hands, then to Elain. As much as I wanted to test in seeing if Elain would remain asleep, I didn’t want to alert my Dad, which was why I snuck silently into the room, making little noise.

Since I had really good hearing, I knew he did too. It’s what I got from him, something he seemed to be very proud of, that and our sight and sense of smell. What a lot of people don’t know is that my Dad doesn’t need glasses, but he wears them anyway.

I then left the room, closing the door as I headed back to my room, with Kaya, who still looked puzzled, following me. Once we were both inside, I closed the door and spoke in a hushed voice. “Kaya, you should call your family to come get you and Elain.”

“But…”

“Kids get hurt all the time,” I tell her in a whisper. “What happened was bad for sure, but you can’t hide it, or it might get worse later. What happened wasn’t something done on purpose. It was an accident. I’m sure your parents would understand that. Especially your mom, she’s a nurse, right?”

Kaya hesitated. “But what if they get mad at El?”

I couldn’t understand that. “Why would they get mad at Elain for protecting a kid from getting hurt in a fall? She’s your big sister. Isn’t it her job to keep you safe when your parents are not home?”

“But they seemed so mad…” Kaya said, her hands shaking. “When Elain was taken to the hospital, and when the police told them what happened…”

When she said that, I could understand where she was coming from. But I couldn’t back down from this. “A few days ago, I was hurt. Some boy and his mother were being mean, and my Dad became mad. But he wasn’t mad at me. He was mad at the people who hurt me. I think that’s why your Mom and Dad acted the way they did. Not because of Elain, but because of what happened to Elain.”

“You think so?”

I nodded. “Yes, people get mad all the time for things like that. I know it was like that when my Mom ran away and her parents, my grandparents were angry wanting to know why…”

I would normally never mention something so personal, but I wanted to hit home for Kaya that this was normal. “Wouldn’t you be just as mad if you learned someone hurt a person you cared about?”

“Yeah…” Kaya agreed, gripping her phone. “I was mad too when I found out why those big kids attacked my sister, it was stupid, really stupid. But… what could I do?”

“Tell someone,” I say, and she looked back at me, surprised. “Even if they don’t believe you, someone has to eventually, even if you have to scream it.”

Yet, even I knew that there were limits to that. At school, there was one person I would always have to keep an eye on, even if the other adults or some of the kids didn’t believe me because I knew I needed to find proof that even the adults couldn’t ignore.

But that wasn’t this.

“Even if they do get mad, you should still tell them because if it gets worse, you’d feel just as bad, wouldn’t you?”

Kaya’s eyes looked wet, close to crying, before she shut her eyes tightly and nodded quickly. “Yeah… Yeah, I would…” as if drawing courage from inside herself. She took a deep breath and called up her Mom. “Mom… I… I know you’re busy with work, but…” she took another breath, grasping my hand and squeezing it tight. “I need to tell you something… so please don’t be mad.”

* * *

Elain woke up shortly after, yet still looking exhausted. As she spoke with my Dad, I overheard that Elain was thinking about calling her Mom, that after thinking about it with a clear head, it was better to let them know than hide it.

“Are you sure?” my Dad asked.

“I am,” Elain said. “I don’t want you to be responsible if something did happen, but I am grateful that you were willing to keep it a secret.” She sighed as I remained in the hallway listening near my room. “I don’t know what came over me like that. I’m sorry, Mr. Hilmarsson. I shouldn’t unload all my troubles onto you. I’m sure you have enough to deal with without me adding to it.”

“Perish the thought, Miss. Ortiz. There is nothing wrong with venting your troubles, especially if you feel as though you cannot tell anyone else. If you’d like, I’d be more than happy to contact your mother for you if you aren’t comfortable with it yourself.”

“No, it’s okay. I know this is something I should do.” I could hear the faint sound of rustling, followed by tapping and dial tone. “Hey Mom, I know you’re busy, but I have to tell you something.”

Then I could faintly hear Elain’s Mom on the other end. She must have had the volume at max since it sounded so clear.

“Oh, Hun, it’s okay, I already know. Kaya called and told me what happened.” Her Mom said.

Elain sounded surprised. “She… she did?”

“She did, told me how you helped a boy from falling and had a bit of a scare. Is your arm okay? The graph didn’t tear?”

“No, Mr. Hilmarsson looked at it for me, and the graph is okay, same with my shoulder. I’m sorry, Mom.”

“What for? You helped that boy, and you’re okay. Besides, even if something happened to the graph, we would have taken care of it. I’m just glad you’re okay. I’ve already contacted your brother; he’ll be by shortly to take you and Kaya home. Don’t be mad at Kaya, okay?”

“I won’t,” Elain said. “Thanks, Mom,” she then ended the call and let out a breath. “Sorry for causing all this trouble, Mr. Hilmarsson.”

“It’s no trouble at all, Miss. Ortiz, if anything, I just hope that your worries have lessened somewhat after this.”

Elain didn’t respond, from the sounds of it, her worries might not go away any time soon, and that made me sad.

“…the people who bullied her did it, but my Mom doesn’t like talking about it, and I wouldn’t even know what to look up online.”

What Kaya said before stuck with me. What happened to Elain must have been bad, given how long it took for her injury to heal. In a way, I could understand…

Given what my Mom tried to do to me and how the kids treated me at school.

It made me wonder if I was in Elain’s situation, what would I have done?

Would I fight back? Would I just let it happen?

No.

If I did just let them hurt me in any shape or form, then my Dad would have done something far worse than what happened to me, that much I was sure of.

Yet part of me wondered, just how far my Dad would go for someone other than me, his flesh and blood, what would he do? Would it be just as horrible as I could think of, or worse?

Not long after that, Elain’s older brother came by to bring her and Kaya home. Kaya looked at her big sister with worry, probably thinking that Elain would be mad, but Elain only smiled and said to her.

“You did the right thing.”

Kaya’s unease went away as she smiled before looking at me and hugging me before I had the chance to say anything to her. Then just as quickly, she rushed out the door.

“Remember, Miss. Ortiz,” my Dad said with a smile. “You are more than welcome to stop by, even just to talk. Like what we did before, I’m always willing to lend an ear if you ever need it.”

Elain’s smile became a little sad. “Yeah…” but didn’t say anything further.

“See you later, Amalie!” Kaya called out as both my Dad and I waved goodbye as the three of them made their way back home across the street.

I felt relieved, the worry I had was gone, but that didn’t last for long.

“Did you say something?” my Dad asked me as he stood behind me as I closed the front door. His sudden question nearly made me freeze. “To make them leave?”

I felt my chest become tight as the urge to cover my mouth with my hands welled up inside me, but I pushed it down. I quickly turned to look up at him. He was so tall when he stood up, towering over me like a shadow of a massive tree.

“Kaya was worried that her parents would be mad. I just told her what you tell me, that lying isn’t good, and that if she were to keep this a secret, it would be like she was lying to them about what happened. I know you said Elain was okay, but what if she wasn’t? What would we do? I thought her Mom would get mad and blame you. I… I didn’t want that.” I looked down to the floor, to his feet, and I noticed that his slippers had a spot of something, but I didn’t get a good look at it when he went on his keens and gently placed his hand underneath my chin, making me look back into his eyes as he smiled. “Are you… disappointed in me?”

“Oh, Amalie…” he drawled my name slowly, pulling me into his arms and hugging me. “You could never disappoint me.” He then picked me up in his arms with ease. “Why not help me make dinner? It’d be nice to have an extra set of hands.”

“Okay,” I say as he carries me with no effort into the kitchen, my grey eyes looking to the front door as I silently hope that Kaya and Elain aren’t mad with me. Even though I didn’t know what my father planned, something about it all didn’t sit well with me, and the last thing I wanted was for them to become too close because if they were, I wouldn’t know what my Dad would do if he decided that they were rude in some way.

And that was something that I feared more than being completely and utterly alone.

As much as I loved my father, I didn’t want his monster consuming them if he were to consume anyone else…

I’d rather it be me…