My sister is stubborn. Which one, you ask? Both of them.
I know, I know - I am too. It runs in the family; I think we inherited it from Mom, who refuses to consider divorcing Father. I understand why: she’s scared that even with a restraining order, he’d still come after us. I told her he’d be in jail or at least in therapy by then, but she doesn’t want to risk our safety on a guess.
Kamorina continues to refuse to go to the police, period. I know she’s thought it through thoroughly, however, because the closest I’ve ever seen her was when Father almost hit Kara. Rina would do anything for Kara. Even still, she didn’t go - maybe she’s waiting for Mom, I guess?
Kara, despite having rarely if ever been hit, is quite possibly the most stubborn person in the family. We’ve almost lost count of the number of times we’ve told her to leave, to run and leave us behind. He rarely sees her to begin with; the likelihood of him noticing her absence would be slim. But she continues to stick around, no matter how guilty she feels watching Rina act as a distraction and take the hits for her.
Sitting in the staff room with Kara dozing off on my lap, I can’t help but wonder why Rina is forcing herself to go to class when she’s already exhausted and isn’t required to go. I shake my head; it probably has something to do with her reputation as Student Council President.
I’ve almost drifted off myself when Rina, Lina, Lakodi, and John come shuffling in. “Hey,” I call quietly. “How’d it go?”
Lina rubs her forehead. “Kami exhausted herself further by purposely drawing the attention of the entire class right when we walked in so they didn’t look at us for the rest of class, Lakodi was folding the orientation booklet into paper airplanes, John immediately crashed, and I… stared blankly at the teacher and didn’t hear a single word she said.” She turns to the others. “Sound about right?”
They all nod. Rina comes over to me and lifts Kara off my lap, holding her gently. Kara snuggles up to Rina’s chest and sinks into a deeper sleep. I meet Rina’s eyes, and as the others discuss their summer break and their plans for the rest of the day, Rina and I engage in a silent conversation that goes something like this:
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Conor: We can’t take her home like this, she won’t wake up in time.
Rina: There’s nowhere else for us to go, and Father is expecting us home by eight.
Conor: ...Maybe Lina’s house? Just until Kara wakes up.
Rina: Yeah, maybe. But how do we ask? I don’t want to impose…
Conor: It’s probably easier than you think, you know Lina already knows our situation.
Rina: Yeah. I’ll ask. Just give me a moment.
Rina turns to Lina. “Hey, Yuli?”
“Yeah?”
“Can we borrow your house for a little while? Kara’s sleeping, and she’ll have chores when we get home, so…”
Lina’s nodding before Rina even finishes her sentence. “Absolutely. And if you stay long enough, Mom’s making lasagna tonight.” She catches Rina’s expression. “You’ll still be home before eight, I promise. But, please? She always makes too much and you know she loves having you three over for dinner.”
Rina sighs. “Yeah. All right. We can go whenever you’re ready, Yuli, but don’t rush. We’re just going to sit here… and…” the rest of Rina’s sentence is cut off by a yawn.
Lina laughs. “I guess Kara isn’t the only one around here that’s tired, is she? Come on. Our conversation was pretty much over anyway.” She waves at the boys and tugs Rina out of the room.
I watch Lakodi and John for another full minute before following the girls. I know what those expressions mean, even if I’ve never seen them directed at my family before.
John knows about the abuse. And Lakodi is in love with my sister.
Grr. If only I knew what to do about it… I don’t hate Lakodi. In fact, I actually kinda like the guy, especially for his persistence in asking about Rina’s wounds, but I know it won’t go anywhere until our father is gone.
There’s just one problem. How do I accomplish that?