“Mommy got mad!” Bellarose gasped out, bent over, her hands on her knees, her Pippi Longstocking costume all messed up now.
“I know that, Rosie. Why?” Avena asked again, pulling more tissues out of the box to help clean my face, and I winced away.
“Callie broke her jewelry box,” she muttered before walking over and falling onto the bunk bed.
“Liar! You broke it!” I screamed and hiccupped again.
“I did not!” she screamed back, but she didn’t look at me. “Just shut up about it.”
My lips shook in anger, and I wanted to smack her. Avena looked at me and then hugged me.
“It’s okay, Callie. You’re okay, Mommy was just a little upset.”
“Why does she only beat me when she is mad? Why is she always mad at me?” I cried.
“I don’t know. Stop crying!” Avena tried to clean my face. “But she’ll get mad if you look like this.”
“Girls?”
Hearing the door, I got up quickly and tried to move away, but I fell back on my feet. When I looked over my shoulder, our dad stared at me for a long time. He had the cross box in his hands.
“Avena, Rosie, you guys go watch TV, okay?”
They nodded and left. I sat there, hanging my head.
“That’s enough crying, young lady,” he said, his voice different before sitting in front of me. He lifted my head, and I met his eyes. He sighed, opening the cross box and getting the wipes.
“How many times do I have to tell you not to make your mom mad?” He frowned, and I flinched, but he held me tighter. “Stay still, you can’t go around looking like this.”
“It hurts...”
He sighed again and looked at me. “Calliope, it will hurt more if you don’t clean it. Stay still, okay? Aren’t you a big girl?”
I nodded and stayed still. But my eyes burned from all the tears I was trying to hold back.
“Daddy, why…why does mommy get mad at me sometimes? She was happy with me before.”
He didn’t answer. He never answered, just wiped my cheeks and put cream on my face before applying bandages.
“Here.” He handed me a lollipop before getting up. “Sleep for a little bit. That will make you feel better.”
“Daddy!”
But he didn’t say anything or wait. He walked out of the room and closed the door behind him.
I lay on the bed, grabbed Avena’s bear, and cried. I cried and cried until my eyes felt puffy and I fell asleep.
It felt like only a minute, but when I woke up, Bellarose was asleep across from me, my lollipop half-eaten in her hands.
Avena was already on the top bunk asleep, too.
Rolling to my stomach, it growled.
I hadn’t eaten.
Sliding out of bed, I opened the door quietly and stepped into the hall. I tiptoed because I wanted to pass my parents' room without getting into trouble. When I made it to the middle of the steps, I heard them and grabbed the railing, stopping.
“You can’t keep on like this, Camilla. You almost killed her!” my dad yelled.