Just a Story of One Little Girl

Aiden picked me up like a toddler, and I snuggled deep into his arms. “How much was her drink?” he asked.

“Don’t worry about it. We can pay for it.”

“I’d rather you didn’t. How much?”

“About $3. But seriously –“

Aiden didn’t let him finish. He laid three singles on the table and started to walk away “Woah, woah, woah! No fucking way are you just gonna take her outta here. We weren’t done talking!”

My brother raised an eyebrow at Bryan. “Yes you are. She’s tired and stressed. She needs to go to sleep, not be bombarded by questions from idiotic strangers.”

Evan sprang up from the table, joining Bryan. “You think we’re the idiots? First of all, here in the little town of Bantam, Connecticut, we learn manners, so get some. Secondly, none of us clung to some random stranger. We could have kidnapped her.”

“What does manners have to do with anything? And anyway, you didn’t kidnap her, so everyone’s happy.” Aiden countered.

Bryan rolled his eyes. “He just kinda rambles when he’s mad. I think what he’s trying to say is that you’re an idiot without manners by taking her away from an unfinished conversation. And you’re lucky we didn’t do anything to her. She’s so little, we could’ve just had our way with her and been done with it.”

Aiden stiffened and put me down. “Are you saying that you’d have done something to an innocent child? She doesn’t look her age in the slightest, so you must be pedophiles.”

Bryan’s face flushed. “That isn’t what I said at all! Don’t try to twist my words around. All I’m saying is that we could have been some creepy pedo and just kidnapped her. I can’t believe such a responsible and protective older brother would let her just run amuck in a place they didn’t know very well.” His last sentenced was drenched in sarcasm.

Aiden snapped. I saw it coming, but there was nothing I could do to prevent it. Before anyone knew what was happening, Bryan was flat on his back with my brother beating the living daylights out of him. I backed up towards the door.

“Hey, are you alright?” Matt grabbed my arm. I stared at the boy before twisting out of his grip and leaving the diner. He followed me and grabbed my arm again, this time harder.

“Calm down. What’s got you so scared?”

“I – I” I stuttered, trying to break free. Finally, I bit the blonde’s wrist and sprinted down the street. I ran until I came to the park and quickly shoved myself into the tube Joey had found me in.

This wasn’t good. If Aiden got hurt, I was going to get it for sure, cast or no. Aiden wasn’t allowed to fight outside karate, and Dad usually punished him by hurting me. I put my head in my hands, trying to ignore the pounding headache that had started.

“Hey there.” I gasped and snapped my head to my left. Matt was squatting next to the slide smiling warmly at me.

“Mind if we join you?” I swiveled my head the other way and met Austin’s green eyes. I said nothing, but scooted to the middle so they could both climb in. “How do you fit in here so easy? It’s so cramped!”

I giggled at both boys obvious discomfort. “I’m a lot smaller than you. I find it comfy.”

Beside me, Matt shivered. “Are you cold? It’s freezing out here.” I shrugged I hadn’t really noticed the temperature until now, but he was right, it was chilly out and the rain wasn’t helping much.

“So why’d you run like that? What got you so scared kiddo?” Austin put his arm around me.

“Yeah. Your brother freaked as soon as I told him you left. That bite really hurt by the way.”

I looked at my feet. “I’m sorry. It’s just…Aiden is really driven by his emotions, and when he’s mad I really can’t talk him out of a fight, so I needed to change that emotion. I was hoping that if I ran away, he’d get worried again and stop fighting to come look for me if someone told him.” The boys looked at me inquisitively. “Aiden’s not supposed to fight unless he’s sparring in karate. If my dad finds out he did, I’m gonna get it.”

“Are you really supposed to be able to stop him? I mean, no offense, but look at you. You’re so little; there’s no way you could do anything.”

I sighed. “I’m Aiden’s punishment. If he does something and TV privileges or whatever isn’t working, my dad beats me. It’s one of the most sure-fire ways of getting him to behave. It has been since my mom died.

“Aiden’s really the only one in my family who likes me, so I guess I’m kinda lucky that it doesn’t happen with any of my other brothers. I mean, they love seeing me in pain, so that’d be like a reward for them.”

All of a sudden I felt two pairs of arms wrap around me. Tears threatened my eyes as I cuddled into their sympathetic embrace.