So Everybody Loves You

Maria's POV

The sleepover that night with my mom and aunts was a lot of fun. They made it a total blast! Despite the fact that I'm only six and they're so much older than me, they treat me as an equal to them, and I love that feeling. Right now, I was sitting on a swing on the playground at school. I was digging the toes of my sandals into the sand and humming a tune when a little girl my age came and sat down on the swing next to me. She was new to the school here. She was in my class. She just came today. "Hi Melanie, how are you?" I asked her. "I'm okay." She said, looking down at the sand on the ground. "Are you sure?" "Yeah." I studied her and noticed once again the bruises that trailed up and down her arms. They were big ugly bruises, and I knew they had to hurt, whatever they were caused from. "Melanie?" "Hmm?" "Can I ask you a question?" "Sure." She said, still looking down. "Where did all of those bruises come from?" She waited for a minute to answer, then looked up and looked me directly in the eye. I'd never felt such a powerful connection in my life, especially not at my age, I'd never even known what it had meant to feel such a thing, but I felt it now, and I felt her pain as she spoke. "My daddy. He hits me. He shoves me. He pushes me. He hurts me." I guess I didn't know how to take it, because my daddy had never done such a thing! My eyes were wide and I swallowed the lump in my throat. "I'm sorry." I spoke quietly. "Can I help?" "Tell on him." "What?" "Tell on him, because I can't. He'll hurt me again." And then she got up and walked back to the school building as the bell rang and recess was over.

Reader's POV

Maria absent mindedly walked back to the building herself. She was confused. She didn't know what to do. She didn't know who to tell. She was just a little girl herself, she wasn't a big adult. She walked back to the class room and took her seat and watched as the teacher eyed Melanie suspiciously. Melanie would look over to Maria now and then, as if for comfort maybe, and Maria would smile at her. And then the teacher would give Maria, herself, a questioning look to which Maria just smiled sweetly in response. She didn't know what else to do. Should she tell the teacher? Her mind was rambling with thoughts as she remembered again and again what her new friend had told her just a few short hours before...A few weeks passed and Melanie continued to come to school with more and more bruises, but she lied about it. She lied to everybody. She lied to the teachers. She lied to the class mates. She lied to the principle. She lied to the counselor. But she didn't lie to Maria. "Tell on him please, I can't. He'll just hurt me worse." She continued to plead with her friend. It hurt Maria that she had let it go on this long even though it was because she was just so young and confused, she still felt really bad. By the end of this Thursday afternoon, Maria knew exactly what she had to do.

She walked in the door after Mike and Tre had picked them up from school that day, and went directly to where she'd hoped she'd find her dad. She found him sitting in the kitchen with his head rested in his hands as he was looking at a newspaper. But it didn't look as though it interested him very much. "Daddy?" "Hey baby girl what's up?" "I need to talk to you about something." "Okay, sure. Anything." "My new friend I told you about, Melanie ya know?" "Yeah, yeah, you told me about her. Go on." "She lies." "What?" "She lies, Daddy." "About what hunny? Does she lie to you?" "No, I'm the only one she doesn't lie to?" "What do you mean babe, who all does she lie to?" "Everyone Daddy. The teachers, the classroom, the principle guy." "Okay, now for my next question. What exactly does she lies about?" Maria hesitated. Paused. Contemplated telling him this or not. Should she tell her Daddy what she'd been told?

Billie Joe's POV

Maria told me she had something to tell me and I just, ya know, thought it was something normal about her day at school. Boy was I wrong. Her new friend was lying. No, she wasn't lying to Maria, but I think I'd have been happier if she were. I didn't realize how much I wasn't ready to hear what she had to say, when I asked her what it was that Melanie lied about. "Okay, now for my next question. What exactly is it that she lies about?" Her eyes averted from my gaze and focused on anything else in the room but me. She was nervous. She was hesitating telling me whatever it was that Melanie had told her, and I suddenly had a big twisted feeling in the pit of my gut. I saw my little girl's eyes go glassy as tears stung them there and she swallowed. "It's alright baby, just calm down and tell Daddy what it is." "He hits her." She said, looking down at her small hands which were folded so neatly in her lap. She didn't even have to explain. I already knew. I immediately stood and pulled her to me as she cried. She was just a little girl, she shouldn't have to deal with things like this. "Shh, shh baby. Don't cry. it's gonna be okay. It'll all be alright, Daddy's gonna take care of it okay?" She nodded against my stomach still crying. Tears started welling in my own eyes as well but I bit them back not wanting to break down in front of a little girl who had seen too much already. She needed someone strong to lean on now. And the someone had to be me.