Date: Fri, 28 Jul 2017 12:48:44 -0500 From: Girl Lover Subject: Ultimate Surrender chapter 5 Chapter 5 Friday. The last day of school before the weekend. During recess, Bonnie and Jennie walked along by themselves while the other kids ran and shouted on the playscape. Talking excitedly about everything that had happen last night, they eagerly discussed what they wanted to do later that night and over the weekend. "Do you really think we could go see them tomorrow, during the day?," Jennie asked Bonnie. "I think so. We'll ask them tonight. What do you want to do tomorrow?" Jennie shrugged, "I dunno." "We can go to Zilker Park...or maybe the mall..." Jennie thought, then asked, "I wanna go to the mall." "Okay." Then Bonnie remembered something, "How are we going to go without our parents finding out?" Jennie pondered this, then said, "My mom stays out late every night and sleeps till noon and I think I can sneak out without my dad noticing." "I can tell my mom that I'm meeting you and Stacy and her mom at the mall. The mall's so close to my house, my mom will let me walk over there." "What time should we meet?" "Well, I think we should go sometime in the morning, maybe about ten. Is that good?" "I think so." Bonnie grinned, "We're going to have a lot of fun tomorrow." Then she added, "We're going to have a lot of fun tonight." ***** That night at Kala's house, Kala and Jennie were on the couch, eating pizza, while Raven and Bonnie ate theirs at the table. Kala had ordered it earlier when they all met in the parking lot and she heard Jennie's stomach growling. "Where the fuck is the sauce?!," Raven scornfully asked Kala as she glared at the slice in her hand. Kala told her, "It tastes better this way." "Bullshit," Raven turned to Bonnie, "Do you think this tastes good?" Bonnie nodded, "Mmm-hmm," as she took another bite, to which Raven rolled her eyes. As she was finishing, Bonnie went over to look at Kala's CDs. Pulling out a few, she didn't recognize any of them and the covers seemed rather bizarre. "What is this?!," she asked, her face looking appalled. She pulled out another one, "EEWWW! This is gross!" Curious, Raven came over to see, then started laughing at Bonnie's reaction. "Which one is it?," Kala asked. "Gwar. Violence Has Arrived," Raven answered, still laughing, to which Kala also laughed. "What's so funny?," Bonnie asked, "This is guh-ross. Don't you have anything good?" "This is good," Raven told her. "Don't you have Adele or Sia?," Bonnie quickly looked through all the CDs. "Who?," Raven asked. Bonnie's mouth dropped in shock as she looked at Raven incredulously, "Hello! You don't know who Adele is?" Raven couldn't help smirking at her cute reaction, "Should I?" "She's only like the best singer in the world," Bonnie told her matter-of-factly as if everyone knew. Continuing to look at the CDs, she said, "All you have is weird stuff." She picked one up, "Am...Am..." Raven looked, "Amon Amarth." Throwing her hands up in exasperation, Bonnie told Jennie, "Let's go in the hot tub." Jennie took one last bite of pizza, then ran into the bedroom to get undressed as Bonnie unashamedly stripped in the living room with Raven eying her hungrily. Once she was naked, she ran to the patio door, pulled it open and jumped in the hot tub. Jennie quickly followed, wrapped in a towel, which she discarded once she entered the water. Staring at the hot tub with the naked little nymphs capering about, Raven and Kala pulled off their clothes and joined them on the patio. "Kala," Raven called out teasingly, "There's a couple of naked little girls in the hot tub. What should we do with them?" Bonnie and Jennie giggled gleefully. "Should we spank `em?," Raven asked to which Bonnie and Jennie looked at each other in pretend shock, with their eyes and mouths wide open. Kala grinned, "Nah. Let's just fuck `em silly." "Yea, fuck us silly!," Bonnie exclaimed, cracking Raven and Kala up. Jennie leaned close to Bonnie and whispered, "What's that mean?" Bonnie shrugged her shoulders, "I dunno." Raven and Kala climbed in. As Kala sat down, Raven lowered herself below the surface and Bonnie's eyes gleamed playfully as she tried running away through the chest-deep water. Reaching the far end, she turned around to see where Raven was, but all she saw was Kala and Jennie. Trying to see through the roiling water, she couldn't see her anywhere. Jennie, not wanting Raven to get her, went over to Kala and pressed close against her. Suddenly, Bonnie felt her legs being grabbed under the water. She screeched and tried to run, but Raven rose up in front of her. Bonnie backed away with Raven following until she ran into the bench. Raven rose up, placing her arms on either side while grinning at her. Unable to resist the sexy little girl before her, Raven picked her up and planted kisses on her face and neck, then on her nipples. Raven lightly patted Bonnie's tiny butt, "I want to kiss this cute little ass." Setting Bonnie down on her hands and knees on the deck surrounding the hot tub, Bonnie felt Raven's hands on her butt cheeks and was shocked to see Raven actually kissing her butt. "EEWWW! Jennie! She's kissing my BUTT!" Jennie's mouth dropped at the sight of Raven's face pushed up into Bonnie's butt. Turning to Kala, she asked, "What is she doing?!" "Enjoying herself," Kala chuckled at the girls' reactions, thinking, `Kids.' "That's so guh-ross!," Bonnie continued protesting. Raven continued loving Bonnie's little butt with her mouth, then pulled away to ask, "Do you want to kiss mine?," knowing full well what Bonnie's answer was going to be. "NO WAY!" Carefully rolling Bonnie over onto her back, Raven softly kissed her body all over till she got to her tiny sex. She placed her mouth upon it and held it there, using her tongue to push inside. Bonnie, propped up on her elbows, watched Raven's face between her legs as she smiled back. Raven's tongue tickled and her fingers slid along her chest, causing Bonnie to shiver from the little tremors that they caused. Jennie watched spellbound by how Bonnie seemed so affected; for once, it seemed, she was not her usual talkative self. She remembered how good it felt when Kala kissed her own missy last night. As she continued to watch, she felt Kala softly tracing her fingers up and down her chest. Whenever she went across her ribs, it tickled, causing Jennie to squirm slightly. Feeling a finger in her butt crack, she looked at Kala in surprise as Kala grinned back at her. Jennie turned to face her and noticing her boobs, reached out and gently touched them. She looked up at Kala for approval, who didn't say anything, only kept smiling at her. Smiling back, Jennie took it in her hand, feeling the softness between her fingers. They felt so much like pillows that she had to lay her head against one to see what it would feel like to use it like a pillow. Turning her head, she pressed her face into it and then rubbed the protruding nipple around in a circle by moving her head. Kala stared at the little girl in astonishment. She had never seen such a reaction before, once again thinking, `Kids.' Such an endearing reaction to her body turned her on in a way that no adult ever did. She reached around and cupped Jennie's bottom, letting her finger slide into her crack. Her other hand slowly rubbed up and down Jennie's back, reminding her of a nursing mother. After a minute, her hand slid around to rub against Jennie's sex. At first rubbing along the outside, then sliding along the middle, letting her finger sink between the soft folds, drawing out little sighs of contentment from the young girl in her arms. Bending down, Kala pressed her lips against Jennie's; softly and slowly, knowing how fragile she was. Feeling the sensations of pleasure coursing between her legs, Jennie welcomed Kala's soft lips. It was like a massage, relaxing her completely. So much so that she her legs began to feel weak and she would have fallen if Kala had not been holding her up. Kala kept moving her finger inside her sex, making the feeling stronger while Jennie hung limply in her arms, quietly panting. As Kala watched, Jennie's body seemed to become rigid, an intense look on her face as she tried to speak, "Ka...Ka...Ka...oooooooooooh..." Watching Jennie cum never ceased to amaze Kala, mattering more than cumming herself. She picked up and held Jennie against her chest while she recovered and glanced across the way at Raven and Bonnie. Raven was laying on her back on the deck, her legs widely spread while Bonnie kneeled before her, her hand inside Raven's pussy while she was obviously licking it. Raven was watching her intensely, her face contorting in response to Bonnie's tongue. Bonnie raised up and asked Raven, "Does it feel good?" "Oh yea. Keep doing it," Raven answered. "This is really weird." Raven rolled her eyes, "I know." Bonnie stuck her tongue out and continued licking Raven. At first, she thought it would taste gross, like pee, but actually, it didn't have a taste. Bonnie didn't understand why doing this would feel so good, but she knew that when Raven did it to her, it was the most awesome feeling. She felt Raven raise up, "Bonnie." Bonnie looked up. "Lick right here." Bonnie looked at the fleshy protrusion that Raven was holding between her thumb and forefinger and said, "Okay." She touched her tongue to it, licking it and noticing that Raven was moaning and squeezing her boobs. Bonnie giggled. It looked so funny. She kept licking and watched how Raven reacted more and more to it. Raven was absolutely loving what this little girl was doing to her. The fire within her began to swell, growing larger and larger till suddenly it exploded; holding her breath tightly, her back arched, shrieking, "Oooooohhhh shit! Oh fuck! Oh Fuck! Oh fuck! OOHHH FUUUUUCCCKKKKK....!" Raven panted, her hands falling listlessly to her sides. She sat up, "Shit, you make me feel so good!" Slipping back into the water, she was still panting as she continued to revel in her orgasm's ecstasy. Bonnie leaned against her and as she saw Jennie, she remembered about asking about the weekend. "Oh yea," she exclaimed aloud. "What?," Raven asked. "Tomorrow, me and Jennie were wondering if we could go to the mall." "What about your parents? Aren't they gonna wonder where you are?" "I'm gonna tell my parents that me and Jennie and Stacy are going to the mall with Stacy's mom." Kala looked down at Jennie, "Is that what you're gonna tell your folks?" Jennie looked uncomfortable and mumbled, "Something like that." Kala looked up at Raven, "What do you think?" Raven asked Bonnie, "The mall?" Bonnie, leaning against her, looked up at her and nodded excitedly. "What time?" "Ten?" Kala asked Jennie, "Can you come at ten?" Jennie was silent for a while, then nodded. Bonnie and Jennie played in the hot tub while Raven and Kala watched, then when they noticed the girls yawning, they knew they had to take them home. Raven and Bonnie got out of the hot tub while Kala waited for them to leave so Jennie wouldn't be embarrassed to get out. Then Kala and Jennie got dressed and went back to the parking lot. Kala kissed her goodnight. Seeing how Jennie looked sad, she asked, "You gonna miss me?" Jennie nodded, then she went through the trees with Kala watching her. After Jennie disappeared, Kala remained there, staring at the trees that she disappeared into. She couldn't shake the feeling that there was something wrong with Jennie, something that didn't make sense. ***** "Well, it's about time you got up," Bonnie's dad greeted her when she walked into the dining room on Saturday morning. She already knew what time it was. 8:37. She was glad that there was no school so she could catch up on her sleep and for the first time all week, she felt rested. She sat down at the table and picked up the box of Froot Loops that she always ate for breakfast and poured herself a bowel. Her mom brought her two pieces of buttered toast and a glass of orange juice, then went to her room to pick up her dirty clothes from yesterday that were invariably on the floor. After she finished, she went to the living room and flopped down on the couch and instinctively turned on the TV, changing the channel till she found a cartoon. As she stared blankly at the screen, only half-watching, she mulled over how she needed to tell her parents about going to the mall. She knew that they were okay with her walking there by herself because it was so close and they would think Stacy's mom would be there. And the mall with it's many stores was the perfect place to keep her "occupied" for hours so her parents wouldn't wonder why she was gone for so long. On Cartoon Network, Sylvester was chasing Tweety in a store and had fallen down the stairs into a bunch of mannequin parts which he was now wearing as he ran after Tweety. She had seen this one before and would've been laughing at it, if she wasn't so eager to go. She was watching the clock as usual. The same clock that told her when her parents would go to bed at night so she could rendezvous with Raven. It was 8:53. Sighing, she tried to concentrate on watching the cartoon, but it was as futile as Sylvester's efforts in catching Tweety. Finally at about five minutes to ten, she turned off the TV and asked her mom if she could go to the mall with Jennie, Stacy and her mom. "How long will you be gone?," her mom asked. "Till about two." Bonnie didn't know how long she would be out, but two sounded like a good answer. Not too early, not too late. "And we'll eat lunch at the food court." "Okay, call me later." "I will," Bonnie answered as she ran out the door. Walking down the street, she called Raven and told her she was on her way to the parking lot. When she got there, Jennie wasn't there, so she waited. Several minutes later, Raven and Kala drove up and together, they waited on Jennie. They waited; each of them checking the time every few minutes. Finally, after seeing that it was 10:15, Bonnie exclaimed, "Where is she?" Kala stood up from the rock that she had been sitting on and starting walking towards the trees. Raven called out, "What are you going to do? Check every house till you find her and then ask her parents if you could take their daughter out?" Kala stopped mid-stride, then turned towards her, "Something must have happened. I need to see if she needs..." She stopped, not sure about what to say. "How are you even going to find her in whatever neighborhood she's in?" Kala scowled, then turned around and came back. Several more minutes went by as Kala became more and more frustrated and worried. Bonnie was worried herself, but like Kala, didn't know what to do. Finally, Kala stood up and ran towards the trees. Bonnie started forward, eagerly searching for Jennie before seeing her running through the trees towards Kala. Kala knelt down and hugged Jennie, then upon pulling away, noticed Jennie's eyes seemed red. "You okay?" Jennie nodded, "Yea, I just got something in my eyes earlier." Kala took her hand and they walked back to the parking lot, "What happened?" "I wasn't able to leave because my dad was in the living room and I had to wait for him to go back to his room." "I'm glad you were able to come." "Me too." Highland Mall was behind the theater. As they stepped inside, Bonnie saw a narrow ledge running alongside the wall a couple of inches off the floor and ran over, stepping onto it. Looking back at Jennie, Bonnie called out, "Come on, Jennie! You're in hot lava! Get out of the hot lava!" Jennie excitedly ran over and together, they inched their way along the ledge as Raven and Kala stared at them confusedly. "What the hell are you doing?!," Raven called out to Bonnie. "We have to stay out of the hot lava!" "Yea, the floor is hot lava!," Jennie piped in. The girls slowly moved a foot at a time, along the ledge as Raven looked exasperatedly at them. "Can you fucking believe this?!," Raven asked Kala. Kala suppressed a laugh at Raven's frustration. Finally, Raven couldn't wait any more and strode over, picking Bonnie up, who squealed, "Don't let me fall in the hot lava!" Ignoring her plea, she set Bonnie down, who immediately began hopping from one foot to the other, squeaking, "Ow...ow...ow...ow...," before hopping back on the ledge. "Bonnie!...," Raven called out. "I can't touch the hot lava." Kala reminded Raven, "They're kids." Kala went over to Jennie and kneeled down with her back facing Jennie, "Climb on." Jennie happily climbed on and Kala stood up, carrying her piggyback. Raven scowled frustratingly as Bonnie slowly moved along several more feet to the end of the ledge before hopping off. They continued walking along, Kala still carrying Jennie piggyback as they passed by various stores. Suddenly, Jennie squealed excitedly, "A puppy!," and patted Kala's shoulder, exclaiming, "Put me down! Put me down!" Kala squatted while Jennie slid off and ran with Bonnie inside the pet store where a puppy was pouncing inside a little pen. Kala and Raven followed and hovered nearby as Bonnie and Jennie peered into the pen and petted the puppy. After looking at the other animals, they left and went to Kay-Bee Toys. As the girls looked at the various toys, Raven and Kala stood off to the side, watching them. Raven remarked, "I could get used to this." "Hanging out at the mall?" "Doing stuff with Bonnie. Being with her instead of just having sex with her." Kala watched Jennie as she picked up a Barbie doll, "Yea, me too. Who'd've guess that I would fall for a kid," As Jennie looked at the Barbie that she was holding, she asked Bonnie, "What's Raven like?" "What do you mean?" "I mean...what do you do...," Jennie looked behind her to make sure no one was nearby, then whispered, "...when you have sex?" "Oh," Bonnie smiled, "I like...playing with her boobs...and I like it when she chases me in the hot tub,...oh and I LOVE when she touches my missy. What do you like about Kala?" "I like her boobs, but what I like most about her is when she holds me. It makes me feel safe. Does that sound dumb?" "Nah," Bonnie looked along the shelf, "I want ta go to the bookstore. Do you want ta come?" "Nah, I'm wanna stay here," Jennie replied so Bonnie went over to Raven and asked, "Can we go to the bookstore?" "Sure." They went over to Walden's Books and Bonnie headed for the children's section. There, she looked at shelves and picked out a Richard Scarry book, telling Raven, "I know this is a little kid's book, but I love the pictures." After Bonnie finished it, she put it back and bent over to get another one. Raven felt her pussy began to stir. She didn't mean for it to happen, but watching Bonnie was getting to her. Bonnie was counting all the wacky things in Dr Seuss' Wacky Wednesday, pointing to each one as she whispered, "1...2...3....," when she suddenly felt Raven's hands coming around her sides and against her chest. "What are you doing?!," Fondling Bonnie's chest, Raven whispered, "I can't help it. You're turning me on too much." "Somebody's going to see you!," Bonnie whispered. "No, they won't. There's just some woman with her kid at the front of the store." Bonnie turned the page and showed the picture to Raven, exclaiming laughingly, "Look, you can see his butt!" Raven bent over and kissed her neck, telling her, "I want to see your butt. Let's go to the fitting rooms over at JC Penny's." Bonnie looked at her, a pretend shocked look on her face, and whispering in a laughing voice, "You are so bad!" Raven kissed her neck again, "And you are so sexy." ***** Back at Kay-Bee toys, Kala stood beside Jennie as she continued looking at the toys. Curious, Kala asked her, "Do you have any of these at home?" "No." "What kind of toys do you have?" "...I uh,...have..." Jennie didn't say anymore and Kala didn't push her. Feeling hungry, Kala asked, "D'ya wanna get something to eat?" "Yea," Jennie said happily. They went to the Food Court and Kala got both of them burgers and milkshakes. Kala carried their food to a booth and sat down. Jennie slid in beside her instead of across from her and bit into her burger hungrily. Still curious about her, Kala asked, "So, what do your parents do?" In between bites, Jennie told her, "I don't know what my dad does. He stays home a lot and makes these pretty blue crystals, but I'm not supposed to touch them. People come by and he sells the crystals to them. My mom works at night. I don't know where. I once heard her telling my dad it was twelve street." "Twelve street?," Kala asked. "Yea. I remember it because my dad told me that when I turn twelve, I can work there with my mom." Suddenly recognizing what she was saying, Kala froze, then asked slowly, "You mean Twelfth Street?" "Yea. My mom says she meets John there and sometimes he gives her a lot of money and sometimes not so much." Kala's lips felt dry and when she spoke, her voice sounded hollow and far away, "And your dad, who sells crystals to people, wants you to work there?" "Yea. He says a lot of guys will pay good money for me to do tricks, but I don't know any tricks." Kala's eyes flashed with anger as her hands, beneath the table, clenched into fists. She never felt such rage as she felt now. `And she doesn't even know!', she thought. "Jennie...," Kala began as she put her arm around her. Jennie flinched as she sucked her breath in. Kala pulled back in alarm, "What?!" "Nothing," Jennie quickly said, "I...I....," then she closed her mouth and looked down at the table. Confused, Kala watched her carefully, then slowly laid her hand on Jennie's shoulder. Again, Jennie flinched. She tried not to, but couldn't help it. As Jennie remained still, her hands in her lap, staring at her half-eaten burger nervously, Kala carefully lifted the back of her shirt up and saw the large ugly, red bruise on her upper back. She also saw the other bruise from three days ago below it and finally understood what was going on. For a second, Kala just stared at it, the shock and rage building within her, then she lowered her shirt and being mindful not to touch it, gently hugged her as tears welled up in her eyes. "Jennie..." Jennie looked at her. Kala's voice failed her. She didn't know what to say. After a minute, she said quietly, "Jennie...what your parents are doing to you is wrong. They're hurting you. Do you have any other family?" "My grandma, but I can't remember where she lives. It's some kind of tree in Colorado." "There's no one else?" Jennie shook her head. Kala slowly breathed out. She couldn't take Jennie to the police. That would cause more problems then it would solve since they might recognize Kala and they would just stick Jennie in some foster home with a bunch of strangers. Not knowing what else to do and before she realized it, she blurted out, "Jennie, would you like to live with me for awhile?" Jennie's eyes brightened as her mouth slowly dropped, "You mean...with you...at your house?" Kala nodded. "Can I bring my school stuff and Betsy Bear?" "Betsy Bear?" Jennie mumbled, "My uh, teddy bear." "Sure." Jennie's face immediately brightened, convincing Kala that this was the right thing to do rather than taking her to the police. "Come on, let's go," she told Jennie, giving her a hopeful smile. They slid out of the booth and walked toward the exit. As they walked, Kala's thoughts asked her, `You're just going to take her from her parents?' `They're not being her parents!', she responded silently. `And you think you're gonna be her new mom?', her thoughts persisted. Kala didn't respond. She hadn't thought that far ahead and didn't know what she was going to do, only that she had to get Jennie out of there. Stepping outside, Kala saw that they were close enough to walk to the theater parking lot that they always met at. As they walked toward the grove of trees, Kala asked, "Do you think you can grab your stuff and come back here without your parents noticing?" Jennie answered, "I think so." Reaching the edge of the grove, Kala told her, "Just go inside, grab what you want to take and come back here." She watched as Jennie ran into the trees. Several minutes passed and Kala paced nervously. She stared off into the trees, her nervousness growing until suddenly she couldn't wait any more. She jogged into the trees, her eyes scanning the unfamiliar territory. Seeing nothing but trees, she continued forward till finally, something appeared. A dilapidated old shack, leaning precariously, surrounded by piles of junk. As she approached, she heard a scream, then faint crying. Breaking into a run, she quickly reached the house and cautiously peered through the window. Inside, a disheveled, weary-eyed woman, looking as worn and run-down as the house itself, sat on the bare mattress of a bed. The room was bare except for the bed and a chest of drawers cluttered with beer bottles, discarded cigarettes, and a crack pipe. Her age was impossible to tell. She seemed young, but at the same time, fatigued and old. She was tying a tan rubber tube around her upper arm. She flicked the inside of her elbow a few times, then picked up a syringe off the bed and pushed it into the her arm. Reaching behind her back, Kala pulled out her Glock, flicking the safety off as she went along the side of the house towards the door. She could hear Jennie's anguished crying now clearly, as well as a man's angry voice telling her to shut up. Creeping up to the door, she braced herself for a second, then kicked it opened and stepped inside. Instantly, the filth and smell of the appalling living conditions hit her. She was in a kitchen, the sink filled with dishes encrusted with long-dried food and flies. Ahead of her, an overflowing trash can in a dilapidated living room, scattered beer bottles on the filthy floor, a meth lab with a plate of blue crystals scattered on a table, a shotgun leaning against the corner. She couldn't see anyone, but heard Jennie's crying in the next room, along with a man's angry voice and the woman yelling back. Quickly moving forward, she saw Jennie lying on the floor against the wall, holding her arm and crying. Quickly running over to her, Kala tried to raise her up, but the instant that she touched her arm, Jennie screamed in agony. Kala then saw that it was broken. Suddenly, the man's voice exploded from somewhere behind her, "JENNIE, IF YOU DON'T SHUT THE FUCK UP, I'M GONNA MAKE YOU SHUT UP!" Kala stood up, a look of pure rage crossing her face as she raised her Glock and slowly walked towards the direction that the voice was coming from. As she approached the hallway, a gaunt, haggard-looking man with a straggly, unkempt beard strode out into the hall from one of the rooms. Upon seeing Kala, he screamed, "WHAT THE FUCK?!" The Glock in Kala's hand was her answer. Its report deafening and its justice instant. The man screamed and fell backward, grabbing his upper right leg. Sprawled out on the floor, he looked at the blood pooling on the floor under his leg. Kala slowly walked towards him. Her Glock pointing at his head and her eyes flashing with fury as she glared at the man cowering before her. He dragged himself backwards, leaving a trail of blood on the grimy, wooden floor. Her voice was cold and distant as she slowly growled, "It was you...the bruises, the fear in her eyes every night, never wanting to come back here...all because of you." The man, still dragging himself backwards, hit the corner behind him and stopped. He raised his bloody hands to shield his face as Kala aimed at his head. Jennie's crying came to her ears, piercing through her rage. Still aiming her pistol at the man's head, Kala briefly turned towards Jennie as she trembled in terror on the floor, watching her. Kala's voice was cold and deadly, "Jennie...close your eyes and turn away." Jennie didn't move. She remained staring wide-eyed at Kala and her father, tears streaming down her face. Kala raised her voice, scolding her, "Jennie! Close your eyes!" Jennie still didn't move. Crying, she clutched her arm, still staring at Kala and her father. Exasperated, Kala fixed her deadly gaze back to the man, wanting to squeeze the trigger so badly. "What do you want?," he pleaded. "Jennie," she growled back menacingly. "You can't take her!," he told her, "She's my daughter." "Not anymore!," she spit the words at him. Kala went over to Jennie, kneeled down and carefully raised her to her feet, keeping her broken arm still and told her quietly, "We're leaving. Where's your room?" Jennie, managing to get her words through her crying, said quietly, "I don't have one." "Then where do you sleep?" Jennie looked at the far corner, next to the kitchen. Kala followed her eyes. There, in the corner, was an old, worn, thread-bare blanket, lying on the floor with a small backpack next to it. On one end of the blanket, there was a faded blue dress, jeans and a shirt, folded up which served as her pillow. Walking over, Kala saw a few torn pieces of paper with pictures colored in crayon with a few discarded crayons laying next to them. She picked up one of the pieces of paper. On it was a crudely drawn picture of a stick figure with a mohawk on a motorcycle with a smaller stick figure astride in front, both figures smiling. On another piece of paper, the two stick figures were holding hands and smiling with a heart drawn above them. Tears ran down Kala's cheek as the images burned into her. Rage began to fill her once again as her hand tighten around the grip of her Glock, but she pushed past it, focusing on Jennie's backpack. She picked it up and stuffed the pictures in her pocket, then went back to Jennie, glaring at the man, who was still watching her from the end of the hall. With the backpack hanging in the crook of her elbow, she carefully picked up Jennie with her left arm, carefully cradling her broken arm. "B-Betsy Bear," Jennie reminded Kala, her crying mostly subsided, "She's in there," looking toward an open door in the hallway. Kala carried Jennie into the hall towards the door, keeping her eyes on the man. Instead of walking in, she stood off to the side and barely peeked in. It was the bedroom that she had seen earlier from outside. The woman was lying on her back on the bed, her eyes staring blankly upward, her arms akimbo, her legs dangling off the edge. The syringe still stuck in her arm with a rivulet of blood coursing from it and pooling in the nook of her elbow. There, just under the edge of the bed was the teddy bear, a dingy, pink Care Bear. Looking back at Jennie, Kala whispered, "Close your eyes..." "Why?" "Please...just...just close them." Jennie did and Kala gently pressed Jennie's head into her shoulder so she couldn't see. Then walking into the room, Kala used her free hand to feel for the woman's carotid artery on her neck. There was no pulse. She was gone. Kala stared at her for a few seconds, then making sure Jennie still couldn't see, she squatted down, grabbed the teddy bear and backed out of the room. Taking one last look at the man in the corner and clutching Jennie tightly to her, she bolted. Out of the house, through the grove and towards her bike still in the Highland Mall parking lot. Upon reaching it, she carefully set Jennie on the seat, then quickly stuffed the teddy bear and backpack in the tail bag strapped on the back of her bike, then she pulled off her belt. Looping it around Jennie's neck, she used the belt as a strap to keep Jennie's arm suspended. Climbing on behind Jennie, she fired up her bike and slowly drove over to an emergency clinic that was a few miles down the road. ***** Kala opened the door for Jennie to walk inside the North Austin Urgent Care Clinic. After leading her to a chair, Kala walked up to the receptionist, "My daughter broke her arm." The receptionist handed her a form, "Fill this out please." Kala took it and sat beside Jennie. As Kala began filling it out, she said quietly, "I'm writing my last name on this so it will look like you're my daughter." Kala continued filling out the paperwork, occasionally asking Jennie questions on the form, such as her date of birth, until the nurse called them back. Jennie's arm was X-rayed and then they were left alone in the room for the doctor to come see them. Kala turned to Jennie, "All those times that you didn't want me to walk you home...." Jennie looked at the floor sadly, whispering, "I didn't want him to hurt you." Kala hugged her, kissing the top of her head, then tilting her chin up so Jennie could see her, "No one will ever hurt you again." Several minutes later, the doctor came in, explaining that it was a simple fracture and should heal on its own in about a week. He placed Jennie's arm in a soft cast, made of padded cloth that could be easily removed by unbuckling the strap, wrote a prescription for some pain relievers and then they left. Kala slowly drove to Wal-Green's to pick up the prescription and then to her house. ***** Kala pulled into the garage and after getting off herself, carefully lifted Jennie down. Going inside, Kala led her to the couch. Going into the kitchen for a glass of water, Kala gave her one of the pain reliever pills and sat down with her, watching as she swallowed it with some water. Her eyes were still red, though she wasn't crying anymore. "Does it hurt much?," Kala asked. Jennie nodded. Kala carefully hugged her, whispering, "I'm so sorry." After pulling back, Kala turned on the TV, flipping through the channels till Jennie said, "Can we watch this?" Kala smiled. It was a cartoon channel with old cartoons from the seventies and eighties. Kala sat for a minute, then told her, "I'm going to step outside and call Raven, okay?" Jennie mumbled, "Okay." Kala stood up and first went to the kitchen for a beer, then stepped outside in the front yard and looked up at the clear, blue sky. It was hard to imagine how the world could look so beautiful when other people's worlds were so fucked-up. As she took a swig, the implications of what she did weighed on her. Jennie was actually staying with her. Could she keep her? How would that work? What about school? `Let's just take this one day at a time', she told herself. ***** At Highland Mall, Raven and Bonnie were walking along on their way to the JC Penny's department store. Raven listening to Bonnie's rambling on about the kids at school. "...so I said, `Why should I have to bring a present if Linda didn't?' See?! That's what she does all the time She just thinks she's sooo important because her mom's the principal. But I think she's just full of it. And this one time, Steven forgot his math homework at home and..." Raven rolled her eyes. Bonnie had been going on for quite a while, but despite that Raven wasn't interested in any of it, she enjoyed listening to her. Hearing her phone ring, she pulled it out and saw it was Kala, "Yeah?......Fuck......Is she okay?......What happened?.....What are you going to do with her?....Yea, okay...We'll be right over." Raven put her phone away, and stood there for several seconds. Bonnie, seeing the serious look on her face, asked, "What's wrong?" Raven didn't answer. She slowly raised her arm and stared at the scar on her wrist for several seconds, then she squatted down in front of Bonnie, "Something's happened to Jennie." Bonnie grew quiet, "What?" "Not everyone has a good home like you do. Do you remember a few days ago when you told me that Jennie would fall down a lot, and that she would forget her lunch, and kept wearing the same clothes every day?" Bonnie nodded. "Bonnie,...Jennie never fell down. Her dad was hitting her. Her parents never gave her any lunch, or new clothes." Bonnie's face fell as she asked quietly, "But why would they do that?" "They were bad people and didn't love her." With tears coming to her eyes, Bonnie whispered, "You mean those bruises she had,...," her voice cracked, "...What happen?" Raven quietly said, "Her dad broke her arm." Bonnie couldn't hold back her tears anymore. They streamed down her face as she sobbed, her words coming out in a jumble, "Why would he hurt her?...She's my best friend...Why didn't she tell me?..." Raven pulled Bonnie to her, holding her close, "She was ashamed and thought it was her fault." "She didn't want me to come over to her house...and...and...I t-teased her about how she was clumsy. Why did I have to tease her?" "You didn't know. No one did. She's safe now. She's away from her parents and with Kala...and we're going to see her." ***** As Raven lifted Bonnie off of her bike, Bonnie ran to the door and knocked worriedly. Kala opened it and Bonnie ran into the living room, to Jennie on the couch, staring at her arm. Not knowing what to say, she asked, "Does it hurt?" "Not anymore. Kala gave me a pill." "I-I didn't know Jennie...," Bonnie's guilt overwhelmed her, "I'm sorry for calling you clumsy...." She wiped her eyes, "Why didn't you tell me?" Jennie's voice was faint and forlorn, "I didn't want anyone to know." Outside on the front porch, Kala peeked in on Jennie through the window, then took a sip of her beer. "It was unbelievable the shit-hole she was living in. Some backwoods shack. Filthy as hell. Mom's a junkie. Dad's making meth. No bed or clothes." She took another drink. She looked at Raven, "It was worse than when you were a kid. Her dad was going to pimp her on 12th street! I've never wanted to kill somebody so bad!" Raven asked, "Why didn't you?" "I tried, but Jennie kept looking at me." "Why didn't you just call the police and let them deal with it instead of bringing her here?" "You know what they'll do!," Kala snapped at her, "Stick her in some foster home! That didn't help you, did it?" "So, what are you going to do with her?" "I'm keeping her!" Raven spoke sternly, "You don't know anything about kids! You think you're going to be her new mom?!" "Better than a foster home full of strangers!," Kala peeked through the window at Jennie on the couch, "I'm all she's got." Raven's tone softened, "Take her to the police. You know you can't keep her." Kala remained looking through the window at Jennie, a hurt look on her face as she asked, "Why not?" Raven replied quietly, "You know who we are...and what we do." Inside, Bonnie's phone rang. Pulling it out of her pocket, she saw that it was her mom and hit the DECLINE button Seeing that her mom had also called earlier, she told Jennie, "I gotta go." Carefully hugging Jennie, she went out on the front porch, "Raven, I gotta go back home." "Okay," then turning to Kala, out of sight of Bonnie, "Kala..." As Kala looked, Raven tapped the fiery figure tattoo of the Burning Angels on her upper chest. Kala stared at it for a few seconds, then Raven turned and walked Bonnie to the garage. Several seconds later, they drove out and away, leaving Kala deep in thought.