Rogue Alliance

TWENTY-NINE



Shyla flipped through the radio stations and tried to ignore the butterflies in her stomach as she drove out of her apartment complex. It was date night. Anxiety was not a stranger, but she was frustrated because she was so worked up about this damn date with Victor. She had it under control, she told herself. But the voices of Eli, Hal, and Shawn kept echoing off the frenetic walls of her mind and it was making her twitchy.

Settling on a classic rock station, she popped her thumb against the steering wheel to the beat of Lynard Skynard’s Sweet Home Alabama. It was dusk and the sky was a vibrant orange and pink display of color.

She turned down Main Street and noticed a plump girl walking on the sidewalk. Even from behind, she would know that girl anywhere. Carmen was limping along pitifully, but her head was held high. Shyla wondered how she must have hurt herself, what kind of trouble she had been up to and pulled alongside the curb.

“Hey,” she giggled, “hey, Carmen, what’s up?”

Carmen glanced over her shoulder and, when she saw who it was, looked away and quickened her pace. But not before Shyla had seen the black and blue shiner on her right eye.

She slammed on the brakes, put the car in park and leaped out. She hopped the curb and blocked Carmen’s path. Carmen paused but looked away, refusing to meet her gaze.

“What happened, Carmen?

Carmen shrugged her off.

“Nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

Shyla put her hands on her shoulders and peered into her face.

“I’m already worried about it. Now tell me what happened. Who did this to you?”

“God, you’re such a pain in the ass, lady. Just leave me alone,” Carmen turned on her heel and marched in the opposite direction, but Shyla wasn’t going to be so easily deterred. She sprinted and cut Carmen off.

“Come on, let’s just go for a quick ride,” she said.

“You’re not going to let this go, are you?” Carmen sighed.

“Not a chance,” Shyla said, shaking her head.

Without another word, Carmen stomped toward Shyla’s car, pulled open the passenger door and slid in. Behind the wheel, Shyla waited until they were a few blocks down before she pushed the issue.

“I’m gonna guess your mom. At first, I’d have said your dad, but by the looks of that shiner, I’d have to say it was a backhand, rather than a fist. And men typically aren’t your backhand kind of people.”

Carmen tilted her head and gave her an incredulous look. Then she looked back out the side window.

“I broke a dish. It’s not even like it’s a nice dish. Our dishes don’t match or anything. They’re just Goodwill rescues. But it’s not really about the damn dish. It’s about the fact that she doesn’t want a kid around reminding her of how old and worn out she is.

“It’s not my fault that dad sleeps around with half the town. But as far as she’s concerned, it is. If she’d never had me, she’d still be skinny and beautiful. He’d still find her attractive and wouldn’t have to go looking elsewhere.”

Shyla heard a small sniffle under the bitterness and anger. Her own anger was flaring white hot. Seeing the bruising on Carmen’s face had triggered something raw and visceral, something old and not yet forgotten from her own past. But she curbed that desire to lash out and tried to remain calm. If not for her years of training she probably would have never been able to.

When she heard Carmen choke down a sob, she pulled the car over to the side of the road again. She turned in her seat and looked at the girl, only thirteen years old and already so utterly exposed to the ugliness of the world. But Shyla could also see the few remains of her youth and innocence. She desperately wanted to preserve and protect that last bit.

It was uncomfortable to see her cry. Shyla had never been good with tears. She looked away and bit the inside of her cheek. Another sob reached her ears and it was more than she could bear. She reached across the console and pulled Carmen into her embrace. Carmen turned into her and held on. They hugged for a long time, Shyla biting her cheek, willing herself not to cry with her, to just be strong. Never had she felt like this before. She’d come to care for this girl so much in so little time.

When Carmen calmed down, Shyla finally spoke.

“We’re going to go down to the station and you’re going to file charges.”

“No! No! I can’t do that,” Carmen cried, her eyes widening, “they’ll arrest her. Why would you say something like that?

“Because, it’s what has to be done, Carmen,” Shyla sighed, “it’s called justice.”

“Well f*ck justice!” Carmen shouted, “Justice doesn’t mean a goddamn thing to me!”

“Calm down, calm down.”

“Don’t tell me to calm down. You know what will happen if I file? I’ll tell you…a goddamn mess, that’s what. My parents will get arrested, I’ll go to foster care, they’ll get off with a hand slap, I may or may not get to go back home and if I do, it all starts over again. Hell no, I’m not going down to the station.”

“Well what am I supposed to do, just let you walk back into an abusive house?”

“Yeah,” Carmen nodded, “that’s exactly what you’re supposed to do. That’s what I do every damn day.”

There was a set determination in Carmen’s face and she suddenly looked so much older. Shyla sat back and shook her head. There was no easy answer to Carmen’s situation. She still believed it was best to take her down to the station, but she could see that there was no way she would be able to talk her into that. She would have to think on it and decide if she would notify child protective services herself. It would turn Carmen’s world upside down, but she had to believe it would be for the best. Unfortunately, none of it was going to be settled tonight.

“Fine, but I don’t want you to go back there tonight, do you hear me? You can stay at my house.”

Carmen looked shocked. She was silent for a moment then shook her head.

“No, I can’t. I have to go home. She always feels bad afterward for a few days and she’ll worry if I don’t come back tonight. I’ll be fine.”

When Shyla hesitated, Carmen persisted.

“I promise,” she said, “I’ll come by first thing tomorrow morning and check in.”

“Okay,” Shyla said, glancing at the clock glowing on the dash,“Shit. I’m late.”

Carmen gave her a quick once over, finally noticing her outfit.

“You look nice. You must have a hot date.”

“Yeah, I’m late though. Do you want me to take you home?”

“Sure. No problem. I was heading that way anyway.”

When they pulled into the drive, Shyla insisted on walking her up to the door. Carmen resisted, but Shyla held firm, refusing to leave until she had.

The house was a trailer, small and barely held together by nuts and bolts. Her mother stood at the door in her skin-tight leggings and leopard print shirt. Her eyes were wary as they flitted back and forth from Carmen to Shyla.

“Okay, thanks for the ride,” Carmen said, “you can go now.”

“I’d like to meet your mother,” Shyla smiled. She walked past Carmen and extended a hand, “Hello, Mrs…” she realized she didn’t know Carmen’s last name.

“Dunsworth,” Carmen cut in.

“Mrs. Dunsworth. It’s nice to meet you. I’m friends with your daughter. You can call me Sue.”

Sue looked Shyla up and down with skepticism.

“A little old to be hanging around with a teenage girl aren’t ya?”

“Not really,” Shyla smiled, “we have a few things in common. But the reason I’m here is because I picked her up on the side of the road, looking like she’d been beat up pretty good. She says she got into a fight with some girls from school and, seeing as how I work down at the police station, I offered to take her down there and fill out a report. She doesn’t want to do that though, says she’ll just cause more trouble if she does.”

Sue’s eyes doubled in size at the mention of the police department.

“Anyway, I want both of you to know that if something like this ever happens again, I’ll report it myself,” Shyla continued, the warning in her tone was unmistakable.

Carmen kept her eyes to the ground. Her mother bit her lip and nodded.

“Yes, yes, of course. We’ll be sure to keep that in mind. I don’t want her out messing with those hoodlum kids anyway.”

She wrapped her arm around Carmen.

“Well thanks for bringing her home. I appreciate it. We’ll just go inside now.”

Shyla stepped back and gave a wave.

“Goodnight,” she called, “see ya around, Carmen.”