An awful sand storm hits the brick-routed neighborhoods in the nearby town, where lanterns are vintage and pavements are broomed from dirts, only autumn tree leaves fall from the branches causing a poetic blow throughout the storm, when the windows are closed and so are the ears, muffled with corks to hinder the scary noises from erasing the feeling of peace through interacting with one of the mortals’ senses.
Only “Rita Raymond”, one of the brilliant high school students in Carmen, enjoying the atmosphere that mildly gets wilder when the train is drifting closer to her hometown, as she’s going to spend the weekend with her mother, that prepared lots of good recipes for her including the pumpkin pie she always wishes for.
The only reason she was enjoying, not the suffer, but the good feeling despite the suffering, the feeling of reunion with her pretty tender mom that took care of her individually for years, and brought her up feeling grateful even though undeniably she’s a burden like any other kid. This feeling, the feeling of waiting, was warming her heart plentifully, narrating a compensation for whatever hardships both of them passed through.
A compensation literally represented in mother-daughter love.
“Rita, my pearl! Welcome home” said warmly by the mother witnessing her girl who was purposely named Rita which means a pearl taking off her sandy shoes and dusting off her black jacket which color was demolished since the sandy weather decided its presence. Rita hugged her mom tightly and kissed her hands that cooked her very tasty food more than enough to satisfy hearts and bellies, then entered the bathroom to wash away the dirts over her body and eat with a proper appearance, the bathroom looked clean, as all the tiles were beaming and shining, and because Rita still loves to have her childhood toys in the bathtub, the mother put them there for her with her favorite scentful shower gel… Why wouldn’t someone be enthusiastic for an occasion like that!?
Beautiful wooden shaped house, warm floor which was heating due to cooking lots of foods, beautiful fragrant clothes folded on the beds, and a listening mother that gives concern to every detail her daughter mentions.
They both decided to adjust the box-crafted shelter the mom improvised to help the street animals hide beneath, as there are often water drops falling with the sand and ruining the surfaces of the cartons, the mother led her girl following her method to build up the ruins and to bring the remains of the food the mom uses daily to feed the cats and the dogs outdoors.
After they willingly fed the little creatures they went in to chit-chat eating pancakes and drinking coffee, initiating the talk with that gossiper living in the neighborhood annoying the merchants around for highering up prices according to an economical protocol, and about Rita’s performance at school, not as a student because she’s the regular report about her but she was curious to know about her social skills evolving among schoolmates…
“To be honest, Lily…” said Rita to her mom joking around using her mom’s name without formality.
“Mother, you should call me mother, Rita, or you’re grounded” jokingly responded Lily, blinking to her daughter which implies her to resume talking…
Thus, Rita was stating “I was intending to make friends there, but I think it’s too soon to say I have a close one. Most of them are well-behaved and they treat me well, not only in classes but outside classes too, therefore, so far I can tell you that I’m doing good coping with the system and making shallow friendships, let’s call this phenomenon as it should be, as having acquaintances… But I wonder about a certain girl that looks really suspicious to me!”
“Suspicious in what way, honey?” said the mother.
“She’s not an orphan but she’s adopted by one of the richest family of the city, and she’s always sad, I thought this was the reason, I mean, family issues, but the other students mentioned that this theory is just because I’m new, and that she was extremely happy before even though circumstances have been escalating from the family side, they said she had the ability to split herself from them and enjoy her life, I tried to approach her twice but she was very confidential and gloomy.” said Rita, whose brain is dwelled by many scenes and possibilities about that girl.
The mother offered to buy a gift for that girl and give it to her daughter in order to transit such a good feeling to her fellow after they gather the next week.
A way of consolation and love expression taught to Rita to keep as a habit, an attitude to feel happy through pleasing people likewise.
And as promised from the great lady, to that anonymous girl she never met, she took Rita out to clothes stores, to buy clothes for both Rita and her schoolmate, also buying her two notebooks with padlocks, one for her and one for the other girl, to describe their thoughts secretly whereas no one can peek through them.
And while they were shopping, a school teacher met Rita and her mother, smiling at both and telling the mother how bright is Rita’s future and how polite and obedient she is, he also exaggerated in his speech wishing if he ever had a daughter like her because his daughter is very rude as claimed. Then he waved his hands with a silly giggle telling Rita that he’s going to meet her at school next week.
“Something is off about this man” said by Rita to her mother who asked her to behave and not to talk like this about a kind person…
provoking a quick response from her saying: “Mom I assure you, he doesn’t have kids, he lied…”
The mother wondered why would a person lie about such a topic! As well as her daughter who feels awkward around that teacher even though he’s just acting normal to others.
It’s that weird feeling that often be sincere, hitting you when you see someone and you can not swallow his aura.
This is specifically what Rita felt but as soon as they went to the amusement park this feeling was vanished, when they both rode the wonder wheel eating popcorn that kept dropping of the cup to be whiffed by the air like small snow balls falling in different climate to give a special night for them.
Rita and Lily went back home exhausted but happy, consumed but able to recharge through hugs and kisses all the night before Rita prepares for school next day.
Saying goodbye until the next month as written in the school-parents pact.
The next clear-skied morning Rita went to school finding police officers everywhere, whereas their cars are also parked outside the facility crowding the path to the entrance… Everyone says that Ava the girl Rita was supposed to give her presents died in a massacre done by an unknown person, yet. Even snitchers who used to be jealous of her and uncover her secrets to the moderators hence causing her to have piles of punishments were shocked seeing her body getting out of black bags primarily rotting…
The forensics refueled the documents freshly after the first analysis reporting that her spine is broken as well as her extremities’ bones, she also was physically and sexually assaulted as appears in the bruises and the cuts on her pale skin… they gave commands to the authorities to open an investigation instantly or there will be another victim reported dead another day.
Everyone in the school was frightened, and were prone to have severe palpitations and intense nightmares after what has been seen. All of the students were allowed to call their in loco parentis to affirm their safety, the honest and righteous principle also sent details of the schedules and the students’ performances attached to their well being regularly and most important they gave them an access to the GPS application that tracks the girls when they go outside to give them more nirvana until they meet again.
The authors working on the school’s website also updated that the school will be provided by extra guards inside and out and totally neglected talking about Ava’s case until the forensics give a final report and allow the school to mourn her in a well-prepared ceremony.
Rita sneaked to Ava’s room, feeling overloaded by the melancholic sentiments spreading in the ambiance while she was putting her gift on her tidied bed that looked as sad as her lately… her roommates already abandoned the room since the incident and asked to change places and it was approved by the principle who accepts her little friends’ feelings due to what happened. While Rita was checking the bed of her dead fellow she found a mass popping up the mattress a little bit from the very cornered edge, seems like the police forgot to check all the places around the victim’s territory.
Rita lifted up the mattress and quickly shockingly picked up Ava’s diary and when she was leaving the room in a hurry anticipating to know lots of details that were never told by Ava before to anyone, Mr. Elijah the strict Jewish portrayed literature teacher who Rita found not comfortable for her last time when she and her mom met him previous week, he came in interrupting her curiosity and yelling at her ordering her to leave because this is a non-accessed place so far, therefore everyone is deprived from being there.
She apologized holding the diary notebook in her hand and leaving, he crossed her way held her hand tightly and lifted it up, then took the notebook from her while grinding his yellow teeth making squeak noises, for the first time she feels like she’s almost urinating herself since she was a child wearing a diaper or older by a bit.
His predator eye gaze wishing to prey on the next victim and his tight painful grip were enough to empty the blood stream of Rita causing her to look pale from frighten…
“I know you hate me, Rita, I bet most of the students do, not because I smiled at your face that day when you were accompanying your mother, I would be easy going with you when you’re doing something wrong, you guys fear the correctness, so why hypocritically you tend to do things wrong still? Why would you steal your poor dead friend’s stuff? And what are these you’re putting over her bed?” said Mr. Elijah who went closer to the bed to check the stuff she brought and asked Rita to come closer too… to inquire her directly to the face: “since when you both are friends?”
“we’ve been friends for a while, I was intending to gift her with these but she never came back” said truly by Rita
Mr. Elijah smirked at her and rambunctiously asked her about the notebook… Rita refused the accusation he pointed at her, claiming that she’s involved in a conspiracy with other girls who wanted to know Ava’s secrets and still make a fun material of her even though she’s dead.
“you’re using these gifts as a camouflage no more, you’re not a kind person as I thought, Rita, I think you will go for discipline and I think you will be spending a quite fine duration with your mom at home since you might be suspended for good amount of days, I still hesitate too, being not sure if this is going to be a crime that will be under your accountability for sure! I’m afraid I cover for your mistake and be blamed later, who knows, maybe this is an action planned by few of you, innocent looking students, devilish-hardhearted bullies.” he said while the lights were flickering above his tall body, he held the lamp with his bare hand looking down at Rita and taking her out of the room
telling her to stay steady until he locks the doors, but she took the diary and ran away from him, panting and loathing when she touched her wrest after he did, she limped to the principle’s office wishing her to open immediately to prevent that fear of being caught by him from devouring her, she eventually opened the door.
“I didn’t do it, I’m not involved in any kind of conspiracy and I never bullied Ava or others, you have my records, ma’am, just please, allow me to speak my assumption here” said Rita gasping and whimpering looking at the window of the principle’s office wishing to be replaced with that willow tree throwing its leaves over the wooden blanks of the window, wishing to breathe since she can’t take in air anymore.
The principle opened the window silently and worriedly looking back at Rita wondering what event she’s encountering…
The teacher was looking for her luckily in her room because the last think that could be in his mind is her going to the principle after what he told her, but gladly the audacity her mom planted in her is now being cultivated.
She started narrating everything from up to bottom to make the teacher finally suspicious by anyone, and while she was narrating half of the truth, she showed her bruised wrest to the lady telling her that he violated her because she was mourning Ava in her room and that she tried to place the gifts she bought for her on her bed agonizing her eternal absence.
Rita hided Ava’s diary underneath the leather chair’s backrest, because she guarantees that the teacher will be confronting her in few minutes after the principle call him in… The camera’s records showed Mr. Elijah abusing Rita outside the room, by the door slap and that proved one of Rita’s statement against him, as far as he spoke the principle didn’t find Rita guilty but it was luckily totally the opposite, Rita was asked to be checked by guards and nothing was with her except the two empty notebooks she had, she was told to go to her room and this problem will be solved with the teacher, who has been given a lesson about tolerance with youngsters and advised to be less strict with the girls and to be a good teacher as well as a good young father in his mid thirties. Otherwise, he will be sent for detention and maybe the parents will open causes in courts to sue him for abusing their kids mentally and physically whereas his duty tells him to be none of this.
Rita went to her room concerning about the chair she inserted the book in, she was blindly thinking to break into the office and take it, few of the girls were sitting in the computer labor, using the internet as decided for detected period, one was drinking coffee and reading and one was chit-chatting with her roommate watching their favorite influencer lecturing in his latest interview, she didn’t concern about any of them, she just admired that the lights were dim and the girls were just having fun there until sleeping time, feeling safe, but she, she could’ve been feeling safe too if she didn’t mess up the situation with Mr. Elijah.
She googled about him and knew all the places he used to work for and noted them down on a paper, as well as she googled how to break into an office without being caught, which tools she should use and how to deal with the cameras… she decided to improvise since google didn’t give out any benefits, she changed her clothes and wore one of the new outfits her mom bought for her, went downstairs wearing her expensive hoodie unfortunately and grabbed her geometric compass out of her pocket and tried to move it into the keyhole until the door was open, she didn’t have a clue how to close it back but she stole few stuff from the drawers and took the notebook and left, making sure her face is hidden well, she walked outside the school sneaking and jumping of the fence as she came from the backyard too, where they’re supposed to install cameras there too, and yet they’re still planning this, so it was a good chance for her to go back and forth, burn her new outfit until it’s ashes and throws the stolen stuff away in the river nearby the school building by few meters.
She climbed back to her room whereas no one is awake. She tried to open the padlock of Ava’s notebook but she couldn’t figure out the password, the efficient way she tried before to open the principle’s door occurred to be as efficient again when Rita was opening the notebook with the same compass, forcing the lock to break, she closed the room’s door and went to the bathroom to read the diary of Ava and she recognized that Ava had a stalker and ever since that she started to feel endangered and her mental well-being as well as body nourishment were deteriorating seemingly because of that, she was silenced and threatened.
She was blackmailed by something she had done with a certain girl before, confessing she was a bully at some point before repenting, and she never advocated anyone to commit suicide, she carried the blame and the guilt for herself for this and been also abused in other ways that we don’t know about yet.
So who it might be? One of the girl’s family? The one who was bullied before?! This diary will be a lead to many evidences that will result in different consequences we hope, deep down, that these consequences are tending to be good.
To be continued...
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