On that day, so long ago. Misty was wearing more make-up than usual, a lot more make-up in fact. She was so pre-occupied with her own problems that she barely noticed, Charlie, the quiet boy, as he arrived to walk at her side and carry her books to school that day. As he usually did, Charlie walked up, and said nothing. He simply reached over and took her school books and walked at her side. It was their daily routine. She wasn't sure when it started, it seemed like it had always been that way. And little did she know that today would be the last time.
She heard the neighborhood bullies yelling and hollering at Charlie
from down the street. The direction from which he had come. She couldn't
make out their words, but bullies being what they are.. she didn't need to
hear...
They were teasing Charlie...
Finally, she looked over at Charlie.. And saw the tear...
There was only one, but it hit her like a brick. Charlie was crying because some boys were yelling names at him. What a wimp. He didn't have any idea what real pain was. Oh sure, sometimes he came to school with bruises, but what kid wasn't occasionally picked on by bullies. Life sucks and then you die, right? And suddenly, all the anger that was inside her exploded to the surface. She turned to him and told him he was a cry baby and a wimp. How dare he cry, when she had to hide her pain. Misty, the girl who knew what true pain really was, the girl who never cried, told the crybaby to go home.. That she never wanted to see him again. He looked at her and said simply, "You deserve better...." She screamed back at him, "You're darn right... I deserve better friends, ones that don't cry like babies...". With that she stormed off and didn't look back...
Twenty years passed and she never talked to Charlie again. Something
had happened that day that she could not fully explain. All the pain she
had suffered her whole life had seemed to explode in that one instance.
That one tear.. haunted her for years.. She rationalized it..
Explaining that she was truly angry at herself... at her father who beat her.
.. at a cruel world that ignored the tears a little girl cried on the inside.
And yet, part of her was truly embarrassed for the way she acted...
She was ashamed of treating this kind young boy, who had never done anything
but be kind to her, so badly. It was her embarrassment, more than
anything else that kept her from saying anything. Her shame...
She saw Charlie many times over the years. He would smile in her
direction, part of her wanted to smile back, but her anger and shame always
made her turn away...
In all these years, with all that had happened to her she had never
cried a single tear, and she had never talked to Charlie.
When she was 16, her father passed away. While part of her was
relieved that the beatings had finally ended, part of her was sad and
confused. Her father was an enigma. She had never really understood him.
One minute, he would be sitting in his chair quietly, the next he would
be screaming at her for being so stupid. She tried to be a good kid, but
somehow she always managed to do something wrong. No matter what she did,
sooner or later he would start screaming, and then he would get out the belt.
And he would punish her for being a bad girl...
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