Raven (Orphans 4)

"She has to be in drug rehabilitation. She could be there for some time, Raven. They won't even let her call you until her therapist says so."

"Oh," I said, sinking into a chair.

"It's better than it could have been," Aunt Clara said.

"Great. I have an aunt in drug rehabilitation," Jennifer whined. She turned her eyes on me like two little spotlights of hate. "You better do what I said and tell everyone your mother is dead," Jennifer warned.

I just looked at her.

"Don't talk like that, Jennifer," Aunt Clara said. "And you should know your cousin helped me clean your room. See if you can keep it that way."

"So what? She should clean our house. You heard what Daddy said. She's living off us, isn't she?" Jennifer fired back.

"Jennifer!" Aunt Clara cried. "Where's your charity and your love?"

"Love? I don't love her. It was hard enough to explain who she was. Everyone wanted to know why she's so dark. I had to tell them what her father was," she complained.

"Jennifer."

"You're not better than me because your skin's whiter," I charged.

"Of course, she isn't," Aunt Clara said. "Jennifer, I never taught you such terrible things."

"It's not fair, Mama. My friends are all wondering about our family now. It's not fair!" she moaned.

"Stop that talk, or I'll tell your father," Aunt Clara said.

"Tell him," she challenged, smirked, and walked up the stairs.

"I don't know where she gets that streak of meanness," Aunt Clara muttered.

I gazed up at her. Was she that blind or deliberately hiding her head in the sand? It was easy to see that Jennifer had inherited the meanness from Uncle Reuben.

"I'm sorry," Aunt Clara said.

"Don't worry about it, Aunt Clara. I'll be fine with or without Jennifer's friendship."

The door opened and closed, and William came sauntering in. He looked up at me with shy eyes.

"How was your day in school, William?" Aunt Clara asked.

He dug into his notebook and produced a spelling test on which he had received a ninety.

"That's wonderful! Look, Raven," she said, showing me.

"Very good, William. I'll have to come to you for help with my spelling homework."

He looked appreciative but took the test back quickly and shoved it into his notebook.

"Do you want some milk and cookies, William?" Aunt Clara asked him.

He shook his head, glanced at me with as close to a smile as he could manage, and then hurried up to his room.

"He's so shy. I never realized how shy. Doesn't he have any friends to play with after school?" I asked, watching him leave.

Aunt Clara shook her head sadly.

"He stays to himself too much, I know. The counselor at school called me in to discuss him. His teachers think he's too withdrawn. They all say he never raises his hand in class. He hardly speaks to the other students. You see him. He looks like a turtle about to crawl back in his shell. I don't know why," she added, her eyes filling with tears. I felt like putting my arm around her.