♢♡Craig♡♢

Mrs. Gilly started fussing, yanking me to my feet and down the hall. Brock and Jonathan trailed, talking quickly and rather loudly. Mrs. Gilly shoved into a nurses office and I didn't get a word they said until a cloth was pressed against the wound and I hollered. The nurse apologized but did it again until I stopped bleeding, Brock and Jonathan trying to talk to Mrs. Gilly, who was ranting on about losing her job for letting me get scraped.

I'm out of the nursing office as fast as I was in and now I'm in second class with a bandage over my head. It was barely a tap! I started to take it off, shocked when Evan stopped me. "I wouldn't do that if I were ya. Don't want the bite to get infected" He said. I wondered if bite was slang or if Evan didn't know the difference, but I knew better then to ask him or assume him retarded.

Break came faster then the day before, but we didn't go into town. No, we sat on the steps out back. Luke and Evan agreed truce and Brock laughed at them and Jonathan asked what started the fight anyways. No one answered him. I played with the grass and looked up, the moggy air was killing me but I did my best to relax.

"My brother got a job at your farms, Craig" Evan says, leaning back on his hands. "Whip-cracker" He elaborates. "Yeah! Your pa is bringing lots of work to our town. We oughta thank you" Brock says, smiling. "I ain't a good thing" Evan snorts, looking away. "It's kinda funny to see, I guess. An Asian whipping a nigger" He says, quiter. "Well he got a job, so 'e should be thankful" Luke claims. "If that's another insult-" Evan cuts himself off, the threat empty.

"My father really does like his busy work. We barely talk, him and I. Only at dinner and right after school. I busy myself during the weekends" I explain, laying down and looking at the angry clouds. "Is it always cloudy here?" I chance the subject. "Nah, a storms comin' in a few days" Jonathan tells us. "I feel it in mah bones"

Luke laughs at that and Evan elbows Jonathan as Brock snickers. I don't say anything, I trust him. That, and I know nothing about American weather. "What do your parents do?" I ask them, oughta be something respectable for them to come to this school. "My pa's a preacher. Best one in town, they say. There's only two" Brock snickers a little, but then he explains. "My pa's prayers always get answered, y'see" Brock pauses for a moment. "My mum, she sews. Only sells some of it, but it's good stuff and worth a lot. Uses that cotton of yours" Brock winks at me playfully before looking back at the clouds.

Evan grumbles at the question before he licks his lips. "My mom is a house wife, meant to look pretty. Which she is, she's real pretty, and that's the only reason she's married again. Me and brother, our real dad died from consumption a few years back and this old guy offered my mom a ring and a nice life, so she took it" Evan stretches and frowns. "Had three more kids she didn't want or need. My brother and I take whatever jobs we can get. My 'dad' owns a factory and gives his kids jobs there" Evan's mouth shuts and his lips press into a thin line.

"Well, you know our dad" Jonathan says, jabbing his thumb over his shoulder at the school. "'E can be a real hard ass and 'e cares too much 'bout grades, but 'e's a good man and people respect us" He shrugs, a tiny smile tugging at his lip. "Our mum's a wai'ress at the best place in town. People say 'e came up with the idea but she couldn't open it 'erself since she's a woman. She gets paid real good and makes sure all her customers know our names" Luke says.

I hum and answer the question myself. "My father likes his money and his farms, my mother likes her books and her sewing. We'll never be out of money but I doubt father will ever stop looking for more" I say, cringing at the shrill screech of the bell. "Lets go, then"