Please excuse Mistakes

Rain

"Wherever the wind blows, I'll be there and in every storm I'll be your rainbow."

That's what my mother, Iris, used to say to me. She said she would be my rainbow after every storm. With her being gone I wonder, who could save me, save us. I wish I could have been there with her when she died in the car crash along with my father.

They are what I think about when I am in pain. Pain is what I feel as I sit in front of my uncle and Raiden as they ate the food I prepared. I sit here as my stomach grumbles as I watch them eat the food that I don't have the luxury to partake in.

Why can't I eat?

Well a letter from the school detailed my newest transgression in the eyes of my uncle, my dyslexia diagnosis. My dear uncle never answered the calls from my teacher, Katy, that would have informed him of the school's need to officially test me for dyslexia and other learning abilities. By state law, the school is required to inform a parent or guardian about possible testing or suspicion in learning disabilities

According to Uncle Tom, the letter was a slap in the face. It questioned his ability to teach me the basic core skills of reading. I was basically being punished for something that is out of my control. I don't blame Katy for reaching out. She is only doing her job as a teacher. However this news is causing me to sit in hunger.

At this point I rather him beat me, it's something I've gotten used to while I haven't gotten used to hunger pains. Usually I would eat snacks from Katy's lunch and free breakfast that they had at school. However, I was late showing up to school that morning and Katy had canceled our tutoring session during lunch.

So I sit here in pain, watching them eat. I almost stare Uncle Tom directly in the eye, but I know better.

" You see Ray? When you do good things, you get rewarded." Uncle Tom said to Raiden, who was oblivious to my punishment. It's a shame that he's trying to get a four year old to recognize food as reward and not a necessity to live. " Your dumb sister, don't seem to understand that."

"I'm not dumb" I said boldly. I'm not sure what's gotten into me but I sit firmly in what I believe to be true.

" What did you say to me?"He asked me, dropping his fork onto his plate.

" I said I'm not dumb." I said again as my chest moved up and down rapidly as I did. I was scared of what he would do but I couldn't stop myself from talking.

" That's not what this says." He held up the letter to my face, forcing me to look at it. " Oh I forgot, You all of a sudden can't fucking read."

He mushed the letter in my face before standing up from where he sat. His seat scratched against the tiled floor making a shrieking sound. Raiden cringed at the sound as he tried to eat quietly. His eyes held worry for me. I know I should stay quiet. I know I should keep my head down to keep Raiden from seeing evil happen in front of him. Yet here I was, shaking in my seat, refusing to stay quiet.

" I can read." I cried. I was only repeating what Katy has been telling me for two weeks now. She has been nothing but patient with me and has never faltered in her kindness. I worked so hard to see myself as smart after being broken down to a tiny pulp after hours of trying to read on my own.

As if he didn't hear me, Uncle Tom began to rant about how the school made me disrespectful and illiterate.

" First, you flirt with boys and now you can't read. That school ain't nothing but trouble. If I had the means to take you out I would. " He threatened, his face inches from mine.

Tears streamed down my face like acid as he forced me to look at him with his hands wrapped around my neck. " Beating you ain't enough?"

" I just have a learning disability." I begged for an ounce of understanding but what's the use?

________

The morning after dropping Raiden off at his bus stop, I began walking towards school. Once again I will be late for school so no free breakfast for me. I tiredly walked as the cool breeze whisked through my curly hair. I managed to brush my own hair this morning in hopes it would be a less distraction to my peers. Some people didn't like the fact, Katy helped me with my hair the last time. I don't understand why her help bothered people so much or rather why people cared so little about me.

I've done nothing wrong but I'm still the laughing stock and the victim to everyone's words.

" Rain, Wait up!" I look over to see Chris coming out of his grandfather's store. I kept walking not wanting any trouble.

" Granddad, I don't need a ride to school. I'm going to walk with Rain" I heard him say before I heard his heavy footsteps running in my direction.

When he finally reached me , I tried not to follow his gaze as he peered down on me.

" How come you don't look at me when I come around?" He asked. " Do I make you uncomfortable? I'm only trying to be nice."

No, he doesn't make me uncomfortable. That's probably why I should stay away from him.

" No." I said softly as I looked both ways to cross the street with him following.

" Then what is it?" He persists. He pulls up his sagging pants causing me to look at black drawing on his arms. He had a tattoo that I didn't notice before. In fact he had quite a few.

" My uncle doesn't want me talking to you. " I explained. Stepping onto the school's property my guard is up seeing that the various gangs were hanging outside of the school.

" He must have found out about my record" He mumbles. I didn't understand what he meant by a record but I didn't bother asking him.

" How about this, we can talk in school and stuff but when your uncle is around, we can pretend like we don't know each other, deal?"

A group of guys began fighting nearby before I could answer. Chris walked behind me facing the fight as he urged me to hurry into the school. His hands were in front of his waistband, exposing his boxers a little more. It didn't take a genius to figure out he had a gun. His tall frame protected me as I finally made my way inside.

The fight that was outside began to bring attention to themselves as students flocked to the front door to either be nosy or get in on the action. Being short and small it was easy for kids to bump into me. Chris swiftly put his arms around my shoulder to guide me out of the growing crowd.

" This way everyone, quickly" I heard Katy shout. She eagerly tried to get her students into her classroom as multiple fights began to break out.

Once I was safe in her classroom, I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding in. " Are you okay?" Chris asked me. He pulled up his pants again and fixed his clothes as he looked towards the door.

" Yeah." Once he knew I was good, he walked towards the door again where Katy was still ushering her students in. Some students I didn't recognize yet Katy let them in anyway.

" Chris, have a seat." Katy told him as she blocked the door. " Ain't nothing for you out here." Her vocabulary was raw as it matched her emotions. She was no longer an educator, she was our protector.

Was he going to go out there to shoot somebody? Whatever he was going to do could cost him his life, I only hoped he valued it long enough so I could get to know him.

Chris started to protest but Katy stood her ground. " Have a seat. "

Finally Chris gave up the fight and sat in his seat next to me. Katy closed her door and locked it once most of her students were present. The tension was far too great to start class right away, especially when there was practically a riot going on outside these four walls , so Katy suggested for us to talk among ourselves or work on homework.

I decided to talk to Chris since something is begging me to do so. " Is that new?" I asked him, referring to his tattoo. He was staring off into space, probably upset that Katy made him stay.

" Yeah I did it myself," he smiled. It was like the question broke his tough exterior, his smile grew as he made conversation. " I want to be a tattoo artist. I want to be so good at tattooing, I tattoo for famous people. You know, like the guys off of Black Ink Crew."

I didn't know who they were, but he explained to me they were tattoo artists that had a reality tv show. He explained the show and all its drama, then stopped to take a look at me.

He stared for a little like he wanted to say something, but stopped himself when my stomach embarrassingly grumbled. He gave a small chuckle before digging in his backpack. He pulled out some snacks that were clearly from his grandfather's store.

He raised his hand and asked Katy for permission to eat. When she gave him the okay he offered the food to me. " Now that we're friends, I want to make sure you're good coming in and out of school. These streets ain't safe. Don't take this the wrong way but you're a beautiful sweet girl. Somebody would try to take advantage of you. We can walk together."

My heart dropped then swelled as he talked. He doesn't know that someone takes advantage of me almost every night. He doesn't know that this sweet girl lost her innocence long ago. I shuttered at the realization that he didn't want anything in return or at least he hadn't asked. 

______

Hey readers! 

How do you like the pace of the story so far? 

Now you know how Chris and Rain meet and become friends. Next up I am going to write more about Katy and speed things up a bit. 

I'm sure you would like Rain to get some Joy, but writing about her feelings and what she's gone through is very important to the story. 

Anything I need to clear up for the next chapter or future chapters? Remember I'm writing from an old notebook that I wrote in a long time ago so your comments and questions help move the story along.