Six
"I feel like I should prank Daddy." My head whipped around to face Ruby, who sat nibbling on what was left of her cookie as if she hadn't just suggested pranking her father. We were at her ballet school, waiting for her session to start.
"Ruby, why do you want to prank your dad?" She clapped her hands, dislodging the crumbs, and swung her legs, which barely grazed the ground.
"He never plays with me. And I want him to. So, I'll prank him to get his attention." Aww.
"But do you have to prank him to get that?" She frowned and looked up at me.
"Uh?"
"Maybe you could try talking to him first? Tell him how you feel."
She considered this for a moment and then said, "He only greets me, and after that, he doesn't talk to me. When Fiona was living with us, she was the one I normally talked with because Dad was hardly around."
A sad expression crossed her face as she spoke. I took her little hand and offered a reassuring smile.
"How about this: when your dad comes home tonight, we both talk to him about how you feel?"
Her face brightened. "Really? You'd do that?" I nodded. Her expression turned serious. "Daddy can be very hard to talk to," she cautioned.
"Well," I touched her nose lightly, "I can be very hard to ignore." I think. What am I getting myself into? Just last week, he sternly warned me never to enter his room, and now here I am, planning to corner him after work to discuss spending more time with his daughter.
As Ruby hugged me tightly, I silently prayed that I wouldn't lose my job over what I was about to do.
"Thank you, Grace."
"Hey, you know you can talk to me about anything, right?" She nodded and hugged me tighter.
Realizing she wasn't letting go anytime soon, I wrapped my free arm around her, and we sat in the corridor, listening to the soft French music emanating from the dance class.
A few moments later, a lady interrupted our bond to call Ruby into her class. Excited, Ruby scampered off, looking adorable in her uniform, leaving me feeling a sudden chill. Memories flooded in; it had been almost a week since I started this job, and what a ride it had been, especially with Ruby. Well, aside from the grueling seven-hour lessons.
I pulled out my phone to see if anything interesting was happening online. After scrolling through Twitter and Instagram, I decided to check my other recent online distraction.
After almost two hours of rigorous editing while listening to the soft music coming from the room opposite me, I finally stood up to take a little tour of the ballet school. But before doing that, I decided to have a peek at what was going on in Ruby’s class.
I wanted to see the little gracious moves of the little ballerinas. As I reached the glass window not too far from the entrance, I noticed a little ruckus. No one was dancing; instead, they were all gathered around someone or something—I couldn’t see clearly.
Suddenly, someone was pushed out of the circle, and my eyes bulged in fear when I saw the little figure sprawled on the floor trying to get up was Ruby. I don’t know where the feeling came from, but my heart squeezed. Within a second, I had pushed my way through the entrance and was crouched beside Ruby, who was holding her ankle, pain etched on her face.
“Oh my God, Ruby. What to do, what to do…” I frantically searched my head for any idea, my hands dangling over her injured ankle. It was then I remembered they actually had a teacher, and she was nowhere near Ruby trying to ease her pain.
I looked up, searching for the slim, long-necked, somewhat pale woman. When my eyes landed on hers, I gave her a questioning look, and she left her position at the end of the circle and came to us.
“How may I help you, ma’am?”
“How may you help me? More like, how can I help you to recover your senses!” What insolence!
A little frown appeared on her forehead. “Excuse me?”
I glanced at Ruby, who already had tears forming at the corners of her eyes. “She is obviously hurt from the push she just suffered, and you stand there asking how you may help me? How about you help yourself?” I took a minute to calm down before continuing. “I need first aid for Ruby, ma’am.”
“You should have said that earlier.” My jaw dropped slightly at her obvious stupidity. She walked away to get the first aid kit.
My attention turned back to Ruby. “What happened? Why were you pushed to the floor?”
She pointed in a direction. “She pushed me because I pushed her.”
Before I looked in the direction she was pointing, I asked, “So you pushed her first?”
She shook her head quickly. “No, she pushed me first, twice!” And then, my eyes landed on the… person who hurt Ruby. She was about Ruby’s size but just had a more mature look, probably because of the smirk on her face.
I stood up and walked to the girl, whose posture screamed disgusting pride. “So, you think it’s fun to push other people, huh?”
She rolled her eyes. What the heck! “She was about to take my position, and I don’t like people stealing my position.”
“What position is that, darling?”
She flipped her hair. “I am always in the front.”
I nodded slowly and faced the others. “Is that true, guys?”
“No!” a voice cried out beside me. “Ruby is always in the front, Bethany is just jealous!”
I turned to Bethany, who stomped her foot on the ground.
“Listen to me, brat, the next time Ruby tells me you touched her, I will push you so hard you’ll regret ever pushing anyone.”
“Miss Sands! No threatening my students.”
“Well, freaking tell your students to stop pushing people their size,” I spat at the woman beside me and snatched the box from her hand, walking back towards Ruby.
Before I got to her, I felt a force on my back, and before I knew it, my head was kissing the tile; my whole body shook with pain for a second. I managed to get up, swearing internally at whoever pushed me. I re-grasped the box by its handle and turned to see a huge smirk on both the teacher’s and Bethany’s faces.
I was about to charge at the woman, with the box in my hand ready to smash into any part of her body, but I felt a tug on my T-shirt. I looked to my right, and the girl shook her head slightly, telling me to stop. She tugged at my shirt again and pointed behind me.
When my eyes landed on Ruby, who was already crying, I rushed to her and carried her over my shoulder. It was then I realized my forehead was bleeding. Unable to deal with the woman, I dropped the box, took out my phone as I rushed out of the class, to dial David, who we had seen earlier not so far from the school, to come pick us up and take us to the hospital.
"Bye David, thanks so much."
"Bye, bye." Ruby's babyish voice echoed after my farewell.
"Bye darling. Don't stress your leg too much, alright?" She nodded as I held her in my arms. As David helped me close the door, he said, "And you, don't stress that head of yours too much." I gave him a grateful smile before entering through the gate.
It was already dark, so it was very likely her father was back. Hoping he wouldn't be angry with me for not calling him when his daughter got injured, I quickened my pace, with Ruby clinging to my neck for support.
But in my defense, I don't even have his phone number, so he shouldn't really have a reason to be angry with me. Besides, when he sees our bandaged injuries, he should be more understanding.
Soon, we were on their floor. Ruby helped open the door, and upon entering, Mr. Powers was already seated close to the door, legs crossed, one foot tapping as if in impatience.
It was clear he was waiting for us, so I glanced his way, debating whether to explain immediately or to first lay Ruby down to rest. Seeing that he wasn't looking in our direction, I opted for the latter.
I walked past him to the living room and gently laid Ruby down on one of the couches. After ensuring she was comfortable, I turned to have the conversation with the impatient man. But he was already behind me, and I nearly collided with his chest as I turned. Realizing how close he was and how his body heat might affect me, I stepped past him, then faced him when there was a comfortable distance between us.
His gaze was intense and still carried impatience. I clasped my hands behind me and fiddled with them, wondering how to begin. Sensing my difficulty, he asked in his deep voice, "Do you care to explain yourself?" His voice had lost its usual allure. But that wasn't the point. I needed to first apologize for not informing him about his daughter's accident and then address his daughter's needs. I just hoped this wouldn't backfire.
"Uh... sincerely, I'm so sorry, sir. I should have called you when we got to the hospital..."
"Don't make stories up, Miss Sands. I just want to know why you started that fire?" His words took me by surprise, my expression shifting to one of dramatic confusion.
"F...fire? What fire, sir? Your daughter was pushed..."
"The ballet school called," he said, stepping closer, his eyes more piercing. "You were the one who started the fire there today."
"Excuse me?"
"Are you seriously pretending at this point? You should be apologizing right now." His frown deepened. "Do you realize how your little stunt threw off my schedule today?"
"If anyone should be apologizing, it's that school." I wasn’t about to take nonsense from anyone, hot or not. "First, for neglecting Ruby's injury when she needed treatment, and second, for lying about me. I'm damn sure if I had started any fire, I would know."
"So you're calling the school a liar now?" He shook his head and stepped back slightly, biting his lower lip as he scanned me with his now clearly angry eyes.
"Daddy, she's not lying," Ruby interjected.
"Adults are talking here, Ruby. Stay out of it!"
"Don't shout at her." I hurried to Ruby, who was clutching her ears and staring at her father in fear. I hugged her to my side, soothing her with gentle words.
"Who are you, her mother?" he asked, his tone more bitter than angry.
I pulled Ruby's head to my chest. "No. But at least I was there to take care of her when she got injured." I watched him as he took off his suit jacket and threw it to the floor. As he struggled with his tie, I continued. "Shouldn't you be concerned about how she's doing? She was in pain today..."
"Leave after you've tucked her in," he cut me off, and at that moment, I felt a real surge of anger. I was about to respond, but in an instant, he was already heading upstairs. I turned back to Ruby, who looked sadly at me.
"Daddy doesn't like me."
"Oh no, darling, don't say that. He's just not in a good mood." I cringed at my own words. It's all because of that witch at the school. Stupid woman! Realizing time was getting on, and I needed to get home as early as possible, I prepared to lift Ruby to tuck her into bed.
Just as I positioned myself to lift her from the couch, a loud roar came from upstairs, "Miss Sands!"