Page 24 of Animal's Reformation
“Olivia!” someone called out.
She turned around in the direction of the voice and saw Lucy skipping toward her. Her dark braids bounced against her red quilted jacket. Olivia smiled and waved at the young girl.
“Hi, Lucy.”
A rosy flush to the cheeks from the chilly air illuminated the girl’s face. “What’re you doing here?”
“I teach here. I help out in Ms. Porter’s classroom.”
“She’s gonna be my teacher next year.” A wide smile revealed a lost tooth on the bottom.
“You’ll love her—she’s wonderful. How do you like your class?”
Lucy shrugged. “It’s okay. I wish I went to Paisley’s school. She’s my new friend.”
“That’s great.”
“Hey, kiddo.” There was that deep voice that made Olivia’s insides jump.
She willed herself not to turn around.
“Hi.” The gaiety in Lucy’s demeanor plummeted.
“Hey, Teach.” A sliver of mockery laced his voice.
Plastering a too-broad-of-a-smile on her face, Olivia pivoted and lifted her chin. “Hello, Mr. Walsh.”
He leaned in close … too close. “Fuck that,Olivia, call me Animal.” The warm breath of his whisper fanned over her neck.
She stepped away from him. “That’s an unusual name.”
“It’s not his real one,” Lucy grumbled, seemingly upset that Olivia’s attention had shifted from her to her father.
Olivia focused back on the girl, refusing to lethimpull her in again like he had earlier that day. “I kind of thought it wasn’t. Do you have a nickname?”
Lucy shook her head. “My mom called me Lucy”—her face grew pale and she looked down at the sidewalk—“or stupid brat.”
The last three words were barely audible but Olivia caught them and they pierced her heart. She knew too well how verbal abuse could hurt just as much, if not more, as a punch in the face, or a strap to the back. Her mother’s weapon of choice had never been; her hands, like her father’s, but her tongue was sharper than a razor blade, and cut much deeper.
“I don’t have a nickname either,” Olivia said, tugging at one of Lucy’s braids.
Lucy looked up. “You don’t?”
“Nope, and it’s okay. I like my name just fine. You have a very pretty name too.”
“I do? No one’s told me that.”
“I named you after Grandpa’s mom. You got your great-grandma’s name,” Animal said as he moved away from Olivia and stood beside Lucy. “Her full name was Lucille, but everyone called her Lucy. She was a strong woman who didn’t let anyone get away with shit. You have her dark hair and spirit.”
Lucy’s eyes widened. “I didn’t know that.”
“I got pictures of her. Do you wanna see them?”
The girl nodded so hard that her braids swayed as if a strong wind had just blown through.
Warmth spread through Olivia as she watched Animal try and connect with his fragile daughter. From the first day she’d met the young girl, Olivia had picked up a strain of sadness and loneliness within the child. Then, when she’d seen how standoffish Lucy was with her father, Olivia suspected something had happened to crush the girl’s trust in him.
“We gotta get going, kiddo.” Animal’s deep voice pulled Olivia from her thoughts. “We need to go to the grocery store before we head home.”
