Page 45 of Power
Chapter eleven
Reece
Ihearthefront door unlock, and I jump to my feet so I can see my baby girl. “We’re home,” Tash calls from the front.
Emily’s footsteps soon follow. “Mom!”
“I’m here.”
“Tash said you’re not feeling...whoa, what happened to your face?” Emily’s eyes water as she steps backward when she sees me. “Are you okay? What happened? Does it hurt?”
“I was in a little accident.”
“A car accident?” She looks toward the garage, then back to me.
“I was in a cab, and it was involved in an accident. My face suffered the most, but I’m okay.”
Emily steps forward and lifts her arms to embrace me. “Can I hug you? Are you hurt anywhere else?”
“Of course, you can hug me.” I pull her in and wrap her in my arms.
“Was anyone hurt badly? Other than your face.”
“Everyone is fine, sweetheart.” She tightens her arms around me and snuggles into my chest. “Tell me about school.” I lead her over to the sofa, where Tash, Emily and I all sit together. “Anything interesting happen this week?”
“One girl punched another girl.”
“What? Who? Why?” Tash sits forward, intently listening to Emily.
Emily flicks her hand at Tash. “No one really interesting. Besides, I didn’t want to get involved.”
“Don’t tell me, you buried your nose in your Harry Potter book?” Tash asks.
“I did,” Emily confirms proudly. “They’re two older girls from higher grades, and something happened between them. I don’t really know, but everyone was talking about how one punched the other. Apparently, someone recorded it on their phone, and uploaded to social media.” Emily shrugs. “I don’t know. I don’t care, either.”
“Are you kidding me?” My posture slightly slumps as I look to Tash, then Emily, then back to Tash. “Someone actually filmed it and uploaded it?” Emily nods and reaches for her book, clearly unaffected. Tash and I are both equally surprised. “Emily.” She looks over to me. “If anyone sends you that video, I don’t want you to open it.”
“Why?” she asks so innocently.
“Because if you watch it, you’re giving power to the bully and I don’t think you want to do that,” I reply.
“Especially considering you have no idea why they even fought to begin with,” Tash adds, backing me up.
“Okay.” Emily shrugs indifferently. “What’s for dinner tonight?”
Young minds are so easy to mold and influence. “What do you want?”
“Pizza.” Emily smiles.
“Basically, your favorite,” Tash teases.
Emily smiles widely. “Yep.”
“I’ll order it,” I say. “Usual?”
“Yep,” both Emily and Tash chirp in unison.
I stand and walk into the kitchen to get the phone number of the pizza place we like. I dial and place our order. “Okay, pizza will be here in about an hour.”
