In From the Cold by Deborah Ellis

Author:Deborah Ellis [Ellis, Deborah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Readers for New Literates, Language Arts & Disciplines, Readers
ISBN: 9781926583259
Publisher: Grass Roots Press
Published: 2010-09-03T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

It’s only pain, Rose told herself. You can’t die from pain.

The trip to the latrine was almost unbearable. She’d had to lean on Hazel all the way. Rose was determined not to scream. She’d given Hazel a bad enough day as it was.

She remembered there were a few Tylenol left. Hazel got them for her, and got her a drink of water to swallow them with. The pills wouldn’t take away the pain in her back, but they would make it feel less severe. She got back on the bed, and Hazel covered her up again.

“Get yourself something to eat, honey,” Rose told her.

“I’m not hungry,” Hazel said. A moment later, Rose heard her daughter open a box of crackers and twist the lid off the peanut butter jar. Crackers and peanut butter had been Hazel’s favourite snack ever since she was a toddler.

“You’re not being punished, Hazel,” Rose said. “You didn’t do anything wrong. Well, you did something very wrong today, but you know what I mean. Living here isn’t a punishment.”

“It feels like a punishment.”

“You used to think it was an adventure.”

“It was. It used to be.”

“It still is,” Rose said. “Don’t you like going into the city at night, when everyone else is asleep? Don’t you enjoy going treasure hunting with me?”

“I want to get food from a grocery store,” Hazel said. “I want to watch television in the evening and sleep in my own room at night. I want to use my library card again. And I want to go back to school.”

“One day, honey,” Rose said.

“When?”

“Soon.”

“But when?”

“Don’t pester me.”

“We could go back to our house today,” Hazel said. “Daddy won’t be there. Someone would have cleaned him up.”

“Hazel!”

“I saw it in the newspapers. Someone found his body and took it away.”

“You’re not supposed to read newspapers! All that bad news gives you nightmares.”

“You can’t forbid me to read newspapers,” Hazel said. “I’m a citizen. My teacher said it’s everybody’s job to keep up on current events.”

Rose wanted silence. She wanted to keep her eyes closed, huddle under the blanket, and wait for the Tylenol to work. She wanted to have only herself to worry about. She wanted another life.

“It’s not that simple,” she said. “We can’t go back.”

“But why can’t we?”

“Do you want me to be arrested?” Rose asked. “Because that’s what would happen. And you would end up in foster care. Do you want to live with strangers?”

“You said it was an accident.”

“It was. But people won’t believe me.”

Hazel didn’t say anything, and Rose started to drift off. The Tylenol was taking the sharp edge off the pain in her back. Maybe this time it wouldn’t last too long. After all, she could rest, here in this shack. She didn’t have to get up and look after her husband. She could rest and heal and be all right again.

She was almost asleep when Hazel spoke again.

“We could tell people that I did it.”

Rose opened her eyes. “What?”

“We could say I killed Daddy. They won’t put me in prison.

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