Esther and Mercy

Part 5

Danny and his friends are in the school hall. They notice Mercy and Esther getting harassed by some other kids. Danny makes no move to stick up for them. The way he sees it, they brought it on themselves,  "Your parents must have gone to a lot of retard camps to find them." One boy says. Why did his parents choose them anyway?

They watch as someone trips Esther, causing her books and papers to go everywhere. Everyone laughs. "Are you okay?" Mercy helps Esther pick up her things. Then the leader of the bullies notices something. A large book. "Is this a Bible?" She waves it high above her head for all to see. "Jesus Freak brought a Bible to school today." 

"Give it back!" Mercy shouts. The girl doesn't relent. "Your sister's a total spaz." Danny's friend observes. He's referring specifically to Esther. She's still trying to get ahold of her bible, "She's not my sister." Danny refuses to acknowledge either girl as family.

The girl finally drops the Bible, which Esther bends down to pick up. "Oh, little doggy. Is this your collar, little doggy?" She pulls on Esther's neck ribbon. She screams at the top of her lungs. It can't be heard over the screaming, but Mercy yells "Leave. Her. ALOME!" On the last word she kicks the mean girl as hard as she can in the back of her knees. This has the desired effect of making her release Esther and crumple to the floor.

Esther and Kate are at the piano. Esther is playing, but makes several mistakes. "Not A. A, B." She finishes playing. "You did really good." 

"No, I didn't. I made like 11 mistakes. I'll do better next time." Something is clearly on her mind."Your teacher told me what happened today. Don't you want to talk about it?"

"There's nothing to talk about." Really? Because what the teacher described didn't sound like nothing. "You know I'm here for you, right? You know that, right?" Esther nods. "I got something I wanna show you." She grabs a small book. A diary maybe?

"I have one just like this that I use as a diary. And I thought that maybe you and I could use this one......for a scrapbook." 

"What about Mercy?" Kate grabs another book. "I'll show her later. Wanna see what I already put in yours?" A nod. Kate opens the book. The first page shows a wedding picture. "That's Mommy and Daddy on their wedding day." A picture of a younger Daniel. "That's Daniel, Christmas morning. Here's Max." A picture of Mercy, taken without her knowledge while she's reading a book on the couch. "Here's Mercy." They giggle at the expression on the girl's face. Apparently whatever she was reading was surprising because her mouth was hanging open. "And there's you."  Then Esther asks a question that makes Kate's heart skip a beat. "Who's Jessica? Max talks about her." 

Kate shows Esther Jessica's memorial. A rose bush with a plaque that bears a sweet poem. "I never held you, but I feel you. You never spoke, but I hear you. I never knew you, but I love you." Kate reads. 

"What happened to her?"

She died while she was still in my tummy. But we scattered her ashes here. And as long as this plant grows......then part of her will be alive inside it." They're both tearing up. "She would have been lucky. You're a great mommy." Kate pulls Esther into a hug. "Thank you, sweetheart. Thank you. It means a lot." 

Kate goes into Esther and Mercy's room. The former is currently playing with Max in her room. This makes it the perfect time for Kate to have bonding time with Mercy. The door is slightly ajar. "Can I come in?"

"Sure." Mercy is sprawled out on the bottom bunk, just listening to music and observing the fish in the saltwater tank in the corner. Kate turns off the record player and sits in one of the desk chairs. "Rough day?"

"Yes. But I can handle it."

"You wanna talk about it?"

"What is there to say? I had to defend my sister. Daniel certainly wasn't." Kate's ears perk up at the mention of the moody tween. "Daniel was there? Esther's teacher didn't mention that."

" I saw him in the crowd. He just watched. He really doesn't like us, does he?"

"Danny just needs a little time. He'l come around eventually. I have something for you." She pulls out the scrapbook. It has different pictures than Esther's. The first was also a wedding picture, but taken at the cake cutting. "Here's Daddy and me at our wedding." 

"You look beautiful." Aww. Kate is beginning to prefer Mercy over Esther to some extent. "Here's Daniel on his first day of kindergarten." He was grinning from ear to ear, showing off his missing tooth. "And here's Max, last Halloween." She was a witch with a spider web motif. "Here's Esther." she was practicing at the piano. "And you."

"Thank you Mommy. I can't wait to add more memories." She gets sad all of a sudden. "I just hope nothing bad happens this time." Kate's heart breaks for the little girl. "Nothing's gonna happen to us, Sweetie." She wraps Mercy in a hug. "You and Esther have found your forever home, and Daddy and I love you both very much."