Esther and Mercy

Part 7

John is at the playground with the three girls. He's pushing Max on a swing when an attractive woman comes up to him. "Hey, neighbor."

"Hey." He's having trouble keeping his eyes on her face. "Haven't seen you around lately. "

"I've been pretty busy. Has the homeowners' association been soldiering on without me?" 

"It's not the same." They laugh. Those meetings are borderline torture. "Um, actually, I had a favor to ask. I have a chair that I need moved upstairs and I was hoping you could come by and help me with that sometime." Alone with an attractive woman at her house? His wife wouldn't like that. "Yeah. Yeah, sure. Maybe Kate and I could help you out. Just let us know."

"I'll call you." 

A girl in Esther's class is on the large play structure. Her new classmate seemed to have been fallowing her earlier. But she's in the clear now. Climbing the last rungs of the ladder, she sees Mercy, whose dove grey coat makes her stand out against the wooden rail she's leaning on. She recognizes her vaguely from school. "Hey, you're the freak who kicked me!" Mercy gives her a death glare. "I wouldn't have had to if you had just left my sister alone."

"If the two of you were normal, none of it would've happened." The blonde starts walking away, but turns her head before turning onto another section of the structure. "Those who fallow the crowd don't get anywhere in life. Remember that." The bully girl keeps walking to the slide. But right next to it is Esther. The sight startles the pink clad brunette. In that moment, Mercy sneaks up behind her and gives a big shove. 

John finishes his conversation with the neighbor and gets Max off the swing. He's about to call the girls when he hears a loud scream.  He's too focused on the little girl whose ankle is at a weird angle to notice who's standing at the top of the slide. But Max does.

John brings up the incident at dinner that night. "Brenda's father says that one of you pushed her."

"That's not true. We were just playing. I swear." 

"Yes. She's lying." Mercy backs her sister up. "Okay. And did you see what happened?" Max shakes her head. She signs something to her brother. He doesn't understand. "What? Mom, what's she saying?" Esther is the one to translate. "She wants you to pass the bread and butter." 

"Wasn't asking you." 

"Hey, now." John is sick of Daniel's bad attitude. 

"Can you eat normal?" Daniel asks Esther, who is cutting her food into small pieces. "I am eating normal." 

"Yeah, maybe in Transylvania, or whatever country you're from."

"Incidentally, I'm from Russia." 

"Transylvania isn't even a country. It's a part of Romania." Mercy clarifies. "You are such a freak."Danny tells Mercy. "You too," 

"Hey. Hey, Danny. I don't want any more talk like that."

But why do they have to act like that? All my friends make fun of me because of them." 

"Maybe you need different friends." What kind of people was his kid hanging out with anyway? "Maybe you should send them back to the retard camp." 

"Daniel. Daniel. Apologize to your sisters." Danny has had enough. "They're not my fucking sisters." He slams his fist on the table to emphasize the swear. Kate is about to intervene, but John stops her. "I got it." 

John gets a padlock and locks up Daniel's tree house.

"You get the key back when you say you're sorry." It doesn't look like that'll happen any time soon.