Living in Spite of You

At Least

{Sage’s POV}

“How about this..” the man said from beside me. “We could take Mabel with us, my sister has always wanted a child, but couldn’t conceive on her own. She lives right next door, so you could check on her at any time.” He smiled down at me.

I looked up at him, confused, before looking back to the headmistress. “You’ll be going home with him Sage.. he’s your legal guardian, but sir, I’m afraid you’d have to apply to adopt Mabel, you can’t just take her.” She said, glaring back at me.

I pulled Mabel against my chest again, holding her in my arms, bouncing and rocking her. “I can see how much you ‘care’ for the children here.” The man sneered. “Look at them.. dressed in rags, so afraid of you that they won’t look you in the eyes, not to mention how small she is! She’s 20 years old, and she’s this tiny!” He snapped. “Get the paperwork, that the baby will be signed over to me, otherwise, I will have a full fledged investigation of this place and within an hour, you’ll be shut down!”

She sighed, rushing away before coming back with the paperwork. I stood still, and silent, holding Mabel to my chest. The headmistress looked over at me, a glint of hatred in her eyes. I looked back down at Mabel, and held her close to me. “It’s okay Sage, Mabel will be able to stay with you for now. Well go to the store, and get her everything she needs.” The man said. I looked up at him, nodding softly before looking back at Mabel. “Why.. why aren’t you speaking?” He asked.

I looked to the headmistress, then back to Mabel. My whole body shaking, what if when he finds out, he changes his mind. “Sir.. as I was trying to say before.. Sage is mute.” She sighed. “Really, it was quite tragic, after seeing her parent be murdered.. she developed selective mutism.” She said, smirking over at me.

“Selective mutism.. that’s curable.. with therapy, and the right medications. It’s okay Sage, we’ll try everything we can to help you.” He smiled down at me.

My whole body was trembling as I held Mabel against me. I nodded again, tears spilling down my cheeks. “Selective mutism, it means she could speak if she wanted to! This ungrateful brat hasn’t spoken a word since she got here at 10!” The headmistress snapped.

I winced at her words, and sunk backwards against the wall, brushing through Mabel’s hair softly. “It’s okay, I know a bit about selective mutism, I have a cousin who suffered with it for a long time, but he talks so much now that he’s the life of every party.” He smiled. “We’ll help you Sage.” He said, before handing the paperwork to the headmistress. “We’re leaving now, and if I hear a word of protest out of you, I’ll make sure this place is not only shut down, but destroyed!” He sneered, placing his hand on my back, and guiding me outside. I looked over my shoulder, seeing the headmistress glaring daggers at me.

The man opened an umbrella and led me to the car. He opened the door, and I slid inside, holding Mabel against my chest and smiling softly down at her. I hummed a soft tune, the only thing I could bring myself to do to calm her. I hummed, and kissed her head, before hearing the car door open, and the man slid in on the other side of me.

I stopped, looking over to him, before looking back at Mabel. “Don’t worry, there’s a*****e not far from here, it’s open 24/7, we’ll go get all of the stuff we need for her.” He smiled, before looking down at Mabel. He held his hand towards her, extending his index finger. She grabbed it, and cooed loudly, she was always such a happy baby. I was the only one who took care of her though, the headmistress let her cry, and always had me checking in on her. I wrote letters to the headmistress, begging her to let me move her into my room, she’s so attached to me, but she refused.

I buckled up, and nodded, playing with Mabel who was snuggled gently against my chest. I looked over to the man beside me, trying to study his features. He was tall, about 6’4, his hair was dark brown on top, but grey on the sides. He had a beard that was brown, with bits of grey in it. His eyes were a pale green color, his skin tan, and he was very bulky, and muscular. He said he was my godfather, but.. I couldn’t remember him no matter how hard I tried. He turned, noticing me looking at him, and smiled softly at me. “What is it Sage?” He asked, before remembering I didn’t speak. “Oh.. hang on.” He said, digging in his brief case, handing me a notebook and a pencil. “Here, write down anything you want to say, or any questions you have.” He smiled.

I quickly began scribbling down my thoughts, before turning it to face him. “You said you were my godfather? So you knew my parents?” I wrote.

He nodded. “Yes, it was quite a while ago, and after everything you’ve been through, I can completely understand why you don’t remember. My wife and I were friends with your parents, so close that we even became your godparents, in case anything ever happened to them. Sadly, you were taken from the house.. after everything.. they lost you for a long time, I was just now able to track you down to here.” He sighed, looking me over. “You look.. small, and sickly.. did they hurt you?” He asked.

I looked down to Mabel and pulled her closer to me. I didn’t want to answer him.. what they did to us.. all of us girls, it wasn’t right, it wasn’t fair, but the headmistress told all of us. “No one would believe you, and even if they did, they wouldn’t care! You’d just be making trouble for them, and they’d bring you back!”

I didn’t believe her at first, and when I left with my first two families, I wrote down everything that happened there. Instead of listening to me, they’d rip up my pages, and tell me not to stir up any unnecessary trouble, or they’d send me straight back. I often got told that they need a girl to help them with chores, not be a burden. I kissed Mabel’s head, I couldn’t save the other girls I took care of, but at least I could save her.