\u201cMy sister didn't put them there.\u201d<\/p>\n
The words came out so quickly that the woman on the phone stopped speaking.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did you say?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThose pills aren't Valeria's.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour mother needs to discuss this with the administration.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I know who put them there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
I suddenly realized how ridiculous I must have sounded.<\/p>\n
A thirteen-year-old calling from home, insisting she knew the truth about drugs found inside someone else's backpack.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlease,\u201d I said. \u201cDon't call the police on my sister.\u201d<\/p>\n
The woman became more careful.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can't discuss disciplinary procedures with you. Have your mother contact us immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n
She hung up.<\/p>\n
I stood in the kitchen with the receiver still against my ear.<\/p>\n
For a few seconds, the apartment seemed impossibly quiet.<\/p>\n
Then I grabbed my cell phone.<\/p>\n
Mom answered on my second call.<\/p>\n
\u201cSophia?\u201d<\/p>\n
She sounded breathless.<\/p>\n
\u201cMom, where are you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI'm leaving work. The school called me. What's happening?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDon't go there alone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRalph put the pills in Vale's backpack.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mom didn't answer.<\/p>\n
I spoke faster.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe came home this morning. He thought I was at school. I hid under my bed and recorded him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSophia.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI sent you the video.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat video?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCheck your email.\u201d<\/p>\n
I heard traffic behind her and the squeal of brakes.<\/p>\n
\u201cTell me exactly what you saw.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe had gloves. He had a bottle. He put it in her bag and called somebody. He said they should tell the principal where to find it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mom's breathing changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd he said the pills came from your pharmacy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nothing.<\/p>\n
\u201cMom?\u201d<\/p>\n
When she finally spoke, her voice was barely audible.<\/p>\n
\u201cStay inside.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI am.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLock the door.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is locked.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDo not let Ralph in.\u201d<\/p>\n
My eyes moved toward the front entrance.<\/p>\n
\u201cMom, he has keys.\u201d<\/p>\n
There was another silence.<\/p>\n
\u201cGo into your bedroom,\u201d she said. \u201cLock that door too.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJust do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Something in her voice made me move immediately.<\/p>\n
I ran upstairs.<\/p>\n
Mom was still speaking.<\/p>\n
\u201cI need you to send me that video again.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI already did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSend it again.\u201d<\/p>\n
I forwarded it.<\/p>\n
While it uploaded, Mom said something I didn't expect.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew medication was disappearing.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stopped.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAt work. Small quantities. Different things. Nothing large enough at first to trigger a major investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy didn't you tell us?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I didn't know what it meant.\u201d<\/p>\n
The upload finished.<\/p>\n
Mom continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cRalph asked me questions about our inventory system a few weeks ago. I thought he was making conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n
I remembered seeing him waiting outside the pharmacy several times.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe stole them?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
But her voice told me she was thinking the same thing.<\/p>\n
A knock sounded downstairs.<\/p>\n
Three measured knocks.<\/p>\n
I stopped moving.<\/p>\n
\u201cMom.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSomeone's here.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDon't answer.\u201d<\/p>\n
I crept toward the landing and looked down.<\/p>\n
Another knock.<\/p>\n
Then Ralph's voice.<\/p>\n
\u201cSophy?\u201d<\/p>\n
My skin went cold.<\/p>\n
He wasn't supposed to know I was home.<\/p>\n
\u201cSophy, open up, sweetie.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked through the peephole.<\/p>\n
Ralph stood outside wearing the same jacket he'd worn that morning.<\/p>\n
He was smiling.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to go get your sister.\u201d<\/p>\n
I backed away.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt's Ralph,\u201d I whispered.<\/p>\n
Mom's voice sharpened.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo not open that door.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ralph knocked again.<\/p>\n
\u201cSophia?\u201d<\/p>\n
Then his key entered the lock.<\/p>\n
I ran.<\/p>\n
My bedroom door slammed behind me. I turned the lock and dropped to the floor.<\/p>\n
Downstairs, the front door opened.<\/p>\n
Ralph stepped inside.<\/p>\n
\u201cSophia?\u201d<\/p>\n
His voice traveled through the apartment.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know you're here.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at my phone.<\/p>\n
Mom was still connected.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe's inside.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cStay where you are.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere are you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAlmost at the school.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMom, call the police.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI am.\u201d<\/p>\n
Footsteps reached the stairs.<\/p>\n
Slow.<\/p>\n
Unhurried.<\/p>\n
That frightened me more than if Ralph had been running.<\/p>\n
He wasn't searching anymore.<\/p>\n
He knew exactly where I was.<\/p>\n
My phone vibrated.<\/p>\n
A message from Valeria appeared.<\/p>\n
Ralph is in the principal's office. He says you stole the pills.<\/p>\n
I read it twice.<\/p>\n
That made no sense.<\/p>\n
Ralph was climbing the stairs outside my room.<\/p>\n
Unless Valeria meant he'd already been at the school.<\/p>\n
Unless he had arrived there first, told them his version, and then come home for me.<\/p>\n
I typed with shaking fingers.<\/p>\n
HE IS HERE.<\/p>\n
Three dots appeared beneath Valeria's name.<\/p>\n
Then disappeared.<\/p>\n
Ralph stopped outside my door.<\/p>\n
The doorknob moved.<\/p>\n
\u201cSophia.\u201d<\/p>\n
I didn't answer.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou've caused a serious problem.\u201d<\/p>\n
His voice had changed.<\/p>\n
No sweetness now.<\/p>\n
No pretending.<\/p>\n
\u201cI haven't done anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou've been lying.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo have you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
I regretted saying it immediately.<\/p>\n
The knob stopped moving.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did you see?\u201d<\/p>\n
I pressed my back against the bed.<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ralph laughed once.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were supposed to be at school.\u201d<\/p>\n
My phone vibrated again.<\/p>\n
This time the message was from Mom.<\/p>\n
I saw the video.<\/p>\n
A second message followed.<\/p>\n
Police are coming.<\/p>\n
I stared at those four words.<\/p>\n
Outside, Ralph struck the door with the heel of his hand.<\/p>\n
Once.<\/p>\n
The frame shook.<\/p>\n
Then again.<\/p>\n
\u201cSophia, open this door.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
He hit it harder.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou stupid girl.\u201d<\/p>\n
I held the phone against my chest.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have no idea what you just ruined.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maybe he was right.<\/p>\n
But for the first time that day, I understood something else.<\/p>\n
Neither did he.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy sister didn't put them there.\u201d The words came out so quickly that the woman on the phone stopped speaking. \u201cWhat did you say?\u201d \u201cThose pills aren't Valeria's.\u201d \u201cYour mother … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15050,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15053","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insightdrama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15053","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15053"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15053\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15079,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15053\/revisions\/15079"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/15050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15053"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15053"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15053"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}