// queen of peace // ems + ro // ic tutoring //

~Ophelia Stromstatt

Blood was crusting under Ophelia's fingernails.

She glanced up from her hands and shivered against a cool wind. When she was a child, Ma had scrubbed her hands until they bled again, trying to scrub off the fight. "No dinner," she would huff, her rough washcloth digging deep into Ophelia's skin as she jerked it back and forth. When she let Ophelia go, she would give her a gentle pat on the behind. "Stay out of trouble." There was always a hint of pleading in Ma's voice, her eyes softening though her hands stayed firm on her hips. Yet Ma would die before she said "please."

She had gone a full week without bloodying her knuckles, but tonight had done it for her. She was sitting on the gravel, her skinny scanned knees pressed to her chest, cheek resting on one as she watched her guilt unfold before her, heart hammering.

Her walk home from the market was usually peaceful, until Benji Stokes had whistled loudly at her behind.

The Peacekeeper was still leaning over the him on the ground, asking him where he lived, his name, his age. He was crumpled over on his side, swollen eyes blinking blearily, arm twisted underneath him. The Peacekeeper shook his head and adjusted his helmet.

Ophelia tried to take a deep breath in through her nose and out her mouth, but she choked on the way out and bent further over, coughing, spitting a wad of blood into the dirt. Her nose hadn't stopped bleeding yet.

She hadn't meant to. Her melon had dropped from her hands and rolled away, picking up dirt and she had bent over to pick it up. Benji's whistle cut shrilly through the air and the people around her, those milling around had laughed and when she straightened up, all she could see was red.

Another cool breeze stepped up Ophelia's back and she shivered again and rubbed her aching legs. She ached to run, but when the Peacekeeper had arrived to break it up, he had given her a look, a deep-set stare from over his sunglasses that clearly said Stay-Here-I-Know-Your-Face-I-Know-You're-From-The-Community-Home. So, there Ophelia sat.

How could she even face Ma now? "You just lose control," Ma would say, baffled, as the older kids came running to her with bloody noses, split lips and black eyes. And yet, Ophelia could never quite remember hitting them, just the aftermath, the first wide eye stare, blood dribbling down the cheek and then, the fall, dust pillowing into a cloud and the groans of pain.

Chewing her lip, Ophelia's eyes darted around, looking for something to focus on that wasn't Benji's pale face as he was pushed into a sitting position. Finally, she found the smooth trail of dirt that indicated when her melon had rolled. Her eyes followed it, finally reaching the melon itself, lying lazily on its side in the mouth of an alley. Ophelia stared at it, longing to reach out and grab it, when suddenly a shadow fell over it.

A girl stood there, just over it. Her eyes met Ophelia's for the briefest of moments before she looked away, reached down and scooped the melon up. Ophelia's jaw dropped as the girl turned and disappeared into the lengthening shadows.

Ophelia's head whipped around to see what the Peacekeeper was up to, but he was still pre- occupied with Benji as if he had completely forgotten about her. Wasting no time, Ophelia scrambled to her feet, took one last glance at the first accident she caused and set off in pursuit of her second.