Chapter 8 No escaping the punishment
Chapter 8: No Escaping the Punishment
Florence handed Allan a vacuum cleaner, a dust rag and asked him to start cleaning the living room while she starts on foyer.
Allan tried arguing with his mother, trying to make her see how ridiculous it was for him to be cleaning the house of his classmate.
"Ma come on, be reasonable. I can't clean here. What would people in school think if they knew that I clean Golden Nixon's house?"
He sighed. "Are you trying to murder my social life? Please think about it, give me another punishment. I promise I will go out and look for a job and get your money back but please not this." Allan pleaded as he grumbled.
"Since when do you care about what people say?" Florence asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Are you ashamed of me?" She asked, her voice shaking a little.
"No ma! I will never be ashamed of you, it's just that the kids in my school... Look mom, you wouldn't understand. Please just reconsider okay?"
"Well, I'm not going to change my mind so deal with it. That would teach you not to ever steal from me again. Besides how will your school mates find out if you don't tell them? Because I'm very sure that Miss Golden will not run her mouth."
"I'm heading upstairs to deliver what Miss Golden asked for. Make sure you are cleaning by the time I get back down." Florence balanced everything on a tray. She turned to give Allan a warning glare before matching up the stairs.
"Miss Golden, can I come in?" Florence called in softly as she knocked on the door.
"Give me a moment, Florence" Golden quickly wiped her tears and tried to keep her mood in check. "You can come in now."
Florence stepped into the room and dropped the tray on the coffee table by the window.
By the corner, she saw that the standing mirror was covered with a blanket.
She also noticed the shredded cloth on the floor and realized that it was the same dress that Golden had worn out on Friday night.
Golden was a very organized person and hardly was there ever anything out of place in her room, so it was quite shocking to see a cloth torn to pieces on the floor.
Florence immediately bent to pick up the cloth from the floor, and that's when she noticed the blood stains on the bed.
"Are you hurt anywhere, Miss Golden?" she asked softly.
"No I'm fine, Florence. It's just a small cut, nothing too serious. Besides, I have taken care of the wound already." Golden said avoiding Florence's gaze.
"Do I need to inform Master Varney about this? I wouldn't want to see you get hurt." she said, her voice laced with concern as she approached Golden who was sitting legs crossed on the bed.
Golden had on two occasions tried to take her life. She had cut herself with a pen knife and had bled seriously.
The first time was when her parents were still alive. She was only 14 at the time. And the second time was after her parents died. By then she was already 19 and had just gotten into Med school.
On both occasions, Florence was the person that found her. She was scared witless and screamed. Luckily, both times she was saved.
Although the cuts were deep, they never got to any of the major veins to do any proper damage.
Golden had gone for therapy both times and although she still always looked unhappy, she hadn't tried to commit suicide again.
Florence was being careful, she didn't know if Golden had relapsed and had started cutting herself again.
Golden, reading and understanding Florence's expression said "Really Florence? It's not what you think. I promise it's not. Please don't tell Varney. I just cut myself with a scissors and I already treated it, see..." she showed her finger that was now covered in a small plaster.
She didn't want Varney knowing anything or else she would be watched like a hawk and sent back to therapy and she really didn't want that.
Therapy only made her feel worse. It was like a constant reminder that something was wrong with her.
If Varney as much as suspects that something is wrong, he would immediately wheel her off to the therapist.
"Are you sure Miss? I would hate to see you get hurt again. Even if you can't talk to Mr Varney, you know you can always talk to me. You've met my son, so you know I can actually give birth to someone like you."
She went on. "You can always come to me if you ever want to talk and I promise I will listen to you without judgement. And if you are in trouble, I will try to help you. You don't need to suffer alone in silence."
Florence stopped by the bed and following her instinct, she lifted Golden's chin to look at her. She noticed that her eyes were red and puffy, like someone who had just finished crying.
She gently rubbed her eyes and as if triggered, Golden broke down and started crying again.
She couldn't explain why she was crying but one look at Florence and what she said made her let loose and she cried.
Florence held Golden and let her cry. She felt her heart breaking for the poor child.
She had no friends and her parents who were the closest she had to friends were gone.
Varney although he loved her and provided her with everything was always swamped with work, trying to keep up with the responsibilities that fell on him when he lost his parents.
So Golden was left alone to navigate life's journey by herself.
After about 10 minutes, Golden finally stopped crying. She had stained Florence's uniform with her tears.
"I'm so sorry Florence. I didn't mean to soil your uniform." Golden apologized.
"It's nothing serious. I would go change into my second pair. Why don't you go into the bathroom and wash your face, then you can come and have your snacks? I'll just tidy up in here." Florence said with a smile.
By the time Golden came out of the bathroom, Florence had already changed her bedding. She changed the whole thing, not just the stained comforter.
The torn dress on the floor was already gone and the scissors was cleaned and neatly put away.