Page 9 of Rome for the Holidays
Sometimes, she would wake up hearing Saul’s low growl and she knew one of the men had come into her room.
She would pretend to sleep, and the men often left if Saul stood, his black hair standing on end as his growls deepened.
As soon as the door shut again, she would hug Saul tightly and thank her lucky stars she had him.
When she went to school, the kids made fun of her for her clothes and her stutter.
She didn’t always have the stutter, just when she was nervous or felt out of place.
She couldn’t help it, and hated that kids mocked her for something she couldn’t help.
Thankfully, her teachers were kind and understood that she had a challenging time going in front of the class or reading out loud.
One of her teachers took extra time to show her how to read, tutoring her after school for at least two hours.
Ms. Brayburn once asked her why she didn’t rush home like the other kids did, and Harper swallowed hard, “I just want to be at school.”
Ms. Brayburn knew something was off, and when she asked Harper if she was in trouble, Harper immediately shook her head no.
“I-if y-y-you c-call m-my m-mom, s-s-he w-w-will b-be a-angry. P-please d-d-on’t c-call h-her. I-i w-will b-be g-good a-and n-never a-ask t–to s-stay a-after s-school a-again.”
Ms. Brayburn shook her head, “Oh no. Oh sweet girl. I’m just worried about you. Will your mother hurt you?”
Harper shook her head but kept quiet and Ms. Brayburn let out a sigh. “You sweet girl. I won’t say anything. Okay? You can stay here as long as you want. I will always help you.”
Harper hugged Ms. Brayburn and the woman hugged her back.
She wished Ms. Brayburn could be her mom. She was nice, never yelled and never hit her.
After the conversation with Ms. Brayburn, she would bring Harper small treats, rewarding her for her demanding work in reading and math.
Harper was more confident with reading and loved to escape into other worlds.
Wishing she could disappear into a book one day.
One day, a girl came up to her, her name was Olivia and she asked if Harper wanted to play dolls with her.
Harper never had a doll before, and she knew that her mom would never buy her one.
So, she said no, and Olivia never asked again. It was the closest time that Harper had ever had a friend.
Over the summer, Harper walked to the library every single day.
It wasn’t far from her trailer, and she didn’t want to be home anytime her mom was.
She found a secret spot that no one ever seemed to go to and would get a pile of books, reading each one slowly.
Then she would put those back exactly where she found them and get new books.
The librarian didn’t mind that she read a lot of books, even telling her once how she appreciated Harper putting the books back where she found them.
Harper smiled and would go back to reading.
Sometimes, even though it wasn’t allowed, the librarian would bring her in treats, letting Harper snack in her small corner.
When Harper started fourth grade, her teacher was new, but no less kind than Ms. Brayburn.
Her name was Mrs. Roni, and she was impressed with how much Harper could read.
