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Author's Chapter Notes:

Oops! Almost forgot to upload today! I've been busy doing some editing and re-writes. Trying to nail the last bit of the story just right. As a result this chapter's been split in two as it was getting a little long. This shouldn't effect the schedule too much. Enjoy. 

Small Chapter 13: Fracture


Izzellah held her breath as she hid in complete darkness. Her heart was beating so fast she was worried it would burst out of her chest like one of those aliens from the movies. She scratched at the back of the next and felt the hardness of the foreign object imbedded there. Every second of everyday it was saturating her body with its horrible cargo. She heard a thud and dove deeper into the pile of discarded clothes and blankets. She made her way to the very bottom and tucked herself inside an old tube sock. Another thud, louder this time and an earthquake. She curled into a ball and hoped even though she knew it was hopeless. The odds were too stacked against her. Even now there was a red flashing inside the sock as the device on her neck did it’s second of two horrible jobs. Izzellah heard beeping. She was getting closer.

“Where are you?” she heard in a soft and singing voice that masked the intent of its owner.

She felt the sock lift up. No! She dropped to the bottom of the white cotton piece of fabric. The bottom was pinched and lifted up over her. The world went upside down as she fell over herself. She landed face down in Sabrina’s warm palm.

“Found you!” she said holding her beeping tablet in her free hand. “You really like my socks don’t you, Izzy?” she smiled and booped her nose in that infuriatingly condescending way.

Izzy sighed and collapsed onto her stomach. She’d lost before this game had even started. Her only chance at freedom had been unfairly torn away from her. Izzellah Ignacia Ivory had been chipped.


“If you really like my socks that much I could wear them for a few days for you.” Sabrina proposed to the chipped tiny. “Get them nice and warm for you first. Or like you can sleep in them while I wear em to bed and curl up with my toes.”

Izzellah didn’t answer. Partly because she was trying to stave off near suicidal depression and partly because she was ashamed to it admit she might actually enjoy either of those options.

“Oh don’t pout!” Sabrina stroked the back of her tiny between the shoulder blades to make her purr. “I know you’re upset but look on the bright side. Things are gonna be much better from now on!”

Still no response.

“I know I’ve been rough on you these last few days but that can be over now! Now that you’re truly safe.” She pulled up her tablet and showed the screen to her Izzy. “And it’s all because of this. It’s amazing!”

Sabrina thumbed the touch screen and interacted with the installed app with the one handed dexterity of someone who been using tablets since she was three. On the screen it said target found and the beeping stopped along with the red flashing light on the back of the tracker. Right now it could only tracker within the house thanks to the newly installed network. Outside it was limited to a few meters. But as the days passed and more beacons came online inside her, meters would turn into miles and eventually more.

“It even tracks your heart rate, blood pressure, and body temperature!’ Sabrina said proudly. She pressed another button and a full 3d representation of her was presented. It was tinted blue and clear. A series of lines and streaks were visible representations of her mapped out circulatory system. Numerous red dots showed where the beacons had bonded with her nanomachines and become active. There was a clumping of them in her right arm. Soon it would be her whole body. “It’s so cool isn’t it?”

“Sabby?” Izzellah spoke up finally. “Just shut up please.” She curled in on herself.

Sabrina frowned. Even getting Izzy chipped had been a fight. The tiny girl was screaming as Dr. Winton administered the procedure. Izzy had bitten her multiple times. The kind woman dismissed it with professionalism. Tiny’s struggling against being chipped was apparently very common. Izzy had deflated as soon as the tracker had been attached to her neck.

“Okay you’re sad.” Sabrina observed. “I’m just going to let you be sad. For as long as you want. But that’s not going to stop me from pampering the shit out of my adorable Little sis!” She really dug her thumb into the back of Izzy. The tiny girl mewed in appeasement. Sabrina knew it was just a matter of time before she came around. She spotted a tooth mark she’d left on her tiny’s right buttcheek and smiled to herself. Sabrina bent her head down and gave it a light kiss with an exaggerated “Mwyah!”

“Geez, don’t be weird.” Izzy said. She rolled over so her back was facing away from her.

“That wont stop me from kissing it again!” Sabrina cheesed. She rolled the tiny over and gave her another kiss in the same spot. Then one more. Then a whole series.

“Mwah, mwah, mwah, mwah, MWAH!” she punctuated at the end of each love bite.

“Saaaby, Please!” Izzy whined. “I just want to go to sleep.”

“Fine. You can go to sleep.” Sabrina allowed. “But if you do you’ll miss out on all your presents!”

Izzy scoffed and closed her eyes.  Sabrina ignored it and placed her marous tiny upon her dresser drawer. She then grabbed a plastic bag that lied in the corner of the room. When she returned Izzy was tossing and turning trying very hard to get comfortable on the cold, hard wood.

“Hey, get up.” Sabrina ordered with a poke. Izzy growled at her but stood up anyway.

“What do you want Sabby?” Izzy pleaded. “Can’t you just leave me alone for five minutes, please!”

Sabrina stuck her tongue out. “So anyway after your procedure me and mom went out shopping for…”personal items” and-”

“Bras.” Izzy corrected. “You can say bras, Sabrina. And pads for baby’s first period. I know I was there.” Izzy shrugged. It was late August. Apparently Sabrina’s body had decided that after twelve years and eight months it was the perfect time to hit puberty.

“SO ANYWAY!” Sabrina blushed. “After little Ms. Grumpy cried herself to sleep because “wittle baby don’t wanna be chipped!” Me and mom found a specialty store.”

Sabrina deposited the contents of the bag onto the counter. Inside was multiple plastic containers with miniature outfits inside. Izzy walked up to one. Inside was a pair of black shorts with a lime green swoosh on the corner and a matching sports top. The top had “Nike” printed in lime green.

“The place was called, Tiny Values.” Sabrina informed. “And look these are so cool! They have some kind of deal to get actual name brands to make this stuff.”

Sabrina tore open the plastic case and let the clothing fall in front of her tiny. The first outfit was just one of three matching sets with different colors; black and green, black and white, and red and white. She went for the black and white set and tried them on. The bottoms fit snuggly but the fabric breathed and seemed made to stretch. Good for exercising. The top was made out of the same stuff and her girls got some actual support for the first time. Nike did good work.

“We kind of went a little overboard.” Sabrina showed off more clothes for different seasons. There were shorts, dresses, a few winter coats, some scarves, the list went on. “It was all just so cheap though! What you’re wearing now only cost five dollars for the whole set!”

Sabrina then pulled out something strange. It looked like a tiny pack of some sort.

“Except for this.” She said. “Mom spent almost a hundred bucks on this thing and I have no idea why.” Izzy inspected it as Sabrina dropped it on the counter. It was indeed a tiny backpack. It had on large padded strap she hung over her shoulder. It looked like something to be used for camping. It had at least two dozen small pockets and one big pocket on the back that zipped up diagonally. It was a surprise that it actually had zippers at all. Real one’s of metal and made to scale. The stitching was emmaculate. Was this thing hand made!?

“Why would you even need a backpack?” Sabrina mused. “I can carry anything you’d ever want.”

“No Small Comforts garbage?” Izzy asked with suspicion.

“Maybe a little.” Sabrina shrugged. “They had a lot of their stuff on the shelves, but we mostly got clothes. Oh! Look at this!”

Sabrina presented a small white sleeveless dress. It had a frilly pattern embroidered on the bottom.

“I picked this out myself.” She boasted.  

Izzy obediently slipped into the dress. It fit well. Maybe a tad larger than she’d like but she couldn’t complain.

“We can match now!” Sabrina beamed. She backed away to try on her own white dress their mom had bought for her. She put it on over a new black swimsuit she’d gotten yesterday. It was an odd coincidence how they were both in the same situation for different reasons. Sabrina required a new swimsuit not just for Mabel’s party but because she had put on almost two inches in the last couple of weeks. And in the last few days her chest was growing something dangerously close to passing for breasts. She might even have a legitimate A-cup if Izzy was feeling generous. Too bad for Sabrina she never was.

She watched as Sabrina twirled her dress around.Then she popped up and ran to the other side of her bed to get something.

“I almost forgot this!” She said showing off a red sash that tied around the waist of the dress. She came over to Izzy and dangled a small strand of red silk. “I cut it off mine to make a bow for you!” She turned Izzy around and tied it into the corner of her long hair. Izzy knew exactly what was happening here. Her sister was color coordinating her with her outfit. She was truly just an accessory for her now.

“No..hmmm. That doesn’t look right.” Sabrina observed. “Come here.” She picked Izzy up and hopped onto her bed. She sat her down between her legs and took some of her hair in each hand. “I think this would look better with a braid.”

 


 


The Hawthorne’s lived down the street from the Ivory’s, and down the street was actually over a mile of straight road and a right turn before civilization. It was a quick ten minute ride by car but over an hour walking. Izzy remembered jogging down there on early mornings. Some mornings she would even chat with Brenda. It had only just dawned on her that Mabel was her little sister. How had she never noticed that before. She could’ve sworn Brenda lived alone with her father. She could only vaguely recall seeing a tiny redheaded girl sitting on their living room couch, eating cereal and watching cartoons. Was that Mabel?

Gloria pulled up to the driveway and it was already clear the party was in full swing. It was barely ten’oclock but Izzy could already hear splashing and screaming. Coach Hawthorne was hefting a large bag of charcoal from out the garage. He met Gloria’s eyes and gave a friendly wave. He was a large man with thick arms and dark wide broom mustouch under his round nose. Izzy remembered him being the school’s Santa Claus last year.

“Gloria! Good to see ya!” he said. He walked over to the back gate. It had multicolored balloons tied to it. “Parties this way!”

Sabrina could barely unbuckle her seatbelt fast enough. She bounced out front car door with Izzy along for the ride. She rushed past Coach Abe and into the party.

“Sabrina slow down!” Izzy said as she bounced up and down inside her sister’s bathing suit.

“Oops, sorry.” She said as she hit the brakes. She looked around and there were an astonishing amount of people there. Sabrina recognized some of them from school but she wouldn’t call any of them Mabel’s friends, and then there were just kids she didn’t even know. Family members maybe.

“Sabrina!” Mabel said from up above. She was sitting next to Riri on the deck of her above ground pool. “Come on up! Let’s go swimming!”

Sabrina hesitated. She pulled back her swimming top to look at Izzy inside.

“Just give me to mom. Don’t let me stop your fun.” Izzy grimaced.

“Oh! That’s right!” Mabel realized. She slid through the wooden bars and landed down on the ground next to her friend. Riri was taken aback by this. The braided girl opted for the much safer option of taking the stairs instead of falling nearly ten feet.

“Izzy’s with you. Can she swim?” Mabel asked.

“Not with all these people in the pool!” Sabrina said as a splash of water fell on top of her. “Who are all these people?”

“You recognize, Gretchun right? And Mei, and-”

“And Peter’s here.” Riri added.

“Those are the only one’s I invited, but dad insisted on letting some of the neighbors come over even though they didn’t bring any presents. The rest is just my dumb family and a few of Brenda’s dumb friends.”

Izzy sneered at that remark.

“Sabrina!” The entire group of girls flinched at the voice of her mother.

“Don’t just run off.” Gloria ordered. “I know you’re excited to play with your friends but you have to be more responsible with Izzellah.”

“Mom I was being responsible!”

“Come inside, mija. I want you to eat first. And give me your dress. I don’t want it dirty already.”

Sabrina begrudgingly complied.

“I was actually getting kind of hungry too.” Riri said.

“Yeah and maybe the bounce house will be ready by the time we finish!” Mabel added.

“Bounce house?!” Sabrina chirped.

“Yeah! Riri’s dad actually brought a bounce house! That was the surprise!”

The trio of girls walked into the kitchen. Coach Abe was at the oven busy checking on something wrapped in foil. It smelled meaty.

“We got hotdogs, ribs, chicken, burgers, there’s potato salad, regular salad, there’s some fruit on the table, sodas are outside in the cooler, and your mom’s bringing up some ice cream.” Coach Abe informed to his daughter and her friends.

“Thank you, Abe.” Gloria said. “You’ve really done an amazing job here. I don’t think I could handle so many people by myself.”

“Not just me, Gloria. Amanda’s been a real help.” Coach Abe smiled widely with wistful eyes.

“Yeah, I bet she has.” Gloria huffed.

“What is this thing between you two?” Coach Abe asked.

“Ancient history, Abraham.” Came a voice from behind them. A the Ivorys recognized all too well.

“Mommy!” Mabel cheered. She ran up to hug a woman holding two buckets of ice cream in each hand. She was tall with red hair and wide brimmed glasses.

“Edward.” Gloria said flatly.

“Well if it isn’t my second favorite family.” Mrs. Nelson smiled. “Gloria…..Sabrina, Izzellah. It’s so good to see you again.”

 


 

Izzy felt like her mind was about to explode. Or more accurately like it should. Nothing was truly more shocking than waking up two inches tall, but Mabel and Brenda’s mom being Mrs. Nelson was a close second.

“You’re mom’s Mrs. Nelson!” Sabrina blurted.

“Who?” Mabel asked.

“It’s my maiden name sweetheart.” Mrs. Nelson informed. “My last name before I married your father.”

“You’re going by Nelson now.” Coach Abe asked carefully. He seemed a little hurt by the news.

“Just when I’m working.” Mrs. Nelson shrugged. “Does that bother you Abraham?”

“I-uh.” Coach Abe stood there as if caught.

“Because you need to start communicating with me more if we’re going to give this another chance. No more bottling it up inside until it blows up on us.”

“Y-yes. It does bother me.” He said.

Mrs. Nelson smiled. “Good. We’ll talk about it later.”  

“Wait!” Sabrina spoke up. “I come over here almost every weekend. I haven’t seen you here once!”

“Mabel.” Mrs. Nelson chuckled. “Have you been keeping secrets?”

“What secrets?” Riri asked.

Mabel’s mouth was conveniently full with too much of a fully loaded hotdog.

“MABEL.” Sabrina demanded.

“Oh my god!” Izzy sighed. “She doesn’t live here, Idiot! Probably some stupid weekend visitation thing!”

Mabel forced down her bite of hotdog. “I, uh...I actually live with my mom across town.” She said then went back to eating.

“Don’t be upset, Sabrina.” Mrs. Nelson comforted. “I live in a tiny two bedroom apartment. The house is much nicer.”

“I still wanna come over, Mabel!” Sabrina demanded.

The redhead nodded. “Mll oo brmm Izmy?” She asked with her mouthful.

“Of course.”

“I wanna come too!” Riri interjected.

Izzy flinched as the plan to have a sleepover casually formed before her very eyes. No one was going to bother asking if that was something she wanted. She had to come to terms with this. It was her life now. Humans would be deciding things for her, making choices without asking her, and ignoring her for the rest of her life. If she was lucky that would be the worst of it.

Izzy sat in silence as the humans continued to eat around her. She wanted to at least explore the kitchen table they had all convened around but Sabrina was having none of that. The girls arms formed a ring of protection around her as chomped on a hotdog of her own. Every few moments Sabrina would rip off a tiny piece of bun and hand it to her. Was that really all she was allowed to have? Not even a piece of meat, a kernel of corn, a handful of mashed potatoes? Something?

“Sabrina! Come on! I’m hungry!” Izzy shouted. She pinched her sister’s arm.

“Not now Izzy!” Sabrina dismissed. “I want to feed you myself later.” Sabrina went back to her “big” people conversation of hammering out the critical details of what snacks Mabel would have at her apartment. What was this feeding her thing about? She wasn’t a baby! She could feed herself! Izzy went to scale Sabrina’s arm to get at the real food, but found herself snatched up. Sabrina held her captive with one hand while the other appeared in front of her with a torn piece of pineapple. It was soaked in some kind of liquid that dripped off it. She opposed being fed like this but her stomach rumbled and she took a bite. It had a sort of meaty flavor of beef to it. While this happened Sabrina wasn’t even looking at her.

“Let’s go to my room!” Mabel said. “I’ve gotten a bunch of old toys upstairs I don’t play with anymore.”

“So?” Izzy asked up to the humans surrounding her.

There was a pause between the young girls.

“So I was thinking….y’know with the toys and stuff. We could” Mabel twiddled her thumbs together.

“That’s the stupidest thing I ever heard!” Izzy shouted so they could hear her over the noise of the adults.

“I think it’s cute.” Gloria of all people spoke up.

“Mom!?”

“You should learn to get along better with your sister and her friends.” Gloria leaned down and patted her ill tempered daughter on the head. “This will be good for you. Especially since you’re apparently spending the night with them next weekend.”

“Mom. I don’t want to do this.” Izzy said to her with genuine sincerity.

Gloria kissed her forehead. “I know you don’t, mija. I’m sorry. I’ll get you some time alone tomorrow. I promise.”

“Really?” Izzellah asked. “You promise?”  

“Just us, mija. We’ll go out. Get you some clothes. Whatever you want. You’ve earned some time away from Sabrina. Just for yourself.”

Izzellah’s heart jumped. Would her mom really do that. No Sabrina. Maybe even a chance to escape?! Would she really. Izzellah couldn’t believe it yet. Still she felt gratitude.

“Thank you.” She heard herself whisper before being hauled away. Gloria winked at her as she felt herself being whisked away by Sabrina.


Sabrina chewed on her tongue. She’d been silent through that little mother/daughter moment but she was vehemently against giving Izzy a day alone without her. She couldn’t wait the five months until her birthday and their mom wouldn’t be able to make those kind of decisions anymore. Sabrina understood what her mom was doing and she agreed that maybe Izzy did her spirits lifted but SHE would be the one to do it! They had all the time in the world now. Izzy was an egg she would eventually crack. She bumped into something.

“Oh excuse me.” Sabrina heard. She looked face to face with a ginger girl with freckles and broad glasses. “I do apologize.” she said.

“No my bad I wasn’t paying attention.” Sabrina apologized.

“Stop being such a klutz Bren!” Mabel taunted as she passed by her sister and bounded up the stairs.

“Oh yeah! Well you stop being such an….such and oaf-and she’s gone.” Brenda muttered to herself as Mabel was already up the stairs and around the corner. “Do excuse my sister. She’s……..unrefined.” Brenda adjusted her glasses.

“You’re Brenda?” Sabrina asked.

“Has my sister told you about me? Nothing flattering I’m sure.” She walked passed the preteen who was maybe an inch taller than her somehow. “And which one of her friends are you? The one gives her black eyes once a month or the other one?”

“Sabrina hurry up!” Mabel shouted from upstairs.

“Sabrina?......Sabrina Ivory?” Brenda blinked as something clicked in her head. “As in Izzellah Ivory’s little sister!?” Her eyes went to Sabrina’s hands that had Izzy hidden inside.

“I think you have the wrong girl.” Sabrina smiled.

“That means she’s here!” Brenda jumped. She took hold of Sabrina’s hands. “You have her don’t you!?”

“Ummmm. I…..” Sabrina panicked. She tried to back away from Mabel’s crazy sister.

“Where is she?” Brenda asked. “Please tell me! I just want to talk to her!”

“I...okay.” Sabrina opened her hands.

“Geez, Sabrina! You’d could calm down a little on the grip there.” Izzy yawned and stretched her arms outward. She looked up at the sight of a short ginger girl with freckles and wide glasses. Her hair was short in a flattering pixie cut.

“Hello ma’am.” She said with her fingers pressed against her lips.

“Oh shit.”

 


 


   Sabrina counted to ten. It was a simple technique so common she’d even seen it on tv. She never thought it actually worked but It was something Mrs. Nelson suggested she try. It was working. As she got to five in her head she slowly felt the urge to smack her councelor’s daughter in the face start to fade. Hitting Brenda wasn’t the smart move. She suppressed and let go the flash of fury that hit her when this bespectacled had seized her sister in a moment of passion.

“Ten.” Sabrina whispered. It was okay. She watched as Brenda coveted her long lost friend and showered her in affection. It was actually kind of sweet.

“Brenda, calm down.” Izzy said as she fought off overzealous prodding and pecking. And was that a hint of a smile?

“Oh! My apologies!” Brenda peeped a bit startled by her own emotions. She handed Izzy back to Sabrina.

“It’s alright.” Sabrina assured. “You really missed her huh?”

“I know it’s only been a few weeks, but I honestly thought I’d never see her again.” Brenda explained. She wiped a few tears of joy from her eyes. “This is the best birthday present I could ask for.”

“Glad I could be of some use.” Izzy said. She scratched at the back of her neck sheepishly.

“Be careful with that.” Sabrina warned. The chip was still in her neck and had to remain there for at least a week.

Izzy grumbled which made Brenda squeal.

“You’re so cu-”

“Don’t say it!” Izzy shouted. “I hear that enough already from this one!” She pointed to the giant sister holding her. “I’m not putting up with it from you too!”

“Snnrk!” Brenda caught herself. “Unbelievable.”

Izzy stared at her with disatisfaction.

“Apologies ma’am….I mean Izzy. It’s just hard for me not to laugh when you talk. For years you’ve been like this untouchable idol to me and now well…..” Brenda stopped herself.

“Well what?” Izzy prodded.

“It’s nothing just…..Rebecca’s going to flip when she sees you.” Brenda laughed.

Izzy flinched. “She’s here too?”

“Sabrina, come on!” Mabel shouted, and now Riri was with her too.

“Stop riding me, Mabel!” Sabrina shrieked at her.

“It’s MY birthday!” Mabel announced. “I do what I want!”

Sabrina growled audibly. “You’re sister is so annoying!”

“I see you have plans.” Brenda chuckled.

“No we don’t!” Izzy lied. “Nothing that can’t be put on hold so friends can catch up!” She tried desperately.

“Have fun.” Brenda nodded down to Izzy with a curious smile. She pecked Izzy on the top of her head which gave Sabrina a heated jolt.  “We can talk later.” She walked away toward the kitchen.

“Hmph.” Izzy breathed. She moved a lock of hair out of her face that Brenda had shuffled with her kiss. “Whatever.”

Sabrina shook her head. She knew exactly what Brenda was going through. The shock of seeing someone you idolized, feared, depended on, become so small and helpless. It made you reassess everything you thought about them. She headed up the stairs.

“Finally!” Mabel said.

 


 

Izzy thought she’d felt true humiliation. What could be worse than being small, being controlled by a girl four years younger than you, being spit on, stepped on, stripped naked, chewed, ignored, sat on, suffocated, demeaned, condescended to, starved, molested, and completely dependent on that person? Nothing really, but being used like a literal toy by her sister’s two idiot friends was a close second. Izzy closed her eyes and let the wind blow by her. It was less terrifying if she couldn’t see. She gripped the plastic steering wheel so hard that her knuckles turned white. She couldn’t believe this was her life. She opened her eyes and screamed. She was heading straight for a wall!


Mabel turned the wheel on her controller and the r.c. car swerved hard to the right just barely avoiding a collision. The tiny blue Motor City Barbie speedster was the perfect size for Izzy to ride in. She hadn’t played with the toy in years and was almost positive her dad had thrown it out, but he hadn’t and she was grateful to find it was still charged. R.C. cars had gotten boring for her, but with a tiny behind the wheel it was a completely fresh experience. Having that control, hearing her cute little screams. It was an amazing rush!

“You gotta try this!” Mabel said as she let off the power and the blue toy car slowly came to a stop at her feet. She handed the controller to Riri.

“I’ve never actually played with one of these before.” She said.

“It’s easy.” Mabel held Riri’s hand around the controller. “The left trigger is brake, the right trigger is gas, the control wheel steers and this button in the middle is the horn.”  

Riri pressed the middle button and the car roared like an engine revving. She gingerly pushed on the right trigger and it jerked forward then stopped. Izzy bounced up and down on the hard plastic seat meant for a hard plastic driver as Riri stopped and started her momentum. The braided girl didn’t have the same confidence behind the wheel Mabel had, or maybe Mabel just didn’t care as much. It continued like that as Riri guided her in a slow circle. She had a pure smile on her face as she watched the tiny scoot by in the little car below.

“Come on, RIri! You drive like an old lady.” Mabel said. She snatched the controller from Riri but she resisted and the fought over it. The car swerved around wildly as a result of the titan tug-o-war. It burst forward with astonishing speed. It scooted under her bed and through to the other side.

“What are you doing?!” Sabrina looked up from her position on Mabel’s bed. She’d actually been reading the instruction manual for the r.c. car while the girls took turns.

“I haven’t even had my turn and Mabel’s trying to take it back!” Riri explained through gritted teeth. She yanked hard on the controller and the toy car turned left just barely avoided hitting the post of a stand up lamp.

“She’s being boring!” Mabel said with effort. “And it’s MY car!” She snatched back and the car burst past them in turbo mode. It crashed hard into the wall and Izzy flew forward completely shattering the plastic windshield and colliding hard into the plaster wall.

Sabrina jumped up. “My sister’s right!” She barked. She swatted the controller from both their hands. It felt to the floor and snapped into pieces. “You two are idiots!”

“But.” Mabel tried.

“SHUT UP!” Sabrina roared. She rushed over to the crash site and found little Izzy sprawled out on the hood of the car. Her eyes were closed.

“Izzy?” Sabrina bent down to check on her tiny. She was breathing.

“So stupid.” Izzy mumbled.

“What?” Sabrina leaned in closer to hear her tiny sister.

“Stupid!” She shouted. “Stupid! Dumb! Estúpido! Idiota! ¿Por qué eres tan idiota?”

Izzy jumped up off the car hood and stumbled. Pain shot through her right shoulder. She couldn’t move it. Her arm hung down off her right shoulder. It had been dislocated.

“Izzy!” Sabrina moved forward to grab her.

“Stay back!” Izzy shouted. She lost her footing and fell backward onto her butt. “Dammit!” She grit her teeth and tried to shove her arm back into its socket. She wasn’t strong enough.

Sabrina scooped her up against her will. She brought her to her face and inspected the limp arm. “I-I think mom can fix this.” She said.

“Is she okay?” Riri asked.

“What do you think!” Sabrina snapped. “I don’t know what’s wrong with you two!?” Riri recoiled at her rage. She went to her knees and started sobbing. Sabrina caught herself for a moment.

“It’s my fault okay!” Mabel stepped in. “Don’t be mad at her. You know she’d never hurt your sister.”

Sabrina scrunched her face. Damn right it was Mabel’s fault. It was taking everything she had not to try and snap the red head’s arm in half. But….it was also her fault too. This couldn’t keep happening.

“I don’t think I’m going to come to that sleepover after all.” Sabrina stated.

“No please!” Mabel begged. “I’m sorry! I’ll be more careful, I promise!”

“No.” Sabrina reinforced. “Not yet. I’m not ready, you’re not ready, and most importantly Izzy’s not ready. I shouldn’t have brought her here.”

Sabrina looked down on her tiny. Her eyes were strained shut, she was breathing heavy and contorting her face. “I gotta get this taken care of.” she took a step toward the door.

“Sabrina please!....I’m sorry.”

Sabrina turned back toward Mabel. She was crying now too! She was actually upset. Genuine. Not like the fights they usually had.

“I’m sorry.” She wheezed.

Sabrina breathed in deep through her nose. “Just…..” she exhaled. “Just make sure Riri’s okay.”


Sabrina headed down the stairs. She could hear the adults laughing about something in the living room. Her mind swam with thoughts of what her mom would do to her. She’d personally witnessed some of the slaps Izzy had earned when they butted heads. It was truly frightening. She had done something worse than smoking in the house, or swearing, or stealing the car. Izzy was hurt. That broke the only rule her mom had given her. For the first time she thought maybe she wasn’t ready for this responsibility. She walked into the room to find her mom laughing with Mrs. Nelson. They sat across from each other drinking something out of a glass. Gloria turned toward her with a smile.

“Need something, mija?” She asked.

“Mom.” Sabrina could barely contain the sadness in her voice. It choked her like a frog in her throat. She shoved her palms forward and presented her injured sister. “She’s hurt.”

“It was my fault!” Sabrina heard from behind. It was Mabel. She put her hand on Sabrina’s shoulder and stepped in front of her between mother and daughter. “Don’t be mad at Sabrina.”

“It was my fault too!” Riri spoke up from behind. “We were fighting over her.”

Gloria narrowed her eyes. “Fighting?.......Like children.”

Sabrina shuttered. The way her mom said “like children” stung more than a slap to the face.

“Give her here.” Gloria ordered. Sabrina came forward and tenderly slid Little Izzy into her mother’s palm. “Go.”

“Is she gonna be okay?” Sabrina asked.

‘Go.” Gloria said with an icy stare.

“You to Mabel.” Mrs. Nelson added. “Go outside and swim for a bit.”

The trio obediently slumped away with dark expressions out the sliding glass door.

“You handled that pretty well.” Mrs. Nelson said to her old college acquaintance. “I’m impressed you didn’t yell at her.”

“Hrmmph.” Gloria puffed. She headed toward the kitchen. She now had the task of figuring out a way to pop her two inch daughter’s arm back into place while buzzed.



 

Chapter End Notes:

Only two chapters left!...probably. Also just want to say thank you for over 20,000 reads. It really means something to me. I never thought anyone would like this story or that it would get off the ground. Now I'm almost done for better or worse. So again, THANK YOU!!!

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