Self-esteem & Self-reliance
I open the top drawer, my heart pounding. A row of file folders, alternating blue and gray, all neatly labeled. Clippings, Documents, Letters...I stop, about to pull out the Letters file, but then I notice the next file: Lou. The skin on the back of my neck prickles, and I shiver. I raise my hand to life out the file and, just as my fingers touch it, I hear my mother's key in the lock.
I was happier than I had been for a long time.
Everything was crashing down around Dana. Finally I was getting some justice. But I wanted a bigger
helping, this wasn't enough. I had to do something.
I went into the washroom and dug a marker out of my pencil case. I drew a box and a couple of circles with lines for a flash going off on the outer wall of the first cubicle. No one would be able to miss it. It didn't look exactly like a camera, but it would do. And for the finishing touch I wrote SMILE DANA, with a happy face right beside it.
"This is our house and we make the rules, Dime. If we say you're home at nine, that's when you walk in the door! No excuses!" Dad shouted.
Their house, not mine. For a moment, my eyes burned, and I thought I was about to cry. Then I got it under control. I slid a smile over my mouth and looked him straight in the eye.
"Make me," I said softly.
—Diana, ésta es nuestra casa y nosotros ponemos las reglas. ¡Si te decimos que tienes que estar de regreso a las nueve, ésa es la hora de entrar por la puerta! No hay nada más que hablar —gritó.
Su casa, no li mía, pensé. Por un momento me ardieron los ojos y pensé que iba a llorar, pero logré controlarme, sonreí y dije bajito mirándolo a los ojos:
—Trata de oligarme.
My face is wet from the rain, but the water trickling across my lips tastes of salt, and I realize I am crying. I shift forward slightly and open my fingers on the reins, letting Keltie increase her pace as we disappear into the trees. The sodden leaves muffle the sound of her hooves. Out here in the woods, I feel safe.
