Behind every person is a story... 

"Let's go, Annie! Where's William?" I yelled, waiting at the front door. "We gotta ​​​​​​go!"  

Annie ran back to our room. "I forgot something!" she yelled.  

"William, where are you? Annie, let's go! My God," I said. I hurried down the hall, kicking toys out of my way.   

"I can't find my colored pencils," Annie said, going through a pile of books, papers and trash.   

"Why don't you clean that mess up," I said. "Maybe then you could find something."   

William sat on his little cot with his head down.   

"What's up, William?" I asked.  

"My shoe string broke. I can't tie my shoe."  

"Let me see it." He handed me his little, dirty sneaker, with a hole in the toe the size of a dime. The frayed shoe laces were black from wear. There wasn't any fixing it, and it was the only pair he had. I let out a long breath. Then I bent down and pulled my own old sneakers off and took out the laces.   

"Now you can't tie yours," William said.  

"I don't care." I took his shoes and put my laces in them. "Good as new," I said.  

"What about you?" His big, brown eyes looked concerned.  

"I'll wear my flip flops. It's fine. Did you find your pencils, Annie?"   

"A few of them. It's okay."  

"How 'bout we clean up that mess when we get home today?"   

"Okay," she said. We walked down the hall toward the front door. Annie and William were ahead of me. I stopped and opened the door to Mama's room and peered inside. She wasn't there. We were quite used to this.  She either wasn't here, or sometimes, a strange man would be trying to find his way out of our house, while Annie, William, and I readied for school.  

I kept walking, using my hand to try to calm the cowlick on the top of William's head as we made our way to the bus stop. 

I stared at the crude painting of a wildcat that adorned our gymnasium wall. It was in mid-growl, teeth bared, eyes thin. It had been painted by someone in 1978. I knew this because the artist had proudly scrawled their name beneath their masterpiece. If I stared at it long enough, it appeared to be more of a werewolf, or even a bear. I could imagine the low growl and scream of this beast. I could hear it in my head.  

"Sunny Allison, what are you doing in my P.E. class with flip flops on?" Coach Holt asked loudly.  

I looked at my feet.  "Um, I forgot to wear my tennis shoes," I said.  

"You forgot? You get an F today. Go sit on the bleachers."  

I heard a few snickers, but I didn't care. I was kind of used to that. I sat on the bleachers and watched my classmates play. They were doing basketball drills: dribbling, passing, running. I watched the pretty girls scream and giggle, and the cute boys grin at them. The screeching of their shoes and the drum of the balls on the floor made loud echoes. It was a steady, low noise that made me drowsy.  

My mind began to travel. I thought about finding more shoe laces. I thought about what I'd fix Annie and William for supper. Again I stared at the wildcat/werewolf/bear with its eternal scowl. I noticed it was a bit larger on one side. And one of its green eyes was lower than the other.  I wondered if the light bill was paid this month.     

The bus let us off at our stop. JonAnn and her brother, Jimmy, walked down our street with us. All the houses looked the same. Tiny, dirty, wooden matchboxes. Most had a broken down car in the driveway. Some had old, rusty cars that actually ran. The yards were mainly dirt, with a few sprigs of tall grass and dandelions poking up here and there.  

"You want to walk to the park with us later?" JonAnn asked. She was an eighth grader like me and her brother Jimmy was in seventh grade.   

"I need to see what's going on here first," I said, pointing toward my house. They understood without having to ask.  

"OK. Maybe we'll see you there," JonAnn said. They turned down their street. Annie and William ran ahead.  

"Hey, guys!" I yelled to them. They stopped. "Follow me."   

"Where are we going?" they both asked.   

"A couple of blocks," I said. "I've got to look for something."  

"What?" Annie asked.  

"Just come on."  

The Goodwill store was about five blocks away. William and Annie followed. I stopped at the store front and peered into the window. No one seemed to notice us.  

"This way", I said. We walked to the rear of the building and I peeked around the corner. There was a large dumpster-looking bin where people could leave donated items. No one was around. "Stay here and be quiet," I told my brother and sister.  

"Why? What are you doing?" Annie asked, confused.  

"Shh," I said. "Just give me a minute and keep quiet, please." I made my way to the large bin. The metal door was open. I had to grab hold and heave myself up to look inside. It was filled with trash bags stuffed with clothes. I scanned the bags. A few were partially open. Toward the rear, I saw a bag of shoes. I climbed into the bin.  

"Sunny, are you okay? What are you doing!" William yelled from the corner of the building. I poked my head out of the bin and waved to him. I gave the quiet sign: my finger pressed to my lips. Then I continued to make my way slowly, stepping on the squishy bags until I reached the shoes. It was then that I heard women's voices. I stood dead still and listened. The voices were coming from the closed back door of the store.  

I moved fast. I grabbed the first pair of shoes I could reach. They were a worn-out pair of mens tennis shoes. I held them and made my way back over the bags. My foot got caught on a trash bag tie and made me trip. I got up and wrangled the tie from around my ankle. The lady's voices grew louder. I held onto the side of the steel opening and jumped to the pavement. The door to the store opened.  

One of the ladies jolted at the sight of me barreling out of the bin. "Lord  have mercy! You nearly scared me to death!" she screamed.  

"I'm sorry," I said, breathing hard. I turned my head away from her and rushed past.  

"Little girl! Little girl! Come back!" she yelled. I grabbed William and Annie and told them to run.  

The lady  ran after us. "Come back! It's okay. You need anything else?" She stopped and shook her head sadly as we raced further down the street. "Poor child," I thought I heard her say to herself.  

"Did you steal?" Annie asked when we reached our house. She looked at me, wide-eyed and worried.  

"It's okay. Someone didn't need them anymore. Don't worry," I told her. We walked into our house and everything appeared the same as we'd left it. Annie and William went to our bedroom to put their things up. I opened Mama's bedroom door. She still wasn't there. I slumped my shoulders and lowered my head. I hoped it wouldn't be another one of those times that she didn't come home for days.  I went into the kitchen and surveyed our cabinets and refrigerator. It was very sparse.   

"Is Mama asleep? William asked.  

"No, she's not here," I told him. He didn't ask when she might be home because he knew I couldn't tell him. "Why don't we go clean our room up and then I'll make us something to eat?"  

"Okay," he said.