Never Truth

“Please, Daddy, can I go with you? I don’t wanna go with Mama. I want to go with you and Marco to the movies. I swear I’m big enough to sit quiet. Pleeeeeease!” I infused my voice with as much earnest pleading as a five-year-old girl could muster and looked up at my father with Oscarworthy puppy-dog eyes. My dad had said he was taking Marco to the movies while Mama was at the school play rehearsal with Lessi and Maria. I was supposed to go with the girls, but that wasn’t my choice. Given the opportunity, I was always at my brother’s side. He was eleven, the oldest of us kids, and I idolized everything about him. If he thought it was cool to wear ankle socks, I wanted to wear ankle socks. If he went out to ride his bike, I would run along behind him as long as he would let me. As far as I was concerned, my big brother hung the moon. “Sweet girl, we’re going to see a spy movie. I’m not sure you’d like it,” explained my dad, trying to let me down gently. “Yeah!” Marco said as he entered the room. “You’d be pretty scared, Sof. This one’s got guns and lots of action. It’s not really a girl movie.” My face immediately pinched with annoyance. “I watch lots of movies with you, Marco. I’m not scared!” Daddy chuckled as he patted my head. “Alright, Sof, you win. Grab your jacket, and we’ll head out. We have one quick stop to make before the movie starts.” It may have only been early November, but it felt like Christmas morning to me. I bolted up to my room to grab my yellow jacket and put on my red sneakers. As I was headed out of my room, I caught sight of Maria in her room with one of Mama’s candles. Stunned, I watched as she burned a small piece of paper, then lifted one of Lessi’s dolls and held its beautiful golden hair to the flame. “I’m gonna tell!” I called out from the doorway, knowing Maria would be in big trouble. She might be nine already, but she still wasn’t allowed to play with Mama’s candles, and she certainly wasn’t allowed to burn Alessia’s doll. She didn’t balk or chase after me. Maria just looked up and curled her finger at me. “Come here, Sofia. I want to tell you something.” Cautiously curious, I stepped inside her room. She was the oldest of us girls and claimed to be too old to play with Alessia and I. It didn’t bother us too much because she could be a little mean. Maria mostly kept to herself or Marco, so she was a mystery to me. When she called me over to talk to her, I was unable to resist hearing what she had to say. “Have you ever heard anyone say ‘snitches get stitches’?” she asked coolly. I shook my head, eyes wide as I gaped at my oldest sister. “It means when you tell on someone, that person will hurt you for getting them in trouble. What do you think I’m going to do if you tell on me?” She lifted her brows, giving me a chance to imagine all the nasty things she was capable of. “And it’s even worse when you tell on family, then you’re a rat, a traitor. You see something you’re not supposed to, you keep your mouth shut or bad things are gonna happen to you. Understand?” She glared at me, making tears burn at the back of my throat. Maria could be all kinds of mean when she wanted to be. I didn’t want her angry with me, so I nodded, unable to speak. “Good, I’d hate for your paints to accidentally get thrown away or your pretty golden hair to get chopped off in the night.” Her cold gray stare gave me no doubt she’d do it. I didn’t know why my older sister didn’t seem to like us—that was just the way she was—and I had no desire to make it worse. I ran straight for Marco and the safety of his company, my lips sealed about what I’d seen. “I’m ready for the movies!” I said, giving him a big hug and trying to forget what Maria had said. He chuckled, then ruffled my hair. “Alright, let’s get in the car.” When Mama drove, she made Marco sit in the back seat with us girls, but Daddy let him sit up front. That meant I sat by myself in the back seat. It didn’t bother me at all, as long as I got to go with them. Daddy drove us to one of his friend’s houses not too far from ours. I couldn’t recall ever visiting the place before, but I wasn’t great at paying attention. When we stepped out of the car, Daddy’s lips pursed together just like they did when Maria got in trouble at school or when Lessi cried about something silly. I glanced around, wondering what had bothered him, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. Walking over to where I stood in the grass, he squatted down until we were eye to eye. “I have a little business to handle, but it shouldn’t take long. You run around to the backyard and play for a few minutes. I’ll grab you when I’m done.” “Is Marco coming with me?” I asked with more quiver in my voice than I had wanted. I liked to be brave in front of Marco but going off by myself made me nervous. “Marco’s going to come with me, but you’re not old enough. I need for you to play in the backyard for a bit while we’re inside.”