As Brandi and Valentine shared a bathroom, it was very simple to put the bottle of what looked like perfectly ordinary pain medication in the medicine cabinet and wait.
Sure enough, a couple of weeks later, that time of the month came around for Valentine, and when she went to the cabinet for something to deal with the cramps, she went ahead and used pills from the open bottle. The original medication had an antihistamine in it which caused sleepiness, so she wasn't surprised when she fell asleep very quickly after taking it.
As it so happened, the first 48 hours of her period, which was the part when she needed medication, were over the weekend, so being sleepy wasn't as big a problem as if it was during the school week. Since there was a chance she might still have cramps on Monday, Valentine tucked the pill bottle into her purse before she went to school, along with other essentials.
The day was just an average one, one class following another in the usual way. After lunch, however, Valentine was paged to go to the principal's office. She had no idea why, so she took her belongings with her, since the class she'd been in was nearly over.
In the office, the principal, an overly sleek man with round John Lennon glasses, frowned when she walked in. "Eun-Yee Song?" he asked, puzzled. "We didn't page you."
"No, I'm Valentine Townsend." It wasn't the first time she had been misidentified as another Asian girl, or the first time her name had mislead people to expect a white girl. "What did you want to see me about, sir?"
"We had a phone call. Please give your purse to the school resource officer and follow the nurse." The principal pointed to the school nurse with his chin.
"What? Why?" she asked with perfect innocence.
"Because you are accused of misusing prescription drugs."
"Uh—Okay." Valentine handed over her purse, knowing she had nothing illegal in it, and went with the nurse, who took her into the bathroom, handed her a cup and told her to fill it.
"With you right here?" Valentine asked. There wasn't even a stall in there around the toilet itself, since it was a single bathroom.
"With me right here," the nurse nodded. "That way we can be sure the sample's yours."
It took quite a while for Valentine to relax enough with the nurse watching the whole time. When she was finally done and they went back to the principal's office, her bottle of over-the-counter menstrual pain reliever was on the center of his desk.
"Where did you get these?" the school resource officer asked.
"From my medicine cabinet at home," she said.
"Are you sure?" he asked.
"Yes!" Valentine protested.
The nurse interjected, holding up a test strip shaped like a fork, with each tine for a different drug. "Positive for opiates."
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Brenda had been having a bad day when the phone call came. She was still living down the party which Brandi threw when they went out of town. Most of her friends were shunning her because their kids had been arrested at the party; repairs to the house had been very expensive, their insurance premiums had gone through the roof, all her good jewelry was gone, and Michael was pissed off about his new boat as well as his collection of Rolexes.
Added to that, the triplets' preschool was raising their rates, and Kristal and Cherie still had accidents at night. And as if that weren't enough, she was starting to have hot flashes.
It was true, her views about Valentine had softened a little because she was useful—but her mother's heart championed Brandi every time. As mad as she was at Brandi, she was irrationally even madder than Valentine.
So when she got the call and learned that Valentine had opiates in her purse and in her system, a ferocious joy welled up in her heart. Finally. Finally a reason to get rid of her. A good, solid reason.
Brenda put the phone down and went for the roll of garbage bags from under the sink.
"Frigging little stick-up-her-butt slanty-eyed b***h," she muttered as she went upstairs. "Making out like her s**t doesn't stink." Brenda went into Valentine's room, yanked open a drawer, and emptied the contents into a garbage bag. Then she went on to the next.
For every time Valentine got an A where Brandi got a B or worse…
For every time someone praised Valentine's good manners and helpful ways, then shook their heads when it came to Brandi…
For every time one of the triplets cried for Valentine to help or comfort them, not their mother…
For taking away family resources that could go to Brenda and her children.
For being a living memory of Michael's late wife.
Just for being alive and there.
Valentine looked around at the bus terminal waiting room. It was a shabby, ugly place with cracked vinyl flooring and nicotine colored walls. She wiped the tears from her face and pulled out her phone, scrolling through her contacts until she came to Aunt Judy's number. Mrs. Bun-bun bobbed comfortingly on the little keychain which attached her to the phone.
"Please pick up, please pick up," Valentine whispered. One ring, two rings, thr—.
"Hey, Val, what's up? It's been ages since you called last," her aunt's cheerful voice came through.
"A-aunt Judy," she began. Her throat had gone all tight and hot from crying, so she sounded squeaky.
"What's wrong?" Judy asked immediately.
"Brenda threw me out."
"She did what?!" Her aunt's voice went high and sharp.
"She threw me out. At school I tested positive for drugs and when she came and got me she took me right to the bus station. All my stuff was in garbage bags in the car. I don't know where the drugs came from. I'd never do anything like that! I tried calling Dad but he didn't pick up!"
"Son of a b***h!" Aunt Judy swore. "Of all the stupid things to do--. I'm not mad at you, Val honey. You are the straightest kid I know. You would never break the law on purpose. I'm mad at Brenda. Okay. You did exactly the right thing when you called me. First of all, do you have any money?"
"I have at least fifty dollars on my money card." Valentine replied. "Maybe sixty."
"Great. Now go ask the clerk when the next bus to Anthracite is, and how much it costs," Judy instructed her. "It'll be quicker than me driving all the way to come get you and then driving all the way back here."
Valentine did. The clerk put down his phone long enough to tell her, and she relayed the message to Aunt Judy.
"It's thirty eight dollars and it leaves at 3:30. It gets to Anthracite around 8PM."
"Good work. Buy the ticket and come here. We'll get this all sorted out, and however hopeless it seems right now, we will get through this. Now, I know my brother, and while he may have his flaws I know Brenda never got his okay for this.
"I also know he won't be home until late. He probably has his phone off because he's in a meeting, so stop calling him. We'll let him get home and find out what's going on. I have some things I have to do before you get here. Bye for now, we'll see you in a few hours, and I love you." Aunt Judy ended the call.