Chapter 37

Corrine's been calling out for Adele; and eventually hears a faint response coming out from one of the lockers at the end of the hallway that she's walking down. "I'm in here, Corrine." Corrine rushes over and peers into the slots at the top of the locker's door. "Adele? Oh my God; are you okay?" "I'm okay." "Hold on…I'm going to get the janitor. I'll be right back." As soon as the janitor opens the locker, Adele, while avoiding making eye contact, immediately apologizes, "I'm sorry, Mr. Howard." "Sorry for what?" Adele, still standing inside, lowers her head even further and looks down towards the bottom of the locker. Both the janitor and Corrine look down; and they suddenly realize what she was apologizing for. Adele's standing in a puddle of urine. As their eyes slowly rise back up, they can see the path the urine had flown down her legs… indicated by the dampened pant legs…up to the front of her jeans; which are completely soaked. "I had to go to the bathroom, Mr. Howard…I'm sorry I made a mess. I'll clean it up if you want me to." Overtaken from an instant deluge of sympathy, Mr. Howard finds himself fighting back the lump which suddenly formed in his throat. "That's alright, Adele..." he takes her hand and holds onto it as he assists her out of the locker, "I'll take care of it." Corrine's infuriated over the situation. This exploit had surpassed from being a mean prank to an act of cruelty as far as she was concerned; possibly even bordering dangerous. Corrine shutters to think of what could have happened to Adele if she didn't find her. But she tries to maintain her composure for Adele's sake. She quickly concludes that she needs to clean Adele up; that she wasn't going to take her back to her grandmother in that condition. As the janitor starts to walk away to retrieve a mop and bucket, Corrine quickly inquires, "Excuse me, Mr. Howard; but do you mind if I take Adele to the Home Ec. Room and use the washer and dryer to wash her clothes?" "No; of course not…go right ahead." "Thank you." While Adele was cleaning herself up, Corrine started washing her clothes. Then she called Estelle to let her know what happened; and informed her that she'll bring Adele home as soon as her clothes were done. After briefly expressing her anger over what had occurred, Estelle gratefully thanked Corrine for all the help she had given her and her granddaughter that evening. Adele, wearing a sheet they found in the classroom wrapped around her, returns from the bathroom and sits at one of the workstations. She's quiet for a moment, sitting nearly motionless, staring at her Hello Kitty backpack lying on the counter. Then she softly speaks out… "Corrine…I know my Grandma probably has supper made at home…but do you think it would be okay if I ate my lunch? I didn't eat my breakfast this morning; and I'm kinda hungry." An emergence of ire instantly rises within Corrine; and her face becomes flush. "Wait a minute…you haven't eaten anything at all today?" Adele pathetically nods. Again, Corrine finds herself trying to quickly regain her composure. Once accomplished, she tells Adele… "Yeah; I'm sure it's okay. Go on and eat it." "Thank you." Adele, who's starving at this point, immediately tears into her backpack and begins to ravenously devour her lunch. Corrine sorrowfully watches in painful disbelief. Other than being extremely hungry, which is totally understandable considering the circumstances, Adele seems to be totally unfazed by the ordeal. She doesn't appear angry or upset over it at all; just hungry. And now, Corrine starts becoming angered again. She doesn't understand how anyone could be so cruel and mistreat this child so horribly. This…child? True, Corrine having been a sixteen-year-old female herself once realizes that they do like to think of themselves as young women; but the fact of the matter is, in Adele's case, she is essentially a child…at the very least, childlike in nature. However, Corrine isn't looking at this characteristic of Adele's as a negative attribute; but on the contrary, she finds her purity and innocence to be the most endearing traits ever possessed by anyone that she's ever known.