Ruined Lipstick, part 2

continued from yesterday's story:


At dinner when Kristi walked into the kitchen Tommy smiled up at her from the table, but she turned her head and didn’t even look at him. All through dinner she refused to acknowledge that he was there.

Later when Kristi was in her room studying for a test she heard a soft knock on her door but she ignored it. Finally Tommy opened the door and stuck his head in. "Please talk to me, Kristi," he begged, but she didn’t turn her head to look at him. "I’m really sorry," Tommy tried again, but he finally gave up when Kristi didn't turn around.

Mom came in as Kristi was getting ready for bed. She had a piece of paper in her hand, which she gave to Kristi. There was a big heart drawn on it, with a face inside.  There were blue dots on the face, and Kristi guessed they were Tommy’s attempt at drawing tears falling from his eyes.

"Tommy asked me to give this to you," mom said. "He said to tell you he was really, really sorry for messing up your lipstick, and that he promised he would never go into your room again." Mom smiled at Kristi, then continued, "I guess he really made a mess of things today."

"He ruined my new lipstick," Kristi declared angrily. She really wasn’t mad any more, her lipstick was actually fine except for not looking brand new, but she was still determined to teach Tommy a lesson to keep him from messing with her stuff in the future.

"I can understand how you’re feeling," mom commiserated. "I know Tommy can be a real nuisance sometimes, and you need to be able to keep your things nice without having him mess them up, but he really is sorry and he doesn’t want you to be mad at him anymore."

"I know that, mom," Kristi answered, "but he’s got to learn not to get into my stuff! Sometimes you have to feel bad to learn a lesson."

"I guess so," mom answered, "but he really is sorry, and he’s afraid you aren’t ever going to talk to him again."

"Of course I will," Kristi sighed. "I just want him to learn his lesson first."

The next morning Kristi was anxious about a test she had in one of her classes. Nothing seemed to go right; she couldn’t seem to get her hair to look right, she couldn’t find anything to wear that made her look good, and she was so late to breakfast that she only had time to grab a piece of toast before she ran out the door. Tommy was waiting for her at the breakfast table, and as soon as she came in he begged her to please talk to him. "I’m sorry, Kristi. I’m really sorry," he cried.

But Kristi was in too big a hurry to deal with him this morning.  She just grabbed her books and rushed out the door, telling herself that it would be good for him to think about what he had done until this afternoon. Then she would tell him she forgave him, and hopefully he would never forget the lesson she had taught him.

Kristi was pleased with the way her test went, and she was in a much better mood as she walked home that afternoon. She decided she would even do something special with Tommy to show him that she had really forgiven him. Maybe they could make cookies together or something. But her smile faded as she turned into the driveway at her house and saw the twisted bicycle lying on the ground next to the street.

To be continued, one more time......