“Everybody on that bus, including the driver, seemed to be scared of big April. This particular day, she chose me as her prey. When she sat down, I knew it wasn’t going to be good. I tried to ignore her, look out the window, stop moving so maybe she’d think I was already dead. Didn’t work.”

“What did she do?” Kate couldn’t believe she was so interested in this completely random story Mia was telling in the wee hours of the morning in the middle of the woods.

“First, she tried to shake me down for snacks. But, Momma was pinching pennies in those days, hence the homemade clothes, and I didn’t have anything left but a half a bag of cut up apples. And they were already brown. And big April was not amused. She snarled at me like a rabid raccoon.”

“Do rabid raccoons snarl?”

Mia chuckled. “I would assume. Anyway, I shook in my seat as I looked up into the nose hairs of the scariest giant I’ve ever known. I felt like a little mouse about to get squashed. She told me that I’d better find something in my lunch bag or else. I said I didn’t have anything. I even opened my bag, but that didn’t do a thing. She was turning all shades of red.”

“So, what happened?”

“Well, I tried to get up and move. I was going to sit with the nerdiest guy in our school, Walter Timmons, but big April would have none of it. She wouldn’t let me pass.”

“Why didn’t you yell for the bus driver?”

Mia’s eyes widened. “Haven’t you ever heard that snitches get stitches?”

Kate laughed. “That’s a new one for me.”

“The whole bus ride, big April was on me like white on rice. She wouldn’t let up calling me names, making threats. I was so scared. When the bus got to my stop, I stood up. Big April stood up too, and I was so thankful because I thought she was going to let me go. Instead, she stepped out and then followed me off the bus. I was normally the only one who got off there.”

“Why didn’t the bus driver stop her?”

“When I got older, I found out big April’s daddy, the former football player, was buddies with our driver. And even he seemed a little scared of her.”

“Wow.”

“Anyway, so I start walking as fast as I can toward home, but I’ve got these little legs and big April was hot on my tail. I tripped over a tree stump and fell flat on my face, giving her the perfect opportunity to pin me to the ground.”

“Oh no.”

Mia took in a deep breath and blew it out. “She reached into her backpack, took out a pair of scissors and cut off one of my braids.”