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.:Hard Times:.

Kaimi had been gone a long time, and the house seemed quieter and lonelier without her. Mara had at first been excited that her sister was leaving for awhile, since it would give her the opportunity to be an only child for a time. But Naomi worked a lot and Mara hadn't realized how much she relied on Kaimi to help her keep her head and not go crazy.

It was, perhaps, her feelings of abandonement which had made her lash out at the mall when Naomi had taken her shopping. But attacking another girl, especially attacking her so viciously, was not the way to handle things. At least, thats what Naomi said. And thats what the policeman at the mall had said. And thats what the school counselor had said. And thats what the other girl's mother had said once Naomi had talked her out of pressing charges.

Mara had thought the whole thing a stupid overreaction. It wasn't as if she'd broken any important bones. It was all Kaimi's fault, thats what Mara had decided. Her sister had been kidnapped and that had been awful. But then she'd come back and they'd been starting to build their family up again and she'd just... left. She hadn't talked to anyone about it, though she called twice a week to talk to Mara and Naomi. It wasn't the same. Stupid b***h.

The counselors had all thought that Mara needed some sort of outlet for her aggression. Something that didn't involve hitting other people or calling them awful names. Thats when the classes and teams began. Baseball had been a nightmare - Mara threw the ball at her own teammates hard enough to raise welts. Piano had been a joke - she didn't have the patience for it and she ended up infuriating her instructor by banging her hands down on all the keys at once. Art was fun, but it was by no means a satisfying outlet to her aggression. Karate had been a promising prospect until it had been discovered that Mara was far too strong for her own good. In a fit of anger she'd thrown the instructor through a window and been banned for life.

There was nothing to do. No activity that would satisfy her mother or the counselors or anyone else. She felt restless and useless. From her pillow on the floor, Gift raised her shaggy head and thumped her tail. Mara smiled toothily at the big dog.

"At least you like me wether or not I'm mean." She said, and was rewarded by a huge pile of white fur bounding up onto the bed and covering her face with licks. "But that doesn't help me. Mom says I'll end up in Juvie if I don't learn how to control myself and get some friends." Of course, Mara's lack of friends had nothing to do with other people and everything to do with her avoidance of them.

Gift gave her a dog-sized grin.

"I know you're my friend. But you're pretty much the only one." Other attempts had not gone well. Mara tended to avoid creating intimate relationships with other people, actively scaring them away when they seemed to be getting too close.

Mara reached over to her bedside table and turned on the radio. Screaming grunge music filled the room and she sighed wistfully. "I wish I could do something like that."

The dog gave an encouraging bark and Mara smiled again.

"You're right. Theres no reason why I cant try, is there?"

.:Who the hell is Murderhole?:.

"Annnd Goldie Horror takes the lead, look at that block by Dixie Crunch! Thats gotta hurt!"

Mara paused in her channel surfing to stare at the television. She'd been lying around the house so much lately, avoiding everybody. She hadn't wanted to go out, hadn't wanted to socialize, hadn't even wanted to come out of her room (which was in nightmarish state) for dinner. Despites Naomi's best attempts, she had dug her heels in and was no longer attending her therapy sessions either. The last one had ended rather badly, with a wingback chair being thrown out a fourth story window and causing severe damage to the jeep parked on the street below.

The truth was, the little spawn was bored and didn't know what to do with herself. Things had been so up and down and up and down with the family... First Kaimi had been kidnapped, then she had come back, then she had taken off again for places unknown. THEN she had come back with some weird guy... Mara got weird chills down her spine just thinking of Malice. He was... her cheeks burned at the thought. But he hadn't stayed long and now it was just the three of them. But things were different. Naomi was still away at work all the time and Kaimi was wrapped up in her own broody little world. Mara had no one but the dog and herself for company. And the little spawn was the first to admit that she wasn't the greatest company in the world.

The announcer on the television was going on and on about the scoring of points, but Mara wasn't listening. Her eyes were glued to the tv screen where a bunch of women in short shorts and rollerskates were beating the crap out of each other. What could this glorious event be? Her interest was immediately piqued.

As if in answer to an unspoken prayer, the program took a commercial break and an advertisement for the local Roller Derby team came on.

"Roller Derby?" Mara muttered to herself softly, the first tendrils of interest starting to spread slowly through her mind. "Hmm..."

_________

Three days later found Mara sitting on the front porch tying the laces on a brand new pair of roller skates. The good old-fashioned kind with four wheels and a rubber toe stop.
They were also specially made since her feet were just not normal. She'd been saving up her allowance for months... not because she'd had something to save for but because she hadn't thought of anything to spend it on. Luckily, it seemed to have been worth the wait.

Kaimi came around to the front yard just as Mara was getting unsteadily to her feet. The older girl was carrying her unlit poi, walking with her customary careless grace. She was so pretty and graceful, she made Mara feel horribly awkward sometimes.

"What are you doing?" Kaimi asked.

"I'm going to learn to roller skate." The little spawn's face was set in a determined line. "I'm going to learn to skate and then I'm going to practice and practice until I'm good enough to join a roller derby team and play pivot."

"Roller derby?" Kaimi repeated, raising an eyebrow questioningly.

Mara nodded, her eyes narrowing as Kaimi opened her mouth as if to say something else. Luckily, her sister seemed to re-think whatever it was she had been going to say.

"...I could see you being quite good at that, actually." Kaimi ended up saying diplomatically.

Mara's grin split her face, baring her fangs. She pushed herself forward roughly and fell flat on her face. The smile fell. This rollerskating thing was not as easy as it looked.

"You'll get the hang of it." Kaimi said as she went back into the house.

The spawn got back to her feet, clutching the fence for balance. She sure as hell WOULD get the hang of this, sooner rather than later. Finally inspired to some sort of action, Mara lost no time in getting started.