“Bette…Bette’s been…” She took in a deep breath bracing herself for the impact of her words. The girls just watched her gather herself.

“Bette was -uhm..raped,” Kit finally made eye contact with them as loud gasps were expressed by them. Her words sunk in. She felt worst for voicing out her baby sis’s tragedy as if telling others of it would give the incident more truth. It was as if the words made it more real and that pained her immensely.

She wasn’t the only one feeling like her heart has been broken as tears exposed the sadness Alice and Shane felt for Bette. Kit grabbed the girls into her arms and they hugged, not only out of pain but also understanding at last.

Seconds and then minutes passed, they just held one another until the tears settled into a translucent stain. Alice’s mascara was smeared all over her cheeks. It brought a moment of lightness as they guffawed.

“How –ah… is she handling it?” Shane bit her bottom lips trying to stop the quivering.

“She’s coping. But … I think you need to know something else. Bette can’t remember much.”

“What? You mean from the…” Alice frowned, unable to call it what it was. Rape. It was a hard word to say.

“She doesn’t remember. I mean… some of it is coming back to her but- Bette lost her memories. Everything after…”

“Oh… Um.. But it’s coming back, right? She gonna remember everything eventually, right?” They cringed thinking how selfish it sounded. How could Bette want to remember it…  Not only that but also remember and re-live the whole mess now with Tina. How could they hope?

“I don’t know Alice. The doctor says she might or might not remember everything- and honestly, I think some things are better left forgotten…”

Silence.

“Do they know who it was?” Her blood boiled with anger.

“Yeah. He turned himself in. The bastard wanted to see her. To fucking apologize, he says.”

“What the fuck?”

The heaviness of their topic weighed down on each of the girls’ battered souls. Their breaths were getting shallow -like they were afraid to break the silence.