No Mercy for the Merciless

flashing on the screen. I ignored it. Then a text. Then an

he girl who wasn't Jessic

asked, finally speaking up. "H

napped, glaring at my phone as it

he dashboard. Time was tic

y minute you sit in my car arguing is a minute she's left waiting. The lon

eir eyes. I was using their ow

supposed to help us!" t

not your keeper," I said. "T

sibly walk all the way to a bus stop," she wailed, gesturing vaguely down the street. "M

ly absurd, that I almost laughed. I ju

e, her "injury" miraculously healed. With

dle it ourselves

to follow her. She wasn't limping. She was practically sprinting, her

d them until they turned a corner and disappeared. The silence they left

hy, grateful kids I'd driven before. Kids who said "please" and "thank you," who talked about their dreams and the

here was no reward, no gratitude, just a constant, draining demand for m

me, my passenger door was flung open. It was Tiffany, a furious

oing to take us for

at her, s

has been super stressful because o

" I asked, my voi

ms. "And we want that new burger

ped. The patience, the restraint, the desire

" I

landed in the car with th

" Tiffany asked, h

r. I volunteered to give you a ride to and from your exam. That is all. You have been nothing but rude, demanding, and manipu

n that the world owes you something. It doesn't. And I certainly don't. The fact

ced by shock. They had pushed and pushed, expe

nging with finality. "I will

Then, Tiffany's shock morphed ba

. We'll tell the coordinator that you were reckless, that you verbally abused

instead of feeling scared, I felt liberated. They

her dead

of my car

ha

ted to the curb. "If you think you can threaten me, you are