I was released from the hospital early the next morning. Daddy took us all out to eat at the newly opened McDonalds, and I was treated to a twenty piece chicken nugget. Now before I go any further let me say something. Benton is undergoing something of a growth period. In the last few months, two new businesses have open the first one is a McDonalds, the second is a Pizza Hut. Both are located downtown.

Once, we finished eating, daddy drove us back home. And I was ordered straight to bed to rest. I never thought I’ll miss sleeping in my own bed, but I did big time. The warmth of the blankets, the smell of the sheets are wonderful and make you feel warm and secure deep in your soul. When compared to the cold and sterile that most hospitals have, you will find your own much better for sleep.

I milled around the house for another day, recovering my strength till at length. Mom Dad and Lily decided it was time for me to go back to school. And so four days following the drama that unfolded I found myself standing in my bedroom. This time instead of dressing in a pair of slacks and a white button-down shirt with brown buttons and brown penny loafers and black dress socks. Yes, instead of the basic schoolboy uniform, I wore the basic schoolgirl uniform.

The uniform that girls, where required to wear, were a red and white checkered, pleated skirt. White stocking, a peter pan style blouse and finally my blonde hair had been divided down the middle and pulled into two pigtails. The pigtails had then been braided. And for the final touches, my mom had allowed me to wear a little make-up, Lily had helped me with the make-up and for once. I felt like I was going to school as who I should have been all along. James was gone, Jamie was here to stay.

“Wow,” Lily said as she popped into my room. “So, the tomboy is dead and gone.” She said smiling as she started to look around my room. A small wry smile graced her lips as she shifted her eyes from one corner to the other. “Though we need to totally change your room around. Your room is a total guys room still.”

I blinked and blinked again.

“Lavender would suit your walls, your bed, your bed is fine. But maybe a more colorful blanket, and a stuffed animal or two. Your room needs to dust, and swept and once you’ve swept the floors. You need to mop too. Once that done we can get in here and do some painting like I said Lavender will suit your walls, I can make a little reading area in that corner where you have all your clothes piled up. OH! And your closet, we need to get all those boy clothes out here, take them down to the charity shop. You're starting a new chapter of your new life after all.”

“LILY ELIZABETH POTTER! JAMIE SARAH POTTER! YOU’RE RUNNING LATE, THE TROLLEY WILL BE HERE IN TEN MINUTES. HURRY UP, GIRLS.” Mom bellowed from the stairs.

Lily and I turned to each other and blushed as we looked down and smiled. Lily then reached over and wrapped her arms around me and gave me a tight hug. “Be brave sis! Remember the courage of St. Joan and all.” She said as she started down the stairs.

“Right,” I said as I watched her go. I turned around to collect my books and school supplies. I paused though because there in the center of the room stood a woman okay a girl that appeared to be around eighteen. She was sitting on my bed. She wore a simple, dull gray skirt and an old fashioned blouse. She looked up and smiled at me. I stepped back and noticed she looked like something straight from a middle age role-playing game.

“Don’t worry little dove. I’m watching out for you. I’m not going to leave your side. Go ahead and fly high little dove.” She said as she stood up and in the blink of an eye she was gone and the whole room started to fill with the calming scent of fresh picked roses and jasmine.

“JAMIE SARAH POTTER, THE TROLLEY HAS JUST ROUND THE CORNER.” Mom shouted again.

“Coming mom!” I yelled back as I reached down and collected my books. I quickly closed the bedroom door behind me. Now, was I a little freaked out by that? Yes and no. See, I’ve come to expect certain things to happen around me. I mean, I saw a freaking vision of St. Joan once in the headmaster's office before being knocked out. And that women or teen back there, we’ll that could be her checking in on me. After all, going through the nine circles of mental hell in King Slaughters does a number one’s emotions and mental health. Then again, I’m still recovering from that attack, so maybe the whole thing was just a trick of the mind.

I rounded the stairwell and was greeted by my mother, She was still dressed in her housecoat, her hair still in rollers. In one hand she held a piece of paper and in the other a brown paper bag. She handed both to me as I passed her.

“I packed you a little snack.” She said as she handed the brown paper bag to me. “There a few snack size candy bars in there, an apple. And a peanut butter sandwich. “ She rattled off each item in the bag as I took it in hand. I then reached for the piece of paper.

“And this is a note from the doctors.” She said handing the paper to me. “Take this to the office as soon as you reach the school, do you understand me?” She said in a firm tone of voice. The voice she used when she wanted to make a point.

“Yes, ma’am,” I said folding the note and sliding it into the pocket of the skirt.

Mom leaned over and kissed me on the cheek.

“Okay honey, have a good day at school. Daddy is already at the shop working on the shipment. I’ll be helping him. Since one person has to run the front and the other stock, they're going to be some left over. So if you want some extra pocket money, swing by helping us put out stock. We’ll even bump your pay to twenty-five cents a box.” She said winking.

I returned the kiss and smiled.

“Sure mom. I’ll be down there this afternoon.” Mommy and daddy own a small general store downtown. I think its one of the oldest general stores in Mississippi, it's well over two hundred or so years old. And well since I was old enough to walk I’ve been helping out off and on down there. First, they started paying me around dime for each item I put out. Then they bumped me up to fifteen cents an item, and finally twenty cents. And now I guess they're paying a quarter of a dollar. Low wages, yes, but then again we ate and lived out of the general store. And when you're not putting out stock, there always selves that need dusting, isles that needed fronting, that when you make all the product line up nice and neat. And of course, sweeping and mopping. All in all. One good day at the shop would net you around Seventy-Five dollars in cash money. But that being therefrom when the door opened at eight in the morning to four that afternoon.

Me pondering all of this allowed the time to fly and soon I was stepping off the trolley. I took a deep breath and peered down the concrete walkway. Before me stood Benton Academy, a handsome three-story building made from locally produced brick. Most of the brick used in the construction of the school came from Yazoo City, some twenty-three miles away. Yazoo Brick Production Company, the company that made most of these bricks was still producing too.

I pushed that thought aside, my mind tends to ramble on at times. As the trolley moved on, I started to move, I wanted to run away, but my brain and body had shifted into auto-pilot. While every fiber of me was screaming for me to turn around and run, I knew I had to push on and face what was waiting for me behind those doors. It was time. My new life began now.