The Snake Pit: Jr. High Can Be Torture by Donna Dillon Page A

and the snake pit.  Some versions had her smashing her face into the floor and breaking teeth and others claimed she had a concussion and was whisked away to the hospital. I did notice that they all had one detail in common...everyone was talking about her face.
     
    Do you want me to tell this story or not???  I understand, Detective, that you have a job to do, but this story is important and needs to be told.  Frankly, it should have been told long before this, it would've saved everyone a whole lot of heartache.  Least of all, Cinda .
     
    Anyway, where was I?  Oh, yes... Cinda's face.  Like I said, I had not seen her face at this point, but, according to the rumors around school, something was definitely not quite right.  I heard rumors of a car accident, that she'd been kicked in the face by a horse, even that she had been mauled by a bear.  Someone even called her a monster.
     
    Well, I am not one for rumors, people may even say I'm a bit on the nosy side, but I was going to get the truth one way or another.  It just so happens that Cinda's last name is Carter which puts her locker just two down from mine.  I took my opportunity the very next morning.
     
    I waited at my locker, pretending that I couldn't remember my combination when she finally showed up.  If I hadn't been looking for her, I might have missed her, that's how quiet she was.  She kinda breezed in like a ghost and stood at her locker, head down, her dark hair still hanging in her face.  I remember thinking , “T his girl is a real loser.”
     
    I had to find a way to talk to this girl...but I figured if I just walked up to her and introduced myself, she would run like a rabbit.  So I bumped into her.  Literally.   She dropped her books and as I helped her pick them up...she looked at me.
     
    I was a little shocked.  I couldn't help myself.  “Oh, my God...what happened to your face?”  I blurted out. She was far from a monster, but her nose was misshapen, kinda flat and the nostrils didn't match. She had these terrible scars under her nose and her lips didn't look quite right.  I felt like a creep for reacting that way, but apparently, it's a reaction that she was used to.
     
    “I was born with a cleft palate/cleft lip.” she told me.  I had never heard of such a thing.  The scars were from multiple surgeries to correct it she told me, and I got the impression that she had many more to go. When I finally got my foot out of my mouth, I introduced myself.
     
    “I'm Charlene Carsten , ” I told her.  “People call me Charlie.”  As I handed her her book, she smiled.  Her teeth were in no better shape.  I found out later that a cleft palate also affect gums and teeth.  But, as bad as her teeth were, and as odd as her face looked, she had the most beautiful big blue eyes I had ever seen.  And I told her so.
     
    I meant it, and she knew I meant it.   She blushed bright red from the compliment.    As we walked to class, she held her head a little higher and I knew Cinda and I would be friends.   I also knew that things were not going to be easy for Cinda and Hargrove Jr . High.  Not easy at all.
     

 
    Chapter Three
    Harelip
     
    Harelip.   That's what the other kids called her.  Every chance they got.  The very sound of the word makes me sick to this very day, but it never seemed to bother Cinda .   It's one of the cruelest things you can call someone...have you ever seen the lips of a hare ???  Not the most attractive of things and certainly not one you want referring to your face.
     
    I looked up cleft palate in the medical dictionary.  Basically a cleft palate is the incomplete fusion of the facial bones before birth.  Now, I ask you this...how on earth is making fun of someone with a cleft palate supposed to help them?  It's not like they can go home and make themselves better.  But the more I tried to get the other kids to stop ; the worse it got for her.
     
    So, I laid off.  I really wish I