Winnie #3

Zoe, Vanessa, and Winnie still lived in the small apartment above the bookstore. Winnie slept in a makeshift room that doubled as a living room. It was an odd arrangement but they could neither afford to move or really wanted to move. Winnie woke up to the sound of the television. She sat up and saw an image of an apartment building surrounded by tenants and firefighters.

“What happened?” she yawned.

“Good morning. Another apartment fire. Like what happened at Heather and her family’s. An elderly man died trying to evacuate,” Zoe replied.

“Someone died?” Winnie repeated. “I need to do something,” she said when she was talking to Heather about it.

“What can you do? We don’t have any idea who this person is, why they’re doing it, or where they’ll strike next. If they even strike again,” Heather said. “People on the news said whoever is doing this might stop now that they’ve killed someone. Like this was all a prank that now’s gone too far.”

“A man dies and officials treat it like it’s the end?” Winnie asked. “That’s not right. Someone died and even if this arsonist doesn’t set anymore fire, they still need to be brought to justice.”

“I agree but, again, what can you do?”




In world geography, Savannah was helping Seonna with her classwork. They were working on a worksheet where they had to fill in the blanks from the textbook and selected websites. “Why were you late this morning?” Savannah asked.

“What? Oh. Nothing,” Seonna awkwardly replied. “I just overslept.”

“You’re quiet today,” Savannah said. “Your head also seems to be elsewhere.”

“I’m fine. It’s just the assignment,” Seonna said.

“We’re basically copying and pasting from the book or computer about population density,” Savannah smiled. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Seonna snapped. “Let’s just finish this.”

“Okay. Sorry.”

They went back to work but a couple minutes later, one of the assistant principals came into the room. “I need to see Seonna Toomey,” he said.

Seonna was away from class for the rest of the period and the next one. When Savannah passed by between periods she glanced into the assistant principal’s office and saw Seonna with two policemen. She stared for a few seconds then walked away worried. She saw Seonna again at lunch but Seonna refused to talk about what went on in the office.

At work, near closing time, Savannah was sweeping the floor while Seonna was wiping down the counter. “You need to talk about what happened today,” Savannah said. “It’s eating you up.”

“It’s not. I’m fine.”

“Seonna, I’m your friend. Tell me what’s wrong. You can tell me anything. I won’t tell anyone.”

“It’s about my sister, Allie,” Seonna revealed. Seonna had a younger sister, Alliezandra, who went by Allie. She was eleven and had just started middle school. “She’s been having problems with one of her teachers,” Seonna began.

“What’s going on?” Savannah could tell it was serious by the way Seonna lowered her head as she spoke.

“One of her teachers has been molesting her. According to Allie, he’s done it three times. I know I should’ve just told my grandmother or aunt but I was angry. I went to the middle school and waited for him in the parking lot. He got out of his car and I jumped. I beat the shit out of him. I wanted to stomp his head into the pavement. I beat him up then ran off to school. That’s why I was late,” Seonna explained.

“At least it was for a good reason,” Savannah chuckled. She was now behind the counter with Seonna and put an arm lovingly around her and held her hand. “So what was with the police? Did you report him or…?”

“The son of bitch pressed charges on me,” Seonna said. “The police were at school to arrest me. I had to explain to them that he was sexually assaulting my 11-year-old sister. They were going to go back to question him again and told me not to go anywhere. I haven’t seen them since.”

“You were defending your sister,” Savannah said. “I’m sorry that happened. I wish I could do something.”

“It’s not your fault. It feels good to tell someone. I feel better,” Seonna looked at Savannah. “Thanks,” she smiled. Savannah held Seonna tighter as they looked at each other. Savannah kept from kissing her, hugged her one last time and then went back to sweeping the floor while Seonna continuing cleaning the counter before moving on to the tables.




An hour after Zoe and Vanessa went to bed, Winnie dressed in black pants and a purple shirt, headed downstairs, opened the security gate and left the store, making sure to lock the door behind her. She began wandering the neighborhood and looking out for any suspicious people and while she saw plenty, none were wanting to set fire to anything.

Winnie checked out any siren that she heard, running through the streets and alleys only to come across a police car or ambulance. At two in the morning, she sat down on a bus bench and waited. For thirty minutes she sat and tried to focus on what few people were still out. She then began walking, down one street then up another creating a kind of staircase with her movements. She came across a man also dressed for sneaking around in the dark. He was muttering to himself but she couldn’t make out any words because he was too far away and was wearing a mask, like what people wear during flu season or in heavily polluted cities, over his mouth and nose.

She followed him at a distance and watched him go into an apartment building. It was about three o’clock. She waited right outside, watching the windows to see if one came on. When one didn’t after a minute, she swore at herself and ran into the building. The man was still on the first floor and was fiddling with something inside of the paper bag he was carrying.

“Stop,” Winnie said.

The man looked at her. “No, no. Can’t stop now. Have some business to finish,” he babbled, casually chuckling between each word.

“You don’t have to do this,” she said, walking slowly toward him.

“The voices say that I do,” he said. “Burn. Burn the sinners. Burn them all.”

“You’re not a killer. That man was just an accident. Right? A tragic accident.”

“Tried to send a message. No one listened. Man died. Everyone listening now.”

“How do you know these people are sinners?” she asked, still approaching and trying to buy time. “Have you ever met them?”

“We are all sinners,” he sighed. “Me. You.” He looked down dejectedly then pulled a Molotov cocktail out of the paper bag. “We are undeserving of His love and for that we must be punished.”

He held up a lighter and prepared to light the rag that was sticking out of the bottle. Winnie jumped at him, hand extended. “No!” she shouted and crashed into him, bringing him to the ground. The bottle shattered, spilling gasoline onto the floor, but the lighter fell harmlessly to the floor. Sitting on top of the man, Winnie slapped her hand on his forehead. He babbled a bit more and then seemed to go to sleep.

His eyes then opened and he was surprised to see this young girl sitting on top of him. Her blue and hazel eyes looking down at him with just a hint of a smile as she realized that his mind was now clear. “What the hell?”

“I don’t know,” Winnie said, standing up. “You tell me.”

“I’ve been in such a fog over the last week or so,” the man rubbed his head. “What’s going on?”

Winnie explained and the man could barely hold himself up. He leaned against the wall for support and then had to go outside for air. “We need to call the police,” Winnie finished up.

The man nodded. “Why was I like that?” he asked.

“You just had some demons inside you,” she shrugged.

“And you just knocked them out of me?” he smiled at her.

“I guess so.”




A police car dropped Winnie off at the store where Zoe and Vanessa were angrily waiting. The police had called them to let them know that their daughter caught the arsonist—after sneaking out of the house and wandering the city for four hours. The three of them went back upstairs where Zoe took the lead in the parenting.

“What were you thinking? You could’ve been hurt,” she exclaimed.

“I wanted to help. And I did. I caught him and I saved him.”

“You can’t go sneaking out at night to do things like that,” Zoe said. “We got that call from the police and we were so worried.”

“Worried about what? No one is after me anymore and I’m basically Jesus Christ. I can…do things,” Winnie said. “I cured that man of demons. I can perform miracles,” Winnie smiled big but neither Zoe or Vanessa were smiling back.

“So what are we going to do?” Zoe asked.

“What do you mean?” Winnie asked.

“Do we ground you or…?”

“I think we should sleep on it,” Vanessa spoke up. “It’s late. We have school and a book store to work at tomorrow. Besides, what is this going to get us? Our daughter is special and she actually wants to use those powers for good. You can’t even say that, Zoe.”

Zoe was hurt by that comment. She had laid herself bare last year, owning up to all the bad things that she had done. “You always have kept me grounded,” Zoe said to Vanessa. “No more sneaking out. If you want to help with something then tell us. We’ll trust you. Fair?” she asked Winnie.

“Fair,” Winnie nodded.

“Fair?” Zoe looked at Vanessa, who smiled and nodded at her. “Let’s go back to bed.”

Winnie #2

It was almost three o’clock in the morning when the smoke alarms went off in the hallways of Cottage Grove Towers. Tenants raced out of the fire doors and fire escapes. Heather and her family evacuated their apartment and met across the street. Roy, her father, took a head count—his wife, Jasmine, Promise, Heather, Holly, and Marcus but there was an extra head with the family. “Nathan?” Heather exclaimed. Heather knew Nathan as he was Savannah’s brother. “What are you doing here?”

“I was…uh…” Nathan stammered.

“He was with me,” Promise said. “We’ve been seeing each other for the last couple of months or so.”

“What?” Roy and Jasmine shouted.

“I know we should’ve told you and we were going to soon. I definitely didn’t want you to find out during a fire evacuation.”

Firefighters were waving that it was all clear and the tenants began returning to their apartments. “We’ll talk about this in the morning,” Roy said. “You’re going to stay here, Nathan. On the couch. We’ll call your parents in the morning.”

“Yes, sir,” Nathan agreed.

“And put some clothes on,” Heather crinkled her nose.




It was the sixth fire to happen in this manner in three weeks. The method was always the same. A bag was placed in the entryway or front hallway and lit on fire. The smoke would set off a smoke detector and the fire department would arrive. The most damage would be a burnt mark on the floor. Nothing was ever in the bag and no evidence ever left behind. There was no security in the buildings so there was no leads on who the would-be arsonist could be.

“And no one’s been hurt?” Winnie asked Heather as they sat down at lunch next to Savannah.

“Not yet but who knows what the next fire will bring,” Heather said.

“Talking about the fire?” Savannah asked.

“Yeah. It was hard getting back to sleep after that. By the way, did you know your brother is sleeping with my sister?” Heather asked.

“I knew he was seeing someone. I didn’t know it was someone I knew,” Savannah smiled. “How did you find out?”

“He snuck over after we all went to bed and had to evacuate with everyone.”

“Hell of a way for people to find out,” Winnie laughed.

A tall black girl with bushy hair tied into a ponytail purposely ran into Savannah. “Watch where you’re going,” she said angrily but soon a smile was on her face. “You excited for tonight?”

“Oh, yeah. I’m just excited to start getting some money and the experience isn’t bad either,” Savannah answered.

“I’ll see you at the diner tonight. I look forward to working with you,” the girl smiled at Savannah and walked off to sit with her friends several tables away.

“Who’s that?” Winnie asked.

“It’s Seonna Toomey,” Savannah began. “We have English and cooking together. We were both hired at Ol Mac’s Diner at waitresses. We start tonight.”

“What was with the smiles and the playful running into your chair?” Heather questioned.

“Seonna’s the one I have the crush on. We’ve been getting closer in class and I think…I hope…that she likes me. I like her.”

“Seonna…” Winnie thought for a moment, picking at her food with a fork. “Seonna. Isn’t she really athletic and kind of mean? I think she tried to stuff someone into a locker last year.”

“She is athletic. She participates in football, basketball, track, volleyball, and soccer over the summer. I’ve watched her practice and play—you should see her legs,” Savannah said as she blushed, getting a lilt in her voice, her eyes glistening in the light.

“Nah, I’m good,” Heather said.

“She’s really nice. I can’t wait to start working with her,” Savannah turned to look at Seonna. Seonna, who was looking at Savannah as well, opened her mouth to show her chewed up food and gave Savannah the finger. “She’s so cute.”




Candace was sitting outside in the grass during lunch, wanting to be away from people for a few minutes while she ate her sandwich. She watched the cars drive by and the other students wander the campus, most coming back from grabbing lunch somewhere else. She liked to people-watch and there was certainly plenty of entertainment when she was out here.

“Want a burrito?” someone behind her asked.

Candace turned around and saw a guy holding out a burrito to her. “No, thanks,” she smiled.

“Are you sure? The place gave me one extra,” the guy offered again.

“David, right?” Candace said, taking the burrito from him. “You’re in my math class.”

“May I sit?” David started to sit down but Candace started standing up.

“I’m thinking about heading inside. Lunch is almost over anyway,” Candace said.

“Oh, okay. Well, I will see you in math class,” David said good-bye. He watched Candace walk away back toward the school. “Enjoy the burrito.”




Ol Mac’s was a dinghy diner a few blocks away from the school. Ol’ Mac was a large black man who had been slinging hash and making the best soul food in this part of Chicago for nearly 50 years. Savannah and Seonna were hired to work Tuesday through Friday 3:30 until 9:00 and Sunday 11:00 to 5:00. The two girls tied aprons around their waists and got to work.

It got hot in the diner, especially when you were working and very little cool air came out of the air conditioner installed above the door. Sweat poured down everyone’s forehead and arms and after only a couple hours, the girls looked beaten and worn out. They were in a back room, hanging up their aprons and grabbing their backpacks after the diner had closed. “I don’t think I’ve ever worked as hard as I did tonight,” Savannah said, hanging up her apron.

“Not outside of a sporting event, for me anyway,” Seonna replied, taking her shirt off. Savannah watched closely as the shirt came off to reveal Seonna’s bare torso except for the sweat-stained sports bra she wore. She noticed the little bit of stubble underneath her arms and the almost six-pack of her stomach. Seonna sniffed her shirt before cramming it in her backpack. Seonna noticed Savannah looking and smiled a crooked smile. “What’s up?”

Savannah broke her gaze. “Nothing. You’re walking home like that?”

“I do a lot,” she replied. “It’s a short walk and it’s a lot more than I really want to be wearing. Boys are so lucky,” she shook her head. “How much did you get in tips tonight?”

“About forty bucks,” Savannah answered.

“I got about seventy. Come on,” Seonna put her arm around Savannah. Savannah shivered and nonchalantly sniffed in the general direction of Seonna’s armpit that was resting right by her neck and shoulder. “I’ll treat you to an ice cream cone at G’s.”




Another apartment building. Another fire. A small fire set in the hallway by the entrance. The building was evacuated and everyone gathered outside. A group of firefighters were going through the building, checking for stragglers and making sure no other fires were set. “I got a body over here,” one shouted.

“Looks like he was evacuating. What happened?” another asked.

“Oxygen. He left without his oxygen tank, I’m assuming,” the firefighter pointed to the tube coming out of the man’s nose. “Get the paramedics up here. If this fire was caused by the same person starting all the others, they just became a murderer.”

Winnie #1

“So, you’re God?” Heather asked as she stood with Winnie on the roof of her apartment building.

“Mmm, no. I’m more like Jesus. I’m a Christ. It’s a title, like doctor,” Winnie explained.

“Cool. Can you do any magic tricks like your moms?” Heather asked and waved her hands, like a stereotypically mocking of a magician.

“I don’t really do tricks. They’re miracles.”

"Call them what you want, you could basically become a superhero.”

“I’ve been thinking about that,” Winnie nodded. “I want to help my fellow man…”

“And woman.”

“…And I think I can really help out around school, the neighborhood, and the city.”

“Sometimes I do think a lot of people around here need Jesus,” Heather chuckled. Winnie chuckled as well. “Look at this: We got a woman Jesus Christ.”

Winnie and Heather smiled at each other.




Candace Small was already six foot three as a sophomore. She had very curly brown hair and beautiful brown eyes. Hyde Park High School was her sixth school in her fourteen years alive. She left her first school in third grade when her parents divorced, her second school in fifth grade because she and her mom were evicted, her third between six and seventh grade for the same reason, her fourth in eighth grade because she and her mom moved in with her new boyfriend and Candace was now here at Hyde Park due to choices in her life that made it impossible to remain with those other kids. Candace wanted this to be a new start but wasn’t sure if she’d be able to accomplish that. Candace waited outside the counselor’s office while see talked to another student.

“Winnie,” the counselor began. “We were reluctant to make you a student liaison because those are usually reserved for juniors and seniors but your passion for wanting to help plus references from Mr. Sullivan, Ms. Fanning, and your friends made us change our minds. We’re not giving you six kids like we give to our upper classmen but just one. Her name is Candace Small, she’s new this year and she’s had a rough go of it at school. She shares most of your classes and hopefully you two will become close friends,” the counselor explained.

“I’ll do the best I can. Thank you again for this opportunity.”

“Let’s go meet Candace,” the counselor stood up and the two of them left the office and approached Candace. “Candace, this is Winnie. She’s going to be your liaison. I hope you two get along very well. Please let me know if there is any problem.”

“I think we’ll be fine,” Candace said softly and stood up. Winnie stood at only five foot two so barely came up to Candace’s shoulders. “Winnie. Like Winnie-the-Pooh?”

“It’s short for Winnette. It was my grandmother’s name but yes, like Winnie-the-Pooh,” Winnie chuckled. “Come on, let’s go to first hour. Where are you from?”

“From Chicago. I’ve been bouncing around the city my entire life,” Candace said. “What about you?”

“From here. Well, it’s hard to explain. I live with my moms now but before last year I lived my grandpa and, I guess, an aunt. I don’t think she was related to us. It’s a long story.”

“Okay,” Candace chuckled but it came out as a weird grunt or groan. “I’m kind of hoping that this’ll be my last school. I’m tired of having to start over, make new friends.”

“I bet that would be tiring. I’m sorry you’ve had to switch schools so much. A lot of students here move a lot, usually because of money. Is that why you had to move? If you don’t mind me asking.”

“No. I got into some trouble and it became difficult to learn so administration and my parents thought it best to just move me,” Candace explained.

“Well, if you get into any trouble, let me or any of my friends know. I will do what I can to help you,” Winnie offered. “This is our first hour, science. My friend, Heather, is also in this class with us. She’s cool, you’ll like her.” Winnie opened the door and she and Candace went into the science room and sat near Heather. They were quiet and just listened to the teacher lecturing.




When Heather and Savannah were in math class together, Heather noticed that Savannah was humming and smiling as she was doing her work. Most of the other students were talking to each other and doing very little work but Savannah was actually working which made the humming and smiling seem out of place.

“Are you feeling okay, Savannah?” Heather asked.

Savannah turned and looked at Heather. “What? Yeah, I’m fine. Why?”

“You’re smiling way too much to be in math class and you’re humming and aren’t playing any music.”

“I’m in a good mood. I have a crush on someone,” Savannah said, whispering on the last half.

“Another crush? I guess it is Monday,” Heather laughed.

“I know but this is different,” Savannah said and scooted closer to Heather. “I have a crush on a girl.”

Heather was actually taken aback. Savannah was very into boys although she hadn’t really dated or been with a guy. She developed crushes on numerous boys just about every week but had never pulled the trigger on going out with one. “Why a girl?”

“It’s the way she looks. And acts. She acts tough but she’s really sweet and funny,” Savannah began. “You just have to get to know her.”

Another student leaned back in their chair. “Are you talking about that new girl that’s been hanging out with Winnie?”

“What?” Savannah asked.

“No, somebody else. Why? What about the new girl?”

“I guess she’s a huge whore. She seduced a teacher at her last school and raped a boy at the one before that. It’s why she’s been to so many schools.”
Heather and Savannah looked at the student. “She’s underage. Even if she did seduce the teacher, he still raped her,” Heather said.

“But what about her raping the boy?”

“We weren’t there. We just have this gossip from, who told you?”

“Shana’s cousin goes to that girl’s last school. She’s a huge slut.”




“Hey, Winnie,” Heather sat down next to Winnie at lunch. Savannah sat on the other side. Candace was also at the table, her food was at her seat, but she was in restroom. “Have you heard any rumors about Candace?”

“Eh, one or two. Why?”

“What have you heard? Because what Savannah and I heard suggests that someone should be in jail,” Heather said.

“What?” Winnie leaned in closer to talk to Heather.

“Candace was either raped by a teacher or raped someone. Maybe both. The general description is that Candace is a huge slut,” Heather quickly explained.

Winnie nodded and looked around the cafeteria. Her anger quickly subsided and she took two deep breathes. Candace returned to the table and sat down. “Hey, Savannah. Hi…Heather, right?”

“Yep,” Heather smiled at her.

Winnie continued looking around the cafeteria and began to see students turning and looking at Candace. Some were pointing and staring and talking. Winnie tried to hear what they were saying but all the conversations ran together.

“Winnie? Are you okay?” Candace asked.

“They’re talking about you,” Winnie gritted her teeth and whispered to Candace.

Candace turned and looked around the cafeteria. She heard several key words that assured her that they were talking about her. “No, I don’t want to do this again,” Candace angrily muttered. She quickly stood up and slammed her tray down on the table. “What the hell? Why do you all have to keep talking about it?”

The cafeteria got deadly silent. Heather and Savannah sat with stunned looks on their face. “Is this happening? Is she making a speech like in TV shows?” Heather asked.

“Candace…” Winnie began but let Candace keep talking.

“Yes, I’ve had sex. I’m sure many of you have too. I’ve slept with nearly two dozen guys and that includes a four-way. I was raped by a teacher but because of idiots like you who blame the victim, I didn’t press charges. I wanted to get even so I took my anger out on someone else. I’m not proud of what I’ve done but I am not ashamed of it and how dare you all judge me before any of you even know me.”

She was crying but still holding it together. Winnie smiled and stood up. She walked over to Candace and stood next to her. “Candace is right, it is not our place to judge her or to shame her. In some way, we are all sexually active and it is fine. None of you would like to be talked about like this so why are you doing it to her?” Winnie paused, wanting to hear agreement. “It’s now all out there. You know the story. We can move on.”

The cafeteria remained silent.

“Would you like to add anything, Candace?” Winnie asked.

Candace shook her head and sat down at her food. Winnie rubbed her back and went back to her seat. The cafeteria slowly started getting louder and within a couple minutes everybody was back to talking. Winnie, Candace, Savannah and Heather continued eating, their lunch time now dwindled. The four of them ate in silence for several minutes before Heather spoke.

“Savannah’s a dyke!” she exclaimed.