TITLE: A Shade of Purple (1/2)
AUTHOR: jenbachand
PAIRING: Sara centric with hint of GSR
RATING: Teen
SUMMARY: A look at Teen Sara and how she learned to overcome hardship from Celie.
DISCLAIMER: I made no money from the writing of this fic.
NOTES: Yes, it has 2 parts. Mingsmommy comes up with the best prompts and is such a fabulous beta. This was how The Color Purple helped Sara overcome hardships. I've been working on this the last few sessions of LJ com 1hour2write.
"What's on the agenda for today kiddo?" Julie asked, snagging a bite of Sara's Eggo that was left soaking up the last of the syrup on her plate.
Thirteen year old Sara looked up from the article she was reading on banned books and smiled at her guardian and favorite adult who had begun packing her briefcase for the day.
School started in a few weeks and her required reading had been complete for a while now. It had been a pretty good summer. Really it had been a pretty good year. Right after Christmas she had been placed with Julie, her third and best foster mom.
"Thought I'd head down to the library and see how many of these books they had," Sara pointed to the article. "Several of them are new and have won awards. Thought I'd try for a bit of controversy right off the bat when school starts."
Julie laughed and went to fill up her coffee mug. She was 30 and worked at an advertising firm in San Francisco. She had an hours commute each way every day, but insisted that her house had spoken to her when she was looking for a place to live, so she couldn't live anywhere else. She was quirky and a bit odd, but so funny, and wickedly smart.
That was one of the reasons for Sara's placement with her. After running mental circles around her last two sets of foster parents, Sara's caseworker had happened upon Julie's application as a discard because of her unmarried status. Even Ms. Evelyn was unsure how to deal with an abused witness to murder two grades ahead of her age group and struggling with her placements, so she opted to put Sara with Julie on a trial basis.
And it had worked. Julie had also graduated from high school and college early, so she understood some of Sara's frustration with the average world around her. She was also prepping Sara for college. SAT study books littered the library tables and Sara's last trial test had resulted in a perfect score.
Julie treated Sara like a younger sister instead of a daughter or a charge to take care of. She gave her space, but also prodded her when she thought Sara was retreating too far into herself. Sara had her own room, a set list of chores, access to a great library, and even a computer.
Sara also had someone in her corner. She had already gone to bat for her, threatening legal action when the foster care system had tried to move Sara to a group home of teens early in the summer. Julie had brought in an expert in gifted children, several of Sara's teachers, and most importantly, a team of lawyers, to the hearing. The result was a granting of guardianship to Julie, and a very happy Sara.
"Take your phone card with you. If there's any they don't have, give me a call at work and I'll see if I can pick it up in the city." She gave Sara's ponytail a little tug before heading out the door. The library wouldn't open for another couple of hours, so Sara went to straighten up her room and start her laundry.
The best part about summer, Sara thought as she finished folding the last pair of shorts, was that she could wash a weeks worth of laundry in one load because they were so much lighter. She put away her laundry, grabbed her backpack, double checking that her library and phone cards were in her wallet. She found her keys, locked up the house, and peddled her way into town.
Sara chained her bike at the rack. Their little town wasn't unsafe, but opportunistic thieves would always be around. She rubbed her bottom unconsciously, remembering the whipping she had gotten for leaving her bike in the front yard overnight, only to have it gone the next morning.
She made her way to the card catalog and going to the author section. Alice Walker's The Color Purple was what she had chosen from her list of banned books. It had won a Pulitzer Prize and the article mentioned they were making a movie of it. There was at least one copy since there was a card in the drawer, so Sara grabbed a pencil and piece of paper to make a quick note about it.
The book was located where it was supposed to be. Considering it was summer in a small town that alone was a good sign for the day, as bored kids tended to just stick books on any random shelf when they were done. She wandered the aisles for a bit, picking up one other book on colleges before heading to check out and head home. It would be hot soon, and it was best to get home before lunchtime traffic started.
She smiled at the girl behind the counter as she presented her library card and books. The girl smiled back, but the smile faded when she opened up Sara's books. She excused herself and disappeared into the librarian's office. The older woman approached the counter wearing a frown.
"I'm sorry, Miss Sidle, but you can't check this book out," she held up The Color Purple.
"What? Why not?"
"It covers a lot of adult content and requires parental permission to check it out." She looked over the tops of her glasses at Sara. "And considering where your parents are, well…"
Sara didn't care what else was said, she snatched her card back and ran out of the library. She quickly unlocked her bike and as the peddling started, so did her tears. By the time she got home not only was she still upset, but she was mad too. How dare that old cow deny her a book just because of her who her parents were? Besides, she had a perfectly respectable guardian now. Why did people have to judge her on what had happened with her parents instead of who she was as a person? Was it always going to be this way?
She put her bike up in the garage and opened the door just in time to hear the phone ring. She turned down the thermostat to make the air conditioner kick in before answering the phone.
"Hello," she tried to sound as normal as she could, but the stuffiness of her nose came through anyway.
"Sara, what's wrong?" Julie's voice carried a note of concern that broke the dam again on her tears and Sara launched into the tale of finding the book she wanted and the librarian's attitude while trying not to sob hysterically at being humiliated like that.
"Hey sweetie, it's ok. Listen, I'll stop at the bookstore down the road and pick up a couple of copies and we'll read it together. Ok?"
"Yeah, ok," Sara sniffled a little, but felt so much better that she had someone who cared that she got to read the book, instead of handing out punishment for upsetting an adult.
Julie's soothing voice washed over her. "I froze some spaghetti last week, why don't you take it out to thaw, and we'll have a night in with our books when I get home."
"Yeah, ok." Sara quit twisting the cord and said good-bye. She set the spaghetti out and made a sandwich for her lunch. Her eyes were gritty and puffy, so she opted to just lie down for a minute to rest them.
When she woke up several hours later, the sun was much lower in the sky, and there was a glass of water and a note on her nightstand telling her to come downstairs when she was ready. Sara washed her face and ran a brush through the tangled mess that was her hair and went down to the kitchen.
But she noticed something sitting on the coffee table on her way. Two copies of The Color Purple.
Hardback copies.
She was in heaven. She ran to the kitchen where Julie was standing watching the microwave and gave her a hug.
"Thank you so much, Julie."
"You're welcome, kiddo," her guardian gave her a squeeze and bent to look in her eyes. "You're worth a hundred of those small minded people, remember that. You will always be haunted by ghosts Sara, but you are strong and you will over come it."
Sara nodded into Julie's shoulder, letting silent tears make their way down her cheek.