The space behind the wall was cramped. The air was damp and muffled. Dust floated around in the air. Not that Arrie could see. It was dark, and she could barely see her hands. It was also cold. The ground was wet from the humid air, and Arrie's black, curly hair had frizzed up. She wrapped her skinny, tan arms around her scrunched legs, forming a ball. She always formed a ball when momma put her in here.
Her momma was kind and nice. Nicer than any other momma. She would always hold Arrie and sing. The best was when Arries would sing along, and her mamma would smile and call Arrie her “little black bird.” The only thing Arrie didn't like was when momma put her in the wall. She said it was for her own good. She said that Arrie had to hide from the bad men, who must never know she exists. So Arrie stayed especially quiet. She stayed quiet, even when she heard the shouting and yelling. Even though she heard furniture being thrown around, and guns going off in the distant. She stayed quiet because she knew her momma would always come get her. She stayed quiet so she could hear the tap tap of her mother, knocking on the wall. Tap tap meaning it was safe to come out and see her family. Her family that was one member too large. Or so the bad men thought.
But this time was different. She heard many people stomping into the room. She heard a man shouting, and guns being cocked. Her mother began yelling in their native tongue. She heard pounding against the wall, and a thud on the ground. She heard her momma call out her papa's name. She heard her older sister, who was only seven, crying, and her brother, who was eighteen, began threatening the intruders with harsh words. Then she heard the sound of a gun go off, in the room. Before she could stop herself, she yelped. The room grew very, very quiet.
In the shouting of the silence, she heard the tap tap on the wall. Her instinct was to knock back, letting her momma know she was there. But something in her mind stopped her. She remained still. She would not come out until she heard her momma speak. But there was silence. Then came movement, a shuffling sound, like when she dragged the garbage across the floor. Then more silence.
Time pasted, while Arrie waited. Waited for her momma. A few hours later, as her head began to tilt and her eyes close, she heard the tap tap. Excited, she pulled on the walls handle, which slide sideways, revealing the little space in the wall otherwise concealed. Arrie stepped out, but to an empty room. Furniture lay broken everywhere. A trail of smeared blood led out the door. The windows were open. And on the ground, in front of her, sat a little black bird, tapping on the wall.