All My Sins

A shimmer

The next day Maureen woke up and across the room she noticed that her window was still slightly ajar. Having woken up, she suddenly felt more aware to the cold. She recalled her goodnight with Mr. Mathers.

-

Marshall waited a few more minutes than he should have before descending from Maureen's window. He left Jillian under the presumption that he had already left in her earlier absence during their visit.

"I'm going to come back tomorrow."

"You can't, she is here all day."

"Do you have a phone?" He asked, ignoring her protest.

"No." Her answer surprised him.

"Okay."

Before he let himself find any other reason to stay another minute in bed with her, he got up carefully as to avoid causing her anymore discomfort.

Maureen took another one of those brief seconds in the fleeting midst of Marshall's body warmth to imagine its comfort in another context. Rather a moment in which he were just getting up for a glass of water and coming back to bed with her. But she knew that such a reality was beyond reach.
She ran her finger over the red wine stains on her bedsheets. She smelt the faint but lingering smell. It was bitter and strong and evoked just the thought of a gag; The very opposite of what she had always imagined and wanted wine to taste like. She thought about her kiss with Marshall, that lingering taste. If only wine were as sweet.

-

Proof cracked the window of Marshall's car and relieved his cigar of its ashes.

"There go ya entry fees for the next three months." He mumbled as Marshall closed the now chunky manila envelope in the driver's seat.

"I need a break."

"Shut the fuck up, dawg. This ain't about takin' no fucking time off."

"Back off, man. Don't tell me what to do with my money."

"Man, I'm trying to get you outta this fuckin' place. This? This right here?" Proof gripped the corner of the envelope so that it made a crinkling noise. "This is the rest of your life. And I'm supposed to sit here and watch you go to fucking jail and piss away everything you got goin for you."

"You don't get it, man. You just don't."

-

"Think you can handle two weeks at home without falling behind?" Jillian entered the hallway bathroom without a knock where the shower was running and Maureen was waiting for the water to warm up.

"I think I can handle that." She replied modestly.

"Well, I called your Principal and he says that if none of your teachers are available for home bound that he'll have your books and work delivered."

When steam began to rise and coat the mirror, Jillian furrowed her brows. "Are you just gonna waste water now?" She barked at Maureen.

Understanding that no protest would serve her well and with little willpower left to fight, Maureen began to strip to her skin with obvious discomfort. After stepping into the shower, Jillian sat on the bathroom counter and Maureen watched through the fogged shower glass as she tweaked her features in the mirror.

"Your Dad has to go back to New York for another week. So it'll just be me and you. I figure its best that your not left by yourself anymore."

Maureen felt her chest go hollow. It was one thing for her to be able to hole herself away in her room and let her Dad to occupy her Mom or rather serve as a buffer between them, but for the next week there was no escape from it.