Behind Closed Doors

XII

Beyonces Pov
I waited at the kitchen table for my mom to come home. I wanted to ask her about some the things i've seen Onika do, I just wanted to see what she would say.

I heard the front door open and I looked up and I see my mom coming in with a quirked eyebrow looking at me.

"You're waiting home for me? You look nervous. You ain't get a girl pregnant right?" She joked and I laughed with her.

"Nah I don't think I could if I tried. I have a question though." I asked and I followed her into the actual kitchen and watched her unpack the reusable bag of groceries.

"Tell me, if you're asking for money Im going to tell you to get a job again." She warned and I rolled my eyes.

"No mama, I just wanted to see—is it normal to get nervous when food or eating is brought up?" I asked and my mother froze for a second.

She turned to me with a slightly concerned look on her face.

"Are these questions relating to you baby?" She asked and I shook my head.

"No ma, I just got bored I wanted to researched some stuff. I love food, I ate your leftovers." She seemed annoyed at the last part but relieved at the rest.

"Well in some situations I guess it is, It depends on the person. Every situation is unique." She said opening the fridge and I listened.

"It's like—remember when you fell off your bike and you didn't want to get back on for awhile? Because it was a bad experience?" She asked and I nodded remembering that.

"You broke your ankle and everything. It's the same way with many other things like food. If someone has had a bad experience with a certain food then they probably won't eat it or even get anxious at the thought of it." She said shrugging continuing to unpack.

I decided to help her, standing up and unpacking too. "Thank you." She said and I just nodded.

"That makes sense but like, in general. Is it normal? Like if you mentioned me  eating in general and I got nervous or stand off ish and I didn't eat around you then what?" I asked starting to put the strawberries away.

"I'd get concerned, because you eat everything even if it's not yours to consume." She shaded and I rolled my eyes.

"But if that was the case, I would genuinely be concerned. Someone eating less can be for many reasons but because you're a girl and a teenager, I would get extremely concerned and I'd check up on you." She said and I looked at her confused.

"But why?" I asked leaning on the fridge.

"Because some girls, especially young woman feel the need to fit into beauty standards. I know you're not like that, but some are. So they decided to loose weight, the unhealthy way." She sounded sad and I was still a little confused.

"You can loose weight unhealthily?" She nodded.

"Yeah, you can loose weight and it can be beneficial for you but some of the ways people do it can be unhealthy and cause damage. Some girls throw up their food, but that's getting into eating disorders. What you're talking about—I would assume you were starving yourself. Which is also what some girls do." She finished.

"What are the signs? Of eating disorders?" I asked getting curious.

"There's multiple eating disorders but when it comes to starving and throwing up there's the obvious that you can look up but some symptoms that are over looked is being guilty after eating, and exercise and obviously not eating as much as they should. Oh and excessive dieting." She said.