Ruby

Chapter Seventeen

The shadows cast by the porcalin wash basin and the bowl of the toilet fell over me. But the darkness of the bathroom was not comforting. I lay in a pool of my own vomit - where I hadn't gotten there on time. The smell was like a sulfur bomb.

God - can't I just die already?!

Suddenly I heard the squeak of the door that Dad never oiled, and soft footsteps padding towards me.

I expected it to be mum. She obviously had heard the racket my gaging had created.

Someone swept my soiled hair from my face and held it without elastic in a pony tail. They oddly patted my head - almost as if they were praising a dog.

I lifted my face from the toilet bowl I was slouched over.

It was Liam.

Oh my God!

Today was Lee's birthday!!!

"Oh Lee, hey," I said weakly.

"Sshh now Rue-Rue, I am going to hold the lion for you," he said sternly, flapping my hair up and down in his hands. It made me smile. Had he just referred to my hair as a lion?

"Happy birthday bro," I said, trying to smile.

I didn't deserve a brother like Liam.

Suddenly I vomited again. From the corner of my eye, I saw his nose wrinkle.

"Lee, why don't you go downstairs? I'll be there in a minute, OK?"

"No! I want to hold your lion!" he said, pleading.

I tried to lift my heavy weight from the floor. I swaddled some tissues from the Kleenex box together and wiped my mouth and eyes. The smell had made them water.

Liam let go of my hair as I started to stand. His little arms couldn't reach that high up.

"I'm going to have a shower, Lee, OK? I'll be down in a minute."

He fled the room with a five year old's energy.

Tears welled in my eyes.

No Ruby! You can't think like this! Today is Liam's birthday. Everything is about Liam. No crying. No. Not today!!!!

But while the water ran through my hair and over my skin - I cried.

When I got out, I quickly dressed into a well fitted MAXI dress. I aways loved MAXI dresses. They complimented my figure well.

I brushed out my long blonde hair of its tangled knots and then twisted it into a french bun. I pined it with three butterfly pins. A red one. A purple one. And a green one.

I quickly dashed some masscara onto my eyes and fountation to hide the bags that had welled purple under my sleep-deprieved eyes.

I ran down the stairs in my brown cork heels. Liam was still in his PJ's.

"Ruby, what took you so long? Your brother has been waiting!" my mum cried.

"Sorry Lee, I was in the shower,"

"Yeah, and  I was holding her lion while Ruby had sickness," Liam aid proudly.

"Oh darling! Were you sick again? I'm so sorry!" mum cried.

"No mum, its fine, really," I said smiling.

"Can I open my presents now?" Liam whined. I laughed and Dad nodded.

Mum, who was just a teaser when it came to brithday presents, said, "You can choose two to open, and when the family comes, you can open the rest,"