Candy Flip

Chapter One

The drive to the Regional Pierre airport of South Dakota was just as suffocating and constricting as Lucy expected it to be.  She sat at the back of her mother's Cherokee, staring out at the passing blur that was South Dakota.  Finally, after eighteen years cooped up in a town that she didn't like she was prepared to be shipped off to Aunt Stacey's and relieved of all the stresses that corrupted her fragile mind.  Aunt Stacey was Lucy's mother's deranged and alienated younger sister that lived in a comfortable home in Utah.  Lucy had ever only seen Aunt Stacey during the holidays when she was a lot younger, but after opening up her own candy shop, Aunt Stacey had permanently isolated herself from the rest of the family.

"Has she got something mentally wrong with her?" Tom, Lucy's older brother had once questioned as Lucy giggled furiously behind her hand.

"She's just a little... flamboyant," Mom replied sharply.

Flamboyant was a simple way to describe Aunt Stacey's nature.  From what Lucy could remember, she was a perky short lady with a full head of Monroe curls and exuberant 1950's makeup.  Lucy smiled as she remembered the stench of hairspray that wafted to everyone's nostrils when Auntie S walked by in her red platform 70's shoes and disco pants.

"Why aren't you married Auntie Stacey?"  Lucy asked her manic aunt at the tender age of ten.

"Let me tell you something sweet Lucy," Aunt Stacey had knelt down on her boney knees, her round brown eyes penetrating as she smacked at a piece of gum like a hungry cow.  "I don't need no man to tell me what to do honey.  Men come and go but you're there forever.  So make the most of your time and stay confident!"

Although never grasping Aunt Stacey's words, Lucy just nodded and smiled whilst desperately trying not to succumb to laughter over her brother's facial expressions.

Now, as Lucy rolled by on a highway with her suitcases packed neatly in the trunk of her mother's Jeep, her insides curled at the prospect of meeting her Aunt again after nearly seven years.  It first came as a shock to Lucy when her mother arrived with the news that Aunt Stacey was delighted to have her spend the summer with her, gaining work experience in her candy shop.  Despite the fact that Lucy did not have a relationship with her aunt, she couldn't help but relish at the thought of living freely without her overprotective older brother eyeing her like a hawk at parties, her mother interfering in her life and all the close-minded people that she had the misfortune of meeting throughout her life growing up.  Going to Utah and meeting new people whilst working as an independent adult was something Lucy knew would change her and mature her forever.

"You're still gonna be in America, loser.  People aren't gonna be any different there," Tom had said as he rolled his eyes when Lucy had noted how she hated the people in South Dakota.

Tom and Lucy had always had a close relationship as brother and sister since their age gap was only a year.  Growing up, Lucy remembered all the arguments she had with her brother, as well as all the adventures that she went on with him.  There was no other person in the world that could get Lucy laughing until her ribs hurt like her brother could.  Despite his humorous ability, his insults and disagreements over Lucy's mindset created a gap in their relationship within the past few months, especially after Lucy was caught kissing Tom's best friend at a party in October.

"It'll be good for me to get away," Lucy had said mildly.  "To clear my head and figure out what I wanna do with my life."

Regional Pierre Airport- 1 mile

Lucy's insides tightened as they zoomed past the sign and she was snapped back into her senses again.  She turned to her brother who was sitting beside her and staring out the opposite window and then at her mother in the front, her pale hands gripping the steering wheel and staring ahead.

The constricting feeling clung to Lucy as she turned to face the window again.  Her father had left when she was just a few years old, so she was never able to develop a relationship with a  father figure, especially since their mother chose not to re-marry.  It was just their mom, Tom and their grandparents living in South Dakota and although being the smallest family possible, Lucy still couldn't help but feel like she was drowning in crowds and under an intense amount of pressure.  Being her grandparent's only granddaughter, she felt like she was expected to perfect her skills and make up her mind in order to make the family of Ferrera proud, however in a place like South Dakota, Lucy knew she could never achieve that.

"You packed a lot of sun block, right Lucy?" Mom called from the front of the car.

"Yes Mom, and I'm pretty sure they sell sun block in Utah," Lucy sighed.

Tom snorted.

"Please make sure you're careful there Lucy.  You're not going to know anyone," Mom continued.

Lucy rolled her eyes.  "That's the whole point of going, Mom."

"You told me that the point of going on this summer vacation was to gain experience working and figuring out what you plan on doing for the rest of your life, now that you've graduated high school."

"Yes Mom, that too.."

In the distance, Lucy could see the faint outline of the airport and she smiled as she watched a plane take off into the sky, free and serene.

"Let's hope you don't come back a whack job like Aunt Stacey," Tom laughed.

Lucy giggled and Mom groaned disapprovingly.  She had become used to her children mocking their aunt and deep down, Lucy knew that her mother really was embarrassed by her sister.

At long last, Mom pulled over into a parking space and the three of them left the car and assisted with rolling Lucy's five bags into the Departures lounge of the building.  It took a few minutes for Lucy to dispatch all of her bags and receive her flight ticket and then before she knew it she was turning around to face her mother and brother for the last time in three months.

"Don't be a slut and be careful sis," Tom leaned in and hugged Lucy tightly.

"Thanks bro.  See you soon."

"Lucy, please be good.  Listen to what your aunt says and don't stray away," Mom said.

Lucy looked a lot like her mother.  They both shared the same long chestnut hair that tumbled down their backs and the same almond shaped hazel eyes.  Lucy could tell that back in her mother's prime days she had a figure that most men went crazy for, but now that she was at an age of fifty a certain plumpness had accentuated her hips and crevices had etched into her aging skin.  Now, at Lucy's youthful age of eighteen it was clear that she was in her prime, with her hourglass shaped figure, long and lean legs and robust extremities.

"Thanks for letting me do this and don't go crazy without me," Lucy said as she leaned in and pecked her mother on the cheek.

With a final wave and a humorous shout of, "Don't do drugs kiddo!" from Tom, Lucy picked up her hand luggage and made her way through the Departure gate and into customs.

"And here the independence begins..." Lucy mumbled to herself as she hoisted her duffel bag onto a plastic compartment on the conveyor belt.

From here on out, Lucy was a big girl....