The Tunnel

Chapter 6

Amelia backed away slowly, going to sit in the family room. She cradled her arms, running her hands along her upper arms. Her head shook without her noticing. She could have just gone home, but her place would be empty, she would sit by herself in her room alone. For the first time in years, that was not Amelia's initial reaction; to hide. It felt strange to want to be with someone. Instead of running out of the apartment, she sat on the green plaid couch, looking around at her surroundings. Polly Pockets and Barbie dolls were scattered across the tan carpet. A thin layer of dust covered the shelves and tables, a stack of DVD cases sat undisturbed behind a glass cabinet door. The burgundy painted walls were covered with wooden frames. She pushed off the couch to go inspect the photos. They were arranged in chronological order. They started with a baby version of Edmund hugging a teddy bear, giving a gummy smile to the camera at one of those photo places in the mall with the off-white backdrop. The subject in the photos morphed into a toddler at the beach and a toothless child holding a baseball bat with a yellow billed hat knocked slightly to the left. This is where Nadie became a subject of the portraits; her baby pictures pictured her in flowery dress and headbands, her distinct smile present even as an infant without teeth. There were pictures of her in ballerina leotards and dirty soccer uniforms. The most recent one was her school portrait, taken last year. The differences from this photo to the Nadie she saw now was a slap to the face; she looked brighter, and healthier. There were no bags under her eyes, no bruises on her arms. Her face looked fuller and more there was a slight coloring in her cheeks. Doing the math in her head, this photo was taken about two months before the diagnosis.

"Amelia?" Nadie appeared behind the corner, wiping the remaints of her tears away. "Do you still want to play Mario Cart?"

"Yeah, sure." Amelia took a place on the coach, only sitting on the very edge. "Um, are you- are you ok, Nadie?" Nadie looked over her shoulder as she slide the Wii disc into the council.

"Yeah, I'm ok. I don't think Mommy is though. I want her to be ok but she worries about me a lot." Her face was lined with distress as she handed Amelia the Wii remote.

"I'm sorry."

Stupid, Stupid, Stupid! Come on, Amelia, say something more sympathetic than that! Cringing, she tried to draw something, anything better to say.

"Maybe, you want to go get some ice cream? That always makes me feel better."

Still red around the eyes, Nadie gave a weak smile in response to the invite.

"I'll go ask Mommy." She went around the corner towards the kitchen. She came back a minute later. "She said we can go. Eddie is going to come with us."

"Okay, that sounds good."

They plugged in the Wii while waiting for Edmund to finish his assignments. Nadie showed Amelia how to put the remote into the steering wheel to play the racing game.

"Use the little t shaped button to move forward and stop," explain Nadie "And press b on the back of the remote to fling your weapons stuff at the other people."

Nadie took control of the game picking Princess Peach as her character and scoffed when Amelia choice Yoshi as her racer.

"Why do you want him?" laughed Nadie?

"I don't know, he's cute looking." responded Amelia. They played in silence for a while before Nadie's voice emerged.

"Wanna hear a joke?" Nadie asked. "What did the fish say when he ran into a wall?" She paused for dramatic effect.

"DAM! Get it?" she giggled excitedly.

"Yes, I get it. How do you know what that means?" Amelia smiling and laughing along with her. "I have a joke too."