Beautiful Beings

Chapter 2

I sat at the rickety wooden table, supported by discarded phone books and my sisters old fashion magazines, and swirled my spoon round and round my bowl of cereal. This was my fourth serving of cereal in an hour. Sandy calls it brain food, friend to the mind, body and soul. She lives off the stuff and I guess she's rubbed off a little on me.  I go to eat another spoonful and end up shoving my spoon into the back of my throat as my sister pushes my head forwards. I gag and milk dribbles down my chin, I must have looked a sorry sight as she actually asked if I was ok.

'Hey Lana, what do you think about this colour for my wedding dress?' She asks as she thrusts yet another magazine under my nose. I abandon my cereal and push my chair out, the legs scraping and screeching across cracked laminate flooring.

'Judy has a name for that colour, Meghan; Prostitute Pink,' I reply in a bored tone as I walk past her and up the stairs. You see, my sister is 15 and already marrying the father of her two kids, my Nephews; Fire Flame and Blue Ice. I'm serious. I like to refer to them as Luke and Jamie but whatever floats your boat.

'Well tell Judy she can shove her opinion where the sun don't shine!' Meghan growls back.

I rolled my eyes at her foolish behaviour and bad grammar. Judy is sunshine. She's beautiful and bright and shines over all she can see. It would be impossible for Judy to 'shove her opinion' into any of her bodies orifices without striking golden light.

I retreated to my safe place as I heard the door slam and my brother- in- law enter drunk and disorderly. I ignored the shouting and screaming of the supposed happy couple and the crying of my baby nephews and left them to their family time. Some family, huh.

My bedroom was the only place I could go to without getting harassed by anyone, not even my family. I was 9 when I attached three locks to my door. No one even noticed apart from Shaya and that's only because we share a room. She's okay with it, though, she appreciates the privacy.

In total, I have two sisters and a brother. Jacob moved away years ago and I turn green with jealousy whenever I think about his escape from this place. The selfish bastard should have took me with him.

All in all, Shaya was my favourite. We were twins so I guess we bonded better. She respected my different life style and didn't question me. Shaya did her own thing and thankfully didn't bring home any boys in the middle of the night or smoke weed in our room. She was quiet, kept to herself. Shaya did all she could to fit in but I know that she has a secret stash of college application forms and school textbooks hidden under her mattress. When it came to us both, she was the lesser of two evils. Shaya was better at keeping her secrets hidden.

I closed the door to our bedroom and slid all three bolts across. A sigh escaped from my lips and my head drooped until my forehead pressed against the cool, splintering wood of the door. My eyes found Shayas as she sat up from where she was laid on her mattress. One of her eyebrows raised and I just shook my head slowly. That was enough for her to understand what I was thinking. Shaya sprawled back onto her mattress and put in her earphones. This was the closest I was to being alone.

My mattress is on the other side of the room, to the right, and we both shared a wardrobe that sat in between the two make-shift beds. to the left of the room, Shayas side, There are posters hung on walls and photos blue tacked to mirrors. Knick-knacks and personal things cluttered the one shelf we had in our room and her side of the windowsill was lined with toys from her childhood. My side, on the other hand, lay bare, not one personal belonging to my name. From time to time, I would bring home library books and make a  pile on my windowsill. I was similar to a library book, never staying in a permanent place, moving from home to home. That will be my life when I can escape this hell hole. I will never be shackled to one post, never tied to the same spot. I want to be able to spread my wings and soar above clouds in the sky, I want to swim in the deepest of oceans and dance on the hot sand on a summers night. I want to be free.