1923

Chapter 1

"... I hate you. I hate you as a person. I hate you as a being. I hate you as a woman. I hate you to the very fibres of my being," I continue ranting as I have been for the past day or so when we began our 'trip'.
Pandora rolls her eyes... at me!
"I know it is difficult for you to wrap your hormone-filled teenage brain around this, but we don't have this thing called a 'choice'," my 20-something year old older sister says.
Apparently, my annoying bickering has finally gotten to her.
" Why do we not have a choice, might I ask?," I begin again," You always say 'We always have a choice'."
She pulls the car into an old gated community. Every house here had a classy - victorian feel-- very suburbian. I hate the suburbs, so full of snobs and rich know it alls. Which makes me wonder what we're doing here...

"What are we doing here?" I ask her.
She ignores me until roughly five minutes later when she pulls the car to a stop in front of a luscious green lawned home.
I am dumbstruck by the awe-worthy beauty of the beige and brown home, way into the yard that sits atop a slight mound.

As I sit there in awe, appreciating something related to this new change for once, I am abruptly disturbed by a sharp tug on my wrists.
Before I knew it I was seated ungracefully on the soft grass, my sister tightly grasping my wrists and staring down at me furiously.
I was so shocked I couldn't even process my questions right. How did she get out of the car without my noticing?

When did she get to my door?

Was I that hypnotised by the beautiful landscape that I went deaf and blind to everything else?

" Yes we had choices," she fumes," We could have :(a) Slept on the streets and watched as the bank claimed our old home. (b) I could have sold you into prostitution... (C) I kill you and live on my own without a little whiney brat nagging me, or (D) we suck it up, I get a decent job and we live the rest of our lives pretending we aren't cursed!"

"Which one do you think I went with?" she says with a look of rage in her eyes.

I have never seen my sister this angry before...
She throws out random curse words that I would rather not repeat.
"Now, you little nuisance, this is the hand we were dealt and if you have learnt anything from our parents... you will get over yourself and make the best of it. I am tired of your rants and complaints and I will have no more of it. Am I clear?"
I gulp and slowly nod.

"I-I'm sorry," I stutter out.
What I am apologizing for, I know not, but I know I did something wrong.
She releases my wrists and merely steps over me as though I were an old tattered mat. She tugs her bags out from the back seat, her duffel bag falling painfully on my side. I wince and she doesn't even spare me a glance.
After carrying the first load of her things she comes back outside.

"If you are feeling more humane, I recommend you remove your things from my vehicle and separate your bum from the ground before I run you over," she says in a still,monotonous voice," And then maybe, just maybe, we could talk."
With my head held low in shame I trudge up the gentle slope to the front door.

The detailing on the front of the house is exquisite. Intricate carvings weave their way from the moulding along the walls, to the wooden panes of the window, continue onwards, and end in the centre of the door to form one large extravagant beastly animal with a large brass ring in it's nose for a door knocker.

I knock twice for good measure, on the mahogany wood, and then open up and step right in as a tear traces its way down my cheek.
I refuse to look up, less this house captivates me in its splendour once more. I drag my feet around, my head held low, to find somewhere to sit.
I find an inviting looking carpet somewhere in the maze of rooms, I plop down and begin to sob. I sob until Pandora finds me, she kneels next to me, only to say," Don't mess up the carpet with that dumb makeup you insist on wearing."
Her therapy worked, because I picked myself up, dried my tears and cussed her, dog rotten.