Innocence

Aunt Jade

December 15th, 4:05pm.

The bus comes to a halt at my stop.
I step off of the bus and begin walking home.
I still didn't forget about my mom finding my cigarettes. I didn't know what could await me at home. But it's best if I just kept it truthful.
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Whitman Household, 4:29pm.

As I step into the porch, hearing the crunch of the snow as usual, I had an uneasy feeling. There was only two outcomes to this; have my ass kicked, or for some miraculous reason, she brushes it off and forgets.

I open the door and step inside, I can hear chattering in the living room.

I step into the doorway of the living room, and there they were.

Mom, dad, and Aunt Jade.

My mother turns and looks at me, "Young man, we SERIOUSLY have to talk-"
Before she could say anything, Aunt Jade cuts her off and comes to give me a big hug.

She grips me tight towards her body, "Hey aunt Jade..." I say.

"You look so handsome!" She replies.
"You two didn't tell me your son grew up to be a real lady killer" she adds.
Her grip was really tight on my hand, I didn't know what was up with her.

"Well, what I was ABOUT to say is that last night I found this pack of cigarettes laying on Tracey's window!" My mom says, slamming the cigarettes onto the coffee table.
"You better speak up about this Tracey, we're not joking around." Dad adds.

I sighed, "Look, I've just been experimenting with cigarettes for the past year..." I say. The look on my mothers face was pure disgust.

"And how were you able to get your hands on such a thing?!" Mom yells.

"Are you kidding me? Dad smokes like crazy, I've been taking his leftovers because he always buys another pack before finishing the other. Don't get mad that I take cigarettes that are always left out in the open.."

"Tracey H. Whitman..you get your fucking-" dad cuts off mom before she can say anything more.

"Look son, we are disappointed. But if you're experimenting...then you're experimenting. Now, we have to get started on the turkey and the other family members coming tonight. For now, you stay in your room till then." He says.

The look on my aunt...she looked as if she wasn't even mad at me. She looked mad at my parents.

I started walking towards the kitchen, and I looked back at my aunt. She was already looking at me.
I didn't know what to do so I quickly shuffled towards the basement.
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7:55pm.

I was laying on my bed, listening to "Come on Eileen!" on my speakers, and browsing the Internet on my phone.
Then I heard footsteps coming down the stairs.

Thinking it was mom or dad, I kept my music playing.

The curtains shuffled, revealing it to be Aunt Jade.
I quickly turned down the music a bit, and adjusted myself to sit upwards.

Now, my aunt was a beautiful woman. She had brunette hair, and had an "above-average" body.
But I've never really thought about her in that way.

"Wow Tracey, this is your room now?" She asks. I nod.

"It just screams 'personality!' in this room" she laughs.
She wanders around the room, looking at my art all around. "This is your work, correct?" She asks.

"Uhh yeah. I've been doing painting and drawing for many years now." I replied.

"Well it is VERY good work, if I do say so myself." She says grinning.

She walks over to me at my bed, and sits at the edge. "Remember I said I had a GIFT for you?.."

I nod.

"Well I think I should give it to you now-"

"Tracey! Jade!"
My mom was calling the both of us from the top of the stairs. "Turkey is ready, we have to pray now before we can eat!" She adds.

I could tell Aunt Jade was pissed about that.
"Well then? Let's go." She says, grabbing my arm and dragging me before I could even stop my music or anything.

We both walked up the stairs.
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