I'm Ruth.
I've never said that to anyone before.
Well, I've never said anything to anyone before.
You guessed it
I'm mute
Nobody's ever been able to read me
Nobody... until him...
It's been two days, and Ruth's been COMPLETELY ignoring me. I'm pretty sure it's because of the whole Brianna thing.
"Look," I sit next to her on the bed, "I didn't know how to tell you. I was nervous that you'd be freaked out or something because I'm only eighteen - nearly nineteen - and I already have son."
Finally, she turns to look at me and sighs deeply - giving me an annoyed look.
I give her an "I know you're mad but you love me" smile and her face loosens up.
"Thank you." I flop down next to her and pull her in for a cuddle, it feels great knowing that I'm allowed to do that because she's mine now.
"Hey, how about tomorrow night... we go out on a real date" I suggest as she looks up at me and half-smiles.
"It's a date." I get up and look at the time, nearly 2:00am.
"Fuck, it's late. Goodnight." I give her a kiss on the cheek and walk into my bedroom.
I wake up at around 10:00am and get ready - hey, it's a Sunday
And breathe in the pancake smell around me.
Since when does Ruth cook?
I'm surprised when I hear fast footsteps running towards me.
"Daddy!"
Then a small figure bumps into me and wraps its little arms around me
I look down at it and see that it's Jasper
"Um..."
I stroll into the kitchen confused and see Ruth sitting on a countertop
And Brianna cooking
"Um... hey, what's all this about?" I try to force a smile
"Oh, Ruth let me in." She said as if it's absolutely nothing
I turn to Ruth and she smirks at me then walks away
Damn it
"So, why are you here?... again."
"Oh, Jasper really wanted to see his father." Brianna smiles at me
"Brianna... we need to have some rules. Of course, I want to see Jasper sometimes but can it at least be on my terms. I'm busy with college and with helping Ruth - I don't have as much time. I'll text you or something when I'm free then sure, you can come over with Jasper. But, I need to make sure it's cool with Ruth first."
Brianna looks at me like I just insulted her mom.
"On your terms, huh? Who's the one who impregnated me when I was sixteen? And now, you're trying to say that you don't have enough time for the son you "accidentally" created. Well, I don't know about you but I love Jasper. And I want him to have a dad, who's there for him." Brianna drops the spoon she was using for the mixture and grabs her bag
"Call me when you hit the stage of evolution where you're no longer an ape."
She gets Jasper and leaves.
Ruth comes into the room and gives me a sad smile.
"It's whatever, I'll call her when she's calmed down. What do you want to do today?" I try and change the subject
She touches her hair and grabs her jacket
I raise an eyebrow but I just grab mine and we head out.
We go in Ruth's car and she drives us to the mall
"What are we doing here?" I ask as she parks the car and walks inside
The shopping mall is the same temperature inside no matter what the season is. The light is the same, the scent, the polished floor, the tense faces on the shoppers. Only the piped music and the fashions change. People aren't people in here, they're consumers. They see one another as obstacles - both to walk around and wait behind for a turn to reach the tills. The only smiling faces are the ones who sell, their humanity used like a crude fishing line to real the buyers in. It's a friendly enough place if you've got digits on your card, if you can line the pockets of the purveyors.
We finally stop when we reach a hair salon.
"Oh boy." I look towards Ruth and see her smiling, which makes me not as annoyed with her about coming to a hair salon
We walk in and Ruth goes up to the till while I hang back in the waiting area.
What does she possibly want to do with her hair now?
She comes back to me and sits beside me.
"What're you doing to your hair now?"
She pats my knee and pulls out a magazine.
================================================
When it's finally time for her to go up, she walks up to a chair and the haridresser chats with her for a while.
Then, they start doing their things - whatever hairdressers do.
