Never Again

Chapter Fourteen

I wake to this jumping pound on my chest. Opening my eyes, I see Lucy jumping around her bed, occasionally falling on me.

"Lucy, what the hell?" This makes her stop.

"Oooo, Penn said a bad word!" It looks like she's going to run so I catch her and pull her to me; she laughs, trying to squirm away. I playfully nibble on her neck and tickle her sides, making her laughing harder.

"I'm sorry I swore, forgive me?" I give her a puppy-dog pout and she puts on her "thinking-face", i.e. sticking her tongue out and furrowing her eyebrows.

"Yes, I do," she decides.

"Thanks, Luce." I kiss her cheek. "Now, why were you jumping all around me?"

"Oh!" she giggles. "Mum is making pancakes and she said for you to, to..." She pauses, like she can't remember. "Oh!" She snaps her fingers. "For you to get your lazy butt out of bed!" She smiles, proud that she remembered.

"Ooooh, did she now?" I drag out, reaching for her little body. Pulling her towards me I begin to tickle her sides again.

"Well maybe!" She squeals, making me chuckle.

"We should both get our butts out of bed!" I throw her over my shoulder and quickly run down the stairs, sliding into the dining room.

"Penn, for God's sake, will you be more careful?" My mother reprimands. I gently let Lucy down and see that she is breathing heavily, her face rather red. She begins to cough and I feel the air around me get thin as well.

"I, I was just..." My mother pushes past me, waving me off. She grabs Lucy and takes her into the next room. Head hanging shamefully, I shuffle into the heavenly-smelling kitchen to see my little sister already digging in, the previous minutes seeming to have vanished.

Just shows what a good home-cooked meal can do, I guess.

I walk over to my mum and kiss her cheek. "I'm sorry, mum. I wasn't thinking." She lets out a rather large sigh through her nose. Not looking at me, she says,

"Penn, it's fine, but—"

"I know, I know." She throws the spatula down and looks at me.

"I shouldn't have to tell you this repeatedly, Penn. You are twenty-four years old, you're not a child anymore. Lucy—"

"But Lucy is!" I interject, but she keeps going.

"— is not who she was two years ago, and you can't keep treating her like you are. It's not fair to her!"

"You want to talk about what is fair to Lucy? Do you really want to?" I could sense my anger beginning to surface, but I couldn't bury it. "You spent money from selling her swing set to buy her a bed five inches closer to the ground, getting rid of her canopy bed. You won't let her go swimming anymore, and you know how badly she loves the water. Hell, The Little Mermaid is her favorite movie!" My mother's jaw drops with every word I speak. "You won't let her eat ice cream in case of a brain freeze; you won't let her eat Chinese food because she might cry from the spices. 'No candy for Lucy, her blood sugar might go up!'," I mimic her. "'Can't play with her hair because she may get self-conscious! No more playing with her dolls because she doesn't look like them anymore!'" By now, my mother's face is beet-red, as I am sure my own is as well.

"Not another word, young—"

"You're acting like she's fucking dying, mum!" I yell. Before I can put my arms up to block, my mother swings and as soon as her hands hits my cheek I can already tell it will bruise.