Monochrome beat (boyxboy)✔

Beat 12

Sunday.

If you already thought my mother was crazy and a little obsessive, good for you. If not, you had to see her on a Sunday. We were a Christian family. Our views of what that meant differed slightly, and Natasha Lewis's was borderline excessive when it came to Sundays.

According to her, you couldn't call yourself a Christian if you missed a single Sunday service. It didn't matter if you were incapacitated or not. It didn't matter if Aliens were descending onto earth – and of course mom didn't believe in aliens' existence. Sunday was a holy day. You didn't chew gum on Sunday and you certainly did not walk into church a second late. You most definitely did not listen to any music if it wasn't sung by Kirk Franklin. You woke up on time, bathed and wore proper clothes. You were not allowed to look nothing but your best.

McKenzie hated that that meant her hair was going to be tugged and pulled in different directions. She was going to have to wear one of those dresses bought for only such occasions. The dresses weren't ugly, they just weren't Kenzie's style. I hated that I had to wake up early in the morning on a lazy day. Eric hated that he had to wear a tie. Dad hated that on that day he was coached on how to drive. Mom...Mom probably loved every second of it, except of course when she had to repeatedly tell us to not embarrass her.

I woke up before my alarm went off– and by alarm I mean my mother's voice. I was in pain. As usual, I was feeling pain on a limb that was not there. Rubbing my thigh didn't help. There was only one thing I knew would help.

I turned to my side and searched blindly for my i-Pod on the nightstand, only coming to a grim realization seconds later that it wasn't there. It wasn't in the room. It wasn't even in the house. I had gambled with it while standing up for some crown prince who hadn't even thanked me. I sighed and rubbed my eyes.

My other option was to use my phone, but it had none of the songs I wanted to play. I got off the bed and hopped over to my study desk. My laptop was on there. I sat on the chair and switched it on; playing one of my mixes when it came on. I reduced the volume and placed my head on the keyboard. The small vibrations I could feel were soothing.

I couldn't have stayed like that for long before my bedroom door opened.

"Orlando!" mom reprimanded.

I looked behind me.

"Hi mom", I said lazily.

"Why are you playing that...that music on a Sunday?" she asked in a disapproving tone.

"I accidentally deleted all my Kirk Franklin music", I mumbled sarcastically. "Is it too loud? I can reduce the volume", I said clearly.

"You will do no such thing. You will switch it off and get ready for church", she sternly said.

I turned to look at the time on the laptop. Right on time. The woman worked like clockwork, never missing a beat.

"Managed to find a church so quick?"

"There is never a shortage of the house of the Lord", she said.

"I'm surprised you found one up to your standards", I mumbled.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing. I'll get ready", I said.

"And switch that music off!" she said and left the room.

I sighed and stopped the music. My mom had no idea I had phantom pain. It was something I'd chosen to keep from her. She already babied me. She treated me like an invalid. If she knew more things had resulted from "the mistake", she would go into rage again. She had threatened enough people. It was time to let things go. Natasha Lewis had problems doing that. I wasn't about to open another can of poisonous air.