The Final Seven

Chapter 3

June 11th, 2014 10:36 P.M.

“Oh.  My.  God!”  My sister squealed as we rode home in the car.  “How did I miss this?”  I had just told her about my conversation with Jason.

“C’mon, Jess.  Tell me, are you excited?  Do you like him?”

I shrugged, unsure.  “I dunno.  I just met him earlier.  He seems like a pretty nice guy, but you never know, right?”

“He sounds so cute.  I really wanna’ meet him.  Are you going to bring him over?”

I shook my head, getting serious.  “No, Kate.  Who knows what kind of mood Mother will be in?  I’m not going to bring someone over to meet her, and freak him out.”

“Well, will you take me with you one time?”

I laughed at my sister.  “Oh sure,” I said playfully.  “Bring my baby sis along on my date.  That will just be so romantic.”

We continued laughing until I pulled into our driveway.  I could see the lights on in the living room, so I knew Mother was still awake.

“Kate, don’t tell Mother anything, okay?”

She pressed her index finger and thumb together and moved them across her lips, sealing them shut.

“Thank you,” I replied.

We walked inside the house and found Mother sitting on the couch.  She looked up at us and gave us a weak smile.  I glanced around the room and saw two empty bottles of Sangria.  Sangria meant she was in a good mood, and would be more responsive.

I walked over to the couch and sat next to her.  “Hello, Mother.  How was your day?”

She leaned sideways and rested her head on my shoulder.  Her voice was weak, and I could barely hear her whispered efforts.

“Fine, my dear.  How was school?”

“It was good,” I told her.  “I made an “A” on my calculus exam, so that should raise my average back in the 90’s.”

She struggled to raise her hand, but managed to gently graze my cheek.  “My sweet, smart girl.  Your father would be so proud.”

I felt her body convulse next to me as Mother attempted to hold back a sob.  Kate saw her reaction and sat on the opposite side of her.  She reached into Mother’s lap and grabbed her hand.

“Hi, momma.”  Kate tried to muster a smile.  “Daddy is proud of us.  He watches us all the time.”

Mother could no longer hold back her tears.  She leaned forward, and her body began to shake uncontrollably.  Kate and I tenderly began to rub her back to comfort her.  Kate looked up to me, her own eyes glistening wet. We nodded at each other, knowingly.

Mother was no longer in a good mood.  She would sit in this position for another hour, and then switch her brand of wine.  It was her natural routine for the past year.  After the crying, she would grab the Yellowtail, and return to her vegetable state.

My sister and I quietly removed ourselves from the room, and headed to our rooms.  A joyful car ride home was quickly stunted by Mother’s behaviors.  As I got in my room, I received a text from Reyna.

“Can u talk?”

I replied.  “Not in the mood.  Mother’s crying.”

She responded. “Sry babe L .  TTYL.”

“Night.”

“Night.”

I changed out of my clothes and crawled into bed.  I pulled the cool sheets over my body and stared at the things in my room.  Reyna’s room was covered in posters of boy bands, and hot actors.  Mine was decorated in dedication to my achievements.  My cheerleading medals were hanging from my mirror.  My certificates of academic success replaced the posters. 

The only pictures I had in my room are of my friends and I back at camp, ten years ago.  After my dad died, only Reyna and I continued to be friends.  Her picture was on the left side of my bed, and a picture with my dad on the right.

My dad’s picture was taken one year ago while on a family vacation.  We had traveled down to Florida, and rented out a condo for the week on the beach.  My mom had begged a passing tourist to take our picture, and he reluctantly agreed.  In the picture, my sister and I were standing in the front of our parents, flexing our weak muscles in a pose.  My dad stood with his arm around my mom’s waist.  We were all smiling.  Even mom was happy.  Mother does not smile like that anymore.

I slowly drifted off into my dreams, many of which were accompanied by Jason.

~~~~ Sorry that this one is a little short!