Flagrant Fragrant by Heron Djenne Canvasback

Cake (comedy-drama)

I eat some of the cake, and push the rest on the floor. Now I have white and sticky fingers. I can just hear my parents complaining now, and remind me that I'm only nine. The fluffy creamy icing refuses to be removed. My mother had been working on my stepsister's fifteen-layer red velvet wedding cake for days now. She said it ought to be perfect, and that she wants Felicia to have joyful memories of her wedding day. She had taken up the habit of telling me wedding stories. Every woman in my family lectures me about how important it is to be a wife. Sometimes I want to yell at them. What's the point of being married if it means you'll be bossed around by some cranky and lazy dude? No siree, I'm going to take care of me, myself, and I, and when I can't any longer, I'll be put in a nursing home by my nieces and nephews.

I lick some of the icing of my fingers, and try again to rinse it off. I think the best part of the marriage is the feast after the wedding. My neighbor always fusses about her husband. She, like I, don't see the logic in going through all that crap. You have to deal with stuff outside of your home, so why bring something or someone who will increase your stress. I asked her about love, and she said: "It leaves ya heart in a couple of decades." Mrs. Smith is the best life coach ever; she tells you about stuff without editing it. So I'll take her advice, and be an old maid. I sweep up the remains of the cake, and dumb it behind the garage. A cat or something will finish it off for me. The sweetest part of the "I do" is no more, and all I'm left with is the taste of it. Soon that will fade, and all the cake will be like Mr. Smith, just a constant reminder of what was. Mom comes in with Felicia, and looks at the cake plate in the sink. Both their faces are red, and they bellow. But I know something they don't know. I go to my room, and submit in being grounded. I head to my half bath, and scrub hard. Finally, the cake comes off. I don't care about the consequences; Felicia will think me later.