Blacks And Blues

6| Sugar Addicts and Scary Moms

"Mom! We're home!"

Matt dumped his black schoolbag on the kitchen counter and dove straight into the overhead cupboards. Gina's grumbling stomach inspired her to grab two breakfast bowls from the plate's rack and milk from the fridge.

As she set them on the kitchen island with the spoons she'd found in the cutlery cabinet, she watched as Matt searched for a cereal box with growing impatience. Their mom had filled the cupboards with a lot of breakfast meals like oats and custard but very few cereal boxes. She could tell from Matt's frantic movements that he was as famished as she was.

Why didn't he eat in school?

With a strangled cry of relief, he pulled out a cereal box triumphantly and slammed it down on the counter, tearing the seal open immediately. It was until he poured the bland looking cereal pellets into their bowls that they thought to check the name of the cereal.

Cornflakes.

"Mom!" Matt and Charlotte chorused, faces pointed at the ceilings like they could see their mom through them.

What the hell? Gina thought. People still eat this kind of cereal?!

"Cornflakes! Seriously, mom? I didn't know they still made this cereal." Matt grumbled as he poured milk on the flat orange pellets. "What happened to Choco Pops? Or Fruit Blast?"

No reply.

"Mom?" Gina called again, dashing to the stairs and making a beeline for their mom's room.

The tidy white master's bedroom was decorated with regal photos of Mrs. Michaels but the woman herself was yet to be found.

With a sigh, Gina trudged back down the stairs.

"I think Mom's still out." She told Matt as she dragged a stool to the kitchen island beside Matt.

"I can't believe she bought this." Matt sighed, pushing the orange flakes across his bowl with a spoon.

Gina decided to stop glaring at her bowl and eat it before the cereal became soggy. She raised her spoon and stared at the cereal apprehensively. "I think she's trying to get us to cut down on cereal. She still thinks we're obsessed with it." She rolled her eyes.

"Obsessed? Psshh, what? We just like it a lot, that's all! There's no way we're obsessed with it." Matt said waving his hands dismissively.

"Right? We just eat it three or four times a day, nothing more! Mom's delusional." Gina agreed, holding back her laughter.

"Yeah, like totally!" Matt sassed, clicked his hands for effect and they lost it.

"Oh my God! You should totally do Drag. You've got the sass and the voice!" Gina managed in between puffs of laughter.

Matt rolled his eyes. "No can do, sis. This is only for private viewing. You're dead if anyone hears about this." He shoved a spoonful of the cereal in his mouth and Gina watched him expectantly.

"So?" She quizzed.

"It's actually not that bad." Matt told her, chewing thoughtfully. He looked down at his bowl, scooped another spoonful dumped it in his mouth.

"If you say so." Gina shrugged and took a spoonful herself.

Matt hadn't lied. It wasn't as sugary as her usual cereal preferences but it was okay. It was just a less sugary version of Cornpops, her favourite cereal, but she was too hungry to care anyways.

"So how was school? Did you go into a friend-making frenzy?" Matt asked reaching for the cornflakes and pouring more for himself.

Gina stared at him.