Poison -6- by Melanie Brown

Melanie Brown
Copyright © 2024

Part 6

“Time to get up, Munchkin!” called Mom near our bed. I was trying to enjoy laying in the big comfy bed as much as possible. Today, my new bed and furniture were supposed to be delivered.

“You guys go on without me,” I mumbled into the covers.

I was suddenly pounced upon in a massive tickle-fest. Through laughing and gasping, I squealed, “Okay, okay! I’m getting up! Stop!” Breathing hard, I sat up and threw a pillow at Mom.

After I’d gotten out of bed and tried to get my brain in gear, Mom was in the bathroom applying her makeup. She said, “I’ve laid your clothes out for you on the bed. I need you to take a quick shower. Zach has already left for school in his car.”

I padded over to the toilet. “Why didn’t he take the little monster with him?” After being called a freak and “poison” numerous times by my youngest son, I started thinking of him in a negative way. I know. I’m an awful dad. Oh, wait. I’m not a dad anymore.

“Diane! Be nice,” scolded Mom. “Both of you are going to the same school, so I thought you two could ride together. Now take your shower.”

As the warm water ran down my nakedness, I couldn’t help but wonder why my kids treated me like I was some space alien. They used to joke around with me, talk to me about their day, etc. Now, they barely say two words to me unless it’s Corey calling me a freak. Even Zach is distant.

I guess that’s it. I’m a freak. They can’t see me as their father anymore. And they can hardly accept me as a sister as I just materialized into the family. They’ve had very little time to adjust. I need more time to adjust as well. In all honesty, I don’t want to be a little sister. I still want to be seen as Dad. But that ain’t happening.

Mom seems to think that if Corey sees me as another kid at his school, he’ll accept me as his kid sister. I’m not holding my breath. I never knew I’d raised a girl-hating little monster. Maybe not hating all girls. Just me.

As I patted myself dry, I went back into the bedroom to find my clothes laid out on the bed. I had avoided getting my hair wet, which was hard to do as it’s so long now. It takes forever to dry. Mom won’t let me just rub it dry with a towel like I used to do. At least when I saw what clothes were laid out, I felt a little better. Jeans and a T. I’d been sure I was going to get a dress.

The jeans didn’t have real pockets and had feminine stitching on the backside. But at least they were pants. They went on easy enough, though they were still a tight fit. I sighed when I saw my new pink tennis shoes. Isn’t it obvious I’m now female without resorting to pink?

Without being told to do so, I put on a cute pendant necklace with a cute kitten. We’d bought it at the earring store. Mom had also bought me a cute purse. Why do I feel that the word ‘cute’ will be a growing part of my vocabulary?

Mom had pre-loaded said cute purse with a hairbrush, money, and my cell phone. Oddly no house keys. I guess I’m not likely to walk home.

Mom stuck her head in the door. “Honey, are you ready? Time to go.”

I frowned at my mirror reflection. “Do I really have to go to school? I’ve literally been there, done that and got the t-shirt.”

Mom folded her arms. “That was a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. So yes. You need to go.”

I turned and walked towards Mom. “This is going to suck.”

Mom flashed me a smile. “You’re going to have fun.”

From the living room, Corey shouted, “Mom! I’m going to be late!”

Mom rolled her eyes in the general direction of Corey. She held her hand out to me. “Let’s go, Pumpkin.”

When we got to the door, Mom removed something from a hanger by the door. “Put this in your purse, and don’t lose it.” It was a house key. The very key I used to carry when the world was sane. It was just the house key. All my other keys were removed from the ring. Granted, I had no idea what some of them opened anyway.

As Mom opened the door, Corey frowned and said, “Am I going to have to start riding with Poison every day to school?”

“Stop calling your sister that.” Mom shook her head at Corey.

As soon as we were out of the house, Corey ran to the car, shouting, “I call shotgun!”

I gave Corey an expression like I’d just eaten something sour. “I don’t care, twerp. I wanted the back seat anyway.”

Mom sighed. “Stop fighting, you two.”

“He started it.”

Mom just shook her head.

                    *

The car had barely stopped rolling when Corey gave Mom a quick hug and bolted from the car. He turned and shouted as he ran towards school, “Bye, Mom!” He then ran up to a couple of boys, and they entered the school.

Mom looked at me using the rearview mirror. “See? Corey doesn’t mind going to school.”

I frowned. “The semester’s almost over, he has friends here and he’s been going to school forever. This is all new to me. And did I ever tell you how much I despised Jr. High?” I’m sure that in today’s world, my Boys P,E. coaches would face arrest and lengthy prison sentences.

Mom opened her car door and stuck a leg out. “You’ll get back into the swing of things in no time. I’m sure of it. Now hop out.”

I got out of the Dodge Journey and took a few steps towards the school building and then froze.

Mom walked up to me and took my hand. “What’s wrong honey?”

I felt numb. “The shit just got real. I’m going to school. I hate school. I could teach these friggin’ classes better than the teachers can.”

Mom sighed. “We’ve talked about this, Diane. You have to go to school. Besides. I can’t leave you home alone while I’m working.  You might as well be at school. Come on.”

Mom gave my hand a tug, and we started walking towards the school. There was a group of boys standing under a tree near the entrance. They all stopped talking with each other to turn and look at me as we approached. I wanted to disappear. As we passed, I heard one of the boys say, “Where has she been all year?”

As we approached the entrance, I felt like I was walking into the jaws of Moloch. I couldn’t help but feel an impending doom. I kept getting stared at by boys. Have they never seen a grown man turned into a teen girl before?

Mom tugged my hand. “Come on, Diane. The office is down this hall. Corey is a frequent flyer.”

The halls were starting to get choked with kids. Even though I was, I really didn’t feel like I was one of them. I got odd glances from everyone passing by. We finally reached the offices, and Mom opened the door and ushered me inside.

As we approached the counter, separating the masses from the office personnel, a woman stepped up and looked us over. “How may I help you ladies?”

Standing behind me and placing her hands on my shoulders, Mom said, “I need to get her registered. She’s transferring here. Here’s her transcript from her previous school.” The university had created a background story for me and had generated a fake transcript. It all looked so official. It made us wonder just how many clean-ups they’ve had to do over time.

The woman looked a bit taken aback. “It’s pretty late in the semester.” She looked at the transcript with raised eyebrows. She smiled at me. “Welcome to the home of the Mighty Horned Frogs.” I was always annoyed that the mascot for Corey’s middle school was a desert lizard known colloquially as a horny toad. Not a lion. Not a bear. Not a tiger. A horny toad.

The woman wrote something on a form and attached it to my transcript with a paper clip. “Johnny, please go put this in Mr. Bottoms's in-box?” That was the principal. I always thought his first name should be Soggy, but it was Francis of all things.

The woman smiled at me as she typed some things into a computer. “That’s a very impressive transcript, Miss Williams.” She squinted at the monitor. “What’s your father’s name,  honey?”

Mom sighed and said, “He’s deceased.”

I said, “Yeah. He was gone in a flash. They gave us an envelope to bury him in.”

“Diane!” exclaimed Mom.

Scowling, I said, “Well, it’s true!” And it was, actually.

The office woman looked extremely uncomfortable and said, “I’m terribly sorry for your loss.” The printer spat out several sheets of paper. “Here is your class schedule and a map of the school.”

I took the schedule and glanced over it. Thankfully, there was no P.E. class. There was an Algebra II class and, oddly an art class. My last period was a study hall.

Johnny returned and looked at Mom. He said, “Mr. Bottoms said he’d like to see Mrs. Williams in his office. In private.”

I grinned at Mom. “Gee, Mom. What did you do?”

Mom said, “You hush.”

The woman behind the counter said, “Just follow me, ma’am.”

As they walked away, leaving me alone at the counter, Johnny walked up to me, grinning. “Hi. My name’s Johnny. Actually, it’s just John, but all my friends call me Johnny.”

I smiled weakly at the boy. “Nice to meet you, John. My name is Diane.”

Glancing down at his feet, he said, “I’m sorry about your dad. That must suck.”

I sighed. “You have no idea.”

Johnny said, “I couldn’t help but notice you have the same lunch period as me. Since you’re new here and all, if you want, you can sit with me at lunch.” He paused a moment before asking, “Are you like a genius or something? I saw you had an ‘A’ in Calculus. I didn’t even know Calculus was offered in middle school.”

I smiled at John. “I don’t know about genius. Math has always been easy for me.” I was tempted to say that, yes, I’m a genius. Bow before me, you worthless pleb. But I didn’t.

Laughing, Johnny said, “Well, it’s my worst subject.”

Before I could say anything else, Mom returned from visiting the principal. She said, “When school is over, wait for me with Corey at the front of the school. Have a great day, Diane. I know you’re going to like it here.” She hugged me, turned and left the office.

The woman behind the counter handed me a yellow card. “Show this to each teacher when you get to a class so they can put you on the rolls. And this laptop has been checked out to you.  I suggest you don’t lose it. Johnny, would you please walk Miss Williams to her first class?”

A girl student who was working as an office assistant looked over at me. “Your brother is Corey Williams? I feel sorry for you.”

I mumbled, “Thanks.” Well, I wasn’t going to argue with her.

John looked at my schedule. “Okay. Your first class is English with Mr. Gruber.”

I laughed, looking closer at the schedule. “H. Gruber? Seriously?” I couldn’t help but see in my mind an image of Hans Gruber falling from Nakatomi Tower in my favorite Christmas movie.

John laughed. “I know what you’re thinking. Don’t say anything to him. He’s kinda sensitive about that. Come on. We need to get to your class.” He walked out of the office.

I slowly followed John, feeling like a condemned man walking that last mile.

End of Part 6