Poison -005- by Melanie Brown

Poison

By

Melanie Brown
Copyright © 2024

Part 5

I was awake but pretended to be asleep when Mom got up. It was still a bit dark out. An alarm clock apparently got my brothers up. I heard Mom encourage them to get ready for school while she poured cereal into bowls. She usually gets ready for work at the same time. I used to get ready for work, too.

Back when I wasn’t considered dead.

I think she knew I was faking sleep when I squirmed a bit too much to snuggle into the covers. She didn’t say anything, though. Today, I knew she had the day off from work so we could go shopping. Oh, be still my heart. I knew she’d be coming back in about fifteen minutes.

I heard the boys get herded out the front door and the door closing. I needed to pee.

I pulled the covers back and threw my legs over the side of the bed. The bed seemed taller than I remembered. I padded over to the master bath. My toothbrush was still there. I suspect it’ll get moved to the kid’s bathroom soon. Oh geez. And then the fights over who’s spending too much time in the bathroom will start. It’ll be the girl, of course. Corey will again declare I’m poison to the family.

I quickly took care of business. I’m already used to sitting down. When I got up to wash my hands, I couldn’t help but notice the dizzying array of cosmetics on the bathroom counter. I shook my head at it. This is my future, and I’m not sure I like it.

I picked up one of Mom’s lipsticks and popped the cap off. I sniffed it. Yuck. This one is her favorite color lately. I didn’t even try to touch it to my lips. I picked up another lipstick and opened it. Holy shit, that’s a bright red. I think she wore that at the Christmas party last, well, Christmas. She’d never worn anything that red before or since.

I picked up a contraption that resembled some kind of hellish Medieval torture device. I was actually horrified by the eyelash curler. No way in hell am I bringing that thing anywhere near my eyes! I couldn’t imagine using any of the bottles, tubes and markers spread out on the countertop. I reject this future!

“Hey, honey.” I jumped.

Mom hadn’t made any noise when she returned. I turned to look up at her. “You scared me. I didn’t think you’d be home this soon.”

Mom smiled. “I’m sorry, dear. I didn’t mean to frighten. What are you up to?”

“I was just looking at all this stuff,” I said. “I hope I didn’t mess anything up.”

Mom chuckled. “Oh no. It’s perfectly normal for a little girl to be curious about her mother’s make-up. I’m surprised you didn’t try any of it on. I did when I was little.”

I frowned. “I’m not that curious. I was just thinking about how I reject this future.”

Mom laughed as she put her hands on my shoulders, and we stared at our reflections in the bathroom mirror. “You say that now, but we’ll see how it goes when all your friends are wearing make-up and dating boys. You’ll probably change your tune.”

I shook my head. “I sincerely doubt it.”

Mom just smiled at me and played with my hair for a moment. “We’ll see. But now let’s get you dressed. Busy day today.”

I frowned. “I can’t hardly wait. This is sarcasm by the way.”

Mom rolled her eyes. “I never would have guessed.”

                    *

“Why are you being such a gloomy Gus?” asked Mom as we drove to the strip mall. I guess I was still pouting over having to go on a shopping expedition. I had scored a minor coup in talking Mom out of making me wear a dress. I was happily wearing a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.

“You know how much I hate shopping. I know what I want. I go to the store, grab the item, pay for it and leave. I don’t need a big production.” I said, folding my arms.

Mom laughed. “For one thing, your old clothes will no longer fit. And even if they did, trust me, you wouldn’t want to show up at school tomorrow dressed as a forty-something man.”

We were stopped at a red light, and she dug in her purse a moment to extract a credit card. “Besides, the university has given us a rather generous budget to buy you stuff. This is just to get you started. In a few months, you’ll be needing a dress for your Homecoming dance.”

“Whoa!” I shouted, horrified all over again. “Next thing, you’ll have me married off! I won’t be going to any dances!”

Mom glanced over at me with a giggle in her throat. “How can you be so sure, honey?”

I folded my arms tighter. “Most of the time, that requires a boy, and that ain’t happening!”

Mom just smirked at me. “You never know.”

After a short drive, Mom pulled into a parking spot and killed the engine of our Dodge Journey. Mom opened her door, picked up her purse and looked over at me. “Hop out, Diane. First stop is to get your ears pierced.”

I instinctively reached up and grasped my earlobes. “I don’t think so!”

Mom frowned at me. “Don’t be such a baby. You need to get your ears pierced.”

I looked at Mom with a puzzled expression. “Why do I need to?”

Mom said, “For one thing, you can’t borrow my diamond earrings to wear with your pretty homecoming dress.”

I looked at Mom sideways and asked, “Didn’t I get you those earrings?

Mom shook her head. “No. My late husband did.”

I frowned. “Ouch… that’s so cold.” I pretended to shiver. Shit was getting real fast.

Mom opened the door to the earring boutique. “We’re here. Let’s go do the deed.”

I stood outside the boutique with my arms folded. “You’re going to force this, aren’t you?”

Still holding the door open, Mom said, “No. You have free will. But who knows what your new family will have you do after you get discombobulated?”

I sighed and walked through the door. “Are you going to threaten me with that for the rest of my life?”

Mom grinned at me. “Yes.”

Something told me she wasn’t joking.

A very pretty college-age girl came bounding up to us. “Good morning, ladies. What can I help you with?

Standing behind me with her hands on my shoulders, Mom said, “This one needs to get her ears pierced.”

“Yes, ma’am.” She picked up a tray containing starter earrings. “What kind of stud would you like?”

With a smirk, I said, “About 6-2, broad shoulders, three-day stubble…” I didn’t finish my joke as the girl yawned.

She held the tray out to me. “Don’t we all?”  Apparently, she’d heard that before. I picked Hello Kitty.

She used a machine like a miniature death-ray pistol, and as soon as she had it near my ear, I let out a yelp, more from the sudden pop sound than actual pain when the stud went in. The girl started massaging my other earlobe.

“How about a heads up for the next one? I wasn’t …yelp!” The second stud went in. The girl chuckled.

The girl said, “Now, remember to keep your hands off the earrings for the next few days. You don’t want an infection.” She smiled at Mom. “Were there any earrings you would like to buy?”

Mom bought four pairs of earrings she thought were cute. I grunted my indifference, but actually, the earrings she bought were cute. But I won’t admit it. Never,  never, never. I shook my head, but the baby tigers were impossibly sweet.

I couldn’t help but touch my ears as we left the store. “Stop that, Diane!” Mom admonished me. “Do you want infection and your ears falling off?” I quickly pulled my hands down. That wouldn’t really happen, would it?

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” I sniffed.

Mom frowned at me. “No, because then we just wasted a lot of money on earrings.”

I sighed. “I don’t know if you’re serious or not.”

Smirking, Mom said, “Good. Now, next door is a store with a lot of cute skirts and dresses for teens. And then we can go look at formals.”

We shopped until we dropped—or until I dropped. Mom had me try on just about every skirt and dress she saw. Thankfully, she also got me some jeans and T-shirts. Why is life so complicated for girls?

As Mom started the Journey, she said, “I had hoped to hit one more store, but it’s late. We have to go pick up the boys from school.”

“Gosh darn it. I was so hoping to go shopping there.” I had no idea what store she was talking about.

“If you want, we can go right after dinner?” Mom backed out of the parking spot.

I vigorously shook my head. “No! I was kidding.” I need to keep my sarcastic mouth shut. I had felt the unexpected weights on my earlobes when I shook my head and had to resist touching them. I knew I would need my ears, so hands-off.

It was a short drive to the school. As soon as Corey jerked the door open, he yelled, “Hey! It’s my turn to ride shotgun! You think you’re important just because you’re a girl!”

Feeling exhausted, I said to Mom with a sigh, “Is it too late to get discombopulated?”

End of Part 5