I tried to avoid pop songs, but the deadline to publish this got really close.
Christina came home straight from
school and set herself up at the kitchen table to do her homework.
They had learned a new concept in pre-calc today, so she reread the
chapter before starting on the problems. By the time that was
finished, as well as her French homework, it was time to start making
dinner. She was feeling lasagna.
While the oven heated up, she chopped
up veggies and cooked them in tomato sauce as she simultaneously
read The Scarlet Letter
for her English class. It was hard reading, her eyes kept glazing
over. It certainly was one of the most boring things she had to read
for class, but she refused to just read the cliff notes.
Once the pasta was in the oven, she set about setting the table for
two, moving her school stuff to her room. That done, she returned to
the boring book.
The oven beeped and she turned the oven off, leaving the meal in the
oven waiting for her dad. But after an hour, her stomach was
complaining too loudly. She cut up bread, served herself a big
helping of lasagna, and ate by herself staring at the other plate.
Her dad finally came home after she had cleaned up the kitchen and
had settled in front of the TV. He had the perfect timing of opening
the door just as the theme of her favorite show started and Christina
sighed in exasperation.
“Do you want dinner?” she asked, watching as he tried to hang his
keys on the hook but missed. The chimed to the floor, nose muffled by
the carpet.
“Ima good,” he slurred, drunk like usual. He stumbled over his
feet while trying to get his shoes off and with a sigh Christina got
up to help him. Together, they got him up the stairs and into bed.
She made sure he drank water and took an aspirin and his blood
pressure medication before allowing him to drift off.
Back downstairs, she prepared a plate of dinner. Her dad usually got
hungry in the middle of the night and would be down to sometime
around two am. It was easier for him if it was all arranged on a
plate instead of in the pan still. It also saved Christina the
exasperation of finding fork marks in food she packed for lunch the
next morning.
She wondered off to the TV, she had missed her show and the 11
o'clock news was just starting. Time to go.
Christina took one last peek at her dad, sleeping like the dead,
bucket next to the bed just in case, and then slipped out of the
apartment.
This part of her nightly journey always set her on edge. It was
dark, most of the street lights were dark or really dim, and straight
A, responsible Christina would never go out this late by herself. It
was unthinkable. But not for Judy Crystal.
Christina was not one to complain, she was too meek for that. Her
father had hit her more than once when she had spoken up against
their life. It wasn't worth it to whine.
But deep down, her life wasn't what she wanted. Christina knew how
to escape it: good grades, good school, good job. It was a good
plan, but it was a long time in being achieved. She still had a year
and a half before she would leave the house and things were getting
hard.
Well, better now that she had developed the ability to read her dad's
mind and could use that talent to avoid stroking his temper. And
with that power came the desire to do something more, something now,
that while might not make her home life better at least make her feel
better.
By the time she had walked the tree blocks, Judy Crystal was almost
at the forefront. It had been an average day, but average day's
weren't the rosiest of things. Her dad was a useless drunk and could
use a lot of tough love. Maybe she should stop making enough dinner
for him, see how that worked. Or flush all the beer in the fridges
down the toilet and fill the bottles with dyed vinegar. Yeah, that
might do it.
Judy
slipped into an abandoned garden level apartment. On the table was
her night outfit. Black leggins, a black band for her breasts leaving
her midriff bare, and a feathered mask she had bought discounted at
Halloween USA on November 1st.
Despite her wanting to take her frustration out on her dad, Judy knew
it would just bring problems for Christina. So instead she sauntered
around at night for a few hours, using female charms and mind
suggestions to get into bars she was to young to legally enter, and
then destroyed all the bottles. Her dad's drinking habit was the
reason she couldn't join the cheer-leading squad, or band, or even
had to skip out on field trips because of the lack of money. She was
going to make it not worth it to serve drinks in this part of town,
save herself and others trouble in the future. Christina couldn't do
it, but Judy could and did. And if it helped Christina sleep with a
smile on her face, that alone was worth it.
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Eh, not my favorite this month.
Christina A. has an amazing voice!
ReplyDeleteThat she does.
DeleteI like it! If you ever wanted to take it further, it would make a really good plot and character driven story. :)
ReplyDeleteI do have a friend who has a killer superhero series out, and it's really turned me onto the genre as something to read in novel format and not just comic books. But I haven't been able to write it myself very well sadly. However, this idea probably will be stored for a later date.
DeleteThat took an interesting turn.
ReplyDeleteGlad it got your attention.
Delete