N is for Not

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 1^st.

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.