Emerge (19 page)

             
I went to clean my room and do some laundry for the week, since I didn’t have anything else to do.  I cleaned out our closet and got the biggest hug from May because I found her beloved, very rare, giraffe Pet Shop toy.  I nearly laughed myself to death when she asked me if I knew exactly how rare it was.  I told her I didn’t and
she said, “You just saved my collection.” 
That made me laugh
to no end.  That kid was a trip.

             
I went to put another load of clothes into the dryer and one more load of towels into the washer.  We had run out of laundry detergent, of course.  So I went to tell my Mom that I was going to get some but I couldn’t find her. I scoured the house and the ‘office’ and couldn’t find her anywhere.  I went back to my room and asked May if she had seen her.

             
“Yes, she’s gone
,
”
s
he said as the other Pet Shops were so happy that the giraffe had come back to play with them.

             
“Where’d she go?” I asked.

             
“Dad said she got something in the mail and he gave it to her. Then she started dancing like this.”

             
She got up and started waving her hands in the air and knocking her knees together and she twirled her hips around like she was balancing a hula hoop.

             
“What was it?” I asked her.

             
She shrugged her shoulders and went back to playing. The giraffe and the hippo were fighting already.

             
“Well
,
May, we have to go get some more laundry
soap. Get your shoes on Sprite.”

             
“Do I get a candy bar?” She pressed her hands together in prayer.

             
“Depends on how fast you get your shoes on.”

             
That got her going.  She got her flip flops on in record time and was ready to go.

             
On the way to the nearest store I thought about calling Carlos with my phone but I didn’t know if he was at work and the way May just jumped for candy I really didn’t trust her not to be bribed. 

             
We got to the store and I bought laundry detergent and some
more dryer
sheets just in case.  May picked a Twix bar and I promised her she could eat it after some dinner. 
On the way home from the drug store was a little place that had chicken strips that May liked.  I bought her a basket with fries and we made our way home.  The whole way I tried to figure out what Mom had gotten in the mail that made her do that crazy dance.  It was probably another random check or something. 

             
We got home and whatever was in that envelope had been spent. It must’ve been one heck of a check.  There were bags and clothes and shoes everywhere.
There was s
ome for him, some for her and even some stuff for May. 
There were also new luggage bags, new makeup and everything in between.  Whatever kind of
check
this was, I wanted one. 

             
Mom came out of the bedroom in what was obviously a new outfit complete with shoes and jewelry.  She looked like she belonged front and center at a real estate conference, the cheesy kind of realtors whose faces were on park benches that homeless people slept on.

             
She did a spin and said
,
“Well,
lookin
’ good right?”

             
“
Mmmmhmmm
,
” was all I could muster up.

             
May just said
,
“
Y
up
,
”
and dug in to her chicken strips and fries. 

             
I went into the kitchen and got her some apple juice and set it on the table.

             
I walked back through the living room and tiptoed through the mess and bags. I must’ve looked like a football player going through those tire exercises.

             
I got to my room and my Mom was on my heels.

             
Her fake smile was in full force.

             
“Jenna, I hope you aren’t upset that we didn’t buy you anything. I really don’t know what size you’ve gotten up to now and I’m not really sure what would flatter your kind of…shape.” She waved her newly
braceleted
hand in the air and continued, “
Anyway, you are always shopping and buying clothes so you don’t need anything. I never get to go shopping.” She pouted out her bottom lip because she was really
,
really sad…hardly.

             
“It’s really great
,
Mom. You’re right. I am
always
getting all kinds of stuff. Last month I bought
twelve
whole dollars worth of clothes. I’m such a high maintenance diva.” I rolled my eyes dramatically.

             
She was on me like white on rice.  She grabbed me by my wrists and got into my face and screamed, “Don’t you ever talk to me like that again you sack of shit. Do you hear me? You think because you’ve got a boy treating you nice right now that you’re better than everyone? What do you think he wants in return for all of that sweetness, huh? I bet I can guess. And clean up your damned room!”

             
She grabbed my jaw and shoved me to the other side of the room.
I opened my mouth
to question her
, but she had answered my question before
I even started.  She reached behind my dresser…A dresser that my real Dad had built for me before I was born and pushed it to the floor spilling out everything, everywhere.  She opened my closet and threw everything I owned out on the floor.

             
“Jenna, really at your age?
Get this mess cleaned up now.”

             
I scrubbed my face for a good five minutes before I got up to clean the mess up.  When I did my wrists barely held me up. That Medusa must be lifting weights because they hurt and there were finger shaped bruises like bracelets marring my skin.

             
I picked up the dresser and returned it to its rightful place and if I thought my wrists hurt before
,
they really hurt now. As I did all of the dresser drawers fell out and I had made a bigger mess than before. 

             
I spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning up the mess and before I went to bed I had to take a couple of Tylenol for my wrists.

             
I spent Sunday laying low. 
Prom was in
two
weeks and I didn’t want a shiner to be one of my accessories. 

             
Everyone else was still relishing in their new purchases so
I walked outside late in the afternoon and sat on my back steps just to get some fresh air. My next door neighbor Rebecca was sitting on her front porch. She was rocking in an ancient rocking chair and looking through some kind of fashion magazine.  I had talked to her once on Halloween when I took May Trick or Treating.  She was dressed up as a ballerina that year. Rebecca had complimented her on her costume and told us
that she worked in movies making costumes. 
I didn’t want to disturb her so I just sat there for a while watching the cars go by.

             
She got up and went inside after a while and
reappeared shortly after with two
glasses of lemonade.  She leaned over the railing and she smiled. Lord that woman had some big teeth.  And when she talked her teeth impeded her speech. But she was nice enough, though I wasn’t sure if she was the ‘tattle tale’ neighbor or not.

             
“Hey
,
Jenna, I fixed you a glass of lemonade
,
too.
Why don’t you come and sit with me for a while?”

             
Maybe I could pick her brain
, see if she was the culprit.

             
“Yeah, sure, thank you.”

             
I walked down our driveway and around her porch to get to the stairs which led to the chairs. They were white wicker with the loudest Hawaiian print ever on them.

             
“So, how’s school
,
Jenna?”

             
Ugh, I hate when people ask me how school’s going. I don’t know why, it just seems like a question that pops out of their brains without thinking. Like they see a younger person and their mouths form the words without their knowledge.

             
“Um.
.
.It’s fine. Thanks.
I’ll be graduating in about
four and a half
weeks.”

             
“Oh.
.
.that’s wonderful. So you must be gearing up for prom, right?”

             
“
Yeah, I mean, I have a date and he has the tickets, but I don’t have a dress yet or anything.”

             
“Oh, I bet your date is that young man who I’ve seen picking you up and dropping you off from school, right? I told your Mom that he was such a gentleman and walked you to the door and everything and so cute.
Wooooh
!”

             
She started fanning herself and then it hit me.

             
You…
yo
u horse toothed costuming wench!
You’re the one who almost got
my teeth knocked down my throat!

             
“Jenna, are you ok?”

             
“Yeah, um, you telling my Mom didn’t go over so well.”

             
She nearly jumped from her chair
.
“What?”

             
She sat down further into her chair again, “I told your Mom exactly what I just told you that he walked you to the door and he opened your car door for you.  You didn’t get in trouble for it right? Oh
,
no! I mean I’ve heard noises from your house but I just thought your parents fought a lot.”

             
She dropped her face into her hands and I thought she was going to sob right there.  I reached out and touched her arm to get her attention.

             
“Hey, no, it’s ok.  No matter what you said sometimes I just…well…trouble finds me, you know?”

             
“Jenna, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean anything by it.”

             
“It’s ok Ms.
Rebecca,
really, I know you didn’t mean anything.”

             
“Please
,
Jenna, it’s just Rebecca.”

             
We sat there for a few minutes more and sipped our lemonade. I felt bad for telling her that I got in trouble, she looked like she was upset about it still.

             
Suddenly she got a huge grin on her face and it scared the ever loving crap out of me because it was unexpected and because…well…the teeth.

             
“I know how I can make it up to you
,
Jenna! I have the best idea.”

             
“
Uhhhh
…ok?
Shoot.”

             
“How about I make your prom dress for you?”  I opened my mouth to tell her she didn’t have to make up for anything but she continued
,
shushing me with her hand up.

             
“Now I won’t take no for an answer. What we’ll do is next weekend we will go fabric shopping
Downtown.  I have a wholesale license so I can buy fabric really cheap.  We can pick out your fabric and I will have some pictures of different styles of dresses you can choose from.  Trust me, if you find a dress you like I can sew it. 
And when we get back I can take your measurements and sew it up
lickety
split.
You’ll have a one of a kind dress for sure and certain.
”

             
The whole time, every time she made a point, she was clapping and stomping her feet.
  I couldn’t tell her ‘no’, she was too darn excited to turn her down.

             
“Really?
You would do that for me?”

             
I
teared
up. I was coming to realize that the best people, the ones who treat you the best and want you happy, at least in my case, are not the ones in your family.