I went straight to my room the moment I entered the house. No pit stop to the kitchen, no crashing on the couch and seeing what was on some of my favorite channels, just a beeline to my room and right onto my bed. In my opinion, there was almost nothing better than being covered in the warmth of your blankets. I was already drowsy before I got in bed so the moment my head hit the pillow, I knew it would only takes second for me to enter slumberland.
"Di, get down here and get the stuff out the car!"
My eyes snapped open and I looked at the door as if it was speaking some foreign language. Given the current state of me being half-sleep, the option of getting out of bed and doing what a door says seemed highly unlikely and I turned over and went back to falling asleep. I was literally on the doorstep of the dream world when I heard footsteps marching upstairs. There was nothing more irritating than someone interrupting your bed time. Or if someone were to snatch the blankets right off you and left you feeling the breeze, not that there was one in the summer anyway.
"Mom, I'm catching a few winks," I complained.
"Get the stuff out the car, first," my mom, Martha, ordered.
I was about to make a fuss about how I'd do it when I woke up, but I saw the look on her face. Her face may have been stern, but it was saturated with pleases all over it. Mom had just gone through a divore with my Dad, Nick, and her resolve had all but depleted as she had to keep to herself from shattering in front of, if no one else, her former love. My reason for staying in bed suddenly didn't mean squat and I got out of bed. I followed her out the house and we went to empty the car of the groceries.
"Di, did you get me new makeup?" she asked.
"Yeah, I think got them last week," I answered. "I didn't know which one you wanted to have, so I got a bunch so you can pick your favorite."
Mom nodded her head, then her face went dark. Obviously, she didn't want to think about what happened last week. That was the week that she found out that Dad had been cheating on her with our traveling agent for three months. In all truth, I had thought the agent had wanted to go on the cruise with us because she didn't get out much. It wasn't until halfway on the cruise that she accidentally spilled the beans and Mom went silent. From what she to me, she sought Dad out, smooched him up next to the rails, then tried to feed him to the sharks. The agent didn't do anything but watch as she knew Mom would definitely make her sleep with the fishes. So she tried the next best thing she could come up with: coercing me into getting Mom off Dad. And for that, she got a pie to the face.
I snuck a look at Mom, and she smirked to herself as she put some groceries away. Even I knew she was proud that she had Dad on the other side of the rails before security came and detained her after two hours worth of struggling. They took me with her as well even though I gave my sincerest statement that I wouldn't try to harm my Dad. I guess it was because I never took my eyes off him, maliciously smirking in his direction or perhaps the fact that I practically turned the agent into a dessert with limbs. Now that I remember, he took me all because I said, "Revenge has never looked so delicious." Though in my defense, it never had. My stomach growled so I grabbed the essentials to make a sandwich and them on the table. I also grabbed a bag of chips and started making lunch.
"Mom, are you hungry?" I yelled as she was in her room.
"I'm good," she replied.
"I'm only doing this once," I told her.
"I'm good," she repeated.
Oh, well. I finished making my third sandwich and opened the bag of chips and went to watch a Jim Carey movie. Most likely A Series of Unfortunate Events. I had just sat down when there was a knock on the door. No no no no no no no no, I thought. I waited few minutes before playing the movie. It had just got done with the commercials and logos when there was another knock on the door. Ticked off, I stomped my way to the front door, ready to yell at the person responsible for interrupting my lunch. Okay, so I wasn't going to yell until my vocal cords die of exhaustion, but still, whatever happened to peace and stop bothering me? I opened the door and an elderly man came into view.
"Are you going to participate in the park sale?" he inquired.
"There's a park sale going on?" I said, immediately intrigued. "Hey Mom, is it alright if I go to some park sale?"
To be brief, I didn't get an answer. Shruggingly, I dug through my coat pocket in the hallway closet and pulled out a Jackson and some loose change. I followed the guy to around the neighborhood until we arrived at the park. And truthfully, this is not what I was expecting. It seemed like everyone in the surrounding neighborhoods showed up and wanted to be a part of this event. There were booths of all sizes, selling just about anything that might interest someone. There were a few games for the kids to play, while the teens talked amongst themselves and the adults either watched or managed the booths. I figured I'd buy something for Mom since I was here so I went looking around until I came to what seemed like a female's retreat full of feminine things. The moment I stepped up, the lady in charge stopped me.
"You seem to be lost, the men's items are back that way," she instructed.
"No, I came here to check out some of your stuff," I told her.
"You're a cross-dresser?"
"What?! No!"
"Then you're gay."
I gave my best Don't be stupid look and went around looking for something Mom would like. There were a few jackets in some bins, but I knew Mom had enough jackets to sleep under. She might grow out of the pants and shirts, so there would be no point going for those, I thought. In the end, it came down to two earrings and a necklace or an unopened box of slippers.
"How much for the jewelry right here?" I pointed.
"Fifty dollars," she answered gruffly.
"Then I'll take the box of slippers," I decided, "How much is it?"