Blessed Bruises--pages 3 & 4

Wed, 08 Mar 2006 03:29:57 GMT

Another slam on the counter meant that was enough. "Alright Audi, that is it! Shut up!" "No, Blissa, you aint gettin' the point, I dont want nothin' to do with them damn kids-look you even got another fuckin' one on the way. We split it all, you get the kids and this house and I get the money and the car!" Her face grew sour and I could only watch. She slammed the dough and rolling pin back onto the counter, powder flying everywhere. With a glance, my mother snatched up the rolling pin and with it slammed my father in the face, causing him to stumble over his ironing board. "Oh! You bitch! Come here!" and before she could react I heard a sizzling sound as his iron made contact with her head. She screamed and I began to cry.
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"Now look," said the gentle voice, "mommy wants you all to stay out of our closet because its broken. OK?" Casey stared at me with open eyes and Bridget simply tottered along side us with a her pitiful excuse for a 'blankey'. Nothing could seperate her from it; Casey and I had already tried on many occassions. Our mother left the room as us, the 'tottering trio', made our way precisely into trouble- to the broken closet. How was it broken? I pushed open the slightly cracked door to our parents' room and lead the way, only to find a pile of cardboard boxes blocking the closet. Why? It was our closet, our playroom, our entertainment, so many particles of dust and bugs to watch. Casey pushed me to the side and began slapping down the boxes, each one tumbling silently to the ground...they were empty. Bridget yanked on my mismatched clothing and stuck her ragged cloth-blanket in her mouth. "Common Bwidgy, weea gonna pways a game!" I cooed to my younger sister. Casey giggled in approval and then suddenly stopped once he entered the closet; a suitcase stood in the middle of our acclaimed playing territory. I kicked it aside and saw a gateway to a new universe, a hole...it was dark, with a light down at the bottom of it...A gasping sound came from behind me, I turned around to see Casey making the stupidest face I had ever seen...he was confused! (So was I) There was no way I knew what it was. I snatched Bridget's blankey from her tiny hands, with some resistance, and then dropped it down the hole. Bridget, bewildered, followed after it and tumbled down into the light. Casey and I began to whimper...she was gone! What had we done? What had I done?...we quickly left the closet and moments later ran into the work boots of my father. "Damn kids!" he barked, "found the third of y'all. She fell through the floor! Lucky enough she hit one of the work men on the way down and he caught her! Now get!"
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Blessed Bruises-pages 1 & 2

Mon, 06 Mar 2006 20:20:18 GMT

The bed barely came down far enough to hide me...the floor was wet from my tears, I did not want her to find me...why was she so mean to me? What did I do? Perhaps it was more the scissors I was hiding from than anything else. I saw feet flying towards me and then an arm jutted down and fumbled for my own- its mission was accomplished as she drug me out, giving me a rug burn. "You little shit, what the hell are you doing under there?" It was my grandmother- she had no other name, for no other name fit her. Her firm hand yanked me by the roots of my hair and I saw the silver scissors rush towards my face; I closed my eyes and began hearing the dreaded "chomps". There went my hair. It tumbled to the ground in a feather-like fashion...slowly and in rhythm with the air around it...thats how I was suppose to act: in accordance with the ones from whom I ran. "I did this to your mother and she's still living, so there is no reason in hell for you to cry- now shut the hell up!" And my sobs turned into tiny whimpers, and for each utterance, a slap, sometimes even two.
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She rose from her seat in a panic, "Where is he?" "Who?" responded my father. "Your SON- Casey, where is he?!" my mother exclaimed more than questioned. "Blissa, it's not my job to watch the damn kids..." he muttered as he turned back to his can of beer. "Ugh!" she muttered as she put me down into a chair and began to search the house. The house was small, a little trailer house, but to me it seemed endless. I could have found myself lost in it, just like my mother supposed that with my brother. "Damn it, Audi!" she yelled from the back of the hallway. A knock at the door made her shout once again, "Get off your ass and get that! I know you can atleast handle that." My eyes followed my father to the door, it was some man with an accent, he sounded funny. "ah, thanks," Audi said in his nasely voice, "Blissa I'm goin' down the street, Bob said Casey's down at his place." She came running to the door, "What the hell is he doing down the street?" "Well," came the accent, "as ya know that kid o' yurs loves the animals..on my farm, actually he's busy away playin' with the new litter o' kittens that been just born! He's safe there, yes sir." "Audi, go get him, what are you standing around for?" Blissa nudged him out the door and slammed it behind them. I spoke up, "I wants a kiddy!" She threw her hands to her face in remorse and slowly rubbed them up and down her face, "alright, come on now, we'll get you a kitty." She took me by the hand and we carefully descended the two stairs that led to our door and then trompped down the narrow, dirt road. After what seemed like minutes, Audi and Casey came back with a kitten, knowing I'd want one. I was so excited, it was a grey with white speckles on various places on its coat. As we returned home, I began to walk into the house but was stopped, "Honey, mommy is allergic to cats, he has to stay outside, but we can put food and water on the steps for him" my mother said with sadness. After throwing a fit and making my mother feel even more miserable about the situation, I gave in and went inside. The next morning I woke up to go find my new found furry playmate...dead.
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