Rhubella slid her backpack off her golden brown shoulders and let it slump quietly to the floor near the door as she entered her estate. It wasn't quite the generous size of Montana Max's home, or the flush well-to-do castle of principal Bunny, but it was a cozy twenty-six rooms that she called home. The rat perked an ear for any sounds of family and frowned when she received nothing but silence in response. No frenzied footsteps of rushed servants, no toppling cries of agony from maids falling over themselves to keep the place spotless. Thursday afternoon, and the house was deserted, which meant there would be no parties of any sort tonight. With a grim sigh, the rodent girl trudged herself into the kitchen, feeling a certain tap at her insides demanding sustenance.
She glanced at the refrigerator and gave her trademark sneer at the hastily scribbled note pinned to the door.
"Ruby-Red, dinner's in the oven. Don't eat anything or you'll spoil your appetite. -Mom." With a casual roll of her eyes and a propelling groan from her empty belly, the rat slashed the note from the fridge door with a vicious tear of her fingertips and crumpled it up into a tight paper ball. She tossed it over her shoulder, not caring where it landed and pulled the door open. The fridge was practically bare. Whoever had been in charge of going grocery shopping this week had obviously botched it and Rhubella gave a quiet snarl of disapproval. Spoiled ham in the meat drawer. Moldy cheese...brown lettuce...darn it...
She shut the fridge with an impatient cry from her belly, and found herself quietly peddling towards the snack cabinet. To her good fortune, she discovered an unopened box of Acme Girl Scout cookies- Peanut Butter fudge- her favorite! She popped one of the delicious disc of decadent delight into mouth and shuddered at the taste that rippled into her body. It was like magic.
Quietly, holding the box in one paw, and a handful of cookies in the other, she trekked out of the kitchen and into the family room, where she sat down on the plump leather couch and gazed silently at the large, 72 inch television that gazed silently back at her. The remote was sitting on the coffee table. She moved to pluck it from it's resting spot, stroking her thumb tenderly over the buttons. She lifted an arm, and pointed it towards the monitor, but after a few seconds, let it drop and slumped back against the couch. Her tummy growled.
Gently, she fished another cookie out of the box and stuffed it into her mouth, munching thoughtfully, while glancing at the cream colored telephone that rested motionlessly on the table next to her. It didn't take long before she seized it in her grasp, punching buttons almost feverishly, and twirled the cord around her fingers while she listened to the rings at the other end.
"Hello?" A gruff voice called out in almost an angry snarl. Rhubella felt a surge of delight flood through her.
"Rodney...Rodders...it's me. Rhubella..."She said as casual as possible. There was a chuckle at the other end of the line. A few soft sounds. A whisper.
"Hey Ruby! Baby! Honey-kins! How's every little thing?" the voice asked. Rhubella felt some odd stirring inside of her. Some strange desire to remain quiet and listen and somewhere, hope he actually wanted to hear. To hear how she was doing, and listen and let her cry. She bit at her lower lip momentarily, before she shook her head.
"Oh, Roderick, I'm fine. Just...just fine. Hey, if you weren't busy, I-" She began, thrusting all her thoughts out of her head. No time for those type of feelings. Rich people didn't -have- problems.
"Sorry babe, foot ball practice tonight, ya know. You should come over to the school. Help cheer me on." He chuckled. Rhubella frowned quietly, ears flush against her skull in disappointment.
"Y, yeah...maybe I'll do that..."She muttered glumly. It was almost an entire minute before Rhubella realized she was listening to a dial tone, and discovered Rodrick had hung up. Must have left for his football practice. Quietly, she looked at the phone, and then the buttons, and began pressing them again. A different order this time. The rings stopped after the first one, and there was a soft click, followed by a female's voice.
"H'lo...?" She asked puzzled- as the concept of answering the phone was something she wasn't familiar with. Or maybe she just wasn't familiar with someone calling the house looking for someone aside from her.
"Ummm...is...Chaos home?" Rhubella asked quietly. There was a pause and after a few moments, a familiar voice caught over the line.
"Hello? "
"Chaos? It's me, Rhub-" She began, but was met with a devilish snort at the other end of the line.
"Whadda want Rhubella? I'm working as fast as I can on these projects, ok?" Responded the haggard voice. Rhubella winced. The social studies projects at school...the one she and Rodney forcefully asked Chaos to 'help' them with...
"Oh...Um...no that's, that's not what I'm calling for. Maybe you should take a break. You soun-"
"I CAN'T take a break. If I do, I don't get Margot's done. And then I don't get Johnny's done. And THEN I don't get Drake's done. And THEN I don't get Rodrick's done. I'm working on YOURS right now, and after all of these, MAYBE I'll find time to finish mine so I don't FAIL. " Snarled the voice at the other end. Rhubella rolled her eyes. He got so cranky when he had 9 projects to do.
"Sooooorry." She mumbled, and let the phone die with a click of her fingers.
The door opened on the other side of the house and before she knew it, Rhubella had bolted over the side of the couch and tore herself into the main hall, where her mother was slowly walking in. She flashed Rhubella a shallow, liquid smile and wandered past with a dismissive wave of her fingertips.
"Mom?" Rhubella called out, while her mother staggered into the kitchen, placing her purse down onto the counter. She was a plus sized woman, drawn to fancy things and shiny bobbles that she adorned her body with. Expensive furs and costume dresses, designer gloves and sheik, sleek boots that clip-clopped when she walked. The rat turned and peered at her daughter quietly before shaking her head with a dismissive smile.
"What? You didn't eat did you? I told you not to eat. I smell chocolate on your breath. You can't even follow simple rules, can you? I asked you to do one lousy thing and you messed that up. " She snorted while Rhubella took a step back, her ears lowering gently while her tail curled miserably around her left leg.
"I...I'm sorry. I was just hungry, that's all, an-" she began, but the larger rat held up a gloved set of fingers and shook her head.
"I don't wanna hear it Rhubella. I don't wanna hear it. Sometimes I wonder if you'll ever stop being such a screw up. God, it's killing me." She mumbled while Rhubella stared, feeling something inside of her seizing up. Freezing up. Clutching at her heart and refusing to let go.
"...You're already drunk...aren't you?" The girl choked out in a strangled voice of tears. The motherly rodent glared a miserable glare towards the other rat and waved a paw.
"Huh. I only had a few. Don't you point your nose down at me young lady. Don't you dare, you little ingrate. I don't have the time to deal with you right now. I have a party to go to tonight, so you just march your little flat chest up into your room, get your homework done and don't make a peep." The rat snarled. Without much of a response, Rhubella gave her head the briefest of nods and turned sharply on her heel, determined not to let any tears trickle from her eyes. She wasn't going to. She wasn't, darn it! Instead, she gave a wicked snort and lashed her tail violently at the ground. She stomped. She stomped as hard as she could, shutting out the calling cries of her mother, complaining about little girls and their tantrums and stomped all the way to her room, where she slammed the door shut as tightly as she could and locked it.
She screamed. She screamed. A horse, blood curling scream that sputtered bits of spittle from her lips and a wheeze past her throat. It burned her lungs to scream that hard, but she didn't care. It felt good. She picked up the closest thing she could find- her clock sitting on the table, and hurled it against the wall. It shattered, cracking with the sound of a dying alarm before it's red blinking life vanished forever. Her anger was gone now. No longer a hot, bubbling rage but a dull boil of tired anger that pooled in her stomach. Without a word she quietly twisted her form onto her bed and slid her arms around her numerous pillows, hugging one particularly close.
With the door locked, her anger spent, and the sound of her mother staggering out of the house for another of her parties, she could finally let the tears come. And so they did, until Ruby fell fast asleep.
It was pitch black when she woke up. Night time in acme acres and something tap-tap-taped against her window. With a yawn and a choice set of fingers rubbing sleepy eyes, she climbed from her bed and stumbled to the window, and peered down. Rodrick was standing directly underneath her, glowing in his full, shimmering, shining suit of armor. He smiled at her.
"Hey babe....wanna go for a ride?"
She smiled back.