Thank you to E Muja SN and TN and mrs.Charlotte.K.jonas for reviewingyayz a St. Valentine's update! Happy valentine's day!! Hope you'll enjoy this chapter and more people will hopefully review
xXx
Mum is not home when I get back from sunset hill. My stomach knots. I fly to the sliding doors. They are locked and freezing up again, but I open them, go onto the balcony and scan the parking lot. For what? Blood? The hideously mangled body of my mother? The chalk outline left by investigating police? Nothing.
Back in the apartment, I check the kettle. It has been emptied and returned to its place in the cupboard by the sink. Am I getting paranoid or what?
Then I see the note propped against the clock. "Dear Namine, Gone for a walk. Don't wait supper for me. Warm up some pizza. Love, Mum."
A walk. That's good. Walking relieves stress. And I don't mind pizza two days in a row. It sure beats mum's gourmet cooking. Recently, very few dishes have turned out. I rummage in the fridge behind the plastic containers of singed couscous, overcooked fettuccine, and soggy shrimp salad (eww) and find the pizza.
I zap two pieces of pizza in the microwave (although mum always used to tell that if I use the microwave I'd get radioactive poisoning) and pour a glass of orange juice. It's time to call Olette.
"Hey kiddo," she says. "And what fine exotic speciality are you chowing down tonight?"
"Leftover pizza."
"Homemade, no doubt."
"Nope. Bought. Delivered."
"You're kidding? Your mother actually ordered pizza?" She giggles. "is she sick? I've known you guys since we were seven years old and you've never ordered in anything."
I sip my orange juice daintily while I listen – I hate when people slurp. Olette definitely has a point about my mother.
"Oh well," she continues. "No doubt the napkins are folded and the table perfectly set."
I interrupt. "She drove dad nuts when she started doing that. But she hasn't been so compulsively neat since he left." Which, I realise, was about the time my mother began acting strange. Even her regular cleaning routines became less frequent.
"She needs to get a life," says Olette.
"Speaking of which, Mum almost threw hers away today," I say and launch into an account of the balcony scene and mum's denial. I can almost taste my bitterness.
Olette lets out a sympathetic whistle. "What did you do?"
I tell her about going to sunset hill, about Roxas Hinogami and his grandma Chii. Olette shrieks with delight. "That's incredible! We'll have to go meet up with him sometime."
"No, we won't. (Although I wouldn't particularly mind) We'll leave him alone. I think his grandmother is a bit crazy."
Grandma Chii's empty eyes haunt me.
"Poor Roxas," Olette says. "Sounds like your mum is a little crazy herself." She makes an angry, snorting sound. "What is it with mothers these days? Mine's in bed, sleeping it off. Dad's home for a couple of days, though. She doesn't get so bad when he's around."
Another silence. Then. "How's your dad? Heard from him lately?"
The piece of pizza in my mouth loses all flavour.
"No."
"Sorry. He's probably just real busy."
"Whatever."
Olette adored my dad. We used to have so much fun with him. Olette was always included when we went skating or bowling or to restaurants. Then he walked out – two years ago. Olette and I both lost.
Olette's voice became brighter. "When do you think your mum might be going to the ballet again? Maybe I could come along, like before?"
"I don't know," I reply curtly. "We don't seem to do anything "like before" any more."
"Well, we're old enough to go out by ourselves now. We'll go without her." She pauses. "I'd better go. Mummy dearest is yelling. Don't drip any pizza sauce on that nice clean floor of yours. Bye."
I stare out of the window, across the river, over sunset hill and on the vast twilight horizon. Good old Olette. Always trying to cheer me up.
To take my mind off things, I plunk myself down on the piano bench and work my way through Hanon exercises, scales, triads, and arpeggios. I get stuck on a tricky left-hand in my sonatina and have a go over and over and over it. I get it if I go slowly. It's only because of the dome clock chiming six that I know how long I've been practising. Three-quarters of an hour. Not nearly enough.
I work through two more pieces before the door knocker sounds. I open the door to find Mrs Lockhart peering at me. Her long black hair was let down loose and she was wearing a white robe and a pair of black slippers.
I can see beyond her into apartment across the hall. The easy chair is covered with a yellow afghan. Cigarette smokes curls up from a ceramic ashtray on the arm – a fire waiting to happen. An advert for adult diapers is playing on her TV.
To my surprise, she smiles."I know we agreed that you'd stop practising by six o'clock, but this isn't about your piano. Is your mother home?"
"No."
"Oh shit...I was hoping she was," cries Mrs Lockhart. "I was hoping it wasn't her I saw out of my window."
"What?" I squeak.
"Well, for the last while, every time I look out of my window I can see this figure walking back and forth, up and down." She pauses. "You know I may just be seeing things but I thought the person might be Eileen – except why would she be walking back and forth, up and down?"
I dash into Mrs Lockhart's smoke-filled living room and go straight to her window. Her apartment overlooks the sweeping front drive up to our block. A blonde woman wearing a white tracksuit is walking, with her arms folded, towards the front door. As I stand there, she turns and walks back up the street. She stops, pivots, looks around. What is she doing?
Mrs Lockhart is behind me. "I hope you don't think I'm nosy but yeah...I was just wondering if that was a new exercise craze or something. It is Eileen, right? She ain't wearing a jacket?" She lets out sigh and leans against a wall. "She must be freezing."
I nod because I can't speak. The words are trapped in my throat. I mutter my thanks and leave. I grab my parka, one for mum, and the spare keys from the hook. The elevator is its usual slow self, but eventually I get to the main floor and out into the chilly evening.
Mum is poised where the sidewalk ends and the stairs to the new bridge begin. Her back is to me.
"Hi," I say, forcing a broad grin.
She spins around. "Huh?"
"I said, hi, how's it going?" and I add, "Mum."
She squints. "Oh, it's you. I didn't see you."
"Tired of walking yet?" I ask, slipping her parka across her shoulders. "Are you cold?"
"You know, Namine, I am," she answers. "I was just thinking I should be getting back."
"Let's go in," I suggest. "It's past six-thirty. You must be starving."
"Yes, yes. Starving. What time is it?"
I gently push her ahead of me. That's twice today she's asked me the time – but she has in her green contact lenses and could easily have looked at her wristwatch. Besides, I just told her.
Before the elevator reaches our floor, she is completely herself. We acknowledge Mrs Lockhart before she pulls her head back into her apartment.
The phone rings and mum answers it. Her boot drop snow-covered gravel on the carpet. I follow on my hands and knees picking up as much of the mess as I can. I want her happy. Happiness might relieve stress.
"Hello. Eileen speaking," she says in her singsong manner. She pulls off her boots, and because I am right there, she smiles and hands them to me. She sits on the nearest chair while I put our boots neatly in the closet.
"Oh, it's you." There's only one person she would speak to in that guarded tone of voice. Kosuke Saehara. My father. The man I have to see when it's mutually convenient, which is less often. After a few seconds she says, "Do you think it would be possible for you to come over? We need to talk. Wednesday's good. Thank you. Yes, Namine's here."
My jaw drops. Come over? She's always handed me over to him in the parking lot of the burger place at the end of the street. She gives me the receiver and heads for the bathroom, but not before I notice her tears.
I don't try to hide my surprise. "So, Dad, you're coming to see us."
"I reckon I am," he answers. "This is a first, her asking me over. But how are you, Namine? How is everything?"
I don't know what to say. I can't seem to get a clear picture in my mind, so I give him my mum's least favourite F-word. "Fine."
0o0
After Dad's visit, I find myself in a corner booth in the burger place with the remains of a vanilla milkshake. The place is crowded. Olette said she's come if she could get away, but she's an hour late. Night has already turned the window into a mirror. While I wait, I stew about my parents meeting.
Dad had said "Hi, Namine" and given me his usual charming but distant smile when he walked into our apartment. He had a soft look on his tanned face as he let his fingers drag along the back of the couch. Then his mouth hardened into a thin line when mum entered and glared at him as though he was an intruder.
Her face was nothing compared to his stunned yet furious expression when Mum said, "What are you doing here?"
He looked at me. All I could do was shrug.
"You asked me to come, Eileen," he said in a cool tone. "What is it you wanted to talk about?"
Mum seemed flustered. "Pardon?"
Dad managed a wry smile. "I could ask you the same thing." Again, he turned to me. "What's going on?"
Mum crossed her arms. "Well, as long as you're here, you may as well sit down."
Dad perched uneasily on the arm of the couch. At first they talked about the weather, then about the weather on Destiny Island. To be fair to Dad, he tried to keep the conversation flowing. Mum basically stared off into space, occasionally nodding and making some small comment. I did my bit. I even chatted about school and my junior high graduation in June.
And then Mum leaped up from her seat and went to the front door. "Nice of you to drop by. Goodnight," she said. Dad raised his eyebrow but didn't agrue.
I ran behind him as he marched to the elevator. "Don't mind her," I said. "She's under a lot of stress."
"I don't know what she's under," he replied, understandably annoyed. "I just wish she's quit playing these stupid mind games. She's getting worse if you ask me. At least she didn't withdraw into herself like she does sometimes. That drives me crazy."
"Maybe you could've stayed longer – tried harder to find out why she wanted you to come over," I suggested. "It might've been important."
"She hates me. Pure and simple."
"She doesn't hate you," I argued. "You could've tried-"
The elevator arrived and he stepped in, cutting me off mid-sentence. "It was nice to see you, Namine. I'll call you."
"When?" I asked.
He smiled slightly.
As the doors whooshed shut, I yelled, "You should've tried harder! You give up too soon!"
But he was gone.
Mum was in the shower by the time I got back to the apartment. Lucky for her! I had a few choice questions for her, like what the heck did she think she was doing? She had invited dad over. Why had she acted like he was some complete stranger who'd barged in?
I wrote Mum a note to let her know I was going out, then called Olette and started to tell her what had happened, but she couldn't talk. Family crisis. She could probably meet me later at the restaurant. I'm still waiting.
"Mind if we sit?"
The black window mirror shows there are kids standing at the table. I'm not in the mood for company other than Olette's, and certainly not in the mood for these particular kids.
Before I can answer, Kairi motions for her group to slide in, Kairi – Snow queen, untouchable, cool and beautiful, with her crimson coloured hair, dark blue eyes and pale skin.
Selphie sends me a stony glare. I'm in a stony mood myself and have no trouble returning the look, but in a way I feel sorry for Selphie. She's coloured her brown hair some sick, nasty red colour and pastes her face with white make-up base, but she still can't hide her red cheeks. She also can't hide the fact that she's nothing more than a Kairi wanna-be. Next comes Rikku – mid-length golden blonde hair and green eyes. The guys drool over her, but they worship Kairi. Most girls would do anything to be part of this group. I am not one of them.
Sora Tsurumi drags a chair over and leans his elbows on the table. Brown hair sticks out from under his baseball cap. He winks at me and chomps on some fries. My cheeks burn. Sora has been the most popular boy forever – except that any kid with half a brain knows he's a jerk.
The only decent one is Hayner Harada. What he's doing with these idiots, I don't know. He flashes me a bright smile and I smile back. Olette would kill to be here. She thinks he's beautiful, with his bewitching eyes and confident, cocky attitude. But she'd turn into a babbling idiot, she'd be so nervous. I, on the other hand, would kill to get out of this corner.
"Hey there, Namine," Hayner says. "We just won our game."
Sora tips his chair back. "Hayner here just wanted to hang out with the leading goal scorer in the league. That's why he's here."
"Absolutely!" Hayner slaps Sora on the shoulder.
Kairi raises her eyebrow at me. "Don't usually see you out alone."
"You look nice...different," adds Selphie.
"Thanks." I manage to stop my hands from running over the zippers of my new black vinyl jacket of from playing with my long blonde fringe.
"Namine, do you want a burger?" asks Hayner.
I shake my head and watch the people getting off the bus. No Olette.
"Hey we're talking to you!" cries Sora, reaching out and poking my arm.
"How'd you do on that science test?" Hayner asks.
Sora doesn't give up. "Roxas Hinogami got ninety-seven. Did you beat him?" It's like a challenge.
I think about not answering, but then Sora would assume Roxas beat me and he'd tell everybody. I clear my throat.
"Ninety-eight."
Sora's laugh is victorious. "See, Kairi. I told you she was smater than old cousin Roxas."
"Shut up!" snaps Kairi.
"He's your cousin?" My eyes widen with surprise.
Sora grins. "Yeah, second cousin. So my parents tell me I have to be nice to him."
Rikku tosses her gold hair. "I still think Roxas is smarter."
I want out of here. Now! I push slightly against Kairi. "Excuse me. I'd like to go to the washroom. Could you please move?"
"Hey," says Kairi, "we just wanted to see if the queen of the study hall had been beaten by the new kid. Relax!" I'm shocked when she pats me gently on the wrist.
"Fine." I answer, refusing to go all mushy just because she sat beside me. "But I need to go to the washroom. And then I have to get home."
She shrugs and slides out.
0o0
The next morning. Sora nudges me in the crowded school corridor. He winks and points to his hair, which is blue. He blows imaginary smoke from an imaginary gun and strolls off.
"Whoa," giggles Olette. "What was that all about?"
"Oh, nothing."
She flips her brown hair over her shoulder and leans into my face. "What do you mean "nothing"? Something must've made Sora Tsurumi crawl out from under his rock!"
I roll my eyes. "How would I know?"
She sneers after him. "And did you see his hair? It weren't blue yesterday."
"And tomorrow it will probably be green." My eyes follow his bobbing blue head until it disappears. "And next week, fire-engine red. The week after he'll be bald when his hair falls out from all the stripping and dyeing."
She laughs. I don't. We walk in science, me in grey skinny jeans, black long sleeved hoodie with simple plan written on it and pair of black converses . My hair tied into a loose ponytail. Olette is in runners, blue jeans and a save the whales sweat-shirt. As we reach the classroom, she turns to me.
"Do I detect a slight aura of depression here, or what? And you still haven't really explained the Sora thing. Time to 'fess up!"
"Oh, all right. He and Kairi sat with me last night when youdidn't show up!"
Her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. "And you didn't call me? You didn't tell me?" She sighs as if controlling her temper "Oh, never mind. So what happened?"
"Shhh," I whisper, "don't tell the wholeworld. It wasn't a big deal. I was waiting for you." I pause. "And Hayner was there."
"No way!" she squeals.
My face grows warm when I realize why I haven't told her. I would have to leave out how good Sora's praise made me feel I can't look at her. Instead, I stare at Roxas Hinogami as he makes his way down the hall. Our eyes meet, briefly.
Olette nudges me, mischief all over her face. "So?"
"So nothing!"
I take a deep breath and follow a giggling Olette into class. But when she see's my glum face she says, "Come one, old buddy. What's wrong?"
"Something's definitely not right with my mum," I say. "She's been changing somehow...slowly."
"Examples," barks Olette.
"It's hard to explain." I slide down in my chair and cross my arms. "It's been going on for a cople of years, but it's getting worse. It's like sometimes she doesn't see me, or doesn't know I'm there, or doesn't recognize me. She can't cook worth a darn. She loses things – keys, jacket, purse. But she hasn't really lost them. She just forgets where she puts them and then thinks they're lost or stolen. Meanwhile they're right where she left them. I think she's having some kind of eye trouble. She can't seem to tell the time. And the other day she went out for a walk."
"So, what's wrong with a walk?" asks Olette.
"She walked up and down our apartment block, over and over, and she didn't have a coat on, that's what's wrong! Then, she must not have close the shower door last night because the floor was almost flooded this morning." I swallow hard, remembering. "The toothpaste lid wasn't put back on. The toilet wasn't flushed. The towels were all over the place."
Olette peers deep into my eyes. "Our bathroom always looks like that."
"Well, ours doesn't!" My voice getting loud and people are looking at us. "And she didn't do her exercises this morning and the radio wasn't on Capital FM." Tears gather in my eyes. "But you know the real scary thing is, Olette? She didn't even get out of bed this morning. I went to see if she was OK, there she was, in her clothes from yesterday! And she screamed at me to get out."
"Ahem, Namine," Olette says in a gentle voice, "my mum is like that all the time."
"Yeah, but yourmother is a drunk!"
She recoils as if I had slapped her.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it."
A voice booms from the front of the class. Mr Xemmas is waiting for everyone's attention.
"I'm really sorry." I try to touch Olette's hand, but she pulls away. She ignores me as I stare at her, the tears running down my face. I'm a traitor. I collect my books and bolt for the door. I hear Olette making an excuse for me. I lower my head and run down the hall.
Straight into the arms of Sora Tsurumi.
xXx
Okay so there you go chapter 2 please review and stuff!! And I'll be very happy XD
