Chapter 13
From Oboes to Perfume
…the next day
Megan came home from school and threw her purple backpack on her bed. The first thing she did
was go over to her computer and turn it on. But, it wouldn't go on. What in the Hell? She kept
turning the on button, but nothing would happen. She thought it was a fluke this morning and she
didn't have time to check the computers at school today. Her stomach started to bother her in math
class today. What was wrong with this computer? No problem. She tried to keep a cool head
because someone in this house had to, she had a laptop that she forgot to bring with her today,
because she was in a hurry, and now, that wasn't working. It wouldn't go past the Apple logo.
"Damn it."
Okay. The computer in Drake and Josh's room was the next option. She really tried her best not to
go in there even though it was still Josh's room. It was creepy to her. As much as she wanted to see
what Mindy wanted she really did not want to go in there. It was like visiting a museum exhibit or a
historic house of someone who died in a tragic way. Not that Drake was…
"ooh." She put her hand across her stomach.
Maybe, it was the sloppy Joe she had at lunch today. Megan grabbed her
backpack and threw it on the floor and decided to lie down for awhile.
Her family was changing. Of course, it was to be expected, that there would be some adjustments.
Anytime a family goes through anything whether it is an event of large proportions or just something
internal—changes happen. She felt she was becoming the invisible one. Drake was the one
everybody wanted back, his faults of barely passing out of high school, not doing his chores, and
dumping every girl he dated was forgotten. Josh was the young adult starting college and trying to
make his family proud despite the pain everyone was in. And then there was Megan, the once
darling child, the girl who got away with every prank in the book because her parents thought she
was an "angel". From putting her former pet snake Robert in Drake's knapsack, to gluing their butts
to the kitchen chairs, and to getting them involved in taking care of the sheep she bought online,
those days were pretty much gone. She was a good student, so she was mature in that part of her
life. She could play a mean oboe, but who really gave a damn about that? But no one seemed to
care lately if she walked out in the rain without an umbrella or if she even ate enough supper.
Of course, she wanted Drake back, she missed him and hated the thought of some psycho holding
him hostage and his whereabouts were unknown. But, she didn't want to be forgotten. Many
siblings of the missing go unnoticed because all of the focus is thrusted upon the vanished. Even if the
sibling is dead and then it goes back to the changes in the family dynamic.
Her emotions were all over the place as she hugged her pillow.
She imagined Drake sitting on the couch in his bedroom and if she threw a tomato bomb at him,
Audrey and Walter would never let her get away with it. Not that she wanted to hurt her brother.
She just wanted things to be like they were before this mess started.
No matter what was going to happen he was always going to be "the one who was missing" and no
lines could be crossed.
There was no sweeter sound that she could hope for than hearing the sounds of an amplified electric
guitar coming from the loft.
She groaned into her pillow and thought that she didn't need to bother her mother. Megan was
perfectly capable of getting a Tylenol out of the medicine cabinet.
Why was this happening to their family? What did everyone do that was so terrible to get to the
point they were in now?
Audrey was in the kitchen. She had a pot of water on the stove, but it wasn't on. She was busy
writing in a notebook of her own. Walter had convinced Audrey to go "A Night Out at the Opera",
which the kids on Nine Shady Grove Road were all paying for during Cameron's latest outburst,
they were allowed to have a night out. They were allowed to forget the problem for awhile, and it
didn't mean that they were forgetting Drake. They were just trying to forget the anguish of it all.
She found some numbers on the internet of places she wanted to contact regarding adolescents and
cults. This was all a process to her. For all the sources of information out there it's not like one knew
automatically where to look or who talk to. They were doing the best they could to get through a
terrible situation.
"Mom," Megan came in the kitchen, "Mom…"
"I'm busy, Megan. Why don't you go upstairs in your room and finish your homework?" Audrey
didn't even look up from the tablet she was writing in.
"I got my period. Not that you'd care."
She ran up the stairs. If Audrey couldn't give her the time of day and acknowledge her presence in a
real way then the young girl was damned if she was going to just stand there and wait for her mother to
react to the news of her only daughter's first menstrual cycle.
I got my period. Not that you'd care
Cameron DePalma calmly turned the listening device off. He walked out of his attic bedroom and
took the keys out of his trouser pocket.
He'd open up Firefly's door first. After all, it was the sin of that family, which he was trying to
reconcile before it was too late.
The young man was tied to his bed. His eyes, ears, and mouth were covered with duct tape just like
the rest of them in the other secured rooms. His weak, pharmaceutically controlled body twitched in
the bed.
Cameron put his hands on his covered ears, "You can feel the sin, my son, can't you? The time to
act is upon us…."
Audrey quietly knocked on Megan's door, "May I come in, Sweetie?"
"I don't care." She heard being bitchy once-a-month came with the territory, it was the excuse she
needed.
"I'm so sorry, Megan," Audrey pulled a chair out of the corner so she could sit next to her daughter,
"I'm such a lousy mother. I never should have cast you aside like that."
"Stop saying you're a lousy mother!" Megan sat up
"You probably don't have any questions."
"Not really. I bleed for five days or so until the next month. I could do without my stomach feeling
like shit."
She wouldn't be reprimanded for using a curse word.
"I know how that feels. I can go to Smart-Aid and get you something age appropriate for that."
"It's not necessary, Mom."
"I tell you what why don't we start a once a month mother/daughter tradition? We can go wherever
you want; the whole city of San Diego is yours."
"I'd like that."
"Why don't you take a hot bath? How about we order a pizza since your Dad will be working late
tonight?"
Was Audrey aware that she wasn't bringing up Drake every five seconds or was this just a random
unconscious thing?
"Sure."
"I love you, Megan," The hug was next, "So much."
Darn it all if they weren't both crying on each other's shoulders.
"I love you, too, Mommy."