Lucky Me
Chapter 007
One day, that's all they allowed me. One day of recovery from the shock and horror that my face was now falling apart. Where was the justice? I guess this time it was in the form of a small metallic device, the image inducer.
And talk about a lecture to get the silly thing! Professor Xavier went on and on about how it wasn't a toy. Mr. Got Cookies? said not to switch my image once I had gotten used to one and also not to make myself look like a supermodel or anything silly like that. Then Dr. Hank lectured me about how not to use it to get into the boy's locker room like someone else had done to get into the ladies' dressing rooms.
Yup, Bobby done did that deed.
This was all within the first day that my face fell apart and when Daisy-Mae came home she was practically on cloud 10 (the girl is always on cloud 9, therefore I elevated her). Talking about all the cute guys there were, how everyone seemed really nice, and yadda yadda yadda. I did block her out, but that's only because she came into my room and I didn't want to leave her in there without supervision.
"It was so cool." D-M went on, "There's this guy who can balance seven Western Civilization books on his head and this girl who had two piercing in her tongue, and..."
Sounded like my old school. The more she talked the more depressed I got. I never thought I'd actually miss those dorks at Acola High, after all they were all just as dull as they could be. I missed them.
I missed my family. I hadn't let myself think about my mom or sister since the night she kicked me out. I kept telling myself that she'd call; I'd left my number several times but hadn't heard from her. My sis's e-mail account must have changed because she only answered one e-mail and I never heard from her again.
But my mom loved me. She wouldn't forget me just because of this...would she? Did she?
"Oh! And there's this hunk." That brought me out of my stupor and caught my attention. "He's name is Kenney, girl, he looks so good!" D-M started to fan herself for effect. "He is hot."
I just smiled half-heartedly; I couldn't really trust this girl's opinion of 'hot.' At least not after hearing her say Bobby-meanie fell into that category.
"What about lunch?"
"What about it?" She inquired, popping her grape flavored gum.
"How was it?" Did they serve sweets! Work with my train of thought!
"Oh it was okay. Nothing too great, soy burgers -ick- and fries, ya know the regular stuff."
I really didn't want to sound like a pig or a chocoholic or anything but when I've been deprived, I just want to know: "Do they serve cookies, sweets, or anything like that?"
"Huh? Oh yeah. We had some kind of cake that either fell apart when you touched it with your fork or it like, did this gooey number and was more like pudding. They even have a 'coke break' at the end of lunch hour that is so neat, 'cause you can buy all sorts of real sugary treats there."
Ding Ding! We have a winner! My mouth was practically watering at the knowledge that I would be reunited with the food substances that could give me cavities and about a hundred extra pounds.
"Kerry, rise and shine!" Came that annoyingly cheerful voice. I grumbled, glanced at my clock, and threw my Oreo comforter over my head. "Aw, no no, you gotta go to school sometime."
"I'm dead," I replied, in that hoarse voice that indicates you've been sleeping or crying. I was asleep and would have stayed in that state until at least noon if my covers hadn't been ripped off of me. Even on the covers with the cookies get taken from me!
"Ah don't think so, girl. Time to get up," Miss Rogue insisted.
I curled into a tight ball, trying to preserve what heat there was left. I kept forgetting that this Mississippi woman is stronger than an elephant and just hauled me out of bed and to my feet without batting an eye.
"But it's only six!" I muttered in defense, my head drooping foreword.
"Just enough time for you to get ready and get to school."
The optimism must be in the coffee. I don't drink coffee; therefore I don't have optimism or caffeine in me to be a morning person. She left the room, but not without flicking on the lights which effectively blinded me.
"Ack!" I protested and fell back on to my bed. I would have wrapped myself in my comforter but I had been woken up enough times by these people that they take the comforter with them until I am dressed.
I was half way back to sleep when I heard from the hall, "And if Ah catch you sleepin' when Ah come back, you'll get an ice bath."
That was an eye opener.
"That's the third time you yawned in under five minutes, Ker, when didja get to sleep?"
How the heck was I supposed to know? I would have been asleep at that time. "Which time?"
"Rough night?" Dr. Hank asked from his perch on the counter. I gazed over at him and nodded my head. "Anything to do with the pain attacks?"
Yes. "No, just nervous about starting a new school," I paused and then corrected myself, "Another new school." And about being stuck in this goofy uniform, and about my face falling off, and about how Mr. Summers was planning to prevent me from getting sweets. I just knew he had something up his sleeve.
"Even with the image inducer you look like Gambit after a keg party."
I gave Bobby-meanie the 'evil eye.'
"At least Gambit can hold his liquor, non?"
"Remember that time at Harry's when they had that karaoke machine..." as interesting as a Bobby-bashing story would have been, wouldn't you know that ole Mac Summers popped his head in the kitchen at that time to tell me and D-M to get a move on.
"He's driving us?" I asked once we got out of the kitchen that was becoming rowdier by the minute.
"Oh yeah," she answered in a normal tone, but in a lower one she added, "And he drives like a granny."
Daisy-Mae talking bad about someone? Quick! Grab a news paper; I have to see if Satan now lived in an igloo!
The girl was right. During our trip to NYC, I had been too busy taking in the scenery and trying to half-heartedly pay attention to Daisy to notice, but the man drove the speed limit. This just added to his list of bad habits, what was I going to find out next? That he liked the Three Stooges?
By the time we pulled up to this huge school, 45 minutes later, I was ready to get out of the car and start sniffing out the sweets. Daisy-Mae literally bounced out of the vehicle and ran part way to the steps before turning around and waiting for me. I was half way out of the car when Mr. Cookie-Nazi stopped me and handed me a brown paper sack.
"What's this?" I asked, peering in the bag. It looked like lunch, but it just couldn't be.
"It's your lunch," he said without a hint of humor.
"But I thought I was going to eat here? Daisy does."
"And let you ruin all the hard work? No ma'am, you get sack lunches." I swear this guy had some sort of telepathy, before I could ask why D-M didn't get stuck with a third grader's lunch he added, "Daisy is not on your diet."
Let me kill him! Never in a man's life should they tell a girl that she needs to go on a diet. And without her consent! He must die!
I don't care about witnesses at least in prison they'd give me sweets! Before I could retort and plainly point out that Daisy-Mae should be the one on a diet, the girl came and dragged me away from the car. If I didn't know better, I could have sworn I saw that evil Mr. Ha-ha-and-you-thought-you-were-going-to-get-a-cookie Summers smirk.
"That was first bell, you don't want make a bad impression do you?" Daisy chirped, dragging me into the large building. I was still glaring at the car as it sped away, oh sure now he finds his gas pedal!
At least I would be able to get a lunch by charging it to an account.
I was still steaming about the whole morning ordeal from being insulted to having my one bonus about this school ripped away from me that I didn't notice the itching on my back had returned. It was in Political Thought, when I began to consider that if I had a female judge and pushed for a female jury, after I told them what Mr. You-too-fat Summers did to me, I'd be let off the hook. I was in my third hour (English) before I lurched forward and grabbed my left shoulder—the pain was coming on strong. Now was not the time for this to happen!
"Is there something wrong, Miss D'Mon?" The snobby teacher, Miss Alfalter asked, tapping the podium with the end of her number 2 pencil. I closed my eyes and felt a ripping sensation down both of my shoulder blades. Please make it stop! It hurt!
"Gross!" I heard someone cry and then a desk scrapping the floor as the person pushed away from me.
"Haven't you heard of a pad?" someone questioned, as they too moved away from me. I started to cry. My image inducer covered my body, but once I felt the blood start to soak my shirt and skirt I knew that they saw it. The smell of blood filled my nostrils, that iron-like smell that I have come so accustomed to since I joined up with these people. My bandages that brought me protection from this embarrassment began to tighten, making it hard for me to breathe.
"Get the nurse!" The teacher cried out, suddenly by my side, grabbing my shoulders, helping me out of my seat and from the room. "Is there someone you want me to call?" she inquired once we were out of the room.
My head was swimming by this time and I felt my stomach lurch with every drip-drop I heard. I was going to pass out, after doing it so often I now knew the symptoms by heart.
"Dr. Mc-c-c-c-Coy," and with that, I promptly passed out, ending up a dead weight on my petite teacher.
"She's in here," I heard the worried voice say; I shivered and curled tighter into a ball. I lay on the ground wrapped in a blanket, they'd try to lay me down on the cot but I let loose a scream that had the nurse and my new English teacher crying with sympathy.
"Thank you." It was Dr. Hank, no matter how much in pain I was (and believe you me, I was), I knew that voice. The supplier of my drugs! I saw pair of polished shoes walk into the room; I was too weak, too busy shivering, and too much in pain to look up. I felt a hand touch my forehead and then muttered something under their breath.
"Kerry, can you hear me?"
"Uhn..." That was all I could manage for a yes.
"Ma'am!" He called. I flinched, a migraine was already in creation and I did not need him screaming. I didn't need the click-clicks of the secretary's shoes answering his scream either.
"Yes, sir?"
"Can you let me check her out? I need to get her home as quickly as possible."
Home.
It sounds funny. It sounds like a lie.
"Yes sir! I'll fill out everything," then in a softer tone, "Just make sure she's okay."
"She'll be fine." Dr. Hank tried to reassure the woman.
Yeah, well, me being 'fine' was all in his opinion.
"Kerry, I'm going to get you to the mansion, okay?" I didn't reply this time. I was lost somewhere between sleep and awake-actually passing out and awake. "I'm picking you up." He warned me and a second later I heard him grunt. I was, after all, lead weight. Briefly, in my incoherent brain, I wondered if maybe Mr. Summers was right about that diet.
By some miracle, I woke up, this time in the van headed at what seemed like break neck speeds to the mansion (I hoped). After seeing I was hooked up to an IV and another thing (I guess was my much-loved painkillers) I no longer wondered why I was suddenly feeling a bit better.
"Do you think we need to stop and see Cecilia? Do you think she'll be okay all the way to the mansion?" I didn't recognize that voice, I just couldn't place it at that moment. One bad side effect about my loved drugs, they leave your brain loopy and your mouth loose.
"No, I think we can get her to the mansion, there's no need to cause a ruckus at Dr. Reyes's clinic." That voice, the voice of an angel, Dr. Hank. Praise you man!
"Uhn," I tried to get my mouth to actually form a word, but that sound was all that came out. This was okay, because I soon felt a furry hand on my forehead. I was lying on my side, facing the seat rather than the other passengers. I guess he figured out about my slight back discomfort in the nurse's office.
"Welcome back, Kerry. You gave us quite a scare."
"Uhn," it was amazing all the words that one syllable grunt was turning into.
I heard the other voice laugh, "Guess she's okay. Is this the kid you were talking about, Hank?"
Deep voice. Nice voice. Man, my brain was really starting to not function. I could only get tiny words out of my mind and it annoyingly clung to any idea, which happened to be Mr. Told-you-you-needed-a-diet-Summers doing a funny little dance in the middle of a cookie.
"Yes, but it seems pointless to ask you about it now." Hank laughed lightly at some kind of joke. "But I do have a question, when you got your extra appendages, did it hurt?"
"Hank, think. You have two wings grow out of your back in the span of one night and tell me if you think it would hurt."
Oh good gravy, if this was only the beginning then forget killing Summers, kill me! Kill me!
"Hmm, hers seems to be taking longer to come in though."
"Everyone's different-" and hello darkness, this is Kerry, Kerry this is blackness may you intermingle. In other words, I zapped out again.
