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CHAPTER 6: SCARS
"You can have a seat over here…" Skye said, gesturing to the couch and armchair. She spotted her shirt on the floor and quickly sat down on the couch, trying to push the shirt under it with her feet. Just then, Mort came downstairs. "Oh, Mr. Rainey, I'd like you to meet my mother, Delilah, and my sister, Jill."
"Good morning." Mort greeted. "It's nice to meet you both." Skye's mother and sister exchanged glances, clearly not buying into his act. "Erm, would you like something to drink or eat or anything?"
"No, we'll let Skye make us something later." her mother stated. How polite.
"Alright." Mort agreed politely. He sat down next to Skye, but kept a distance. "Well, your daughter certainly is a great editor. She's helped me quite a lot."
"Is that so?" her mother asked.
"Yes." he replied. "Actually, I've gotten the opportunity to read some of her writing -- she's really quite talented."
"Is she?" her mother asked indifferently.
"She is. I think she could be a bestseller someday." he said.
"What's that?" Jill added, pointing to Skye's feet. Skye's stomach turned over.
"What's what?" Skye asked.
"That." Jill repeated. "That thing you're trying to push under the couch with your feet."
Skye looked down, pretending to be clueless. "Huh? Oh, I didn't even see this." She picked the shirt up and looked at it. "I must've dropped it while doing laundry."
"I thought you said you just woke up." Jill said. "Were you sleep-laundering?"
'I hope you die, you cheeky little--' Skye thought, but cut herself off.
"No, of course not, I was doing laundry last night." Skye replied. Jill sniggered and exchanged glances with her mother. "What's funny?"
"Oh, nothing." Jill told her, smiling sweetly.
"Erm… so, isn't it nice up here?" Skye asked, bottling her anger. "A nice lake and all. It's very quiet and peaceful. What a place to write!"
"Mm hm." her mother agreed, still indifferent. "You know, I am getting a little hungry."
"Oh, well, erm… I can cook something." Skye said. "Mr. Rainey grows corn out in the back. It's just delicious! I'll never know what he put in that soil to make it taste so good!"
"That sounds acceptable." her mother told her, continuing her indifference.
"Good!" Skye exclaimed, faking a cheerful tone. "I'll get started on that! So… why don't you two and Mr. Rainey get to know each other, hm?" Skye got up and went over to the kitchen.
"Mr. Rainey, are you involved with anyone?" Skye's mother asked abruptly.
"No, ma'am, and I'm flattered, but I don't think I'm your type." Mort replied with a smile.
'Oh, shit, Mort -- my mother has no sense of humor!' Skye thought, shucking corn violently. 'Jokes are beyond her comprehension!'
"That is not what I meant." her mother stated staunchly, clearly offended.
"I was… just joking…" Mort told her uncomfortably.
"Yes, well, it wasn't funny." Skye's mother said strictly. "Now, answer my question."
"Er, no, I'm not involved with anyone right now." he replied. "Why do you ask?"
"I was simply curious, that's all." her mother brushed off. "Skye," she called, "what about you? Are you seeing anyone yet?"
"No, Mother, I'm not." Skye told her exasperatedly. "I never am -- you know that."
"So, you have no interest in my daughter, Mr. Rainey?" her mother asked.
"E-excuse me?" he asked, taken off guard.
"Let's stop beating around the bush." Jill piped in. "My mom wants to know if you're sleeping with my sister."
"JILL!" Skye screamed from the kitchen.
"I'm telling it like it is!" Jill said defensively.
"You're being rude!" Skye scolded, stepping over so she could see her sister. "Mr. Rainey is an acclaimed author -- don't accuse him of things like that!"
"Well, then, maybe I'm not accusing him, I'm accusing you." Jill stated.
"Oh, stop it." Skye snapped. "You know full well I've never had a date in my life. Rubbing it in isn't going to do anything."
"We're just making sure, Skye." Jill said, faking a concerned tone. "We don't want you to let yourself go."
"Honestly, what kind of a girl do you think I am?" Skye asked, returning to the corn. Mort sat in the middle uncomfortably.
"Well, where is your room, Skye?" her mother asked. "I want to see your living conditions."
"Oh, I'll show it to you." Mort injected, standing up. He went over to the door to Skye's room and opened it. Skye's mother and Jill followed; they looked in.
"Oh, Skye, who are these ugly women on your walls?" her mother asked.
Skye took a deep breath, about to explode from anger. "They are Jrockers, Mother." she stated slowly. "You remember Jrockers, don't you?"
"Oh, that Japanese stuff?" her mother asked with distaste. "Yeah… I thought you would've outgrown that…"
"You don't outgrow X Japan." Skye said angrily.
"You should take these down, Skye, people will think you're one of those girls." her mother told her disapprovingly.
"What is a 'one of those girls?'" Skye asked bitterly.
"You know, a girl who likes other girls." her mother said.
Skye rolled her eyes. "Mother, those 'girls' are men! Besides, there's nothing wrong with being a lesbian, anyway."
"What?" her mother asked sharply.
"Let's just drop this." Skye stated irritably.
Her mother scowled, looking at the posters distastefully. "Men? Well, I want you to take these down as soon as possible."
Sure, just as soon as we stop fucking Mr. Rainey.
Skye's fist slammed into the counter angrily. 'YOU AGAIN! I thought I got rid of you!'
You can't get rid of me, Skye.
"Is everything alright, Skye?" her mother asked, hearing the fist slamming.
"Oh, yeah, I just… dropped something, that's all." Skye dismissed. Mort showed Skye's mother and Jill around the rest of the house… which didn't take that long since the house was so small. Skye took a deep breath and decided to sing something very quietly to take her mind off things. "Iuchibiru kara, kobore ochiru, sabitatsu no kakera, shita ni nokoru--"
Sono nigami ga, kizu wo kojiakeru!
'Be quiet!' Skye thought angrily. 'It took me forever to learn the lyrics to "Scars," I don't need you messing them up!'
I'm helping. Toshi would thank me.
'You bitch, get out of my head!'
I'm here for your own good. And what a night last night, huh? I decided to remain silent during that time since you seemed to be having so much fun. But if the people in town didn't hear you, I'll be surprised.
'Shut up!'
How about you shut up and let me talk a little, huh? Or maybe you can let me take over. I can do that, Skye. I can kill Mother. You can't, but I can.
'Don't even talk like that! Do you know how much trouble I'd be in?'
Hahaha, poor naïve Skye! You don't know anything, do you? While you're asleep, I can hear things, you know.
'And you think I care?'
Yeah, I think you do. Mort has a problem.
'…Problem?'
Yep. The other night, I was listening pretty hard and heard him talking. Talking to himself, Skye.
'Please, he was probably writing -- just talking out loud. Getting his thoughts out and organizing them.'
No, he wasn't. Looks like he's got the same problem as you. Schizophrenia.
'Look, I wouldn't be schizophrenic if it weren't for you, you know! Damn it, just get out of my head!'
I can't do that. Not on my own… Anyway, remember that time he almost scored with you? Skye's lip curled in annoyance. He got that southern accent? Yeah, that's the other one.
'And you think I'm crazy? You're imagining things.'
Yes, you are crazy, and no, I'm not imagining things. They were arguing about getting emotionally attached to you. The other one, apparently called Shooter, was trying to convince Mort not to love you.
'Well, Mort does love me, so--'
Will you shut up and listen to me! Mort loves you, but Shooter doesn't. I haven't been able to make out what he wants yet, but it's not good. Skye stayed silent and thought about this for a moment. Shooter kept talking about 'the ending.' He said it had to be just perfect.
'Well, he must've been talking about the story Mort is writing, obviously.'
No, he wasn't. Is there a character named Skye in his story? I don't think so. Skye picked up a large knife and started to cut the ends off the corn. Jill has become quite an ass, hasn't she? You know how easily we could kill her with this knife? Come on, it wouldn't be hard!
'No! I'm not killing anyone! Shut up right now!'
Hey, what about that little trip you needed to make into town?
Skye froze. "Oh, shit." she whispered.
"What was that, Skye?" Jill asked from the living room -- she, her mother, and Mort were all back there, sitting in awkward silence.
"Oh, er, nothing -- I just remembered… I… have to go into town and get something… Mo-er-Mr. Rainey, would you finish with the food here?"
"Of course, Miss Rivers." Mort replied, getting up and going into the kitchen.
"Mother, Jill, I'll be back in just a little while -- I'm sorry about this." Skye said.
"What is it that you need to get?" her mother asked.
"…Something for that time of the month." Skye lied.
HA! If they only knew…
'Shut it!'
"Oh…" her mother said. "Well, you should've been prepared for that."
"Mother, please." Skye stated, gesturing to Mort, and turning red at the thought of being scolded about that time of the month in front of her boyfriend. Her mother sighed in annoyance. "Anyway, I'll be back shortly." She grabbed the keys off the hook and her purse off the table, and hurried to the car. She got in the Jeep and sped off down the road.
"Oh, shit. Oh, shit. Oh, shit." Skye whimpered.
Hey, it's still morning -- it should be okay.
'Not that! Didn't you hear? I almost called him Mort! My mother would kill me if I called my boss by his first name! She'll know! That little bitch Jill already knows anyway!'
She might not know…
'Shut up -- the minute you start being comforting is the minute I know something's wrong.'
Hahaha, oh, Skye, you know me well. Anyway, why is it that Mort hasn't told you he has a problem?
'Oh, great icebreaker, you loser: "How are you today? You look great. By the way, I'm schizophrenic. Want a sandwich?" Honestly!'
Yeah, same reason you haven't told him either. He probably won't put out if he knew about your terrible problem, isn't that right?
'Oh, shut up! You know perfectly well that I love him and am seeing him for more than just sex. You know that.'
But wasn't it great? I mean, seriously? Wasn't it?
'It's none of your business.'
Please! I live in your head -- it's my business!
'It is not. Mort loves me, not you. You're just jealous because nobody loves you! They all hate you because you're vile!'
That was harsh, Skye. Ouch. How could you say something like that?
'Shut up. I don't want to talk to you.'
She drove into town, grabbed what she needed and went back out to the car. She threw the pill in her mouth and washed it down with some bottled water she bought. She sighed in a little bit of relief and drove back to the cabin. She shoved the pill bottle into her purse and grabbed up the grocery bag. While at the store, she actually did buy stuff for that time of the month just in case her mother or Jill got nosey and decided to snoop around in the bag or something. She entered the cabin reluctantly…
Things were fine all the way through lunch, but only got worse afterwards… They had all been talking about something that wouldn't make anyone yell. Skye had cleverly changed the subject to a series of books that, as far as Skye knew, caused no anger for anyone.
"But really," Skye said, "The Lord of the Rings was clearly an allegory. Tolkien denied it simply because he didn't want people analyzing his work wrong. I mean, isn't it obvious that the books are just dripping with symbolism? Archetypes were everywhere in those books." Mort nodded interestedly.
"Erm… I thought they were kind of boring." Jill stated. "I couldn't get through the first one."
Skye gasped. "Jill! Don't be a heathen! You have no soul until you read those books -- and that's the truth."
"Oh, please." Jill scoffed. "Besides, like anyone knows what half the stuff you were saying means."
"…Like what?" Skye asked. "Mother, you've read them, right? Wasn't it an allegory with lots of archetypes and symbolism?"
"I don't know what those words mean." her mother said bitterly.
"Yeah, no one does -- Skye just likes to make herself look smarter than she is." Jill stated.
"…I know what they mean." Mort added. They all looked at him -- he'd been silent for so long, they'd almost forgotten he was there.
"Hmph." Skye's mother scoffed. Skye's gaze lingered for a moment on Mort, remembering what she'd thought about earlier. Shooter… She glanced back down at her plate. "Skye, do you have a pen? I just remembered something."
"Er, yeah. In my purse, go ahead and grab it." Skye replied offhandedly. Her mother got up and started toward her purse.
SKYE! THE BOTTLE, YOU FUCKING IDIOT!
Skye's eyes widened. "Mother, wait -- I forgot, the pen isn't in there!" she rushed, but her mother had already gotten to it…
"…What -- is -- this…?" her mother asked, pulling the bottle out of Skye's purse and examining it.
"What? O-oh, my friend -- she asked me to pick them up for her--"
"You liar!" her mother exclaimed. "I knew it! We knew what was going on here, didn't we, Jill?"
"What is it, Mom?" Jill asked. Her mother returned to the table and handed the bottle to Jill, who looked at it.
"Hahaha! We knew it, Skye!" Jill laughed. "Great job hiding it!"
Mort didn't really know what was going on until he got a closer look at the bottle; his heart sunk. Great…
"Shit…" Skye muttered, rubbing her forehead stressfully. Her mother started to advance closer to her, but she stood up and retreated behind Mort fearfully.
"We knew we shouldn't have trusted you here!" her mother scolded. "And you watch your language!"
"Mrs. Rivers--"
"Orwell -- divorced, remember?" Skye's mother said bitterly.
"Mrs. Orwell," Mort continued tensely, holding back anger, "may I remind you that your daughter is twenty two years old and well of age to decide things for herself."
"We didn't think she'd succumb to the first man, and I do mean the first, that's come along!" her mother exclaimed shrilly. Jill laughed.
Skye was turning red -- not only from a bit of embarrassment, but more prominently, anger. "Mother, I happen to have fallen in love with Mort -- do you have a problem with that?"
"Yes, I have many problems with that." her mother replied bitterly. "He's almost twice your age for one thing, and for another, he's not very high classed."
"And how do you know!" Skye yelled. "How could you possibly know!"
"That's it, Skye, you're coming home tomorrow." her mother stated firmly. "And that's final." Mort sighed. Skye wouldn't stand up to her mother… he was pretty sure she wouldn't. "And you," she said to Mort, "I should sue you for raping my daughter!"
"STOP IT!" Skye screamed. All went silent and everyone's eyes flew to Skye. "I AM NOT LEAVING -- I'M STAYING RIGHT HERE! YOU'VE NEVER LET ME DO ANYTHING AND THIS IS MY LIFE! I'M TAKING CONTROL OF MY LIFE! AND NO MATTER WHAT YOU TELL YOURSELF, MOTHER, IT CERTAINLY WAS NOT RAPE -- THERE WAS DEFINITE MUTUAL CONSENT!" Silence… Skye's mother looked horrified, Jill looked a little shocked, and Mort looked proud of her for standing up for herself. "And, you know, you can just go ahead and not give me any money for college -- that's fine. But I know you and I know that you've already told all your friends what a good deed you're doing by helping your little reject child get through school. I really doubt you're not going to help."
Skye's mother curled her lip in annoyance. She grabbed Jill by the arm and they stormed out of the house. Through the open window, Skye could hear her mother distastefully grumbling the words "definite mutual consent" as she was getting in the car.
Skye slumped down into her chair and rested her head in her hands. She sighed and looked up at Mort. He was smiling. Just from the look in his eyes she could tell what he wanted to say. She laughed, still shaking from yelling so much. They stood up and hugged tightly. Was Skye finally free…? Or… was this the beginning of the end…? Could this stand make absolutely everything go to hell? Skye's emotions were shaken and apparently Mort wasn't any more sane than she was… Only time would tell whether things would get better or worse…
Haha, definite mutual consent... I thought that was funny... Erm, anyway! Yeesh, honestly! You ever just want your family to go away and leave you alone? Story o' me life!I strongly dislike them. Anyway...let's see... things I need to address:
The thing with "who are these ugly women on your walls" is definitely something all us Jrock fans go through. It's quite annoying. Unless you show pictures of Gackt to football players and they say "Wow, that girl is HOT!" and then you tell them that he is a man and they run off denying ever saying anything. Oh, yes, I have done that and it is fun.
"Scars" is one of mah favorite X Japan songs! I couldn't find the translation anywhere though... Anyway, it's really good and... REALLY hard to memorize, as Skye said.
I named the sister Jill simply because I could not really think of another name. I felt bad giving her the name of my beloved Jill from Resident Evil (after whom I name myself, hehe), but it was all my brain could conjure.
"How are you today? You look great. By the way, I'm schizophrenic. Want a sandwich?" The first two lines are from... Charlie and the Chocolate Factory! In the hair toffee scene HEY! A trailer for the movie just came on TV! Yay! huggles Wonka
Erm... yes, Tolkien denied that LOTR was an allegory. I personally... think there was too much symbolism and archetypesfor it not to be, but... whatever the godly Tolkien says! --' I've gotten yelled at by many people over this, so I must ask, please do not yell at me. Though, anyone says LOTR is boring and I'll eat your liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti. hehe
SHE FINALLY TOLD OFF HER MOTHER! Finally! I wish I was as brave as Skye!
Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! The next chapter is the last one! Download Jrock while you're waiting. hehe PLEASE REVIEW!