Cicely took a sip of her coffee, sighed, and turned around to face her boyfriend AJ. When she got involved with a man 10 years older than her, she thought he would be mature. Instead he always tried to force his opinion on her.
"I can't believe we're even having this conversation," he said.
She rolled her olive green eyes at him and looked down to see some of her long, wavy, cocoa brown hair had shedded and landed on the white blouse.
"Are you rolling your eyes at me like a fucking toddler?" He asked.
She picked up the strands of hair and let them fall to the ground before raising her eyes to look at him again.
"You're the one yelling at me like a kid having been denied candy," she said.
"Thanksgiving is important to me," he said.
"I get that but I don't wanna cook for your entire family again this year. Do you have any idea how fucking hard it is to stand with all that work without any help? And it's not like any of them even lift a finger and help clean up afterwards. And you just sit there on your ass, laughing along with them when they say something nasty to me," she said.
"They..." He started.
"Don't you fucking dare deny it!" She raised her voice. "You know damn well how they treat me, and I'm not being their fucking slave this year."
He crossed his arms and stared at her. She was over it all. His family, Thanksgiving, their entire relationship. Even her beloved morning coffee was ruined because of this argument.
"I'm inviting them and that's final," he said.
"Then you can cook for them," she said.
"I gotta work," he said.
"So do I," she said.
"You can take the day off," he said.
"So can you," she said.
He gritted his teeth and looked like he was about to explode.
"You're cooking!" He screamed.
He ran out of the kitchen as if that would make the argument valid.
"No, I'm not!" She yelled after him.
He chose to ignore her. She didn't care. There was only so much one person could take, and she had reached her limit. She was not cooking for his family this year no matter what he said or did.
Cicely sat on a kitchen chair while talking on the phone with her cousin Dakota. Dakota was originally from New Zealand but had moved to Cicely's state a few years ago. The cousins were tight.
"Dump him," Dakota said.
"I really should," Cicely said. "How the fuck did I ever end up falling for someone like him?"
"It's the hair. I told you that hair is too good to be true. Steal all his hair products and run," Dakota said.
Cicely let out a laughter. She needed that.
"Come hang out with me for Thanksgiving. You know I don't give a fuck about it and won't cook a fucking turkey, but I can order pizza or make something else," Dakota said.
"Or..." Cecily started.
Cicely leaned forward as a plan slowly started taking place in her head.
"Or what?" Dakota asked.
"I got an idea," Cicely said. "It's fucking cruel but I'm just so fucking tired of his demands."
"As long as we're not killing him, I'm down for whatever," Dakota said.
AJ came home from work and expected to smell turkey cooking. He paused for a second, wondering if Cicely had closed the door to the kitchen.
"Cicely?" He called.
He walked towards the kitchen and swallowed nervously when he saw the door was open. He stepped out into the kitchen and found her in the process of peeling potatoes.
"What are you doing?" He asked.
"I'm making mashed potatoes," she answered.
"No, why isn't the turkey in the oven?" He asked.
"I bought two turkey legs instead. There's no point in buying an entire turkey when I'm only cooking for two people," she said.
His jaw dropped and reality settled in. He had thought she would give in and cook everything once he invited his family. He didn't think she would actually have it in her to defy him like that.
"My family is coming in an hour," he said.
"Oh," she feigned surprise. "Are they bringing food, or are you ordering takeout?"
"You were supposed to cook!" He yelled.
She didn't take the bait and yell back. She kept calm and turned back to her potatoes.
"I already told you, I'm not cooking this year," she said.
"Fuck!" He bellowed. "You better find a way to fix this while I shower."
He still put everything on her. She didn't care. She wasn't fixing anything. He went to take a long shower. He came out and smelled turkey which made him smile. It had to be a joke before. She had a fully cooked turkey delivered from somewhere. It had to be that. He walked back to the kitchen, and once again his jaw dropped when he saw she was frying two turkey legs in a pan.
"What the fuck?" He asked.
She hummed and smiled at him as if everything was the way it was supposed to be. He was just about to start yelling at her when the door bell rang.
"For fuck sake!" He snarled.
He went out to open and let people in. There was a flow of people showing up over the next 15 minutes while Cicely finished the meal for two. AJ was busy in the living room complaining about her in the kitchen. Several family members came out to see she had indeed not cooked as they had expected. A lot of hard words fell but she just kept smiling and repeating that AJ was supposed to cook this year. Finally they all retreated to the living room where their loud voices continued reaching her. She started plating the food on two plates.
"Did I just walk into a warzone?" Dakota asked.
Cicely turned around and smiled at her cousin.
"I snuck in. They were yelling so loud that I doubt you would have heard the door bell," Dakota said.
"Here you go," Cicely said.
Cicely handed Dakota one of the plates, and they walked into the bedroom. They closed the door and quickly finished the meal before starting to pack Cicely's clothes and personal belongings. AJ's family kept arguing for almost an hour before AJ suddenly came looking for Cicely in the bedroom.
"What the fuck?" AJ asked.
"Hi, AJ," Dakota grinned.
"What are you doing here?" AJ asked.
"I was invited for Thanksgiving dinner. It was delicious," Dakota said.
Dakota pointed at the two empty plates on the floor next to the door. AJ looked at them, swallowed nervously, and looked up to see the two women continue packing.
"What are you doing?" AJ asked.
"Packing," Cicely answered.
"She's leaving you," Dakota chuckled.
"What?" AJ looked outraged. "What the fuck, Cicely? What the fuck is wrong with you?"
"Staying with you this long is the only thing wrong with me," Cicely said. "I'm moving in with Dakota."
"My entire family is in there," AJ said.
"Take them out to eat then," Cicely shrugged. "I don't give a fuck about your family, AJ. They always treat me like crap, and now you can go tell them about what a witch I am. I'm sure they'll take pity on you."
AJ slammed the door and stormed back to the living room. Cicely and Dakota looked at each other and started laughing.
"We gotta go before they come in here to stop you," Dakota said.
"These are the last items," Cicely said.
Cicely zipped up the final bag and nodded.
"Let's go," Cicely said.
Dakota opened the door, and the two women carried all the bags out. They knew there wasn't going to be a second trip into the house. They needed to get out now before AJ got his entire family involved. Of course everyone came running out as the women were putting the bags in the car.
"Cicely!" AJ yelled. "How fucking dare you leave me like this?"
"Suck my dick, AJ!" Cicely yelled back.
AJ's old aunt gasped in horror over that language. The two cousins laughed at that loud gasp and jumped into Dakota's car. They took off down the street and away from AJ and his family.
"Don't expect a Christmas card from his family this year," Dakota joked.
Cicely laughed and leaned over to hug her cousin the best she could in a moving car.
"Thank you for saving my ass," Cicely said.
"Always," Dakota said. "Unlike AJ, you actually got a cool family."
Dakota grinned a Cicely who nodded and smiled in return.
"That I do," Cicely said. "Fuck, it feels good to finally be out of that house and away from that man and his crazy family."