Chapter 5: Brother's Problem with Cannabis
October 17 1998
"It was just a nightmare pumpkin." My father stated towards me that night.
In that hour of the night I wanted to believe in his statement. But my skin could still feel the stinging sensation of being hit by the woman's touch.
It was crazy to hear my father's footsteps running up the stairs of the first floor when he heard my shrieking voice from the living room. And I had to admit it was funny to see him entering my bedroom with a bat in his hands. But to see the action of him carrying a baseball bat above his head; it made me feel protected and secured. I remember seeing his dark brown coffee colored eyes wandering around my room before noticing my sweaty body.
The worrisome look was written all over his face. And for once in my life I felt so guilty for being so harsh to him these past weeks. In that moment my father's last action was forgiven. For it was then that I realized that he truly did cared for me.
"Daddy, I am scared." I stated towards him through my sobs.
My father looked over at my direction with fear upon his eyes as he came closer towards my cold body. His strong warm arms were wrapped around my slim figure in a protecting way meanwhile my trembling body was in a seated position. The red bedcovers of my bed were tangled with my shaking body, but that didn't matter. All that mattered was that the scene I witnessed was a nightmare. There wasn't much that happened that night. But that doesn't mean it was one only nightmare I had in that month alone.
After that nightmare my father had decided to take me with him to work the next day. I remember the happiness I felt when he broke the news to me.
"Ally, guess what pumpkin?!" My father started toward me as we sat down around the kitchen table
I pondered a bit before stating. "We are going to Pumpkin Feast!"
My father let out a chuckle from my response before responding back. "No sweetheart but I do have something better to tell you."
"What is it?" I asked with curiously behind my excited tone.
My father beamed a smile as he responded. "How would you like to spend some days at Sonic Boom?"
"Really Daddy! That is awesome." I stated in a gleeful tone.
My father nodded yes as he added. "Yes pumpkin. And maybe we can go to the movies afterwards. What do you say?"
I jumped up from my seat while my father took another bite of his cereal. He allowed me to sing out my excitement before telling me to go get ready.
During those days I was to enjoying a bit of freedom from the house. And my father was relieved to know that throughout the week I wasn't having anymore nightmares.
Nothing really happened throughout the week. It wasn't until my father asked my caretaker Elena to stay with me did my symptoms started up again. I recall my father stating that he had a music convention to go to and that he would return shortly after a week. Elena accepted the reason and she suggested that I spend a day in the attic.
It had been a week since I stepped foot in the room and so when I entered the darkened attic, a smile was plastered on my face. Elena had just tuned on the lights for me meanwhile my bared feet walked in a fast pace towards my dollhouse.
The smile I had upon my face soon falters when my brown eyes caught sight of the housewife. I closed my eyes shut as the imagines of the one piece evening dress with a pencil skirt bottom came back to me. Soon after closing my eyes, my breathing came out in deep breaths as my body went into complete shock mode. It was then did my mind distinguish the housewife as the woman from my nightmares. And when that revaluation came to me; my small body went unconscious.
"Everyone thinks that we're perfect. Please don't let them look through the curtains". - Melanie Martinez
My eyes opened up again to find another person in front of me. Her once beautiful white skin tone face had many bruises from being beaten down. While her dark brown eyes looked straight back at me with sorrow filled in them. The girl's short curly hair was divided between the colors of a dark brown oreo color and a pink strawberry yogurt. Her brown eyes were brightened by an upper lid black color eyeliner and light blue eye-shadow. Her eyes continued to look at her face and saw that her right cheek had cupcake sprinkles in the colors of yellow, blue, pink and purple. Each color was smudged into her thin skin and it was stinging more than the other hit I felt from the other day.
My left hand went up to touch the person in front of me. I was hoping to embrace her in a hug but to my surprised my hands only felt the cold glass beneath my shaken warm fingertips. It was then that I realized that she was my own reflection. Her appearance was shown to me by an oval shape white dresser's mirror. My fearful eyes widened from the realization as my eyes caught sight of the furniture behind me. A painted white wooden bedframe, a white and pink floral wallpaper hangs over the walls of the bedroom. Just one look at this room and I had come with the realization that I was in the dollhouse.
BANG! BANG! The wall behind the dresser went as I felt my body jump up and down from its current position upon the dresser's chair. This unexpected sound caused my heart to speed up meanwhile my dark brown eyes wandered over towards the direction of the wall.
A gasp of terror came through my hot pink colored lips as my ears picked up the sound of harsh hitting from the other side. I recalled seeing the mirror vibrating along with the walls movement before hearing a person from the other side was yelling at the top of their lungs. My mouth stayed tightly shut meanwhile my heart tried to regain its normal heartbeat.
A few seconds went by before seeing my hands on top of dresser. Slowly my hands made their way towards the sides of the small single drawer dresser as my nose took in a deep breath. My hands grabbed a strong grip of the sides while I tried to compose myself. I stayed in this position for a few more seconds before hearing someone yell from downstairs. Instantly my body moves from its original position meanwhile my eyes looked up towards the frame of the dresser to see two big white roses and blue polka-dotted pink bow set in between the roses.
Automatically my body moves away from the dresser in concern. The makeup brushes, pink cover hairspray, the crystal ball and the two dolls heads with no eyes juggle a bit from my sudden movement and I stopped to check up on them. Soon my head turned towards the object as my body moves towards the entrance of my room. Once my eyes were sure that they won't fall off the dresser, I turned my attention towards the room next to mine.
From my vantage point I see a thin table with a grandfather clock, modern style lamp and the tip of world globe on top of the table. Instantly a strong smell of fruit enters my nose and I soon start coughing. A confused expression came upon my face as my mind tried to distinguish the substance in the air. My eyes saw the whole room being consumed with smoke but I didn't see the room burning. Instead I could see small cereal inside the air. The more I smelled the air, the more confused I became. Instantly my body got closer to the bedroom's entrance frame while my eyes looked over towards the direction of teenage boy.
Soon my eyes noticed the white buttoned down with black spenders. The boy's spenders were attached to a pair of khakis dress pants and his once slick brown hair is slowly unraveling. For a second the boy seemed to sense my presence and decided to turn his direction towards me. His brown eyes looked at me with no emotions evident in them while a dopey smile formed upon this medium size lips. My body went stiff as my eyes caught sight of a light green bud plant with a generous amount of crystals inside the palm of his hands.
"Dickon did Mom come in here yet?" I stated towards him while my eyes analyzed his body.
The boy's body tilted backward and forward as he left out a giggle from my question.
A sigh of frustration came through my lips while his reaction started to irritate me. For once I wanted him to answer my question and all he could think about is smoking this shit.
The boy just gives me a boyish smile from seeing me irritated as his right hand grabs hold of the green plant. In an instant my brown eyes saw him transform the plant into a thin roll of green substance. My eyes went wide-eyed as he took one side of the substance into his mouth and took a puff of it. Instantly fruit fills up the room in a form of smoke as I saw him crossing his thin arms around his broad chest.
"DICKON!" I yelled in a fearful tone before adding on in a concerned tone. "You shouldn't be using cannabis as a way to ignore your problems. Sooner or later they are going to send you to rehab if you keep on hitting the stupid walls."
Dickon took another puff of the substance as his eyes narrowed straight towards my face. He took a deep breath in of the smoke through his nose before hearing him speak up.
"She really put a nail on you this time! Huh! Mel?" The boy sarcastically states through his lips.
My brown eyes did a one-eighty roll before entering the bedroom. Dickon's gaze stayed upon my face as I started to walk towards his mattress. A navy blue blanket covers the twin size bed meanwhile a light blue pillow is placed on top of his dark brown head board.
"Don't change the subject D! And besides it isn't something she hasn't done before." I stated with bitterness.
Dickson took the cannabis out of his mouth as he moved his way towards the bed. We stand in front of each other and he gently puts the cannabis in front of me. Hesitation came upon my face as I noticed that the substance was place in between us.
"Oh for heaven sakes! Mel, just take it. You need it more than I do tonight." He commented towards me with irritation.
My eyes looked at the thing with a disgusted before grabbing a hold of the drug. Once the substance was in my right hand, I placed the drug through my lips and then I tried my best to inmate Dickon's earlier reactions. My mouth took a puff of the substance before feeling the substance entering my lungs. Instantly the smoke went through my nose and I felt my joints loosening up a bit.
"Shit." I stated in a calm tone as my vision got a bit hazy.
Dickson adds on, "Yeah! This shit takes you to cloud nine faster than sex does."
A chuckle came out through my lips from his comment before feeling my body lose its balance. Dickon sees this action and his hands grabbed a good hold of my body. As soon as he got a hold of me, he sits me down on top of his mattress. Once I was settled, he took a seat next to me and allowed my body to lean against his left arm.
"So you smoke this shit because of lack of sex. Or because you want to be on cloud nine forever." I stated towards him as my eyes slowly wonder around his room.
Instantly my brown eyes caught sight of two brown color suitcases on top of the world globe and felt myself become insecure. I didn't understand why the girl's body felt this way, but it isn't until I heard Dickon's response did I comprehend the situation.
He lets out sigh as he responds back in a serious tone. "Mel. There is something you need to know."
"What is it?" I asked in a dreadful tone.
He spaces out for a moment before blurting out, "I am going to run away."
Automatically my heart started to break from the news. Meanwhile another part of me felt relief. It wasn't clear which emotion affected the body the most but my conscience knew that Melanie was torn between knowing what to say and making sure it didn't hurt Dickon's feelings.
Slowly my body moved away from Dickon's embraced meanwhile my head turns towards his direction with a hurtful expression upon my face.
"D. Please don't leave me." I pleaded.
Dickon took another puff of the cannabis before turning to face me. Disbelief took over his face as my eyes saw the concern gaze hidden behind his dark brown eyes.
"Not without you. I won't." He states softly.
We kept quiet for a second before responding back. "When do you leave?"
Dickon gave me a huge smile from my response as his arms embraced me into a hug. I accept the warm embrace before feeling my eyes close for the second time that night.