Chapter 7

Three weeks past and René was slightly used to Eric being around. Things became a little more stable and they were almost caught up on rent. René still hadn’t talked to Shay and she wasn’t really talking to Eric either but she was hanging out with Mommaw more. Just the calm, quiet and comforting presence of her called out to René and anytime she was in there with Mommaw, she could block out everything else.

School was hectic. René was assigned homework from every class and it was hour’s worth of homework. This actually made it easier for her to ignore everyone but it also prevented her from getting any real amounts of sleep at night. Getting home, doing some homework, fixing dinner, cleaning, putting Kristen to bed, and finishing homework took all of René’s time and energy. Some nights she wouldn’t get to bed until around three in the morning only to wake up at six to start all over again.

          This specific Thursday of August the 20^th was similar to every other Thursday except Shay and Eric were going out, leaving Kristen with René. René normally wouldn’t have minded but she had to finish two projects, study for three tests, and start an essay for the following Monday. It just wasn’t the opportune time for her to babysit but she didn’t tell anyone. She let them go out on their little date while she did what she normally did every night. She was like the stay at home nanny, except she didn’t get paid and she didn’t always stay at home.

          A little while after Shay and Eric had left, René popped some popcorn into the microwave. The mouth watering aroma of melted butter with salt filled the kitchen and charmed Kristen into silence as she watched the bag fill up with the delicious white puffs of popped corn. The microwave beeped three times, signaling the time to pull out the bag. Shaking the bag up and down for extra measure, René pulled out two bowls about the size of three coffee cups placed intricately among each other. The fluffy white pieces fell into the bowls with a soft plunk and René smiled. She handed a bowl to Kristen and set her own bowl next to her texts books, notes, poster boards, and outlines that were on the table. She followed Kristen into the living room and had her pick out a movie she wanted to watch.

          “Now,” René squatted down so she and Kristen were eye level, “I’m doing homework in the kitchen. You are to watch this movie until it is over. Don’t come in there buggin’ me unless you are thirsty or you have run out of popcorn. Got me?” René smiled and ruffled Kristen’s hair when she nodded yes and sat down in front of the TV.

          Reluctantly sitting down at the table, René got busy with her math, chemistry, sociology, AP world history, AP English II, and art homework. Her art, math and sociology only took about an hour and her essay for English took about another thirty minutes but her chemistry and history just about killed her. She couldn’t get the formulas right for chemistry to save her life and she didn’t know whether to finish the history project first or study for the teacher’s test. He always made it really hard. At least he did in world geography, so she didn’t think he was going to be easier for that test.

          She was already done with her popcorn when Kristen came in for more. René pointed to the counter where the bag was and told her there was still some in it. A few minutes later, René couldn’t handle anymore reading, rereading, drawing, equations, and writing. She was just about to go crazy with it all when the kitchen door burst open and Shay and Eric scrambled in, hollering at each other. René sat in stunned silence as incoherent words were screamed through the room. Kristen had dropped the bag of popcorn and was huddled into René’s side as the threatening scene in front of them moved its way to the foot of the stairs and gradually made its way up. René was surprised at the sudden hostility in her mother’s voice and face but she knew it was mostly show.

          As the stomping and thrashing of things upstairs drowned out any thought, René tried to sooth Kristen. A little while later, Mommaw joined them in the kitchen and made herself comfortable in one of the chairs. When the screaming and noise quieted down, René tried to keep Kristen from going up the stairs but when Kristen was set on something, she was rarely ever stopped. Sitting there listening for any sound that signified a truce, René tried to look as if she were busy studying again, even though she never turned a page and her eyes never moved from the one spot. The house became deathly silent. A quick succession of pitter-patter told René Kristen was running. And soon enough, the sound of her bare feet smacking the wooden stairs reached René’s ears.

          “René!” Kristen’s voice was laden with tears. “René!” Reaching Kristen at the foot of the stairs, René hugged her and held her until she calmed down. “Daddy says I’m leaving. He’s packing my clothes!” Fresh sobs escaped her and René’s heart stopped. “Don’t make me go!”

          “Shhh.” René rocked her back and forth as much for Kristen’s comfort as for her own. “Shhh, I’m gonna go talk to him. No promises though. Go in there and sit with Mommaw. Eat some more popcorn.”

          René watched Kristen slowly walk into the kitchen. Replacing her grief with anger, René ascended the stairs. At the top landing, Shay and Eric were arguing and fighting over a suitcase full of what René was sure was Kristen’s clothes.

          “You can’t take her!” The sorrow in Shay’s voice was apparent. “You can’t! You told me the past was the past! Is that only for you? Is your past only the past? Why do you have to make them suffer for what I did?” Reaching the landing, René stood between them.

          “So,” René looked at Eric, “you’re leaving?”

          “Yes.” He jerked the suitcase out of Shay’s hands. “She’s a w***e. Took a f*****g video of herself with a d***o and posted it on the internet. That’s what your mother is!”

          “Did you not say the past is the past?” René found herself calm and collected despite Eric’s anger and Shay’s grief.

          “I did but-”

          “Then what’s the difference between you sleeping around with other women during the break up and Mum having sex with herself?” René was a little ashamed of her mother but even Shay was human. She had her weaknesses like anyone else. René knew what her mother did was not a crime. What her mother did was also in the past. The past Eric had said to forget. The only past he wanted forgotten was his own so he could condemn Shay of her sins. He didn’t want his sins brought to light so he brought hers to light. Even with her mother’s sins of cyber-pornography known, just the fact that her mother didn’t deny it, that her mother didn’t try to justify it, made it all the more accepting. Her mother needed help that no one could give and she had searched online and found someone who made her feel wanted and needed. It didn’t surprise René in the least that her mother had done that. The only thing that surprised her was that Shay had gone against her own beliefs as a Christian. It was uncharacteristic of her. But even this could not sway René in standing by Shay’s side. René would always defend her mother no matter what. Even if Shay had murdered someone, René would stand by her and do whatever was necessary to keep her safe. Even René’s own anger toward her mother could not keep her from doing what she always did. Shay needed someone, needed someone more than René had ever known. The only logical thing for René to do was stand by her mother’s side and love her unconditionally. Time to let go of everything. All the anger, resentment, toward Shay needed to end and for that moment, it did.

          René sat quietly on the top stair as Shay and Eric began to talk. René couldn’t really keep up but all she was certain of was Eric was really leaving. This didn’t bother René at all with one exception: he was taking Kristen. All feeling gone, René slowly went back down to the foyer. She was tired of Eric constantly pulling everyone around by the hair, expecting them to do whatever he wanted just so he wouldn’t leave again. This was the last straw. He was gone to René. There was nothing he could do.

          Searching the bottom part of the house for tubs and suitcases, René packed Eric’s things. All his clothes, his work supplies, his towels, his books, his shoes, and his few sheets and blankets. The tubs that were dirty were cleaned out and wiped with disinfecting cleaners. Making sure everything was in order and by the front door, René went back into the kitchen and began to study again with Kristen in her lap. Reading about the cell for biology and finishing up her meiosis project, René heard Eric and Shay step into the foyer. A few broken up sentences let her know that Eric had decided to stay. A few minutes later, Shay ambled into the kitchen and poured herself a cold cup of coffee and heated it up in the microwave. A few more minutes and Eric came in. He cleared his throat and looked at Shay. René ignored both of them and continued to scribble notes in the margins of her biology book.

          “René,” he cleared his throat again, “can I talk to you please?”

          “Sure. Just a sec.” She slowly underlined a phrase that she thought she might have to know for the test, put her pencil in the book, closed it, and maneuvered Kristen on the seat as she stood up. Walking past Eric to stand in the foyer next to the little love seat, René folded her arms over her chest and looked up at him.

          “Rene.”  He averted his gaze from her eyes, to the floor and back again.

          “Yes?” She looked at him expectantly. She kept her eyes on him as he moved to the couch and sat down. He patted the other cushion and she obliged. She noticed how he practically squirmed and she smiled inwardly. He cleared his throat again.

          “René, Shay has talked me into staying.” She could tell this was difficult for him. He wasn’t used to asking permission from someone twelve years younger than him. “If-could,” he sighed and swallowed, “Could I have my things back please?”

          “You know, Eric,” she narrowed her eyes and tilted her head to the side, “I had actually seen you as my dad. Well, before all this, that is. And the moment-” she laughed bitterly, “the moment I think I can trust a father figure, I am shown, once again, that I can’t.” She licked her lips and fidgeted with her fingers. “You were the closest thing to a dad I had had. But that’s gone now. You threw it all away and I don’t care how many times you apologize. It doesn’t matter anymore because obviously this family did not matter to you.” She watched as tears began to fall from his eyes and tried hard to hold back her own to no avail. She continued with her voice thick with tears. “I can’t keep you out as Mum so clearly pointed out, and I can’t keep you from leaving, but I can keep you from me. But I would advise you not to threaten to leave again. You won’t find your things neatly packed in tubs, you’ll find them in the yard for everyone else to take for free.”

 

          Later that night, René was talking to her ex boyfriend Dante. Even though they weren’t dating anymore, they were really good friends. Normally René would have told him about everything but she didn’t see the point in worrying him. Laughing and trying to have a good time, she was telling him stories from the time she had been with her dad.

          “…so a high-pitched scream echoed into the house and everyone was wondering what was going on,” she giggled, “and then we all ran to the front door and Yolanda was flailing her arms and spinning in circles. She kept smacking herself and screeching.” Yolanda was René’s Dad’s girlfriend and was the sweetest woman René had ever met.

          “Why was she screaming?” There was a slight concern in his voice but René could hear the compressed laughter.

          “She had walked through a Garden-Spider’s web and the big spider was in her hair.” René laughed and had to calm down to keep herself from dying of asphyxiation. “The spider is practically harmless but he’s mean lookin’ and she’s terrified of spiders. But it was hilarious because even after the spider was scurrying away from her she was flipping out. Dad was laughing his a*s off. You should have been there, you would have enjoyed it.” Dante was still laughing but not as hard as René was. Still having the giggle-fits, René was listening to one of Dante’s stories when a holler from the living room got her attention. “Hold on, Dante. Something’s up.”

          She opened her door and was half way down the stairs when she saw Shay on the floor turning blue and convulsing with Eric on the phone kneeling next to her. René froze. “René? What’s wrong?”

          “Dante, I gotta go.”

          “René, what’s wron-”

          “Dante, I really, really, gotta go.” Hanging up, René found herself kneeling next to her mother. “Eric? Eric, why isn’t she breathing?” Fear raced through her veins as Shay turned a darker shade. Crying, René held Shay’s head in her lap as her mother’s eyes rolled to the back of her head. “Eric! Make it stop!”

          “Yes! It’s a f*****g seizure and she can’t breathe,” Eric yelled to the emergency operator. A few long, terrifying minutes later, an ambulance’s siren wailed to their house. René was told to stay home and make sure Kristen was ok as Eric left with the ambulance.

          Drying her eyes and locking the door, René began to clean. Mommaw tried to get her to lie down but she was too wound up to be still. Well past midnight, René was still busy cleaning when Eric walked in. She stopped and looked at him expecting him to tell her something, anything, but he didn’t.

          “What are you still doing up?” To her surprise his tone was gentle, not reprimanding like normal.

          “Couldn’t sleep,” she whispered, wiping her nose on the back of her hand. “So…?”

          “You need to go to bed.” She was surprised to find him leading her to her room. She turned and stared at him before he shut her door.

          “What’d the doctors say?”

          “You’ve got school in the morning, René,” he turned off her light. “Get some sleep.”

Author's Note

I want to know if it's too much "she did this" kind of story. Do you actually relate? Things like that.

Reviews

[Misty Blue Eyes]

how do you stop there? lol i want more......lol this is one story i got hooked on real fast, poor girl having to be the mother to her sister like that

[nono]

“You’ve got school in the morning, René,” he turned off her light. “Get some sleep.”
Just those words alone were full of so much detail! I CANT' WAIT! I love it you've got real talent and that shouldn't go unnoticed. I'm telling you when I start my book I don't think I could ever compete with this! I like it fantastic work!

[Coyote Poetry]

A great chapter. Great conversation in this chapter. I like the mother who famous on the internet. A very strong chapter. We live in a new and strange world. A excellent chapter. Thank you.
Coyote