Destroyed

Chapter 3: A 'Normal' Day

After long drive home, Mom showed up on the front doorstep, wearing a white blouse and a black pencil skirt. Her dark brown hair was tied into a lustrous bun. Dad got out of the car and kissed Mom on the cheek.

She giggled as she took him by the hand and entered into the house. Uncle Seth and I trailed after them. Together, we all walked over to the dining table where Mom cooked our favorite meals: macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, and fried chicken rested on four plates. Besides them were silver utensils and beverages.

"Help yourselves," Mom beamed. Dad and Uncle sat on the comfy chairs then devoured their meals. I was about to go to the table until Mom stopped me. "After you are finished taking a shower," she replied. "You will eat your food." I gave her a pout. "But I'm hungry," I whined.

Uncle Seth looked up from his food and stared at Mom. "Come on Janet Jackson," he agreed. "Look at Cleo, she has been suffering from tests, homework, teenagers, and puberty. The least we could do is give her something to eat." She placed a hand on her hip then stared aimlessly at Dad, who shrugged in response.

"Fine," she said finally. "But after you are finished with your food, you are going to take a shower, you are starting to smell like your uncle." Uncle Seth angrily gazed at Mom while Dad is trying to hold his laughter. "I take that as highly offensive," Uncle Seth grumbled. "No kidding, Doofus." I heard Dad say.

I thanked my mother then joined my father and my uncle to the table. I ate two helpings of potatoes, macaroni and cheese, and stripped the meat off of the greasy chicken bones. After dinner, I cleaned the dirty plates then set them in the dishwasher.

Later, I took a shower, did my homework, and watch some television with my family. Mom leaned against Dad's shoulder while Uncle Seth is snoring beside me on the sofa. From the corner of my eye, I saw an unoccupied chess game on the dining table and rose up out of my seat to come and check it out.

The board has twenty four red and black squares, a smooth black edge around its sides, and on top of the squares are black and white chess pieces. "Do you want to play?" Dad asked, leaving his seat on the couch. I nodded.

We each took a seat on the chair then begin the game. I shifted my White Knight over one time and expected Dad to go next. He quietly plucked his Black Knight and did the same. "So, how was school today?" Dad asked.

"It was good," I answered, placing my White Horse forward. "I saw your shirt in the laundry basket," Dad continued, taking another Black Knight and set it down in front of my Pawn. I pouted as he took my small chess piece and casted it on the table.

"It was an accident," I lied. "I spilled some soda at lunch." "No you didn't," Dad answered, watching me eliminate his Black Knight. "The soda stain was intentional. And besides, your mother never packed a bottle of soda in your lunchbag. I am not mad at you, so just tell me what happened."

I let out a sigh then told him the entire story. I then moved my White King over to block his. "Did Jerry get in trouble?" Dad asked. "Yeah," I answered. "So did my class for laughing at me." A grin appeared on his lips. "Good," he replied, taking out his Black Queen and placed it on the black square.

"Also," I continued. "A mean girl named Isabel wrote a bad comment on a piece of paper that called me a Teacher's Pet, so I wrote Get a Life below the comment. But when she started to accuse me of writing it, I put the entire blame on her."

Dad stopped moving the pieces around then stared at me for a moment. A guilty look appeared on my face until I heard a small chuckle came out of his mouth. "You seriously did that?" Dad laughed. I nodded again. "Aren't you supposed to be mad at me?" I asked.

"Your mother did the same thing when she was seventeen years old," Dad explained. "Classmates were picking on her, so she wrote the exact same insult on the piece of paper and sent it to them."

Get a life, I guessed. "Our classmates didn't bother us then," Dad added. We kept playing the game until we were down to only one Pawns. Triumphantly, I tipped Dad's chess piece down and declared a checkmate.

As soon as the game is finished, I helped Dad cleared up the chessboard then wished Mom, Uncle Seth, and Dad goodnight. "You too, Cleo." Dad mumbled, kissing my forehead twice. I squeezed him one more time and left the living room.

Shutting the door behind me, I turned on the light and smiled at the sight of my room: periwinkle blue walls brighten up a little, the books are still tucked away in the shelves, my desk were covered in childhood photos, my parents' old case journals, and graded papers.

I stride a couple of steps towards the bed then collapsed on the mattress. I inhaled the sweetest smell of vanilla and shut my eyes. It felt good to be in my bedroom. Reaching out for the handle, I switched the light off then went to sleep.

The next morning, Mom called downstairs for breakfast. Instantly, I got out of bed and got dressed to go to school. I wore my white blouse, skinny jeans, and black combat boots. I applied some cherry perfume and brushed my dark brown hair down.

Snatching my backpack, I raced downstairs and caught Mom wearing her black business dress. Her hair grew slightly longer as she fixed food on a frying pan then set it on the plates.

She pointed the plate that was sitting on the table. "Your food is over there," Mom sighed, wiping the bacon grease away from her brow.

I quickly devoured my breakfast, kissed Mom on the cheek, and hurried to make my school lunch. I brought out my blue lunchbag from the food closet and set it front of me.

But that's when Mom stopped me. "I'll make you lunch," Mom insisted, pinching my cheek. "You worry about getting to school on time. And besides, where is your father?" As on cue, Dad hurried downstairs and kissed Mom on the cheek.

"Sorry Irene," Dad chuckled, adjusting his tie. "This stupid tie is making me late." Mom gave him a smile and kissed him on the lips. "At least you look handsome in that suit," Mom shrugged, smoothing his tie. "That's good enough for me."

Dad smiled then held Mom's hand. "Do you want me to make you some breakfast?" Mom turned off the heat and plopped the roasted egg sandwich on the plate.

"Sherlock," Mom sighed. "It's kinda sweet that you would do that for me, but a wife needs to do her job." But Dad wouldn't go for it, he made her go to the dining table and hastily prepared meals for us.

I watched as he placed a sandwich and other baked items in my lunchbag then placed a cooked sandwich in front of Mom. Her eyes were as big as bowls. "Wow," she breathed. Dad kissed her on the forehead.

I ate my breakfast, took my lunchbag, and kissed my parents on the cheeks. "Love you guys," I beamed. I opened the door then headed out of the house.

But just when I made it off of the doorstep, an anonymous black vehicle was standing on the driveway, waiting for me.