In the Shade of Groves [COMPLETE]

Chapter 18

Last Thanksgiving

I can smell my mother's cooking wafting up to my room. She's been up since 5:30 this morning cooking and cleaning for a big Thanksgiving meal. Every year our family rotates whose house it will be at. This year, it's our turn. Whenever it's our turn my mother spends all day and night preparing the house as if Good Housekeeping magazine is coming over. She makes absolutely everything from scratch. The rest of the family gets to bring over side dishes that probably took less than an hour to make. There's more food at my house than a Salvation Army during this time of year; most of which will end up in the trash.

Today is also the day that I will see Minnie for the first time since she's been away at Princeton. She doesn't reach out as much as she used to. My mother says she's too busy to deal with my high school problems and that I shouldn't bother her. I'm not really sure what I would say anyway. Nothing is new. Nothing's ever new in Grove.

My mother picked out my outfit for today as she does every day. In my closet is a burnt orange long sleeve Cashmere sweater, dark denim jeans and black heel boots. I was also instructed to shower and do my hair and makeup. On TV it always seems like Thanksgiving is a day to kick back and relax and eat a lot of food, but not with my family. My mother considers every holiday the perfect chance to show up our other family members. Especially her sister and my grandmother. Ever since I can remember the three of them have had this weird competition between each other. My grandmother always criticizes how my mother and aunt do everything, including raise children. My grandmother heard me say "mommy" when I was young and scolded my mother for raising such an improper child. From that day forward, I was told to call her mother and nothing else. She wanted my dad to insist me and my sister call him father but he never did. I make sure to say "dad" more than necessary when my grandmother's around just to get under my mother's skin.

I make sure I look presentable and walk downstairs, knowing the rest of the family will be here soon. We don't have that large of an extended family. My dad is an only child and my mother only has one sister. My dad's parents usually find an excuse not to come to family gatherings. I can't say I blame them. My aunt brings her husband and two children and my grandmother is a widow. My cousins also live in Grove but they're younger than me so I hardly ever see them. Richard is fourteen and Anne is twelve. My aunt had a really hard time getting pregnant so she's what Carol would call an "old mom". My mother never misses an opportunity to remind her how quickly she got pregnant with Minnie and I. My uncle is the most normal person in our family, probably because he's not blood-related. He's a salesman at the only car dealership in town. He met my aunt at a trade show here in Grove when she was visiting from Princeton. My grandmother frequently finds a reason to ask him how business is for the sole purpose of finding out how much money he made this year. Without fail at the end of every holiday dinner, my mother pulls him and my aunt aside and asks them if they need money. They always decline.

"Good, you're ready," my mother looks up from adding garnish to a pie and looks me up and down. She's wearing an insanely tight red dress and an apron to prevent stains. She clicks her four-inch heels over to me with a frown. "Honey, go light on the turkey tonight. You're starting to fill out." She pats my stomach and I adjust my jeans to hide it.

The doorbell rings and my mother gasps and almost drops a plate.

"Do you want me to get that?" I offer.

"Yes," she quickly takes off her apron and stuffs it in the pantry. "I'll just be a minute." She clicks away and messes with her hair. No doubt she's gone to look for a mirror.

I roll my eyes and sigh, walking to the door. I open it and am delighted to see Minnie standing on the other side. "Minnie!" I hug her at the threshold and she squeezes her arms tight around me.