To Be Patient

Chapter 9

I forced Landon to get home before my parents came home from work, when they arrived I was laying on my belly still playing with my camera. I didn’t receive any comments or friendly gestures what so ever from them so I sighed before getting to my feet and heading to my room.

  I sat on my bed, feeling the same as I had last night. I was sick of this feeling, I now felt like it was abandonment…

I looked to my clock and it was just past four o’clock… I knew better than anything that I wouldn’t be expected to be seen until dinner so I ended up grabbing my purse and climbing out my window. I had done it once before and luckily my house was easy to scale. I crawled down the side of my house, avoiding windows, until I was on the ground. I brushed myself off before walking off casually like I hadn’t just climbed out of a window.

I headed back to the shopping centre and entered the chemist, “Can I help you?” Wondered the lady at the register.

   “Um, do you have any hair dyes in cool colours?” I asked, the lady narrowed her eyes slightly.

    “By cool colours… Do you mean not natural?” She asked and started walking toward an aisle and I followed.

She pointed to a shelf covered in hair dyes and instantly a bright orange caught my eye. I smiled at her before picking it up and a blossom pink that was next to it. “I think I’ll get these…” I mumbled and she nodded with an eyebrow slightly arched.

I was crazy. So apparently when I felt abandoned I decided to dye my hair, my hair that I love the way it is and I the hair that makes me cry like a baby when I get gum in it…

  After buying the dyes I looked at a clock on the wall and it wasn’t even five o’clock, I pursed my lips before heading to the public bathroom. I ended up in the wheel chair toilet that had its own basin, I locked the door before getting started.

It was so hard to dye my hair in a public bathroom on my own, I used toilet paper to keep the dye off my face and then I was done after twenty minutes.

I dried my hair under the hand dryer before looking at myself in the mirror, my hair was a blossom pink with bright orange highlights underneath. I smiled. My mom was going to strangle me.

When I strolled past the chemist again the lady had to look twice before I was on my way home, the best thing was that I wasn’t even worrying about my mom’s reaction. Instead I smiled and sung quietly the whole way, looking like a total fruit loop with my coloured hair and singing to myself.

  “Alis Blue! What in the world have you done to yourself?!” My mom screamed when she saw me after calling me down for dinner, she almost dropped the bowl she was carrying.

    “I dyed it.” I shrugged and sat at the table.

 My mom just stared with a cross expression but wide eyes, “What will people think Alis? You look like a skank!”

   I ignored her remark and shrugged, “I don’t care what people think. I am not a skank and that’s all that matters.” I helped myself to the garlic bread in the middle of the table and when my dad walked in her stopped and looked between the both of us- He pulled a slight face at my hair before seeing my mom’s expression, then he cringed before grabbing his pasta and a piece of garlic bread and retreating far away from the kitchen.

I sat quietly while my mom still stared crossly, “Are you doing this purposely Alis? Are you just trying you hardest to push me? Or are you doing this because of that emo boy?” She questioned angrily.

  I looked up and if looks could kill she would have died on the spot. “He isn’t emo! Emo means emotional and if anything I am the god damned emotional one!” My mom gasped at the way I used god’s name, I kept going though, “I am not trying to do anything for you or for Landon. I dyed my hair because I wanted to, because I was bloody bored with my life.”

    “What about the haircut Alis? I know you lied about your friend doing it! Why did you do it? I leave you for one second and when I come back you have changed everything!”

    “No mom! Landon cut my hair for me because I got gum in it! He was the only one there when I was crying! And you don’t leave for a second so stop lying to yourself! You leave for days on end and then don’t talk to me or even acknowledge my existence!” I screamed at her.

  My mom stared again, “I am not lying to myself Alis. You are lying to me.” She growled through clenched teeth.

    I swallowed, being called a liar when I was telling the total truth was just as bad as being spat at. I couldn’t stop myself when I stood and pulled up my sweater to reveal the huge bruises on my belly and my back that still hadn’t healed, “Really? You were away for a second and just so happened to miss your daughter getting beaten like a dog? I don’t friggin think so.” My mom’s face fell and I only saw it for a second before I was storming out.

I couldn’t believe she couldn’t face the bloody reality. I didn’t understand how I was the liar in this messed up relationship.

 I kicked at the dark ground and made my way through the dark, I kind of wished some girls would come along now and beat the shit out of me… I wanted to feel pain, something to get me over this anger. I didn’t know what to do really, I knew that I couldn’t bring myself to go back home in this mood because I would just cry… Cry and cry and cry.

I found myself ten minutes later at Landon’s front door, I was about to knock but I sighed and turned on my heel- I heard the door open behind me, “Alis?”

  I turned to see Landon’s mom looking at me with concern on her face, “Alis sweetie, what’s wrong?” She questioned seeing my face.

  I swallowed, “Um.. I had a fight with my mom…” I mumbled, without another word Hally was letting me in and calling for Landon.