Southern Belle

Ch. 6 Russian Literature....Huh?

"Bye, Alice. Bye, Tommy," I sighed as I embraced my two youngest siblings in a bear hug. Their heads nuzzled into the crook of my neck. I tenderly kissed each other foreheads once and let them go.

I turned towards Mel, who was now about four months pregnant. A small but definite bump was protruding between her hips. Today, she decided to cover her stomach with a teal, strapless maxi dress that swayed whenever she walked. Her mocha-colored hair was swooped up in a high ponytail, and her swollen feet were smushed into white sandals.

"Do you still want me to hug you? You're kinda big," I chuckled as I stared at Mel, who was trying as hard as she could not to cry.

She had been quite emotional this summer, and tiny little things set her off. For example, my mother bought her a salad maker, and she refused to talk to my mother for days. Mel thought Mom was trying to tell her to lose weight.

Let's just say, Mel had already gained thirty pounds, but I wouldn't tell Mel to her face that she gained a lot of weight. 

"S-s-shut up." Her voice quavered, and with her left hand, she reached into her bra and grabbed a packet of tissues. She wiped her eyes before her mascara could drip down the sides of her face. "Just come here, bitch."

She grabbed me into a hug, and I awkwardly rubbed her back. I could hear her lungs wheeze as she tried suppressing her cries. The hug became even more awkward because her large stomach was rammed into mine. I let go after a few seconds and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

I felt like I was hugging Santa, except Santa would be all warm and fuzzy. Mel was cold and lumpy, like the texture of oatmeal left out for hours.

Onto the next goodbye.

Grandpa was never one to show emotion. When he found his dog dead on his living room carpet  one afternoon, he looked at it and left it there for me to deal with it. Therefore, when I came to him to say goodbye, he just took my hand into his hands and stared at me straight in the eyes.

"Good luck in the army, son. You make our country proud." With his strong hands, he shook my hand so violently that I almost fell over.

Did I look like a guy? I thought I had boobs, and guys obviously didn't have boobs. Sure, I wore an AA bra, but they were still boobs...

I saved my best friend second to last. Evalyn was standing in her fuzzy Hello Kitty flannel pants with a thin white camisole in her Nike running shoes. She made sure she woke up bright and early to say goodbye to me. Her hair was a knotted mess, and I could see the dark bags under her eyes.

"Evil-yn," I stated nonchalantly while rocking back and forth on my heels.

"Misera-belle, what will I do without you?" she sobbed as she flung herself into my arms. 

I wished I could take her with me to Stanford. Evalyn was just as smart--maybe even smarter--as me. But I knew that she belonged in the South with Hunter for now.

"Now, if you have any wild adventures, make sure you tell me about them! I want to hear about everything, okay?" she mumbled into my shoulder. My flannel shirt was soaked. "Especially about the guys."

I chuckled, "Deal, only if you don't get knocked up. Wait at least a while before you put a bun in that oven."

"Can't make any promises," she laughed back and let go.

Last, but not least, I turned to my mother. Even though I had disagreements with her, I still loved her very much. She may be a crazy nutjob, but she was my crazy nutjob. Just like me, she wasn't one to show emotions often. But today, I could see tears brimming on her eyes. She wiped them away quickly with the back of her hand, but I still saw them.