These Classrooms Talk

XVIII

As soon as I open the door, I sense a change in the atmosphere.
"Kendall, dear, is that you?" Mum calls cheerfully.
"Yuhp!" I shout back.
"BITCH!" Emily runs down to me.
"Bitch!" I shout, "what the fuck?"
"Yass bitch we gon be on a fucking cruise! To Sri Lanka!"
"Sri-fucking-Lanka?!"
"LANGUAGE!" Mom shouts.
I run into the Sitting Room. Mom and Dad sit together, broad smiles wrapped on their faces.
"Mom, w-w-what?" I ask.
"What do you mean?" Mom asks.
"Well, what-where-why-when-how-just, just, what?"
"You and Emily are going on a cruise!" Mum says, ecstatic.
"You're not coming?" I ask.
Mum smiles; "I can't, the tickets only for three."
"So Dad's coming?" I groan, not meaning to sound ungrateful but probably coming across like that anyway.
"No," Mom says, "your dad is going to stay with me. We're gonna have the most romantic weekend ever!!"
"Yippee!" I shout.
"We're going to Sri Lanka, we're going to Sri Lanka," Emily chants.
"I've always wanted to see Sri Lanka!" I say.
"Now you're gonna," Mom says happily.
"Oh, and Kenny, guess what?" Emily asks.
"There's more?" I ask.
"Course, cousin-dearest," Emily says, "we're not just going on a cruise, we're going to be VIP's on a cruise."
"What does that mean?" I ask.
"It means that everything we want, like drinks by the pool, dinner at fancy restraunts, that teen club thing- it's all free!"
"What. The. Fuck!" I shout, "where'd we get the money to do this shit??"
"LANGUAGE!" Mom shouts, "anyway, the tickets were 100% free of charge."
"How'd we get free VIP cruise tickets?" I ask.
"It's part of a sponsorship deal. Just take lots of photos and upload them to Instachat and SnapperGram," Mom explains, scolling down her Instachat.
"Instagram mom," I say.
"Oh, whatever, WOLO. Women only live once." She says.
Dad looks at her, "and what? Men have nine lives?"
"Why is the cruise interested in us? And when is the cruise?"
"2019," Mom says, "Febuary."
"Two years away?" I groan, "why'd I have to rush home?"
"Cause we're going on a goddamn motherfucking lesbian-dying non-homophobic semi-ageist but not at all racist, five-hundred million miles and month-long VIP, meaning everything-free, cruise!"
"That was an acid trip whirlwind of mother nature and Her devine beauties." Mom says.
"Not until next year," I say, "so why'd I have to rush home? My date was going personally fine."
Lies.
Mom stops scrolling, asessing this. Then she puts her phone down.
"You were on a date?" Mom asks. I nod, "with who?"
Emily smirks, giving me the I have a scandalous secret look.
She knows. I know she knows. Mom doesn't know. Mom doesn't know she knows.
"Sean," I blurt. Ew! Sean?
It was the first name that came to mind.
Why Sean, though?
"The guy that's trying to say my daughter is a SLUT." Mom says.
I look at her, raising an eyebrow, "how do you know about that?"
"Darling," Mom starts, "parents are like teacher. You may think you never talk to us, but that doesn't mean we don't listen...and I follow Sean. His latest post was I wonder who SuperSlut is going to go down on tonight."
I scratch my scars, upset.
"But I know you didn't do anything with that beastly, ghastly boy," then she looks at me, "did you?"
"No!" I defend, "of course not!"
Lies.
"Good," Mom says, then she elbows dad, "see, told you I knew my daughter."
"All I was saying was that she was a teenager, and you know what we did at that age," Dad says.
"Ew!" Me and Emily shout at unison.
"We created your brother," Mom says to me, "the greatest.night of my life."
"Ew! Mom!" I say.
"No!" Mom says, "not conceiving him, although that was...pleasurable."
Me and Emily share disgusted looks.
"When I gave birth," Mom explains.
"Gee, mom," I say, "I'm glad my brothers birth was better than mine." I say.
"I said one of the greatest nights."
"No you didn't." I say.
"Oh," Mom says, "well you know what I mean."
"I miss him," I say.
"Yes, your brother is well missed," Emily smirks. Of course she misses him. Probably fingers herself everynight thinking about him.
"Anyway, how'd we get the cruise tickets?" I reiterate.
"Yes, well, that's next on the agenda," Mom says.
"Wait!" I realise, "was it Emily's dad?"
Emily drops her phone. She quickly snatches it back up.
"No!" Mom says, "It wasn't him. We haven't had anything to do with him since he came round."
"Is this because I used to cut?" I ask.
Dad looks at me.
"You used to what?" Dad asks.
"Nothing, besides, Mom already knew." I say.
"How do you know I knew?" Mom asks.
"I knew Emily knew, told Briar, told Sean and you follow Sean. I mean, I'm guessing that's how you knew. But I've known you've known for a long time."
"Why didn't you ever bring it up?" Mom asks, as her eyes water, "I mean, sure, I'm your Mom and I should've known anyway, but if you were hurting, you shoulda come to me!"
"I'm fine now, Mom," I say, "I promise. I love you, dad, Emily, my brother, the different Sean, and most importantly, myself and my life. So anyway, how'd we get the ticket?"
I hate lying to her. Telling her I'm done when I know full well that I cut as recently as this morning.
"Is that my queue?" A masculine voice asks from the hallway.
"What the hell?" I say. I'd recognise that voice anywhere.
"That's how we got the tickets," Mom explains.
Oh. My. Fucking. God.
I spin around, running to hug the 23year old Man that just walked through the door.
"I'm glad to hear you still love me," he says.
I snuggle on his shoulder, in his warm embrace.
"Of course I love you," I say, "you are my brother."