Cedar Valley High Series #1
Zaydence Denholm is in trouble. She and her best friend are crushing on the same guy. On her part, she views this as the ultimate betrayal. This crush alongside overbearing and emotionally detached parents, and a complica...
The spacious dining room was alive. An abundant amount of sunlight shone through the open curtains. A tan cloth covered the dining room table. Clear glass bowls, and plates were placed in front of our respective seats. Although there were four of us, the table seated eight.
On vegan nights, Riah replaced Dad in the kitchen. We were guinea pigs for her new vegan lifestyle. Last week we ate stuffed eggplants.
The four of us sat at the table. Dad rubbed his hands together in anticipation.
I sank my teeth into the homemade pizza. The cauliflower crust was soft and kidney bean paste was a pleasant surprise. My tongue pulled out a piece of spinach stuck to my gums. The steamed vegetables added a gooey texture.
It needs a scintilla of cheese.
Music from Riah's dark academia playlist was barely audible. Debussy.
A succession of clicks and clacks came from Mom's phone. Her fingers skied across the slopes of the keyboard. We weren't a no screens at dinner type of family, but she was venturing into a tunnel of emails.
I flexed my toes in my slippers, "Mom?"
Her head snapped up, "A client's family invited me to dinner and they live in Vido!" Mom was disgusted by the fact, "If my wellness center is in Emerald Grove, why would I drive all the way there? Me! In Violent Vido! At night!"
Vido was a dangerous neighborhood on the southside of Salsingo. Drug ladden and crime filled it was a stain on our beautiful city. Her sentiments, not mine. Dad's frown showed there was more that they weren't sharing with us. Neither of them talked about their childhoods with much detail to begin with.
Dad stopped eating. His reddish-brown eyes narrowed at Mom, "Watch it, I grew up there,"
"Correction, you escaped," she jutted her head out; she thought her word was gospel.
"Escaped," he let out a short, mirthless laugh.
Rich girl meets poor boy and saves him from gang life was Mom's version of events. Dad called her a Black 'White Savior'. They took turns eroding each other's argument. Back and forth, back and forth like a pendulum.
I folded my pizza into a sandwich and added crushed red pepper seasoning to it. As long as their attention was on each other, I could eat in peace. Their endless conversation faded into the background.
Riah motioned at the crumbs on my plate, "Was it scrumptious, decadent, everything you could have imagined?" her own food remained untouched.
"3 out of 5," I licked warm tomato sauce off of my lips.
The pizza was great.
Riah had been super nice these past few days. I'd rather she be entranced in her college stuff, off with her friends, or holed up in her room. It was her own way of repenting for forgetting my birthday.
The attention was still out of ordinary.
"What's wrong with it?" she raised a brow.
"You didn't peel the beans," I replied.
She facepalmed, inadvertently showcasing her lilac painted nails.
She's wearing nail polish? Didn't she say beautification was for the male gaze?
My intense staring was interrupted by a clang. Dad's buttle knife ratted against his plate. A permanent scowl imprinted on his dark brown face. His mood matched the color of his pajamas, a sad navy blue. Mom struck again. She knew how to make someone feel like shit, she knew very well.
He straightened his droopy shoulders, "I'll finish this wonderful dinner in my room," and excused himself from the table.
Ironic how his name was Winter, when Mom was the cold one.
Mom massaged her temple under the glow of the dining room chandelier, "Have you seen Violent Vido on the news? It's an unsafe neighborhood. Why can't he accept that?" she glanced at me.
No, no.
Look at Zeriah!!
"Zaydence, doesn't Violent Vido have its nickname for a reason?"
I stuffed my mouth full of brussel sprouts. I wanted no part in their dispute. It was between the two of them and it should stay there. Besides, what insight could I provide? I've never been there. Seeing Vido on the news and seeing it in real life were two different experiences.
"Zeriah? Hmm?" Mom prompted.
Zeriah finished her slice, wiping at her mouth with the corner of her handkerchief, "It's on the 'top 5 list of most dangerous neighborhoods in Salsingo'. But," Zeriah's right leg bobbed up and down, shaking my end of the table. I called this the Starbucks shake. I ended up behind a Starbucks shaker one year who rattled my entire desk. I was wide awake in that class.
But?
But?
Is she standing up to Mom? Right in front of your salad?
"But it means something to Dad," Riah said with conviction. She wasn't agreeing with Mom like always, she was holding her ground. Unnatural. "Dad was battling the burden of toxic masculinity and showed us vulnerability. He let us in... he said don't insult the place I grew up in. It means something. It's important to me," she placed a hand on her chest and looked outside of the dining room window. Where Dad's garden was.
"That place," Mom stabbed her broccolli, "is simply decrepit." She was stubborn. Another trait we'd inherited along with her height.
The sun tucked itself behind a cumulonimbus cloud. It feared Mom's wrath too. Or lack thereof. Should it be called wrath if it wasn't explosive? Mom never yelled but her words were sharp as the stalagmites under Hasstois Cove.
Dinner wrapped up quickly. I rinsed the dishes off in the sink first before loading the dishwasher. Zeriah used the other half of the sink to wash her hands.
"She's gahh—" Zeriah yanked her hand away from the steaming water, "think I got through to her."
"Think?"
"Yeah, I do. I really do," she shut the water off.
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I hate calling chapters filler chapters because I think all chapters are important but this one was really focused on Zayde's family dynamics. A lot of the time in teen novels and media the parents are nonexistent. I think it's important that I explore how her family dynamic shape her worldview.
