A Year of Her Life

Chapter 7

“You know, we could make a nice little fort out of that tree if we built onto it with sticks and limbs.  You could come here any time and play.”

“That sounds like fun.  You’re really going to help me?”  I questioned him because he was suddenly being nice to me.

“Yeah, I will.”

We started right away.  Chris gathered big limbs while I got sticks.  I also pulled vines from the trees so that we could use them to tie sticks together.  The tree already had numerous limbs coming from the tree that was holding it up from laying flat on the ground.  Chris began to put the limbs over the fallen tree filling in what was already there.  In no time the tree began to look like a big leafy blob.

Chris filled in one whole section of the tree with me trailing behind him tying the limbs in place with the vines.  I noticed that Chris was sweating, his shirt sticking to him.  He looked up towards the tree covered sky.

“I think we’ve been out here most of the day.  We should head back.”

“Okay.  Will you help me with this again?”  I was hopeful that he would.  I really liked the idea of a fort in the woods that nobody knew about and I did enjoy spending time with Chris.  He was okay when no one else was around.

Chris laughed and nodded his head as he turned to make his way back to the house.  He helped me up the steep hill then directed me through the woods on our way back to the house.  I tripped a few times as I made my way over the roots and fallen limbs.  I kept going because I wanted to keep up with Chris.

When we came through to the end we found that my parents were both home.  I got nervous because I was afraid of what I’d be walking in to.  I didn’t know how long they had been home or who had gotten home first.  Things had been going well for the last few months, but we could never count on that for long.  I had no idea what I would do if they were fighting.  Georgia wasn’t here to help me. 

I almost chickened out and stayed outside, but I couldn’t let Chris go into that by himself, it wasn’t fair.  I did let Chris go in first, he was bigger than me.  I listened but I only heard the television in the den.  No shouting or banging.  Was I that lucky?

Chris went downstairs to the den while I went to take a shower.  I peeked into my parent’s room as I got my clothes.  I saw my mom in the bed watching television.  She was smoking and had her drink beside her on the table.  I walked into the room with a smile.  I hugged my mom and then took a sip of her drink.  I had been outside most of the day so I was really thirsty.

As I took my sip, she drug the glass from my lips.  I instantly knew why.  It burned my throat on the way down.  I thought that I had sipped a small fire into my mouth.  I began to cough and sputter the liquid back up.  That made it burn even more so I went into their bathroom to get some water.

After I had drank down a small cup of water I braced myself on the sink with my palms down.  I looked up into the mirror to see my mom stagger in behind me.  I felt dread creep up on me.  This day couldn’t end well.  She put her hand on my back in a comforting way.  It wasn’t comforting.

“You need to be careful when you drink someone else’s drink.”  Her slurred words surprised me.  Had she really been home long enough to get drunk?  I just shook my head and turned around to leave.  She stopped me with a hand to my shoulder.  “Don’t mention this, okay?”  Again, I shook my head.  She took her hand off my shoulder and I walked passed her.

I didn’t know what to do.  I knew they would be fighting as soon as he realized she was drinking.  I continued on into my room and gathered my clothes.  I decided that it would be best if I wasn’t in the middle of anything tonight.  I quickly showered and got dressed.  I made myself a sandwich, grabbed a bag of chips and a soda then went to my room.  I closed and locked my door.

I ate my dinner in my room while I watched movies.  I kept the volume low so that I could hear if anything was going on.  I finished my sandwich and was munching on my chips when I heard a knock at the door.  I didn’t want to open it.  My stomach was in knots instantly.  I walked to the door and, against my better judgment, opened it.  Chris stuck his face in.

“Hey, me and your dad are going to go out for a while.  Will you be alright until Georgia gets home?”  He was whispering almost like he was in on the family secret.

“Yeah, she should be home in an hour or two anyway,” I replied in my own whisper.

Chris nodded his head and held his bottom lip a little tighter like he knew how I was feeling.  He backed away from the door and pulled it closed.  I was grateful that they were going out.  I relaxed as soon as I saw my dad’s car roll up the road.

Nothing happened that night.  Georgia came home and reassured me that if something had happened that Chris would have protected me.  She sounded sure of it.

Dad and Chris came home a little later, around eleven.  I expected a fight to break out.  Instead, Dad slept on the couch in the den.  I breathed a silent sigh of relief and allowed myself to drift off to sleep.  I was actually looking forward to tomorrow.

The next day I woke up early to the smell of breakfast cooking.  I got up and went to the kitchen.  My mom was at the stove stirring eggs in a pan.  She looked up at me with an apology in her eyes.  She spooned some eggs onto a plate and handed it to me.

“Get whatever you want.  I’m sure everyone else will be up soon too.”  Her voice was warm and loving.  She pointed me to the other plates and bowls on the counter.  I chose some bacon and a biscuit.  I sat at the table and she brought me a glass of milk.

I ate my breakfast as I wondered why my mom was up at this hour on a Sunday since she had been drinking quite heavily the night before.  She seemed happy, and it had been a while since she had been that happy.

I was shook out of my thoughts as Georgia came bouncing in the room.  She had already showered and had on her bath robe.  She twirled into the room and gave Mom a kiss on the cheek.  Her smile was wonderful.  It lit up the room.  Mom noticed it too.  Georgia got her plate and sat beside me at the table.  Mom sat her milk in front of her and smiled as Georgia pulled me into a hug.

“What’s gotten into you, dear?”

“Oh, Mom, I’m in love,” she answered in a wistful tone of voice.

“Georgia, boys come and go.  You’re too young to know what love is.”  She was so cynical. 

“It’ll be ok, mom.  I didn’t ask you to feel it.”  Georgia still had the smile on her face, but it wasn’t deep anymore.

We ate in silence and then I got up to get ready for church.

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After church we went to our usual lunch spot and ate.  Then we headed home to change our clothes.  We were in a rush because Georgia wanted to surprise Bobby by going over to his house when he got home from work. 

Georgia dropped me off at the front of the yard telling me that she was going to the grocery store to get milk and wanted me changed by the time she got back.  She told me I could ask Chris to come if I wanted.

I ran to the house and noticed that Dad’s car was missing.  He must have gone to the office for a while.  I opened the door quietly because I didn’t want to wake mom if she had gone back to sleep.  Sometimes she needed extra rest to get along with dad after she had been drinking.  I closed the door and made my way up the steps.  At the top, I looked down the hallway as I walked toward my room.  I was almost there when Mom’s door opened.

Chris stepped out with his back toward me.  I stopped in my tracks.  Why was he in there?  I suddenly got nervous and felt as if I shouldn’t be in my own house.   He closed her door quietly.  Why was he being sneaky?  He turned around to begin walking toward me.  His head was still down.  He was looking at his pants that he was zipping.  He looked up and saw me.  He froze for about half a second.  Then, he winked at me as he passed by me.  That’s when I noticed that his shirt was unbuttoned and his hair was a mess all over his head.  I may have only been ten years old, but I knew what that meant.