Honor Among Friends (NaNoWriMo14)

Chapter 8-A

Madison knew her mother was lying. From the stories her grandma told, her mother was something of a wild child. “I heard that respectable young man rode a motorcycle and wore a leather jacket. Very Rebel Without a Cause.”

Her eyes narrowed and she tugged on one of Madison’s curls. “You’ve been talking to Grandma again, haven’t you?”

“She might have spilled the beans about some of your childhood escapades. From the way you made it sound, you were the epitome of all things good in the world. Certainly opened my eyes.”

“I didn’t think my wilder times were a necessary learning tool. Thank God you haven’t followed in my footsteps.” Wrapping her eyes around her from the back, her mother pressed their cheeks together and looked in the mirror. “I know we don’t always get along or see eye to eye, but I am proud of you, Madison. I wouldn’t trade you for anyone else in the world.”

Guilt slammed into Madison full throttle. She almost winced at the impact. “Mom…I—I’m sorry for the other day. I know I shouldn’t have skipped school like that and made you worry. I didn’t mean too. Honestly.” She spun so she could face her mother. “I just needed to get out. I felt like I was drowning and I needed air.”

Her mother let out a sigh. “My issue wasn’t with you skipping school, although,” she gave her a hard look, “that’s a big no-no and if you do it again you’ll be punished, but it was the fact that you didn’t have the simple courtesy to call and tell us where you were.”

When Madison opened her mouth to defend herself, her mother raised a finger and continued. “You talked about earning respect, well with the way you’ve been behaving, you haven’t earned ours either. What you did—running off and not returning till evening—was incredibly selfish. The only reason your father and I are even letting you go to this dance is because this is the first time you’ve shown an interest in something social since we’ve moved. But after this, you’re grounded along with extra chores. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” she said, knowing she deserved the punishment.

“And your curfew is eleven o’clock—a minute, even a second after that, and you won’t be going anywhere till you graduate. Capisce?”

Madison nodded.

“Good. Now where’s your camera? I want to take a picture of us.” Her mother went to her desk and opened one of those drawers. “What do you call those things? Selfies?” She poked around, then closed it and moved on to the next.

Before she could open it, Madison cried, “No!” and rushed in between. That particular drawer held the pouch full of FEC coins. There was no way she was going to let her mother see that. “I mean, if you want to take a selfie use my phone. No one uses actual cameras for that.”

She raised her hands and back away. “Sorry, guess I’m not hip with the times.”

“The fact that you use that term in the first place says it all.” She didn’t move till she was sure her mother wouldn’t go looking. Then she picked up her phone off her nightstand and they took a picture together.