CHAPTER ONE
The bland sounds of laughter and simpleminded perverted jokes wafted through the thin black wires and into Molly's ears. Her eyes wouldn't leave the screen no matter how hard Molly tried to move them. She had decided that her mind was too strong for her, and she would just have to give in and watch as many pointless videos of strangers trying so hard to be somebody, that they would stuff their faces with food, and dress in a fairy costume. Just as Molly chuckled at a snarky comment, she felt a bony, cold, hand grab onto her shoulder, sending a cold shiver down her long spine.
"Mother." Molly slowly turned around, the ear phones falling out of her ears and clacking on the desk. Her eyes were level with a small silver button holding together a thin black sweater wrapped around the narrow built body of Molly's mother.
"Homework." Madge said simply. Looking into Molly's dull gray eyes. Her average red hair puffed out of her head on all sides. Her lifeless cheeks quivered and her colorless lips twitched, but no sounds escaped.
"Homework." Madge repeated again, louder than the last time.
"I um. What about it?" Molly asked, buying time.
"Don't play stupid. Did you do your homework or not?" Her grip grew tighter on Molly's shoulders and her eyes narrowed.
"Yes." Molly lied, trying not to laugh, she kept her face as straight as possible.
"Where's your backpack?" Madge asked, finally releasing Molly's shoulder, and placing her hands on her hips.
"Nowhere." Molly said, trying hard not to glance at the far corner of the room.
"So, you finished your homework huh?"
"Yes." Molly repeated.
"Alright. Get off that computer and leave your phone in here, and come downstairs." Madge leaned over Molly and pressed the round power button, as the bright, glowing screen went black.
"Wait mom!" Molly pawed at her mother's hands.
"Come downstairs." Madge stared at Molly for a few seconds, then stalked out of the door and into the hallway, down the stairs.
Madge was never the kind of person to sit around. She couldn't understand how someone could stand being sitting in the same spot more than an hour. She was the kind of person who was constantly moving. She might sit and read a book, take a long walk, call the neighbors, all in the matter of an hour or two. On the other hand, Molly often sat in front of her computer for hours on end. She didn't think about like her mother did. She thought it was just the average thing to do, which it was. Her friends at school always talked to her about videos they saw last night, songs they listened to, and pictures they saw. She wouldn't have friends if she couldn't relate to them, or talk to them about interesting things, but of course she didn't think about that too much. She came home every day from school and sat down at her computer, not because her friends do the same, but because that was just what she had to do.
Molly sighed, rolled her eyes, and stood up. "She always does this." she quickly ran to the far corner of her rom and unzipped her bag and pulled out a thin purple binder. She dropped down on the ground and opened the binder to reveal a small day planner full of round, neat writing. She flipped to November 3rd and read down the list of homework written in a column. Luckily, her teachers didn't give too much homework. The most work she ever got was having to finish an essay they had started in school, at home. In the planner, she had written
- write 10 sentences in french using the past tense.
- Read a chapter from book club book
- print out an article of agriculture history
- TextBook page 87 numbers 10-23
She quickly reached inside her bag and pulled out a black and white notebook with the word FRENCH written in blue pen on the cover. Molly grabbed a pen off of her desk and opened the notebook to the next fresh page and began writing a list of past tense sentences in french. As she finished writing the 8th sentence, her bedroom door opened wide and Madge stood in the doorway staring down at Molly.
"Didn't you finished your homework?" Madge asked, a faint smile just begging to show.
"I thought I did." Molly lied. "I just remembered this." Molly watched as her mother bent down and picked up the binder off of the floor. She flipped through the pages as if she had done it a thousand times before. She found today's date and read through the list.
"Did you write 10 sentences in-"
"Yes mom. That's what i'm doing right now."
"Don't interup me." and Madge shot her daughter and dirty look, then turned back to the binder in her hands. Did you read the chapter for your book club?" she looked up at Molly's twitching face.
"I'm um, 'im going to read that when I go to sleep."
"You can't read when your sleeping."
"No mom. I'm going to read in bed, right before I go to sleep."
Madge gave a soft, but convincing chuckle and went back to reading the list. "And an article?"
"Okay mom. I didn't do any homework yet. I'm doing it now."
As if all the bubbling anger inside finally burst, Madge's face scrunched together and turned red.
"Next time I ask you a question, you're going to tell me the truth. Do you understand me?" Madge tried hard not to yell.
Molly, used to being scolded so often, turned her eyes back to the notebook in front of her and went back to writing out the 10 sentences.
"You will look at me when i'm speaking to you." Madge stalked over to Molly, grabbed her shoulder and spun her around to face her. She bent down and put her face inches away from Molly's, and whispered, "Do you understand me?" blowing minty breathe into Molly's nose. Molly rolled her eyes and turned away again.
"That's it, Molly." Madge yelled, grabbing the notebook and pen out of Molly's hands and throwing them onto the ground at Molly's feat.
"Go over there." Madge pointed to the other side of the room. Molly stubbornly stood up and walked to the other side of the room where her mother had pointed, getting ready to be sent downstairs to sit on the couch with her mother until it was time for her to be sent to bed. But instead of sending Molly downstairs, Madge bent down on her hands and knees and crawled underneath the desk. Molly bent down so that she could see what her mother was doing, before Madge jumped back up and wrapped her arms around the large computer screen. She waited a second, then lifted it up and carried it to where Molly was standing.
"Here." Madge dropped the desktop into Molly's arms. Molly's knees buckled and she dropped down a foot before she could catch her balance again.
"Mom, stop! What are you doing?" Molly yelled.
"Don't raise your voice at me." Madge said as she wrapped the thick white wires of the computer around Molly's arm.
"Come." Madge said leading Molly out of her room and down the hallway and into her room.
"Mom, this is heavy." Molly wined.
"I don't want to hear you complaining." Madge shoved open her door and pushed Molly inside of her room. "Put that on my desk.
"Molly wobbled over to her Mother's desk and carefully placed her beloved friend on the wooden counter. She turned to face her mother, trying to figure out what she was supposed to do.
"Plug it in." Madge said simply.
"Plug it in?" Madge nodded, and Molly dropped the coil of wire onto the ground with a smack. She took the end and crawled around on the floor, looking for a plug. She finally found one and plugged in the wire, hearing the bright loud ding come from the computer above her.
"Thank you." Madge pulled up a chair to the desk and sat down before Molly was able to stand up. She squeezed through the space between the chair leg and the desk corner, and stood up.
"You are never aloud back inside this room again, Molly." Madge said softly as she adjusted the computer so that it was parallel with the wall behind it.
"What?" Molly asked, surprised.
"Have you gone deaf as well as bratty?" Madge asked with sarcastic confusion. She ushered Molly out of her room and into the hallway.
"Go and get your phone." Madge said pushing Molly up the hallway to her room.
"I can't use the computer?" Molly asked, turning around to see her Mother smile and shake her head. "But." Molly started, but stopped, because she knew there was absolutely no compromising with her mother now that her temper was up. "I need my phone." Molly said, hands on hips.
"For what? Texting a stupid boy in the middle of the night? Watching mind melting videos all day? No. Go and get it." Madge pointed to the doorway to Molly's room and watched as Molly slowly dragged herself into her room, found her phone and came out, holding it slightly behind her back.
"What if I get lost?"Molly asked. "How will you find me?"
Madge held out her hand for the phone. When Molly slowly dropped it into her palm, she stuffed it into her back pocket and said, "I'm not going to have to worry about that for a while." Madge said.
"What do you mean?" Molly asked, her heart beating quickly.
Madge walked back into her room and sat down on her bed. Molly followed close behind, but when she stepped into the room, Madge held up her hand for her to stop.
"What did I just say? Your not allowed in this room anymore. You'll stand in the doorway."
Molly rolled her eyes again, expecting to be scolded once again, but Madge didn't say a word about it. Instead she said,
"I don't like how you've been acting lately. I raised you better than this. Everyday, I see you walk into the bathroom at 6 in the morning and leave an hour later, your face packed with powders and awful blotchy colors. You go to school dressed in clothes that don't even fit you and you won't let me buy you knew ones. You've lost all respect for adults. You spend all your time on the computer watching stupid videos and listening to terrible auto tuned music. I barely ever see you anymore, and when I do, I always have to scold you. So, i've decided that the only way i'm ever going to be able to get my real daughter back is to teach her my own way. So, that means no more computer or phone or TV. You will not speak to any of those so called friends of your at school, and you will have an early curfew." At this, Molly's eyes widened, her hands twitched and she leaned onto the wall next to her for support.
"Mom, how am I not going to talk to my friends?" This was just one of the burning questions inside of her at the moment.
"I'm not sending you to school anymore." Madge said slowly and matter of fact-ly.
"Your not sending me to school?" Most children might get a kick out of their parents telling them this, but Molly didn't hate school. Actually, she enjoyed spending time with her friends all day. She found absolutely nothing wrong with that.
"Your going to spend time with the neighborhood children."
"The neighborhood kids?" Molly asked. "Mom. They're all home schooled and weird."
"You're home schooled too." Madge said smiling.
"No i'm not." Molly yelled, angrily.
"You are now. I've been talking to your principal about making the switch, and he helped me. You are no longer enrolled in Grantwood anymore." When Madge saw the frown and sagging eyes form on Molly's face, she added. "Don't get upset. I'm helping you. I'm expanding your horizons. Your going to meet some new people, and maybe they can teach you some things."
"Mom." Molly complained.
"Theres no getting out of this Molly. You brought it upon yourself. You know that don't you?" Molly stalked off into her room, slamming the door shut behind her. She had no way to contact her friends and tell them the news. They lived too far away to walk, and she didn't have their phone numbers memorized. All their contact information was in her phone. As Molly sat down on her bed, she dropped her head in her hands and tears formed in her eyes. It was official that her life was now ruined by her terrible mother. She would lose all her friends now that she couldn't keep up with the videos and new songs. She had to stay at home all day with her mother instead.
At least she didn't have to finish her homework anymore. And at that, she lay down on her bed, fully dressed, closed her eyes, and drifted off to sleep.
No comments:
Post a Comment