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Post by Bad Beth on Jul 14, 2013 13:46:40 GMT
Chapter 6
I had another soccer game on Wednesday. I warmed up with my teammates. We practiced kicking the ball in the goal. I saw Brian come with the movie camera ad his beach chair. I wonder where Kate was. I ran up to him. “Where’s Kate?” I asked. “She’s not feeling good so she stayed home.” “What happened?” “She got the flue today.” “Are you two ever going to get married someday?” I asked wistfully. “Hey, what did Mom say about that on Sunday? It’s not polite to ask.” “But I was just wondering,” I said. “Because I always wanted to be an aunt. Lot of kids in my school have nieces and nephews.” “They probably have an older brother or sister who’s probably older than me or unless their parents had sex when they were your age but don’t get pregnant when you’re still a kid. Talk to Mom about it if you’re confused.” “Brian?” I said. “Yes?” “How come boys don’t like girls when they’re little?” I asked. “Mom told me you didn’t like them when you were in elementary school.” “Get out there and practice with you teammates. You can ask me that after the game.” I ran to my teammates and warmed up with them. I kept trying to kick my ball in the goal but our goalie kept stopping it. I saw the other team as I got my ball. Then our coach blew his whistle. We ran over to him. He gave us our positions. I was in right field but I was subbed at the beginning of the game. I ran to Mom. “Mom, is having a baby at my age bad luck?” I asked. “I wouldn’t call it bad luck,” Mom replied. “It just isn’t a good idea to have a baby when you’re still a kid.” “Why?” I asked. “Because it gives you responsibility to take care of it and you would have to skip school and you would get so far behind that you would have to drop out because you can’t catch up.” “Can’t you and Dad take care of the baby?” I asked. Mom shook her head. “It doesn’t work like that. Once you have a baby, you have to take care of it, not your parents. That’s why some kids put their babies up for an adoption because they can’t handle the responsibility.” I saw my teammates in their positions in the field. The other team was in the field too in their positions. The referee blew his whistle. The game began. Mom and I talked more about teen moms. Jessica ran up to us. “Natalie, our coach is about to put us in, come on,” she took my hand and we ran to our coach. After the other team kicked the ball out of the field, Chelsie and Audrey got subbed in and we got put in the field. The red head girl threw the ball back to her teammates. That was a throw in whatever it’s called. I concentrated really hard. I wanted to play really good so Mom would be very proud of me. She’ll be so proud, she’ll tell Dad I did good and he’ll think I wasn’t going backwards after all. I knew he wasn’t going to show up during my game. The referee blew his whistle. It was halftime. My teammates and I sat down. Mom gave me my water bottle. “I’m not thirsty,” I lied. If I drink water, it’ll turn into urine and my diaper will leak. I’m so busy I can’t take a changing break so I don’t drink any fluids. “Don’t worry about it,” said Mom. She read my mind. She knows me because I’m her daughter. She knows me better than my friends. I don’t have many friends. Lot of them are abnormal. They aren’t like other people. Allie has ADD, Jenny has cerebral palsy, Ashley has hearing problems so she wears hearing aids. They don’t get teased but I do. Everyone picks on me. Why can’t I be like everybody else? Other kids can do tenth grade work and I can’t because it’s too hard. I’m probably retarded. I can’t even find answers in books and other kids can and I always get lost in movies, (that means I don’t know what’s going on) and when I do figure it out sometimes something else is already going on in the movie. I’m so dumb. My brain probably got damaged in the car accident. Now I have two medical problems, retardation and bladder problems. I wonder if my ovaries got damaged too. If they did, that means I can’t have babies or unless I adopt. Even if my ovaries weren’t damaged, I would have to have sex with my husband and get pregnant and my diapers would stop fitting me. I wonder if there’s maternity diapers. After halftime was over, we switched sides. One of the moms picked up the bowl of sliced apples we had. We didn’t eat much because we were too busy talking. “I don’t understand why we have to switch sides,” I said. “I don’t either but that’s the way soccer is played,” Megan said. Megan’s my teammate. I got in my position. The referee put the ball in the middle and blew his whistle. Jessica passed the ball to Megan. Megan dribbled the ball and passed it. Towards the end of the game, we were near the soccer goal. “I’m open,” I said. The other teammates bunched around Chelsie. I had troubles seeing the ball. Then it got kicked out of the crowd. I kicked it and it went in the goal. The goalie looked shocked. Just because I’m blond doesn’t mean I can’t score. Everyone cheered on our side of the field. I turned and waved proudly at my mom. Mom nodded as she clapped and gave me thumbs up. I have scored my first goal. “Natalie,” Kristy said. “Nice job.” The goalie picked up the soccer ball and kicked it. We ran after it. I tried to score another goal but I couldn’t. I kept kicking it crooked. I was relieved when my coach subbed me in. I needed a break. Mom hugged me. “I’m so proud of you.” “What will Dad think?”
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Post by Bad Beth on Jul 14, 2013 13:47:48 GMT
Chapter 7
“Dad, Dad, Dad!” I said excitedly as he walked in the front door at 9:00. “Guess what? I scored a goal! Isn’t that great!?” “Do you have to yell?!” he said. “I’m not yelling. I’m excited. I wish you were there. You would have been so proud of me!” “Will you shut up!” he yelled. “Anita, we have to start disciplining our child!” he said as he walked in the family room. “She won’t stop yelling.” Dad wasn’t proud of me after all. He still thinks the same thing about me. What a waste of energy I used. I stomped my feet as I walked up the stairs to my room. “What happened?” Kelly asked. “Dad hates me,” I replied. “No he doesn’t.” I sat down against the wall. “Yes he does. He told me to shut up.” “He probably had a rough day.” “He said I was yelling,” I cried. “Actually,” Kelly said. “You were. You can be excited and still yell.” “But I wasn’t even mad,” I said. “You can still yell and not be mad.” “What?” I was confused. Why would someone yell and not be mad? “I know it’s hard having a disability,” Kelly said. “Excuse me?” I couldn’t believe what I just heard. Disability sounded like an abnormal word. “Never mind.” “You said disability,” I pointed out. “Your bladder problem is a disability,” said Kelly. “You see, your kidneys, make the urine and it goes to you bladder but the problem is your bladder is a muscle. When you bladder is about three inches across, that’s when your brain tells you you need to go to the bathroom and empty it.” “I remember getting that feeling when I was potty trained,” I interrupted. “But since your bladder doesn’t do that,” Kelly continued. “It always empties out every time urine comes in. But I did my best explaining it. Lot of my friends considers you handicapped because you have it.” “But I’m not even in a wheelchair,” I said. “You can still be handicapped and not be in a wheelchair.” “But why would your friends consider me handicapped?” “Because you have a bladder control problem and it will never get better. That means you’ll never wear underwear again. Not ever ever ever.” “I don’t care what everyone says,” I cried. “I quit wearing them.” I pulled down my pajama pants and took off my diaper. “Get out of my room!” Kelly ordered. “I don’t want stains on my carpet.” “I don’t have to,” I said. “It’s my room too.” “I’m telling Mom you took your diaper off,” Kelly said. “Okay fine, I’ll put it back on.” I picked up my diaper and put it back on but I didn’t put it on tight enough. “Here, lie down, I’ll help you,” said Kelly. I lied on the floor. “And I’m sorry I was mean to you,” Kelly apologized. “No you weren’t,” I said. “Yes I was. It was mean of me when I said you’ll never wear underwear again. Not ever ever ever,” she said as she tightened up my diaper. “If I haven’t had said that, you wouldn’t have taken off your diaper.” I pulled up my pants. “Thanks,” I said. “Natalie, do you have any idea what happened to our pets?” Kelly asked. “No I haven’t,” I replied. “I haven’t seen them in a week.” (Author’s note: I forgot to mention their pets and include them as I did for Natalie vs Her Parents until the middle but at least I mentioned them because I didn’t think about them for this story so I threw this in as an explanation why they were not around. But I didn’t really like it but that is a con about writing in notebooks, you can’t undo your mistakes unless you want to do lot of erasing.) We have three pets. One dog and two cats. Skippy, Mittens, and Princess. Princess belongs to me. She’s a Tabby cat. “I think they were kidnapped,” I said. “That’s it,” said Kelly. We ran downstairs into the family room. “Mom, have you seen our pets?” I asked. “No I haven’t,” she replied. “But we put fliers up on Friday.” “But what if they were kidnapped,” I cried. “We went to the humane society last Thursday to see if they were there but they weren’t,” Mom said. “But they weren’t kidnapped. They have identification tags on their collar.” Some reason last week, our pets disappeared. What happened? Why did they do it? I went back upstairs to my room and went on the internet. I went in the chatroom. I typed in hello and clicked send. (Author’s note: Since this story is discontinued, I will tell you what really happened to their pets. Glen who had turned into a mean man decided he didn’t want animals in his home anymore so he got rid of them secretly behind his family’s back. He is actually keeping them somewhere in Portland but his family finds out eventually he had something to do with their pets disappearing and they are mad at him and they get them back. I still remember this story idea I had for this story but never got this far unfortunately) “What are you doing?” I jumped. “Kelly, you scared me.” “Sorry, what are you doing?” “I’m just in the chatroom,” I replied. “People lie in there you know. That’s why I don’t go in there. They lie about their age and say they’re someone else.” “Oh that’s nice,” I said sarcastically. Kelly picked up her book and started to read. “Do you always have to read that book?” I asked. “Yes, it’s good. I love this story. It’s much better than the movie. Much better.” Kelly loves reading The One Hundred and One Dalmatians. The story’s much different from the movie, much different. The book was written in the 1950’s by Dodie Smith. I opened up my binder and counted all the scratch marks in my Rugrats folder. This was her fiftieth time reading that book and she’s almost done with it. Then one of my tabs on my diaper came loose. I resticked it. I talked in the chat room for a while. My tabs kept coming loose. If I haven’t had taken off my diaper, this wouldn’t be happening. “These things won’t stay,” I said in a frustrated tone. “What? Your tabs?” Kelly asked. “Yes,” I said. “They won’t stay.” “I know how they’ll stick. I’ll be right back.” Kelly left our bedroom. A couple minutes later, she came back with black tape. We use that tape on our swing set. “This might work,” she said. She tore some off the roll and gave it to me. I taped it on my tabs. “I hope this works and what will Mom think if she sees this tape on my diaper?” “Just tell her you were trying to change your own diaper in the middle of the night but you failed putting it on tight so you tried and tried and soon the tabs quit sticking.” “I hope she falls for that fib.” “Okay girls, time for bed,” Mom said as she came in our room. I logged off the internet and shut down the computer. I crawled in my bed. “Mom, Dad hates me,” I said. “He does not hate you. He had a rough day,” Mom said. “Goodnight girls.” Mom turned off our light and shut our door. I reached under my bed for my flashlight. I got it and lifted up my pillow and read my Nancy Drew book. We’re not allowed to have lights on past nine but Kelly and I get away with it. “I bet you’re reading that book,” I said. “Yep I am,” she said. “The owners are strange in that book. They have two nannies and they walk their dogs for them.” “Then why don’t you write a story about Mr. and Mrs. Dearly deciding to be kids again?” Yeah maybe I’ll do that. I read my book until I got tired. I put my bookmark in my book and turned off my flashlight. * * * I had homework the next day after school, so did Kelly and Matthew. We did four hours of it. After I was done, I practiced dribbling my soccer ball in the family room. “Not in the house Natalie,” said Mom. “But I need to practice,” I said. “You can o it at soccer practice tomorrow.” I sat down and sighed. Matthew turned on the TV and put in Toy Story 2. He fastened forward through all the previews. He stopped when he came to a bonus Pixar show. We watched it. It was about a little lamp and a big lamp. Kelly sat down to join us. “You guys are watching Toy Story 2?” “I can’t wait ‘til The Emperor’s New Groove comes out,” Matthew said. “It looks funny.” “And I can’t wait ‘til the new Rugrats movie comes out,” I said. “And this time, they’re going to Paris.” “Yeah yeah yeah,” Matthew said. “Don’t spoil the whole movie for us.” I read the story book so I knew about the whole movie. After Toy Story 2 was over, I went upstairs and got ready for bed. I took off my diaper and put a new one on. Mom came in my room to check on me. (I think) “I changed my diaper,” I said. “Did you remember to put some lotion on your bottom?” I sighed. “You want a diaper rash? That’s your choice but don’t complain about it when you get it.” I took off my diaper and put lotion on my bottom and put it back on but I was worried I didn’t put it on tight enough. I went to Mom’s room. “Is my diaper on tight enough?” I asked. Mom checked it and tightened it up a little bit. “You’re getting better at changing yourself.” Mom went in the hallway to the staircase. “Kelly and Matthew! Up here now!” “Okay.” They came upstairs and got ready for bed. I read my Nancy Drew book. “Lights out,” Mom said. “Where’s Dad?” I asked. “He never came home.” “I don’t know,” Mom replied. “He is probably hanging out with his friends.” “At the bar,” Kelly added sarcastically. I turned off my light and Mom shut the door. “Kelly,” I said. “Where do you think Dad is?” “I don’t know,” she replied. “He’s been acting weird.” “I know. He’s been missing our games, has been coming home late without telling Mom he’ll be hanging out with his friends and what else,” I thought for a moment. “Oh yeah, he’s been mean to me and he’s been cussing and swearing.” “So, he’s been having a rough month.” “But it doesn’t give him a right to be mean.” Dad never came home until two in the morning.
“Okay girls, I want you to take five laps around the field dribbling your soccer ball,” our coach told us at soccer practice. “Ready, go.” He blew his whistle. We took five laps around the field. After we were done, we practiced kicking our ball in the goal, then we had to practice with a goalie in it. I tried hard to get my ball in the goal but Beverly kept stopping it. After we practiced all the soccer drills we did a scrimmage game against my sister’s team. I tried hard to score a goal. Kelly had the ball. I ran after her. She passed the ball to one of her teammates. She got it and dribbled it. But as she passed it, Jessi kicked the ball to the other side of the field. I ran after it and so did Kelly. We raced to it and fought over it. I locked the ball between my legs. Kelly tried to get it. My team and the other team both watched us. Kelly’s teammates bunched up around us. The two coaches were too busy talking so they didn’t see us. “Natalie, I see our cats!” Kelly exclaimed. “They came back!” I turned around and looked. “Where?” I couldn’t see them. Kelly stole the ball from me. “So long sucker!” she said and laughed. She tricked me. I ran after her. “You dirty animal,” I said. When soccer practice was over, Mom picked us up. When we got home, Kelly, Matthew, and I ran in the family room and fought over the TV. “I want to watch Cartoon Network,” Matthew said. “No I want to watch Disney,” Kelly said. “I’m watching Nickelodeon,” I said. “What’s going on in here?” Mom asked. “Nothing,” Kelly replied. “I heard arguing in here and I want it to stop,” said Mom. “If you don’t there will be no TV for any of you.” Mom went in the kitchen to start dinner. “I’m going upstairs to Mom’s room to watch TV,” said Matthew. I turned to Nickelodeon and watched Double Dare 2000. After it was over, I went upstairs to my room and got started on my homework. How do kids in my grade handle this kind of work? This work is so hard I can’t even do it but other kids can. I couldn’t even do ninth grade work last year so I always had homework. Tons and tons of it. Mom always had to come home early from work and help me do it but this year I’m trying to do it myself because I don’t want to be retarded. I haven’t been asking Mom for help lately because every time she does, she looks at my work and tells me I have the wrong answer or I’m doing something wrong and makes me redo it so I don’t ask for help anymore. I’ve been getting Fs but I don’t care. At least I’m doing the work all by myself. I spent the rest of the evening doing my homework. I had troubles finding the answers in my book because I didn’t know where to find them. Other kids can find them so can sixth graders. I think I’m retarded. I don’t wannabe retarded. I want to be normal. I decided to turn my worksheet in blank. No I can’t do that, I’ll get an F. I’ll get an F anyway even if I did do it. I decided to do math. I tried to figure out how to do the problems but I couldn’t figure out how to do it. I decided to move onto English. I had to write about something. I only have five lines of words. I should go downstairs and ask Mom to help me. “Time for bed,” she said to Kelly and Matthew. I came downstairs and asked Mom to help me. “You’re just starting to do your homework?” Mom asked. “No,” I said. “I’ve been doing it but I had troubles doing it so I need your help.” “I’m not staying up for four more hours helping you do your homework. I’ll help you tomorrow when we come back from your brother’s soccer game.” * * * In the middle of the night I woke up from a car pulling onto our driveway making a skid mark. The car door opened and closed. I heard footsteps coming in through the front door, up the stairs, and into Mom and Dad’s room. Then I heard yelling. “What do you mean NO?!!!” Dad yelled. “I’m your husband and you’re supposed to do everything with me and I’m supposed to do everything with you!!!” Why was Dad yelling? I think something bad happened and Dad’s taking it out on Mom. “God damn it Anita! Why are you doing this to me?!” I put my pillow over my head. I couldn’t stand the yelling.
In the morning I sat at the kitchen table with my brother and sister. “Mom, what was with all the yelling in the middle of the night?” Kelly asked. “I don’t want to talk about it,” Mom replied. “I told Natalie and Matthew that this morning.” “But how come you don’t want to talk about it?” “Kelly please, what did I just say? I told you I don’t want to talk about it.” Mom went back to cooking. When she served us our breakfast, Dad came home singing “Johnny B Good.” Matthew, Kelly, and I all asked him why he was yelling at Mom in the middle of the night. “Anita!” Dad yelled. “Did you tell them about it?!!” “No,” Mom replied. “I didn’t.” “Then how do they god damn know?!!” “”They heard you yelling.” “It’s none of their damn business to know what happened between us.” “It is our damn business to know what happened,” I said firmly. “I hope you didn’t hurt Mom.” “Stay out of this girl!” Dad yelled. “I have a name Dad.” Dad kept yelling at Mom but when she disagreed about me being a loser, Dad grabbed her and shoved her against the fridge and a bunch of magnets fell off. Dad was in Mom’s face. “Please get out of my face?” she politely asked. “I will if you will listen to me!” he bellowed. “Our daughter is a loser! A god damn loser! She is so dumb she can’t even do her schoolwork!” “It does not make her dumb. It means the work is too hard.” “Fine, she’s retarded.” “She is not retarded.” Dad shook her. “She wears diapers.” Mom glared at him. “Lot of retarded people don’t wear diapers and Natalie was in a car accident when she was little.” “And who’s fault was that?” “No one’s.” “It was yours!” Dad said. “You were driving the car on the freeway at the wrong time! If you haven’t have turned right, none of this wouldn’t have happened!” Mom looked down. She started to cry. I looked at Kelly and Matthew. “Are you crying?” Dad asked. “Are you crying?” Mom shook her head, “No.” “Oh bullshit! Turn off the waterworks!” he let go of Mom. “This is pathetic. I’m surrounded with two babies.” Dad picked up a knife and an apple. He cut it into eight slices. “Do I have to come home every day now and see two babies instead of one?” Mom stared at the floor. Matthew, Kelly, and I all looked at Dad. Dad pointed the knife at Mom. “I come home every day and see Natalie act like a baby. ‘Mom I can’t do my homework. It’s too hard’ ‘Mom I can’t get my diaper on’ and every time she does get her diaper on, it’s not on tight enough and every time she does her homework by herself, it’s three hours later and she’s still working on the same assignment.” “She probably has a learning disability,” Mom informed. “And last year when she was in ninth grade, she had to do a book project. Every time she read a chapter she had no fucking clue what happened in it.” Matthew looked at us opened mouthed. “He said the f word,” he mouthed. I was stunned. Dad never says that word especially bastard and bitch. “That book was too hard for her,” Mom said. “That was an eighth grade book!” Dad said. “And our daughter was in ninth grade.” See I’m dumb. I can’t even do eighth grade work. “Everybody learns differently,” Mom said. Dad walked over to Mom fast angrily with the knife pointing out at her. Oh no! Dad’s going to stab Mom and she doesn’t even know it and neither does Kelly and Matthew. I got out of my chair. “Noooo!!!” I yelled as I pulled Mom back. “Natalie!” Mom said. “What are you doing?!” I picked up a plate from the dish rack and threw it at Dad. He dropped the knife and caught it. “What in the bloody hell do you think you’re doing?!!” (My dad’s English) “I’m not going to let you hurt Mom!” I cried. “What are you talking about?” Mom asked. “Did you see him walk up to you with the knife?!” I started to cry. “Yes, he was cutting an apple,” Mom replied. “No, he was going to stab you!” “What gave you that crazy idea? Dad and I don’t let you have lot of candy. How much TV have you been watching?” “I don’t ever get to watch TV very much because I’m too busy doing my homework,” I replied. “How much video games have you been playing?” “None.” “Are you feeling all right?” Mom felt my forehead. “You feel fine. I think you need to go to your room to calm down.” “Oh great, now you’re punishing me for defending you?” I said. “I’m not punishing you. I’m just sending you to your room so you can calm down.” “But did you see Dad walk up to you with the knife pointing it at you? He was going to stab you.” Mom looked at my brother and sister. “Did you two think Dad was going to hurt me?” “No,” they replied. “Oh yeah, if he wasn’t, then why did he walk up to Mom with the knife pointing it at her?” I asked. “Because that’s how he was holding it,” Matthew said. “He was cutting an apple,” Kelly said. “For crying out loud.” “You guys must be the weirdest people ever,” I said. “Go to your room Natalie,” Mom ordered. “If you hurt Mom, I’ll call the police!” I said to Dad firmly and went up to my room. I sat on my bed and held Po in my arms. (Po’s one of the teletubbies from Teletubbies) I pretended Po talked to me. “Eh-oh,” she said. “Natalie sad.” “Yes Natalie is sad,” I corrected in good grammar. “But I’m more than sad. I’m frightened because Dad was going to stab Mom so I had to defend her and I got in trouble for it.” I started to cry again. “Oh Po this is terrible. No one wouldn’t believe me that Dad tried to hurt Mom. Even if I tell Brian and Kate, they’re not going t believe me either nor Allie. She may have ADD but it won’t stop her from believing me.” “Natalie frightened,” said Po. “Will you use correct grammar,” I ordered. “Or don’t talk at all.” “Po not talk at all,” replied Po. “from now on, I’ll be keeping an eye on dad,” I said. “What a kid’s gotta do what a kid’s gotta do.”
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Post by Bad Beth on Jul 14, 2013 13:48:55 GMT
Chapter 8
“Hello, anybody home,” Allie said as she waved her hand in front of my face. “What?” I asked. “Hello,” she said. She grabbed a chair and sat down. We were at Matthew’s soccer game. “What’s wrong?” Allie asked. “Oh nothing,” I replied. “If I told you, you wouldn’t believe me.” “Of course I will.” “Dad tried to hurt my mom this morning.” “How?” “With a knife.” “Didn’t you call the police?” I shook my head. ‘No.” “Just because he’s your Dad doesn’t mean you can’t turn him in.” “You mean Glen?” I was just making sure she didn’t mean one of the cops is my Dad. Allie gave me a funny look. “Yeah.” “Mom will be mad at me if I called the police,” I said. “Why?” “Because she didn’t know Dad was going to hurt her.” “Now that’s illogical. Your Dad tried to stab your Mom and she didn’t even know it? How can that be?” “Because he was cutting an apple.” “Now you’re not making sense. Why did you think your dad was going to stab your mom just because he was cutting an apple?” “No no no,” I said. “That’s not what I meant. Oh my mom and dad had a fight again this morning,” I finally said. “They were fighting about me. My dad lost his temper and he walked up to Mom angrily with the knife pointing it at her tummy. He was going to stab her.” “I think you need help,” Allie said. “Next time you come to my house, talk to my mom about your problem.” (Her mom’s a psychologist) “You don’t believe me do you?” I said. “He was just cutting an apple, c’mon just because he walked up to her with a knife didn’t mean he was going to stab her.” “Oh yeah what do you call this?” I stood up and my homework fell out of my lap. I pretended my pencil was the knife. I took a couple steps away from Allie. I pointed the pencil led at her and held my arm out. I walked up to her really fast pretending I was my dad. “It just happened he never put the knife down,” Allie replied. “See! I knew you wouldn’t believe me!” I yelled. “And you said you would! You lied to me!”
“That was all a misunderstanding,” Allie said. “A misunderstanding. I didn’t lie to you.” “Yes you did.” “I didn’t know you were going to tell me this.” “But you said you would believe me.” “I didn’t know this was going to be a misunderstanding.” “I thought we were friends,” I said. “But I guess I was wrong.” “We are friends,” Allie said. “If we are? Then why are you against me?” “I’m not. I believe you. You just saw it differently, that’s all.” “Even if I called the police, they’re not going to believe me either.” “How do you know?” “Because Matthew and Kelly were in the same room when Dad tried to stab Mom. They didn’t believe me either. How can they be so stupid to think it wasn’t going to happen?” I sat down in my chair. “They just saw it differently than you, that’s all.” “Please go away,” I said. “I’d like to be left alone.” “Okay,” Allie walked away. I picked up my homework and tried to do it. I couldn’t concentrate. I kept getting distracted by the thoughts in my head about what happened this morning. I saw Allie talking to Kelly. I bet she was talking about what happened this morning. “My mom’s getting her a psychologist,” I heard Kelly say to her. Psychologists are for people with problems. I don’t want to have problems. I wasn’t to be normal just like everyone else. I don’t want to wear diapers anymore. I wish Mom would let me quit. My dad probably wouldn’t mind. I cheered for Matthew as he played. “Feeling better?” Kelly asked. “A little,” I said. “Need any help with your homework?” “Yes yes yes please do.” Kelly tried to help me, then she realized this work was too hard. “I can’t do it,” she said. “You’ve been right the whole time. Your work is hard.” “Kelly, you’re only in seventh grade,” I said. “Of course this work is hard and by the time you get to this grade, this work won’t be so hard.” “I guess you’re right,” she said. I tried to do more of my homework but it was too darn hard. I put my work on the ground and went to my mom. She was talking to another woman. Mom put her arm around me. “This game is pretty exciting isn’t it?” she said. “I guess,” I replied. “Is this your lovely daughter?” the woman asked. “This is one of them,” Mom replied. The woman studied me for a moment. “She has your eyes,” she said. “Yes, and she has her father’s ears.” They talked about me for a while. I wish they would change the topic. Then I saw a dark cloud heading towards us. ‘Mom, look. Doesn’t that cloud look pretty dark?” I asked trying to change the topic . “Yes,” Mom replied. “That’s a rain cloud and now please don’t interrupt.” I walked away. Then a bunch of little kids ran by me. “I wanna see it, I wanna see it,” a girl cried. “Cone and follow me and I’ll show you,” a boy said. He was the ring leader. I got curious so I followed them. I followed them away from the soccer field. I followed them past the other soccer fields and then past the basketball courts. I followed them into the trees. It was a tiny little forest but there weren’t enough trees to make one. “Here it is right here,” the boy said. He pointed at a dead Tabby cat with a stick. “Ew,” said the little kids. “Gross.” “I hope this isn’t my cat,” I said. I walked up to it and studied it. I picked up a stick to lift the head up. Phew it wasn’t my cat. Thank god. “How did this cat die?” I asked. The cat had blood all over the body. There were flies flying around the body and landing on it. “Some animal attacked it,” the boy replied. “How old are you?” I asked. The kid stuck up seven fingers “Seven,” he replied. “Maybe a werewolf killed it,” said a little girl. “No stupid!” another boy said rudely. “There are no werewolves in this city.” I studied the cat a little bit more. I noticed it had big scratches. No wonder why the cat bled to death. It lost so much blood it died. I had enough of looking at the dead cat. “Can I ask you a question?” one of the little kids asked as I was leaving. “What?” I asked. “Do you wear diapers?” he asked. “Yes,” I confessed. It’s better to tell the truth than lie. I left the trees. “How old are you?” the boy shouted. “Fifteen,” I shouted back. “Yeah right, you’re only two!” I stopped walking. “I’m not two, I’m fifteen.” “Fifteen year olds don’t wear diapers!” I ignored him and went back to Matthew’s soccer field. “Where were you?” Kelly asked. I pointed at the trees. “Over there.” “Wait until Mom comes back, you’re busted.” “Where is she?” I asked. “She’s looking for you and so is Brian and Kate.” When Kate came back she asked me where I was. “I was over there,” I pointed at the trees. “Stay here until your mother comes back,” she said. When Mom and Brian came back Mom wasn’t very happy. “Mom, I’m sorry,” I apologized. “I didn’t mean to break that rule. Some kids walked by me and one of them said he had something cool to show so I followed them and it turned out to be a dead animal.” “That’s no excuse,” Mom said. “You could have told me where you were going.” “You told me to not interrupt,” I pointed out. “Boy were you literal,” she sighed. “Natalie,” she said. “It’s okay to interrupt but,” she paused. “Before you do, you say ‘excuse me’ that’s something I never got to teach you when you were little because I was working all the time.” After Matthew’s game was over we went over. When we got home I sat down at the kitchen table with my homework. “Mom, can you help me?” I asked. “Hold on,” she said. “Matthew take off your shoes. They’re all muddy.” Matthew took off his soccer shoes and left them outside on our front door step. “Now what kind of help do you need?” Mom asked. “My homework,” I replied. “I need help with my homework.” “Mom, can I watch TV?” Matthew asked. “Do you have any homework to finish?” Mom asked. “No, I finished it all last night as I watched TV. The whole work’s too easy. I wish they would give me harder work.” “That’s good,” Mom replied. “That means I have more time to help your sister with her school work.” “You don’t understand Mom. I’m not learning anything. I learn too quickly like in one day. I’m always the first person in class to get my work done and some kids make fun of me because they think I’m teacher’s pet.” “They’re probably just jealous,” Mom said. “No,” Matthew said. “The work’s so easy it feels like I’m doing second grade work.” “But you know it’s fourth grade work right?” “Yes but it’s too easy.” “Fine, I’ll talk to Dad when he gets home to see if we can get you moved up a grade.” “I don’t want to skip a grade,” Matthew complained. “I want to be with my friends.” “Fine, you can suffer with the easy work.” Mom continued helping me. The homework took me five hours to do. God do I hate homework.
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Post by Bad Beth on Jul 14, 2013 13:53:27 GMT
Chapter 9
“Natalie what do you wanna be for Halloween?” Matthew asked. “I haven’t decided yet,” I replied. I was in his room playing Sega the next day. “Well later in the day, Mom needs to run some errands. She needs to stop at the pharmacy to get her pills and she also needs to get you some more diapers.” “Wow,” I said. “And she is going to Wal-Mart to get some stuff. You’re welcome to come with us if you want to get a costume. Kelly’s coming with so you will be home alone. You know the rules right? Never answer the door or phone and I mean both of them. And don’t tell anyone you’re home alone.” “It’s impossible for me to tell anyone I’m home alone if I can’t answer the door or phone,” I said. My brother sighed. “Never mind. Forget what I said.” He left and then he came back. “Oh by the way we’re stopping at Brian’s apartment.” “I’m coming,” I said. I was about to turn the game off when my brother said, “We’re not leaving yet. We won’t leave for another three hours.” “Oh.” I continued playing. Ding dong Our doorbell rang. I heard someone walk to the door and answered it. I touched the starpost and the stars came out and circled around it above the post. I jumped up and touched them. The screen went white and I was in the special stage. I had to collect rings so I could get the chaos emerald. “Come in my room,” Kelly said. I paused the game and went in the hallway. Kelly’s friend Candy was here. They went in our bedroom and went on the computer. I went back in Matthew’s bedroom and continued playing. I collected enough rings to get the chaos emerald. My score added up how much rings I had and how much Tails had and then I returned back to my level. I got some rings and went to the bad guy. The picture shook as the poles popped out of the ground. I jumped on one of them. Dr. Robotnik came in his machine with a huge hammer. He hit the other pole with his hammer. An arrow came out of one of the mouths on the pole. I have to hit him eight times to beat the level. After I defeated him, I ran over to the prison egg and freed all my friends. The game added up my score and I went to the next level Casino Night Zone. Yes my favorite level. I love gambling for rings. One time I spent so much time gambling I didn’t pay attention to the time in the corner of the screen so when it struck ten minutes, I died. I pretended I was in Las Vegas. I was on top of one of the hotel buildings gambling. I jumped in the slot and three of Sonic pictures matched. I won some rings and fell out of the slot. I collected more rings and jumped in gambling slots. I won some more rings and lost some. “You’re going to run out of time if you keep doing that?” said a voice. I jumped. There’s no one in this room but me. I paused the game and looked around. It was only candy. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” she apologized. “It’s okay,” I said out of politeness. “What are you doing in here?” “Your sister had to take a potty break so I’m in here watching you play,” Candy replied. “Oh.” I touched the sign and completed the level. The game added up my score. “Candy?” Kelly called. “In here,” she shouted. Kelly came in the bedroom. “Come on,” she said. “No I want to stay in here and watch her play,” her friend replied. “She’s good.” “Thanks a lot Natalie for taking my friend,” Kelly said sarcastically. “She didn’t take me,” Candy said. “I just wanted to be in here.” “Exactly,” Kelly said. “If she hadn’t been playing that game, you wouldn’t have wanted to stay in here.” “I didn’t come here just to play with you, I’d like to be her friend too.” “Be her friend? Don’t make me laugh. You’d be bored. She always wants to do stuff she wants to do.” “So.” They kept arguing about me as I played. I don’t understand why people argue about me. It’s like I’m the important person in the world. I made it to the villain on Casino Night Zone Act 2. “You’re being very selfish,” Candy said. “I can be friends with anyone I want.” “Girls, I’m at the bad guy now so will you please be quiet?” I said. “And she always needs quiet when she needs to concentrate really hard,” said Kelly. “So, I have that sometimes too.” “Yeah sometimes but my sister has it all the time.” “Maybe there’s a chance of her having-“ “Excuse me!” I said. “If you two are going to fight, please go in the other room and do it!” “Duh you didn’t need to be specific,” said Kelly. “Hey you didn’t need to be mean,” said Candy. After I defeated Dr. Robotnik, Candy joined in. She played as Tails. Kelly pounded on the bedroom door. Candy had locked her out. “What’s with the pounding up there?!” Mom shouted. “I can’t get in Matthew’s bedroom!” Kelly replied. “Who’s in there?” “Natalie and my friend.” “Okay, I’m coming up.” Mom came upstairs and knocked. Candy paused the game. “What?” “Can I come in?” Mom asked. Candy got up and unlocked the door. Mom came in. “What’s going on?” she asked. “Kelly was being very mean and selfish so I quit playing with her,” Candy replied. Mom put her hands on her hips and sighed after she looked at my kid sister. “Kelly, I can’t believe you did that. I’ve been a parent for twenty two years and I never taught any of you to be like that. Come give me a hand with the laundry please.” “Aw Mom,” Kelly whined. “Is your sister like this all the time?” Candy asked. “No,” I replied. “She’s mean to me sometimes.” “Does she ever call you names?” “Yeah.” “Do you like it?” “No.” “Do you ever tell her to stop?” “Yeah.” “Don’t you ever do cheats or codes in video game?” “No I didn’t know there were,” I replied. “Why? All I know there are tips for them.” “They make them more fun to play.” “The game tips?” I asked. “No,” Candy said. “The cheats. You can find them in stores in the magazine section.” “Really?” “Yeah. My brother and I use them all the time.” “You use magazine sections?” I asked. “Yeah that is where get the cheatbooks from.” “You buy them?” “Of course. I’ll bring some over next time. Do you have a Nintendo 64 or Playstation or-“ “None of that,” I interrupted. “I only have a Sega Genesis and a Super Nintendo.” “No Gameboy?” “We have a Gameboy. A regular one and a colored one.” “Good, I can still bring them.” “Bring what?” “The cheatbooks silly.” “I have a regular Nintendo too,” I said. “None of my cheatbooks have regular Nintendo tips but three of them have the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis tips,” said Candy. “I don’t want game tips, I want cheats,” I said. “Cheats are the same as tips,” Candy said. “Oh.” I beat the level. “Gosh, you’re good.” “What kind of video games do you have?” I asked as the game added up my score. “We have GoldenEye, Banjo Kaz-“ “No,” I interrupted. “What kind of video games do you have? Playstation?” “Oh you mean what kind of game systems we have? Let’s see.” She thought for a moment. “Mmm we have a Nintendo 64.” “My brother has one too,” I said. Candy went on. “A regular Gameboy, Game Gear, mmm what else? Oh yeah and a Playstation.” “That’s it?” I said. “That’s it. What level are you on ?” I thought for a moment. “Um level five act two.” “Can you beat the whole game?” “Yeah.” “Are you going to beat it today?” “Maybe,” I said. “If I don’t get tired of playing.” “Can I ask you a question? I hope you don’t get insulted. Are you really retarded?” “I try not to be,” I replied. “I just want to be like everyone else. I try to be normal. I sit still in my chair just like everyone else and every time I do that, my body gets numbed and then I have pins and needles and boy does it hurt so I stand up and walk around and the teacher tells me…..” We talked for a while. Then I was on Mystic Cave Zone act one. “How long have you been playing this game?” Candy asked. I looked at Matthew’s clock. It was only 10:50. I started playing it when it was about ten fifteen, ten thirty. “About thirty five minutes,” I replied. “No I mean how old were you when you first played this game?” “I was nine when Kelly got the Sega system,” I replied. “And a Sonic game came with it, just the first one I mean and Kelly got this game too. That’s how old I was.” “No, how old were you when you played it?” “I was nine,” I answered for the second time. “How old were you when you beat it?” “Thirteen,” I replied. “Does your brother or sister ever play Sega?” “When they feel like it.” “But what if one day one of them felt like playing-“ sniff sniff “Does your brother wet the bed?” Candy asked. “No,” I replied. “Nine year olds don’t wet the bed. If they did, it’ll be for a medical reason.” Candy stood up and looked around. “Where is that smell coming from? It smells like somebody went to the bathroom in here.” Oh that would be me, I thought. Shall I tell her that? Nah. If I did, she would make a fuss about it. I imagined what would happen if I did confess. “That smell is coming from me,” I confessed. Candy held her nose. “Phew Natalie go change your diaper.” “I can’t right now,” I said. “I’m busy.” “Dirty diapers are bad for you,” she said. “They can give you a diaper rash.” “I thought there was skin care?” “There is but nobody likes the smell of sewage.” “So.” “I’ll tell your mom if you don’t do it,” Candy threatened. “I’ll change it in just a minute,” I said. Candy ran out of the room. “Kelly’s mom,” she shouted or she says “Natalie’s mom” or she says “Matthew’s mom” or “Mrs. Evans.” “Oh that smell is coming from you,” Candy said breaking my thoughts. “You can open the window,” I offered. “No I’m okay,” Candy replied. “As long as I know where the smell is coming from I’m okay.” She sat down and picked the Sega controller back up. “Aren’t you going to leave?” I asked. “Why would I leave if I am having fun?” “Because no one likes playing with me because I wear diapers. They never sit next to me or want to be my partner.” “That doesn’t sound very nice. They should look at what kind of person you are. Not what kind of problems you have.” I was shocked. Candy still wants to play with me. When I first met Allie, she was mean and down on me. She kept making fun of me and calling me names but her best friend Ella told her to knock it off or she’ll tell me about her incident she always had up to the age of eight. “Have you ever gotten teased?” I asked. “Sure everybody has.” “But I get teased all the time everyday in school.” “By the same kids?” “Yes,” I replied. “Bunch of them tease me because I’m different.” “A girl in my class got in trouble for teasing your sister a couple days ago,” Candy said. “Why was she teasing my sister?” I asked. “Because you’re her sister.” “Why would someone wanna tease her? She’s just like everybody else.” I finished Mystic Cave Zone act one. “True but lot of kids in her class think she’s a genius because the work is easy for her so they tease her about it but it doesn’t bother her.” ‘That teasing wouldn’t bother me either,” I said as I started Mystic Cave Zone act two. “I would just think they’re jealous.” “They are jealous of your sister.” “Really? I wish the kids in my school were jealous of me.” “I bet they are.” I gave her a funny look. “Why?” “Because you don’t need to take a potty break and I’m sure you get to leave class anytime.” “I’m not lucky to wear diapers. They’re bulky, stinky, I get diaper rashes sometimes and boy do they hurt.” “Never mind, forget what I said.” * * * “Kids, I’m leaving, let’s go!” Mom shouted. Kelly picked up the remote control and pushed stop on the VCR and turned off the TV. We were watching A Goofy Movie. We got up and went in the garage and got in the car. I shut the sliding door since I was the last one in. “Shute, I left my purse on the washer,” Mom said. She got out of the car and got it. “Everybody buckled up?” she asked when she came back. I already had mine on. Kelly and Matthew put theirs on. “Natalie, I found a psychologist for you,” Mom said as she backed out of our driveway. She pushed the garage door button to close the garage. “Her name is Elizabeth Smith.” “She has your middle name,” Kelly said to me. DUH!. What am I? Stupid? I know my whole name. “You’ll see her after school on Wednesday after school at five,” said Mom. “That’s when soccer practice ends,” I said. “I know, you’ll leave early.” “How old is my psychologist?” I asked. “I don’t know,” Mom replied. “I know she’s younger than me. No more than twenty years.” When we got to Hi-School Pharmacy, we waited in the car as Mom went in to get her pills and my diapers. Mom is on medication because it helps keep her calm and not have anxiety. Of course everyone has it but not all the time. If she doesn’t take her medicine, she’ll have anxiety all the time. It’s called an anxiety disorder. When Mom came back, she opened the car door and tossed the stuff in the passenger seat and got in. “Everybody buckled up?” she asked as she put her seat belt on. “Duh Mom we’ve been buckled up since we’ve left,” said Kelly. “Hey,” Mom said firmly. “I don’t want to hear that word. It’s disrespectful and rude.” “What word?” “You know what word I’m talking about. If I ever hear you say that word again, you’re grounded and that goes for the both of you too.” I glanced at Mom to see who she was talking about when she said ‘that goes for the both of you too’ but I didn’t get a clue. Mom was watching the road after we got out of the parking lot. I got confused. Mom was talking to Kelly and then she said that goes for the both of you too. At first I thought she said that to my brother and I but when I looked at her, she wasn’t glancing at us so I was wrong. “Mom,” I said. “When you said and that goes for the both of you too, were you talking to Matthew and I?” “What do you think?” Mom asked. “At first I thought you were talking to us but when I looked at you, you weren’t glancing at us so I was wrong.” “Yes I was talking to you and your brother. Why do you think I said both of you?” “That’s why I asked. I’m sorry I asked a stupid question.” “That’s okay. I did the same thing too when I was a kid and my father’s relatives thought I was stupid.” “Why?” Matthew asked. “Because I always asked questions. They were the same as your sister’s..” “She means me,” I said to my brother so he wouldn’t wonder which sister Mom was talking about since he has two instead of one. “…the relatives assumed one of my parents dropped me when I was a baby.” “Did they really?” I asked. “No.” When we got to Wal-Mart, we got out of the car and ran to the store. “You kids wait for me when you get inside,” Mom shouted as she locked the car. “Okay,” we replied. “And watch for traffic,” Mom added. When we got in the store, we waited for Mom. “Natalie, what’s up?” Matthew asked. I looked up and saw nothing but the ceiling. “Just the ceiling,” I replied. “Do you know what that means?” “What?” I asked. “It means what’s happening. What’s happening?” “Nothing,” I replied. “Matthew, she thinks you’re talking about the ceiling,” Kelly said. “Natalie, don’t you know what’s up means?” Matthew asked. “Yeah, it means what’s happening,” I replied. “Then why did you say the ceiling?” “I thought you meant that kind of what’s up.” “Thanks for waiting,” Mom said as she came in the store. She got a shopping cart and took out her shopping list. Mom always makes a shopping list before she goes shopping so she won’t forget anything. “Okay, we need some more toilet paper,” she read. “ Some cereal, dish soap…” I walked toward the clothes section. “Natalie, what are you going to be?” Mom asked. I assumed she was talking about Halloween. “I was thinking about being a cow if I find the costume.” “No, I’m asking where-are-you-going-to-be?” “I’ll be in the clothes section,” I replied. “If I’m not there, I’ll be in the electronic section. You know? Where they sell video games, movies, music-“ “Yes I know what that is,” Mom interrupted. “Okay, if I’m not there, I’ll be in the toy section. If I’m not there, I’ll be in the jewelry section. If I’m not there, I’ll be in the magazine section.” “But where are you going to be?” Mom asked again. ‘”I told you. I’ll be in those sections. If you can’t find me in one of them, I’ll be in the other. All you need to do is look in all of them when you’re done shopping.” “But how am I going to know which section you’re in?” “All you need to do is look in one of them and if I’m not there, I’ll be in the other. If I’m not in the other, I’ll be in the other one. You know what I’m saying right?” “I understand now but don’t leave the store.” “Mom, you know I won’t leave the store. I’m not autistic.” “Yes I know that sweetie. I just don’t want you to leave the store because I don’t want to go out in the parking lot looking for you and calling your name.” Mom doesn’t like it when people look at her because it makes her feel uncomfortable like she’s doing something wrong. When Mom started to shop, I went to the clothes section and looked around. This place sure has lot of trendy clothes. Next, I went to the jewelry section and looked at the earrings. “Can I help you? asked a voice from the purchase counter. I turned and looked at the lady. “No. I’m fine, thank you,” I replied. I looked some more and then looked at some….some…. um what are those things called? You put them in your hair. They’re not barrettes. They’re not headbands. What are they called? Mmmm….um…..they’re called….um I don’t know. Lot of people call them rubber bands but they’re not because they’re not rubber. What are they called? I made up a song about it and sang it in my head. After I was done singing, I went to the toy section. I saw a little girl in the baby toys section playing with a toy on a shelf. Isn’t she too old for baby toys? Then something caught my eye in front of the girl. The bottom shelf was filled with Teletubbies. I raced over to them and picked one of them up and hugged it. “Hello Dipsy,” I said. “I already have one of you guys.” I pushed the tummy. “Eh oh,” he said. “I already have a talking Po,” I went on. “When I first saw you guys, you guys were so adorable I couldn’t keep my eyes off you. you guys are so lucky to have Noo-noo. I wish I had a vacuum just like him. He would clean up all my messes I accidentally make and he would clean them up for me instead of me doing it myself.” I pretended Dipsy held out his arms and said “Big huh.” “Big hug,” I repeated and hugged him in the box. Duh lot of the little stuff animals come in a box but you can still touch them. Oops, forget what I told you in the beginning of the sentence. I was rude. Duh is a very hurtful word. It’s like calling someone stupid. No duh is fine. It means no kidding. I don’t understand what that means so I don’t use it. Every time someone says no duh to me, it’s confusing. I played with all the talking Teletubbies. Then the girl tapped me on my left shoulder with her finger. I hate it when people do that to me. It really hurts. It feels like someone is poking me with a toy, “Ow,” I said. I stood up and moved away. “Are you a Teletubby fan?” the girl asked. “No,” I replied. “I’m not.” “Look, I didn’t mean to alarm you,” she said. I ignored the word look. “I’m not alarmed,” I snapped. Then I bumped into someone and got startled. “Oh excuse me,” said the lady. “I’m sorry.” “Sorry,” I said back and walked into another toy aisle. Then I realized I still had Dipsy in my hand. I thought I put him down before I got up but I guess not. I walked back to the baby section and the girl was gone. I wonder where she went. I guess her Mom came and got her. I put Dipsy back on the bottom shelf with the others and I went back to the Barbie section. I looked around. Then someone touched my butt with their hand as I was looking at one of the Skipper outfits. I turned around to see who it was. It was an older teenage boy. I glared at him as he was smiling at me. He offended me so I hated his guts. At least I won’t see him again. As he left the aisle, he touched another teenage girl in the same spot he touched me. The girl turned around. “Hey,” she yelled and kicked him. “Sicko.” The boy didn’t touch my butt to see if I really was wearing a diaper. He did it because I’m a girl. He was doing it to every girl he could fine in the store. I wasn’t offended anymore. I put Skipper’s outfit back on the shelf and went to the electronic section and looked around. I looked at the DVDs and videos. DVDs are so cool I wish my family had one. You can view the movie trailer, see outtakes, watch the movie on widescreen, you can watch behind the scenes, mmm….what else? Oh you can change the language to Spanish or French and you can put caption on and there is movie trivia . There are a lot of stuff on DVDs. The machines are so expensive my mom and dad refuse to buy one. “Why buy a DVD player if we already have videos cassette players,” Mom would say to us if we asked if we can get a DVD player someday. The answer will always be no. The answer will never change. I repeat the answer will never change. Not today, not tomorrow, never. I looked at all the video games and CDs. They didn’t have any Super Nintendo games and Sega Genesis games. The video game companies quit making those games because people quit buying them. When the Nintendo 64 came out, people wanted it and Super Nintendo sales went down. The same thing happened to Sega Genesis. It has better graphics than both of them and it’s 3-D. Then I ran to the magazine section and looked around. I picked up a Teen magazine and looked at it. I flipped from page to page. Then I came to a page where they were advertising a new scented body wash. In the dotted white square it said scratch and sniff. I scratched it and sniffed. It smelled so good I couldn’t stop smelling it. This kind of scent was watermelon. I love watermelon. This gives me an idea. I’m going to look for this body wash and show it to Mom and ask her if she can buy it. I ran around the store looking for it. Where is the body section? Then I saw an employee. I slowed down and asked her where the body wash was located. She told me where it was. “Thanks,” I said even though I didn’t understand her directions. I needed pictures in my head. Too bad stores don’t have maps like theme parks do. If this place had maps, the employee would pint to it on the map where the section is. I’ll just look for it myself. I looked in each section. “Will Natalie Evans go to the front of the store please!” said a lady’s voice over the intercom. “Go to the front of the store where the front entrance is!” That’s me. I put the magazine back where I got it and went to the front of the store. “There she is,” said Matthew when I arrived. “There you are,” said Mom. “I looked all over for you.” “I was in those sections,” I said. “I looked in every one of them and I couldn’t find you so I had to report you.” “Can we go to the costumes now?” Kelly asked. “Sure,” Mom replied. We went to the costumes but when we got there, my mouth dropped open. The costumes were almost gone. “We should have gone earlier this month,” I said. “Well this is all there is,” Mom said. “I quit working the second week this month so I could be with you kids.” Kelly, Matthew, and I decided not to get any. We went to the checkout and took stuff out of the cart and put them on the counter. After Mom paid for them, we went to our car but when we got there, Mom stared at it. Something wasn’t right. “What’s wrong Mom?” I asked. “Did you kids remember to lock the door before we went in?” she asked. Huh? Mom wasn’t even making sense. How can we get in the car if it’s not unlocked? “I thought you did Mom,” Kelly answered. “it’s your car.” I walked around the car to see what was wrong and then I saw my answer. The sliding door was a crack open. How did Mom see it through the dark windows? I guess she has good eyes. I wonder if she can see underwear through people’s clothes. Sometimes I see their panty line but it’s not a big deal because everybody wears underwear except for me. I’m an oddball. Oddball should be a new name for me for name calling but no one ever calls me that. Kelly and Matthew will get in trouble if they ever call me that, even behind my back. I opened the sliding door and realized this wasn’t our car. It had two car seats and crumbs all over the place and some baby toys. “This is the wrong car,” Mom beat me to saying it. I locked the door and shut it. “That door was open?” Mom asked sounding surprised. “Yeah,” I replied. “It’s funny that the wrong car looked just like ours but the inside was different.” (Author’s note: I intended for the Evans to be a victim of car theft but then realized it would have been too complicated since I never had the experience so I decided they got confused with another car that looked similar to theirs. Instead of erasing the whole entire scene and then re writing them going to their car, I decided they got the cars mixed up and Anita lost track of where they parked. The joy of journaling before I started typing on the computer where I can highlight and hit the delete key to remove a part I decided I didn’t want. I even would write in the margins or above for sentences I want to add in and if I wanted to add in another scene, too bad. Maybe use it for another time. I would even scribble out parts because I didn’t want to erase it all and leave a big gap. That was the way writing was for me back then before I moved to the computer from notebooks) “It had car seats in there,” I added. “The wheels were different,” Kelly added When we went to the right car, Mom opened the back minivan door. We had to help her unload the cart and put stuff in. after we were done, Mom closed the door and we went to see our brother. When we got there, Mom reminded us to knock before we go inside. We ran to the door and knocked. Brian answered it. “Hi, come in.” I walked in the family room and turned on the TV. “Natalie, did you ask if you can have the TV on?” Mom asked. “No,” I replied. “Then turn it off. You don’t walk in people’s home and turn on the TV without permission.” I turned the TV off and sat on the couch and sighed. Another boring day at someone’s house, I thought. I opened the drawer in the coffee table and took out the Sega Game Gear and picked out a game to play. I took out Columns and put in a Sonic game and turned it on. As I was playing it, I heard someone coming toward me. I paused the game and looked up. It was Mom. I hid the Game Gear behind my back. “Give it to me,” she said. “Why?” I asked. “Just give it to me.” “No, I had it first,” I said. Mom got an angry look on her face and grabbed my arm. “Give it to me,” she said angrily. I got up and pulled away. Mom grabbed the Game Gear but I held onto it. We both fought over it but when Kate told Mom it was okay for me to play it, she let go and I fell back and hit my head on the glass sliding door that goes out to the patio. “Are you okay?” Mom asked. “Yeah I’m fine,” I said. I sat back on the couch and unpaused the game and continued playing it.
When it was time for us to leave, I turned off the game and put it back in the drawer and hugged Brian and Kate good bye and so did Mom, Kelly and Matthew.
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Post by Bad Beth on Jul 14, 2013 13:55:29 GMT
Chapter 10
I stood in front of the mirror looking at myself in my Halloween costume. That day had finally come. Mom came in the master bedroom carrying containers of face paint. “I’m ready for you now Natalie,” she said. “Come into the bathroom so I can do your face.” I followed Mom into the master bathroom and sat down on the toilet seat. Mom opened one of the containers and stirred the paint with her finger. After she was done, she painted my nose red and my cheeks. “Done,” she said. “Look in the mirror and tell me what you think.” I got up and looked in the mirror. My whole nose was painted red and I had red circles on my cheeks. “So what do you think?” Mom asked. “It’s lovely,” I said. “Did you know I wore this costume when I was a Junior in high school,” said Mom. “I wore it to the Halloween dance and your dad was Andy.” I was Raggedy Ann for Halloween. Mom met Dad back in 1973 when they were in high school. Dad was an exchange student from England in that time. They both went to the Halloween dance on the last day of October in the high school gym at Mom’s high school. “And we both had a great time,” Mom continued. “We both danced together and of course we kissed. It was like love at first sight. It was fine until there was a flash in our eyes. We stopped kissing and it turned out to be Bethany Craunt. She had taken a picture of us with a polaroid camera.” “Did you like it?” I asked. Mom gave me a funny look. “What do you think? Of course not. No one likes it when someone takes a picture of them kissing without permission so your father said to the girl “take a picture , it’ll last longer” and she did” “And what did you guys do about it?” I asked as I saw my sister coming in the bathroom. “Your father took the camera from her and Bethany chased him outside and he threw it in the dumpster. Bethany climbed in to look for it as the garbage truck was coming-“ “C’mon Mom, that’s not what happened,” Kelly interrupted. Mom turned and saw Kelly standing in the bathroom doorway. “When did you come in?” she asked. “When you started telling her about Dad taking her camera and throwing it away,” Kelly replied. “How do you know Mom’s making it up?” I asked. “I just know,” Kelly replied. Sometimes Mom makes things up. I don’t know why. Maybe she does it to make her stories sound more interesting. She’s been making stuff up since she started talking correctly when she was four. I disagree making things up is okay because it causes people not to like you and be your friend. That’s what happened to Mom when she was a kid. Her sisters do that too and so does her mom. But that’s only sometimes less than my mom. “But how do you know?” I asked. “I know our mom,” said Kelly. “I know when she’s lying and when she’s not.” “Okay fine, so Dad didn’t really take the camera,” Mom said. “He walked up to her and talked to her about it. But when she turned away, a bunch of pictures fell out. She had been taking pictures of other kids kissing.” “Why was she doing that?” I asked. “No one knows,” Mom replied. “She was a very strange girl.” I left the master bedroom and went to my room. I closed the bedroom door and danced in front of my mirror in my costume. I picked up my talking Po and kept dancing. “Hi Po, today is Halloween,” I said. “I’m Raggedy Ann. My sister is Pippi Longstocking and my brother’s a bum. My sister’s in the bathroom getting her hair fixed by Mom and Allie’s coming to trick or treat with us.” Then a thought came to my head. I pictured myself trick or treating with my brother and sister and Allie and then one of my school mates lifts up my costume to expose my diaper right where everyone can see because I happened to walk by him or her. “No, I won’t let it happen,” I told myself. I went in my dresser and opened my drawer and took out a pair of shorts. I put them on. There, if someone lifts up my dress, they won’t find anything but shorts, I thought. (I had some ramble part here but took it out while typing this from my notebook because I didn’t want it in there) Mom came in my room. “Are you ready?” she asked. “Yep,” I replied. Mom handed me a pillowcase for my candy. But the one she gave me was a Barney pillowcase. It was Matthew’s when he was little. He had a Barney bedspread. Was Mom crazy? Everybody hates Barney. I am not going trick or treating with a Barney pillowcase. Everyone in my school will laugh their heads off if they saw me carrying a Barney pillowcase. “Mom,” I said. “Is there another pillowcase I can use besides this one?” “What’s wrong with the one you have?” Mom asked. “It has Barney on it,” I pointed out. “What’s wrong with Barney?” “Other kids will make fun of me if they see me with this pillowcase. I’m already getting teased in school and I will not make it worse by this stupid pillowcase.” “Okay fine. I’ll get you another one.” Mom took the pillowcase from me and got me another one. This time it was a plain white one. I threw Po on my bed and went downstairs. Matthew was in the family room watching TV. I sat down on the sofa and waited until Allie and her family got here. Kelly came downstairs in her Pippi Longstocking costume with her pillowcase. She stood in front of the TV and danced. “How do I look?” she asked. “Good,” I said. “Bad,” said Matthew. Kelly frowned at him. “Just kidding,” he said. “Gosh.” We watched TV until the doorbell rang. Either it was Allie or the trick or treaters. Kelly got up and answered it. “Trick or treat,” I heard a girl say. I got up to see who was at the door. It was Allie with her mom and step dad and her little brother and sister, Amber and Jake. Amber’s ten and Jake’s six. But where was their older brother Sam? Maybe he didn’t come. The family walked in our house as Mom came downstairs. “Hi, you’re here,” she said. “I like your costume,” said Allie. “Yep. My mom wore it when she was in high school,” I said. “You look cute in it.” “Thanks. What are you supposed to be? A witch?” “Yep, good guess.” “Where’s your brother?” “He went to a party,” Allie replied. “He’s not going trick or treating?” “Nope, he quit last year.” Allie took off her shoes and we both went upstairs to y room. We sat on my bed and talked. “Allie, Natalie,” Allie’s mother called. “What?” we said. “You want some candy? Come on down.” Allie got off my bed and left the room. I followed her downstairs to the kitchen. The adults were in there pouring candy into bowls. After they were done, we got some candy and so did the other kids. “Can we go yet?” I asked. “No,” Mom replied. After the adults finished pouring candy in bowls, we took one of the candies out of each bowl and put them in our pillowcase. I was pretty disappointed when I came downstairs and found out the adults were pouring candy in bowls because when Allie’s mom called us down for candy, I thought the candy was already in the bowls because she called us down. I hate it when people do this stuff to me. It’s frustrating and annoying and they feel like lies. I would have gone back upstairs but I wanted to be with my friend. “Can we go?” I asked. “Sure, you go right ahead,” Mom replied. “Wait,” said Allie’s mom. “I want to take a picture of the kids in their wonderful costumes.” “Okay,” said Mom. “Kids, don’t go yet!. Mrs. Mophie wants to take a picture of you guys in your costumes!” Now I remember her last name. Allie has a different last name and so does her brothers and sisters because five years ago (starting next month) their parents got a divorce. Their father lives in Atlanta now and Kate lived with him until she graduated from high school. After that, she came back to Washington for college. That was when she met my brother. They both became boyfriend and girlfriend and in the springtime, they both decided to live together so they moved into an apartment. So Allie’s mom got remarried and he moved into Allie’s house and she changed her last name from Wilson to Moopy, Murphy, I forgot her last name again. So Allie’s mom changed her last name from Wilson to her second husband’s last name. The kids miss their dad sometimes but they write to him through email and he writes back. Allie’s mom told us to stand in front of the fireplace in the family room. We went in the family room and she lined us up. “Okay, everybody smile,” she said. She put the camera to her face and told us to smile. As we smiled, Allie’s mom took the camera away from her face. “No bunny ears,” she said. “I want a good picture of you kids.” “I gave my sister some bunny ears,” I heard Kelly say to Allie. I decided to give my brother and sister some bunny ears. Allie’s mother already had the camera up to her face. “Natalie, get rid of the bunny ears,” she said. I obeyed. “Everyone smile,” said Allie’s mom. We all smiled and there was a flash. We started to leave. “Stay in your places,” said Allie’s mom. “I want to take another picture.” We all got back in our places and smiled. The camera flashed and Allie’s mother said, “Okay, you can now get out of your places now.” The little kids begged her to take another picture of us with bunny ears this time. I joined in. “Alright, alright,” said Allie’s mom. “This will be the last one.” We all gave each other bunny ears and smiled. After Allie’s mom took another picture of us, we went outside to trick or treat. Mom gave us the rules. “Don’t forget to look both ways before you cross the street,” she said. “Don’t leave the neighborhood, don’t get near any strangers, don’t eat any candy that’s not wrapped, and don’t eat any candy that is homemade.” “Okay,” we said. “Be back before nine,” said Allie’s parents. We went trick or treating. We stopped at each door in the neighborhood. After we went to all the houses, Jake, Amber, and Matthew wanted to go again but I didn’t. I was tired of trick or treating. My wig kept making my head itch. I couldn’t scratch my face because of the paint so I had to be careful. It was getting late, there was school tomorrow and my legs were tired from walking. Allie didn’t want to go again either. She said she needed a new pad. The little kids laughed and started to tease her a little bit about her period. “Will you three shut up,” said Allie. They kept teasing her on the way home. When we got back, I took off my wig. I couldn’t stand it anymore. We dumped out our candy and sorted through it. We traded some of our candy we didn’t want. After we were done, we ate some of it except for me. I only had a lollypop. “Kids, get your shoes on, we’re leaving,” said Allie’s mother. Allie, Jake, and Amber put their candy back in their bags and put their shoes on. Allie got up and went to the bathroom. When she came out, she couldn’t find her candy because my sister hid it in the hall closet as a joke. “Where is my candy?” Allie asked. “I don’t know,” I said. It’s rude to not answer. Allie looked around for her candy. “Has anyone seen my candy?” she asked again. “Amber? Jake? Natalie? Kelly? Anybody?” “It’s in the hall closet,” I said. Allie went to the closet and got her candy. “Natalie, why did you have to spoil it?” Kelly asked. “Thanks a lot.” “We wouldn’t keep that joke on her forever,” I said. “She might get upset because she didn’t know where her candy went.” “That’s you,” said Kelly. After the Wilsons’ left with their parents, mom told us to get ready for bed. I took off my costume and shorts and put on my nightshirt. I went to the bathroom and washed the paint off my face with soap and water. I took the thing out of my hair and let it fall. I don’t know what the thing is called. It’s something you put in your hair to keep it out of your face. It’s not a headband. The thing is made out of plastic. They break and you have to go out and buy new ones. I tucked my hair in my nightshirt and brushed my teeth. I heard Matthew playing with one of his nerf guns in the hallway. “Quit it!” said Kelly. He was probably shooting nerfs at her and she told him to quit. I finished brushing my teeth and went back to my room. I lied down on my bed to rest a little bit. Kelly was sitting in the chair working on a crossword puzzle. Kelly and I love puzzles. We love mazes, optical illusions, jigsaw puzzles, word search, and brain teasers. We’re very good at them but not all of them. We hate doing jigsaw puzzles that have lot of pieces that are small because it takes us forever to separate the pieces and the colors. We’ve done them before but we had help. That’s only one of the puzzles we’re not good at. Matthew came in our room and shot another nerf at Kelly. “Matthew!” she yelled. “If you shoot another nerf at me one more time, I swear to god I’ll take your gun away and you won’t get it back till the year 2001!” “I’ll tell,” said Matthew. “You’re not the mother.” “Okay, wait until she hears about you shooting nerfs at me when I told you I didn’t want to be shot.” Matthew shot another nerf at me instead. I ignored it.it wasn’t bothering me. Matthew shot some more nerfs at me. Some of it did hurt but not much. The pain was very mild. I turned on my light and pulled out a container full of Archie comic books from under my bed and took one out and read it. Matthew picked up all his nerfs and shot them at me again. Then something hit me in the face. My eyes went wide. I was stunned. It was one of Matthew’s nerfs. I almost had a heart attack. If I was an old woman like in my nineties, I probably would have really had one. “Ha ha, scared you scared you,” said the nerf. “You really are a scaredy cat.” I was very mad at the nerf for hitting me in the face. I picked it up and bit it. “Owww,” said the nerf. I pulled on it as I bit it. Then it ripped apart. I then realized what I had just done. I ripped one of Matthew’s nerfs apart. It wasn’t its fault it hit me. I felt too guilty to say anything about it. “Natalie!” Matthew yelled. I pretended I wasn’t aware what I did to his nerf. I continued reading. “What?” I asked. “You ripped my nerf in half!” “I did?” I asked pretending to be confused. “Yes! Look at it!” I looked at it. “Sorry,” I said. “I didn’t know I did it.” I threw his nerfs off my bed. Matthew picked up his nerfs including the broken one and left the room. I felt bad for what I did. I felt like a mean person. I wasn’t thinking when I did it because I was mad. Mom and Dad have told Matthew many times to not ever point nerf guns at people’s faces. He’s done it before and he’s gotten punished for it. Back in 1996 on Christmas Eve, while I was in the family room watching Sleepless In Seattle with my family and Uncle John and his girlfriend. Matthew was sitting on the couch between Dad and Kelly holding one of Brian’s old nerf guns he had when he was a kid. Matthew aimed it towards Uncle John and pulled the trigger and the nerf came out and hit him at the top of his neck. It scared the living daylights out of him because he wasn’t expecting it. Mom and Dad yelled at Matthew about it for pointing it at his face and his punishment was he got the gun taken away. Matthew said he was aiming for one of the ornaments on the Christmas tree but he missed because our uncle was in the way. Mom told him he better have good accuracy next time he does it. Matthew got mad for the punishment he got. He tried to get the gun back but he couldn’t so he threw a temper tantrum. He kicked and screamed and threw stuff. My uncle paused the movie so the grownups wouldn’t have to miss any parts because they had to calm my brother down. He was mad because he felt he was getting punished for an accident. The grownups had told him earlier to not shoot any nerfs because he might hit someone and he did so he got punished for not listening. Matthew came back to our room and showed us his nerf, the one I ripped apart. He had it taped back together with black tape. “I taped it back together,” he said. “Good,” I said. “Wow,” said Kelly sarcastically. “You guys wouldn’t mind if I play some video games would you?” said Matthew. “Play them in your room,” said Kelly. “We’re not guys.” “More than one makes it guys and I want to play Nintendo, not Sega.” “How about gals instead of guys?” said Kelly. Matthew turned on the TV and pulled out Super Mario RPG and put in Super Street Fighter II. He turned it on and sat down in Kelly’s bean bag chair. I watched him play some of it. I wasn’t really interested in watching him play because I didn’t feel like it. I closed my eyes to rest. I couldn’t do it really well because the TV was giving me a headache. I put my pillow over my head to block the sound. “Matthew, turn off the TV, you sister’s trying to get some sleep,” said Kelly. I lift up my pillow. “It’s okay,” I said. “He can play if he wants. I just want the TV turned down.” “Why didn’t you say so?” he said. He turned the TV all the way down. “I didn’t mean all the way down,” I said. Matthew turned it up a little bit. I heard the sound a little bit but not much. I mostly heard buttons tapping on the controller. I read some more of my comic book and went to sleep.
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