Chapter 15: Earth

Sunday,

   May 12, 2008

            That day, I got up at 6:00am, just like any other Sunday. When I got up, I did the same thing I did every morning. I went to the bathroom, brushed my teeth, and checked on my mother. However, when I went into her room that morning, she was not there.

            I went downstairs to get the cleaning supplies from the kitchen. When I walked into the kitchen, my mom was sitting on the counter. “Good morning,” I said as I got out the cleaning supplies.

            “Good morning,” said mom. “What’re you doing?”

            “Getting out the cleaning supplies.”

            “For what?”

            “Um, to clean, like I do every Sunday.”

            Mom laughed. “Well, not this Sunday. Today, we are going shopping.”

            “Really,” I asked, starting to get excited.

            “Of course,” mom said. “I have Tyler’s credit card!”

            “Perfect,” I said. “Let me get some clothes on, and then we can go,” I started running up the stairs.

            I remember how excited I was. It was like I was a little kid going to Chuck E. Cheese. I ran up the stairs, and found some clothes to put on. I remember my hair was a massive mess! So, I just put it in a ponytail, slipped on some shoes, and ran back downstairs.

            I ran back to where mom was. “Ready,” I said.

            “Leah, sweetie,” she said laughing.

            “What,” I said, confused.

            “It’s only 6:45am. The mall doesn’t open till at least 9:00am.”

            “Oh,” I said, disappointed.

            “It’s okay, honey. Do you want to go somewhere for breakfast?”

            “Sure! Where do you want to go?”

            “Hmm, how about Denny’s?”

            “Okay.”

            “Let’s go,” she said, smiling.

            “Do you want to drive, or do you want me to,” I asked as we were walking out the door.

            “I don’t know where one is, do you?”

            I nodded. “Okay, you drive,” she said.

            We got in my car, and drove to Denny’s. We did not really talk. It was our first time in years being alone together, and her first time without one of her stupid boyfriends.

            It did not take long to get there. We walked inside, they sat us right away, and we ordered our food. Pancakes for mom, and French toast for me. The silence was getting awkward, so she was the one who broke it. “So how was your date last night?”

            She was so excited to hear about my date. “It was great! We played mini golf, but I cheated,” I laughed. “He kissed me while I was in the middle of saying something, and then asked me to be his girlfriend. I said yes, and the rest of the night was amazing.”

            That is not all that happened, though. We did play mini golf, kissed, he cheated on me, I walked out on him, he proposed, I accepted, he took me home, and then I basically said no to the proposal.

            “That’s great, honey. I’m very happy for you,” she said, smiling.

            “Thanks,” I said.

            I still had the ring; it was in my right pocket. I remember my heart broke a little when I realized that I still had it.

            Our food came pretty quick. We did not really talk much after that though. When we did talk though it was just her asking how school was, and stuff like that. After we ate, we paid, and then left.

            We got in the car, and sat there for a minute or two. “What time is it,” mom asked.

            “It’s 8:32am. By the time we get there, it should be around 9:00am.”

            “Okay,” she said.

            It took us a while to get to the mall. Tucson was a big city, and the mall was not close to where I lived. The car ride was silent. We did not talk the whole ride there. I remember when we got there; my mom had a look of relief on her face.

            We got out of the car, and walked into the mall. When we walked in, my mom just stood there for a few minutes. “Mom, you okay,” I asked.

            “Yeah, I’m fine. What store do you want to go to?”

            “Um, I don’t know. I heard that there’s a sale at Tilly’s.”

            “Okay, let’s go.”

            As we walked into the store, my mom got a huge smile on her face. “I’m gonna go look around, kay?”

            “Okay, sweetheart.”

            I think I must have looked around the whole entire store. I had not been shopping for a long time. When I went with Roxy to get a dress, did not really count. I remember there was only one thing I liked in the store. I was very surprised that I liked it too. It was a skirt, and I was the kind of girl that hardly ever wore a dress or a skirt.

            The skirt was high wasted, black, with purple flowers, and a bow on the side. I ran up to my mom like a little kid in a candy shop. “Mommy, mommy, mommy,” I shouted till I found her.

            She found me, and laughed. “Yes, Leah?”

            “Can I please get this,” I asked as I showed her the skirt.

            “But it’s a skirt.”

            “Yes, I’m aware of this. It’s really cute, can I please?”

            “I’ve never gotten you to wear a skirt in your life! What makes you think that you’ll wear that one?”

            “If I wasn’t going to wear it, would I be asking for it?”

            “Good point,” she answered. “Do you have a black V-neck?”

            I shook my head no. “Go get one,” she answered.

            “You never did match your clothes very well,” She laughed. “It’s to match with the skirt, of course!”

            “Okay,” I said.

            I ran to go grab a V-neck; I was so happy that my mom was actually spending time with me. “Got one,” I said as I walked back up to her.

            “Is there anything else you want?”

            “Nope! Did you find anything?”

            “I got a red V-neck. Since we got two, they’re on sale.”

            After my mom paid for the stuff, we left the store. “How much have we spent on his card,” I asked.

            “Um, around sixty dollars.”

            “Can we try to make it to one hundred dollars,” I said with a smile.

            “No, sweetie,” she said sternly. “Haven’t I taught you well enough? We have to make it to at least two hundred!”

            “Sounds great!”

            “Where to next,” mom asked.

            “Shoes,” I answered.

            “Macy’s it is.”

            We had to walk all the way across the mall, but it was worth it. The more time I had with her was always good. “Leah, do you have any heels?”

            I laughed. “I can’t even walk in heels.”

            “I’m getting you a pair of heels to go with your skirt,” mom said.

            “How am I supposed to walk?”

            “You’ll learn, it’s not that hard. I’m gonna get you that pair, right over there.”

            She pointed to a pair of wedges; they were a crème color. We walked over to the shoes, and looked at them. “Are you sure, mom? They’re $58.”

            “Sweetie, that’s okay,” she said smiling.

            As soon as she said that, the sales lady came over to us. Her name tag said, Becky. “Hello, ladies. May I help you,” she said.

            “Yes,” mom said. “These wedges, my daughter would like to try them on.”

            “What size,” asked Becky.

            “Eight,” I answered.

            “Okay, I’ll be right back.”

            “Well, she was pleasant,” mom said, laughing.

            “Definitely,” I said, agreeing with her.

            Becky came back after she found the shoes, “Here you go,” she said.

            “Thank you,” I said, and then she left.

            My mom took the shoes out of the box, and took the tissue paper out of them. “Here,” she said, as she handed me the shoes.

            I remember that I did not want to try on the shoes at all. However, when I put them on they looked quite cute. “Okay, now walk,” said mom.

            “Uh, how?”

            “Heel toe, heel toe.”

            “I’ll try.”

            I walked across the store, and back. I nearly fell about five times. “Okay, we’ll take them,” mom told Becky.

            I started to put the shoes back in the box, but then my mom stopped me. “What’re you doing?”

            “I’m gonna give her the shoes, so she can ring them up.”

            “No, no. You’re going to wear them around all day. I want you to get use to walking in them.”

            “What if I fall?”

            “Then you will get back up, and start walking again.”

            Mom handed the box to Becky, and she went to go ring them up. We walked over to the cash register, and paid. “Thank you, ladies. Please, come again,” Becky said as we walked away.

            “Thank you,” I said to mom.

            “No problem, sweetie. What time is it?”

            “Almost two in the afternoon.”

            “Let’s go home, I’m tired.”

            We walked to the car in silence. Mom did not seem okay, I wanted to ask her what was wrong. However, she always hated being asked that. I will never forget the car ride home, though. We were in our neighborhood, and I was about to pull into the driveway, and out comes Tyler almost hitting us. I’ll never forget the look on my mom’s face when she saw him. She was absolutely terrified.

            As soon he was out of the way, I pulled into the driveway. “Mom, are okay?”

            “I’m fine. J-just leave me alone right now, I need to think,” She got out of the car, slammed the door, and stormed into the house.

            I got out of the car, and locked the doors. I rushed inside to find my mom, and ran upstairs looking for her. She was in her room, pacing back and forth. “Don’t tell me that you’re fine, when I know you are not,” I yelled.

            Mom turned around, and looked at me. She was about to say something, but I was not done speaking to her. “I am sick and tired of you lying to me! Just tell me what’s wrong. I know something is wrong with you, so stop with the bullshit excuses and tell me already,” I shouted at her.

            “You really want to know?!”

            “Yes! I do. Just tell me!”

            “Well, you can’t handle it; you are way too young to understand!”

            “Mom! What the hell is wrong? I am almost sixteen years old, I can handle whatever it is!”

            “I’m scared, Leah! I am fucking scared of what is going to happen. I’m scared of Tyler. When he left last night, he whispered to me saying that he’ll be back. I am scared of what he’s going to do.”

            “He’s not going to do anything. He can’t do anything, he’s a dumbass. Don’t worry about him. Don’t.