For My Lucy

“Just open it already, Lucy!” Tom threatened her playfully. She pouted her lips and resisted. The decorations hanging in the Sykes homestead gleamed brightly against the faded cream-coloured wall paint of the living room. With Oliver away for the Holiday season, Tom thought of having a friend over for Christmas, but as he learned more about Lucytania, he found out that she had a sickly little sister and her parents stayed in London most of the time to help her sister improve her health. Lucy stayed home to continue her education and to keep the house clean and in order, and Tom realized she has selflessly take the backseat of her parents’ attention, so they could focus almost entirely on her little sister. In a certain way, Tom admired her courageous act, but knew for certain that it took a toll on in its own special way.

“But I don’t want to!” She rebelled against him. She battle Tom in not opening her gift for the last ten minutes or so. She spent Christmas Eve and the last couple of weeks at Tom’s house, and when she wasn’t at Tom’s, she kept herself busy at home, cleaning or doing homework or just sitting around.

Tom looked at her with a fake pout on his face, trying to get Lucytania to finally give in and open her Christmas present he bought her. Keeping a straight face with her was hard anymore. He remembered about how even months ago, she wouldn’t even speak a word to him, but now, she talks to him all the time. And he loved every second of her talking to him and letting him into her life even more. Frustration built up within him and overflowed into his uncontrollable actions. “Why won’t yeh open the damn thing!? I wouldn’t ‘ave bought it fer yeh if I didn’t want yeh to open it and keep it!” The frustration meddled acutely in Tom’s voice. Lucytania just stared at him blackly. They settled in the middle of the floor in everyone’s way. If anyone wanted to go anywhere in the house from the front door, they would have to either wait for Lucytania and Tom to move or would have to go all the way around them. Tom nibbled harshly at his lip, which bled from the initial contact with his teeth.

“Tom, yer bleedin’,” She said, picking herself up from her comfortable seated position on the floor. She nearly slumped to the bathroom and rolled out some toilet paper. She grabbed some gauze from the medicine cabinet. Even though she was upset with Tom for getting aggravated with her, she still cared for him deeply. Tom got upset over the littlest things, and Lucytania wasn’t sure how to bring it up to him that it hurt her. She skipped back out to the living room to see Tom just lying on the floor with the blood on his lip. “Tom, sit up,” she snapped at him slightly, causing him to jump up from being startled. She kneeled in front of him and cleaned the blood from his lip. She had Tom bandaged up, but couldn’t do a whole lot because of the wound occurring on his lip.

“Will yeh open yer gift now?” He asked in a lisp. His eyes gave her the feelings of guilt and shame as they always did. She slowly reached over and picked up the slim black-velvet box. A chill scampered down her spine, shocking her ever so slightly. “Calm down. It’s not gunna bite yeh, love.” Lucytania ignored Tom’s command and pried open the box. It contained a long silver string and at the end was a little heart. The tears welled up in her eyes, and for the first time, it wasn’t because of shame or guilt. It was because she was happy. Tears of joy, someone might have called them.

“Tom, yeh really didn’t ‘ave teh get meh anything. I was glad yeh invited meh over or came over fer the last couple of weeks, and doin’ all this fer meh isn’t somethin’ I could ever pay back,” she whispered to him. Guilt flowed through her body freely once more. Tom had always outdone himself and did more for Lucytania than she had ever done for him. And he hadn’t complained once about it. Tom smiled shyly to the floor and then back up at her. Tom didn’t really mind that Lucy gave nothing to him because her blessing to allow him to be around her was what Tom wanted for Christmas.

He placed his hand on her knee and said softly, “It really doesn’t matter what yeh get meh ‘cause I already ‘ave teh greatest gift of all.” He inhaled and exhaled deeply, and his heart was racing like a sprinter. The aroma of the dinner Tom’s mum was cooking smelled absolutely delicious and of a pot roast with some vegetables mixed in. Carol was known to make the best pot roast, and she only made them around the holidays. Lucy tilted her head to the side in question of what the greatest gift of all was. “Yeh, Lucy. I’m just glad teh be wif yeh right now.”

Lucytania bent her head forward, touching her chin to her chest. She took a mental picture of what she threw on today. She wore a dark green plan top with a grey cardigan over it. She had dark, dark blue skinny jeans on with a pair of no show socks, which she had worn with a pair of ballet flats. Her cheeks caught fire and burned a bright red. Embarrassment stalked her wherever she went, and she hated it. “Don’t be embarrassed, Lucy. Yer a great girl. Yeh dun even know!” Tom nearly shouted at the top of his lungs, trying to raise her failing self-esteem. Tom could tell from the first time he’s ever had a conversation with Lucytania that she had extremely low self-esteem. Her straight face shifted slightly into a smile.

“Than yeh, Tom, but really. Yeh didn’t ‘ave teh get meh anythin’,” she stated again, repeating herself. Tom snatched the box from her hand and removed the necklace delicately. He moved himself around, so he sat behind her. He wrapped the necklace around her neck and clamped the ends together. It danged on Lucytania’s boney neck beautifully. He moved back to his original seat.

“The necklace looks lovely on yeh, love.” He leaned over and whispered into her ear. More giggles and embarrassed blushing cheeks emitted from Lucy. Tom always was flattering her in some way, whether it was by telling her how beautiful she looked or buying a random gift or something else.

“Tom! Lucy! Supper’s ready!” Carol called from the dining room. Lucytania instantly felt her nerves get the best of her again. Tom hopped up from sitting down and reached out for Lucy to take a hold of his hand. They walked side-by-side to the dining room. Tom squeeze gently on her hand, trying to calm her down, even though she has already been through this one hundred twenty other times before. They took their seats as Carol took hers. Ian was out at work still, and Oliver was still on tour, although he was coming home before the New Year had arrived. “It really is lovely teh ‘ave yeh over again, Lucy. I enjoy yer company ‘bout as much as Tom!” Carol joked. She really did like that Tom has taken an interest in Lucytania. She was reserved, graceful, and delicate, exactly what kind of girl Tom needed, in Carol’s opinion. Carol didn’t like most of Tom’s romantic interests much. There were a few here and there who she did like, but they always ended up cheating on Tom, although it wasn’t like he wasn’t doing the same.

Lucytania smiled and said, “Thank yeh,” as loudly as her nerves would let her. Lucy liked Carol as much as Carol liked Lucy. “I really love that yeh dun mind. Devon’s parents would’ve gotten sick of meh already! ‘E’s meh closest friend.” Lucytania bit her lip lightly. Now she wasn’t sure if bringing up Devon was a good thing to do or not now. She made it seem like it was either a make it or break it kind of thing, even though it wasn’t. Tom took nothing of it, and continued to stuff himself full of pot roast.

“Devon… Why does that name seem so familiar?” Carol asked politely. Lucytania now thought that Tom might of brought Devon up to Carol when she wasn’t around, one of the rare times that occurred since Lucy basically live there or Tom stayed over at Lucy’s house, helping her keep up with housework or just hanging out. Lucytania was almost completely comfortable around Tom, and she loved it. For the first time in years, she felt close to someone again. She didn’t even feel close to her own parents since they were always away. Even though she was nervous at first around Tom, she’s come to realize how he was legitimately trying to be her companion and not trying to play her, for he has seen how delicate of a person she was. Tom parted his lips, and before he could speak, a voice came from the living room,

“Where’s meh brother?”

Oliver was home, and in time for Christmas on top of that! Tom and Carol’s eyes shot open as planets. Then Tom began grinning like an absolute idiot. “We’re in ‘ere, Olleh!” He shouted joyfully. Oliver made his steps in through the house loud and clear as he approached the dining room. Oliver hadn’t changed a bit, excluding the addition of a few new tattoos here and there, not that he has many already.

“’Ow’s everyone bin since I was ‘ere last!? ‘Ve missed ‘ome!” Oliver proclaimed proudly. He plopped himself on a chair next to Lucytania and took his father’s open plate. He piled his food nearly a mile-high, nearly making Lucytania sick. She scooted herself closer to Tom out of complete discomfort. “Lucy, ‘M not gunna bite yeh, love.” Oliver started eating in a more polite manner than he had started out with while he splashed food onto his plate.

“I know,” she had said to him. Oliver had to stop eating for a moment. Shock had submerged into him and over took his thoughts. She actually spoke words now? This, in a way, confused him. From the first time he has even heard of Lucytania, he knew that she wasn’t much of a talker. She would use head nods as much as she could and then short replies when forced to answer. “Sorreh fer neveh talkin’ to yeh before now, Olleh.”

Oliver smiled at her gently as she chewed quietly on her food. Tom sat over-ecstatic that Oliver made it home right before Christmas. Hell, he arrived during dinner on Christmas Eve. “S’alright, doll. Yer talkin’ now! The past doesn’t matter a whole lot,” Oliver told her cheerfully between bites. He was just glad he made it home in time for Christmas. Carol ate quietly, but Lucy could tell she was happy Oliver was home for the holidays. Oliver was happy though when he found that Lucy was finally giving Tom the chance to hang out with her.

“’Ow was tour, Olleh?” Tom asked Oliver between taking bites of his pot roast. They conversed back and forth as Lucy finished her supper. The conversation bounced back and forth between the brothers, and it had more than enough topics to last a lifetime of counting them. Lucytania observed the room she had become quite accustomed with. The walls were a lovely shade of faded-pink. The hardwood floors kept clean up simple if something was dropped onto the floor. Many different glass figurines, trinkets, and knick knacks cluttered the china cabinet in the corner which resided near the window. The table, along with the floor, was made of wood. Eventually, Lucytania rand out of things to look at and just stared into space, at nothing in particular.

It didn’t really feel like a half-hour had past, when Tom had caught her attention. “’Ey, Lucy. Are yeh ready teh go ‘ome?” He asked, reading her mind practically. He held out his hand for Lucy to take a hold of again. Right as she stood up, Tom had realized one thing: he hadn’t taken a single photograph of Lucytania. Usually by now, he would have several shots of his girlfriends, but not Lucytania. Then the thought of how it wasn’t the most appropriate time yet crossed his mind, and he decided he would wait until he felt she was ready. Lucytania pulled Tom by the hand to the car, shocking Tom because for once she took the initiative. “In a rush now, are weh?” Tom asked her, as they approached the car. Lucytania just shrugged her shoulders as she stepped into the car without Tom’s assistance. “Are yeh all right, Lucy? Yeh never acted like this until tonight.” Tom asked caringly, when he stepped into the driver’s side of the car.

“I dunno, Tom. ‘M just tired. That’s all,” she whispered to him. Tom started the car and pulled onto the street. The rest of the trip to the other side of town was quiet between the two. The scenery changed from the rolling hills of the countryside to the dark dank streets of the city. Tom felt uneasy. Lucytania wasn’t talking up a storm to him like she would have normally. They pulled into her street within minutes.

“Lucy, do yeh just wanna stay at meh house tonight since yer comin’ over tomorrow fer Christmas anyways?” Tom asked her before she shut the door of the car. She flashed him a delicate smile and nodded her head enthusiastically. “Okay, love. I’ll wait ‘til yeh get back. Don’t take too long!” Lucy flashed a smile at Tom again, shut the door, and skipped to her wooden front door. She slammed the door open and close swiftly. As she sped up the steps to her room, she decided that she would either take a shower at Tom’s tonight or just wait ‘til she got home tomorrow to shower. She grabbed one of her old purses and threw a tank top and a pair of pajama pants for tonight and then an outfit for tomorrow. She didn’t bother bringing a flat iron. She felt like tomorrow she would like to curl her hair instead of the normal straight hair. When she was sure she had everything, she shut off her light and walked down the steps. She stepped outside and locked her house door. She climbed into the car for the third time that night. “Ready, love?” Tom said, already pulling the gear into drive.

They talked for a few minutes as Tom concentrated more on his driving since there was most likely a policeman out since people were probably out getting drunk for the holidays. As they progressed through the city, the buildings grew and then shrunk in size and then eventually it was just all hills and grass to Tom’s house. As they reached the countryside, they talked more than they had in the city. They pulled into the driveway about two minutes later. “Where am I sleepin’ tonight, Tom?” Lucy expected that she would probably sleep on the couch or the recliner chair in the living room. They stepped into the very quiet house other than Oliver’s room which had soft melodic songs coming from his stereo system. Lucytania recognized this as the Arctic Monkeys, another local, but more famous band.

“Yer not sleepin’ there. Yer sleepin’ in meh room wif meh!” Tom exclaimed softly. He didn’t want to wake anyone up. Tom saw his dad’s car in the drive before they walked into the house. He must have already been in bed before Tom and Lucytania returned. He pulled her by the hand up the steps to the very tippy-top of the house. Lucy almost instantly felt at home when she walked into Tom’s room. She didn’t know why, but his room was comforting to her. “Bathroom’s over there, if yeh need it.” He glimpsed at my bag and then back up at her face. She scooted over to the bathroom and excused herself.

As Tom waited for Lucytania to finish in the bathroom with whatever she was doing, he stripped down to his boxers and then put a pair of pajama pants on and an old tee shirt. He grabbed a random DVD from his mini collection, turned on his television, and then placed the DVD into the player. Lucytania was already out of the bathroom and on his bed by the time he was done fooling around with the television and DVD player. Tom crawled up onto his bed with her and unraveled the comforter from the bed that his mum had made earlier that day. Lucytania shifted, so Tom could pull the comforter over them both. They watched the DVD as it progressed in the storyline. “Tom?” Lucytania said quietly. Tom was almost on the verge of falling asleep until she caught his attention.

“Yeah?”

“Do yeh think it’s always going to be like this?” She asked him while he wrapped his arms around her waist when she shifted to her right side. Tom gave it a long hard thought before he came up with the perfect answer, but before he got to tell her, she was already passed out from exhaustion. He pushed her hair from the side of her face and kissed the top of her head.

“I ‘ope to God it is.”