Calamity Jane

Two weeks later;

Life goes on usual. I still work at Wendy’s and still live with my parents who are still driving me insane. I want to move out. I’m sitting in my room, glancing through all my old photographs from middle and high school. I sigh because I realize how many friends I’ve made and lost within the last eight years. I throw the box full of old memories down and spread out over my bed, stretching.

I rub my eyes and close them for a moment, breathing slowly. I haven’t visited Taylor since that last night but I have a million missed calls from her and at least twenty voicemail messages. At first, they express her concern and worry, and then they get agitated, and then she resorts to threats such as: ‘I’ll cut you if you died without telling me,’ or ‘don’t make me find you; I’ll have to fuck you up.’ And I can’t help but laugh, because I know she doesn’t mean it.

I silently make a promise to go see her tomorrow after work. I toss my phone on my dresser that sits beside my bed and climb off. I glance in the mirror and look at my reflection. My eyes have dark circles under them and I’m pale as fuck. My hair is in knots and all over the place. I regard myself lazily, glancing at my arms, my legs, and my stomach. I’m in desperate need of some sunshine. I wonder if Taylor and her sisters – and maybe even her weird brother – would like to go with me.

I dig through the first drawer and pull out all my bikinis and toss them on the bed. I grab my phone quickly and dial Taylor’s number. She answers on the first ring.

“Jane!” she half exclaims, half yells. I hear murmuring in the background. “You hoe banger, you haven’t called me.”

“I know, I’m sorry,” I say, laughing. What is a hoe banger? “Hey, look, would you like to-”

“Hell yes!” she screeches. “Where we going?”

I laugh. “I want to go to the beach. You want to make a weekend trip out of it?”

She agrees and then starts yelling in Spanish. I hear squeals and laughter and she says yes again. “We can bring our men,” she says.

“But I don’t have a-”

“Don’t worry,” she says, “Neither does Yamilex.”

“But… she’s seventeen.” The only thing that would make me feel worse is if she did have a man.

“Oh.” Taylor pauses. “You can hang with Hector.” Before I can protest to this, she yells, “Te amo!” and hangs up.

I sigh. I don’t have to hang with Hector. I can sit with Yamilex. She’s pretty cool. I don’t care. I just want to get a tan. I grab some lotion and various other things and put them in my travel bag and throw all the bathing suits in. I grab sun block from last summer, my favorite sunglasses, and my camera. I place all those things in the bag as well and toss it beside my bed.

And, for once, I actually have plans.



After work Friday, I get home as quickly as possible. My parents are sitting at the table, reading the newspaper and sipping on hot tea. My mom is wearing an enormous amount of red: a red shirt, a red jacket, red pants, red socks and black shoes. Her short, blonde hair is freshly done and she wears her normal ridiculous amount of makeup. I blink at her and observe with wide eyes.

“Hey Calamity,” she says, glancing up from her section of the paper. “Are you hungry?”

“Yeah,” I say, “I’m going to get something on the road.”

She folds her newspaper and looks at me with a raised brow. “What does that mean?”
“I’m going to the beach,” I say, adjusting my purse on my shoulder. “With Taylor and her sisters.”

“When?”

“Now,” I say, taking a couple steps towards my room.

“When were you going to tell me?” she asks stiffly, placing the newspaper on the table.

“Mom,” I sigh, “I’m eighteen. I don’t need to ask permission or tell you where I’m at every moment.”

She blinks and stares at my dad, who glances between the two of us. “At least have dinner with us, Jane,” dad says, giving me the look.

“No,” I say, “You can’t make me. I’m sick of being treated like I’m ten. I-”

“Hey,” he says, “you live here, so you better respect our rules.”

“It’s not like I chose to be here!” I exclaim. They remain silent. “Okay, fine, you know what? I’m moving out when I get back.”

“Hey, Calamity,” mom says, standing up. “There’s no reason for that. We’re just worried about you. You’re dad I have noticed you’re looking thinner.”

I roll my eyes and let out a deep sigh. “Mom, would you stop pushing that in my face? It’s been three years for god’s sake. I’m fine.”

I go to my room and grab my packed bags and leave as soon as possible. I can feel my parent’s watching me as I walk out the door, making me feel worse and worse as I get back in the car to leave.



When I get to Taylor’s, I see that there are a huge amount of lights on and I can hear them yelling from outside. I climb up the stairs cautiously and knock on the door.

The door busts open and Hector practically falls out onto the porch. “Oh, um, hi,” he says, “sorry.” He looks at the door as if it were his fault he tripped and then lets me in.

Everyone is running around, yelling and stuffing things in bags. The once neat apartment is in disarray and Taylor is trying to clean it up while Yamilex just keeps piling things up after her. Hector laughs and says, “They’re rushing me and I’m the only one ready.”

I smile and go over to Taylor, who’s leaned over a large duffel bag. “Need some help?” I ask, placing a hand on her shoulder. She smiles and shakes her head. “Go see is Yami is ready yet.”

I nod and go to the youngest sister’s room, where she’s looking through her top drawer.

She looks up at me and smiles half-heartedly. “Hey, Jane,” she says, closing the drawer in frustration.

“What’s wrong?”

“I don’t want to wear a one piece,” she says sullenly. “That’s all I have.”

“What size do you wear?” I ask, sitting down on her bed.

“Like a small,” she says, sitting down beside me.

“You could probably wear one of mine,” I offer, “they may be a little loose, though you look about my size.”

“Awesome,” she says, brightening up. She hugs me and stands back up. “Can I stay with you this weekend? Like, I mean, you know, in the same room?”

“Uh, sure. I mean if it’s okay with Tay.”

She nods and closes her duffel bag. “Maybe we could go shopping or something. Since you and me are the only ones without a boyfriend.”

“Except Hector,” she adds, “he can’t seem to find a girlfriend.”

“I wonder why,” I say, laughing. She smiles and picks up her things off the bed.

“Can you grab that towel?” she asks, pointing to a brightly colored beach towel on the floor. I pick it up, turn off her light for her, and follow her out into the living room. Sonia, Hector, Taylor, and Aracelis are sitting on the couch, all squished together. Yamilex and I share the sofa chair across from them and we all stare at each other for a moment.

Taylor is the first to break the silence. “Okay, I’m driving. Yamilex and Hector, you ride with Jane. Sonia is going with me and Aracelis is meeting us there later after she picks up her kids and Miguel.”

Sonia protests. “I should drive. I’m the oldest.”

“Kiss my ass,” Taylor says. “I’m driving my car.”

“Fine,” Sonia says, her and Aracelis exchanging a look.

“Maurice is going to pick up Alex,” Taylor says after a minute, looking at her phone.

Sonia nods. “I hope they don’t get into another fight,” she remarks, “which, by the way, was your boyfriend’s fault,” she adds quietly.

Taylor bites her lip and glances at me. “Um, Yami, Hector, let’s go. We don’t want to be driving too late.”

Everyone stands up and we all pile out, except for Aracelis, who flips off the lights and locks the door. Yamilex starts to climb in the front seat and Sonia grabs her arm. “Hey, Yvette, let Hector ride up front.” She rolls her eyes and sits in the back while Hector and I put his and her things in the trunk. He gets up front and I climb in the driver’s seat, wondering how this is going to go.

For the first hour of the drive, Hector listens to his mp3 player and alternates between singing ‘Bleed it out’ by Linkin Park a million times, and then switching to his k-pop, which I’m pretty sure he’s singing wrong too. I highly doubt he speaks Korean. I blast the radio on, and Yamilex and I sing at the top of our lungs to Katy Perry. He takes out his ear plugs and looks at us in annoyance and then turns his device off. As Katy Perry’s voice dies out, he turns it way down and we remain silent for a few minutes. I glance at Taylor in my rearview mirror, who is giving someone beside her the finger.

“So, Yamilex,” I say, “Is Yvette like, your middle name or something?”

“Yeah,” she nods, “they mostly call me that. And so do my friends, mainly because they can’t say my name right.”

I nod and look at Hector. He’s glancing at his youngest sister in the mirror, rolling his eyes. “So, Jane,” Hector says, tapping the middle console, “what do you do for a living?”

“I work at a place that provides a paycheck, off of which, I live and buy the things necessary for survival.”

Yami laughs and Hector whispers, “Smartass,” under his breath.

“So can I ask you a question? Hector. Why were you climbing through the window that day we met?”

It’s something I’ve wondered about for a while. I mean, what’s wrong with knocking?

He shrugs. “I’m a ninja.”

Yamilex and I laugh. “Well, that explains it all,” I say, trying to contain myself. I turn the radio back on and we return to singing, this time to Sick Puppies.

Hector remains silent for a while until he glances back and sees that his sister has fallen asleep. He smiles and turns the radio off and looks at me. “So, do you know me now?” he asks.

“What?” I look at him in confusion.

“I mean, do you know me well enough to tell me why-”

I interrupt him. “I’m not talking about that in here. Or anywhere. Your sister could very well be faking being asleep. What kind of seventeen year old falls asleep before seven o’clock?”

He rolls his eyes and taps the dash of the car. “Fine. But I’ll figure you out Jane. I will.”

I stare ahead, pretending like I don’t hear him. I see the large, green sign announcing that Nags Head is only 30 miles away and breathe out in relief. I hope I'll be able to forget about everything for a little while. Maybe this trip will be just what I need.