Fortuitous
War Status
She didn't know.
My beloved is very convincing.
He said we were playing at his house.
We were chasing each other.
We were having fun.
I almost fell down the stairs.
He grabbed my arm.
He saved me from a certain broken neck.
That was absolutely believable.
Right?
My mother thought so.
"My chickadee was always so clumsy."
Her chickadee was crying on the inside.
Dinner was strange.
My family never had dinner together.
My brother always ate his room.
I ate in mine.
My dad was always at work at dinner time.
My mom would eat early.
But my brother was here, his long hair pulled back.
My father was here, his shirt covered in car oil.
My mother was eating at 7 o'clock instead of 5.
My father's tough blackened fingers grabbed my arm.
He pinched my bruise.
"Silly goose."
My brother rolled his eyes.
"You would do something as idiotic as that."
Dinner was quiet, on my part.
My darling did the talking for me.
I wasn't allowed to.
Until my mother.
"So how is school, honey?"
"She is doing fine, ma'am."
"I wasn't asking you, was I? I believe I was asking my daughter."
His eyes were hard and cold.
So were hers.
Her straight face with one delicate eyebrow raised made her scary.
Knowing what he could do made him terrifying.
My father was looking back and forth between them.
"I'm doing fine, mommy. Straight As."
"I know, I saw your report card. I'm proud."
"How do you do your homework if your books are here?"
"I have her textbooks at my home, sir."
"Did you hear that your brother got a new job?"
It went quiet.
My brother was looking at me through the corner of his eyes.
My honey didn't know how to reply for me.
"Oh? What did you get?"
My voice was shaking.
I tried to hold back my scream for help.
"I'll dumb it down for you: I'm an intern at the hospital in the ward that holds all the crazies."
"That's great. You always wanted that. Congratulations."
I felt my love pinch my arm.
Tears sprung to my eyes as an instant reaction to the pain.
He pinched one of my bruises.
I made a hissing sound as a reflex.
He glared at me with love.
My brother noticed.
"Hey, I'm the only one that makes her cry."
"What do you mean?"
"You pinched her hard. Only I do that."
"You don't know what you're talking about."
"Don't fucking tell me what I do and don't know, boy."
My small hands were shaking.
Would my brother notice?
My brother, who didn't talk to me for seven years.
My brother, who never acted like he cared.
My brother, who repeatedly made me cry with just one word.
Would my brother be my unlikely savior?
"I'm just saying: I wouldn't hurt her like that."
"I got my eye on you."
With that, my brother slumped back into his chair.
Battle won. War status: unknown.
When we got back to my lover's home
he had a few words to say to me.
I took another shower.
My beloved is very convincing.
He said we were playing at his house.
We were chasing each other.
We were having fun.
I almost fell down the stairs.
He grabbed my arm.
He saved me from a certain broken neck.
That was absolutely believable.
Right?
My mother thought so.
"My chickadee was always so clumsy."
Her chickadee was crying on the inside.
Dinner was strange.
My family never had dinner together.
My brother always ate his room.
I ate in mine.
My dad was always at work at dinner time.
My mom would eat early.
But my brother was here, his long hair pulled back.
My father was here, his shirt covered in car oil.
My mother was eating at 7 o'clock instead of 5.
My father's tough blackened fingers grabbed my arm.
He pinched my bruise.
"Silly goose."
My brother rolled his eyes.
"You would do something as idiotic as that."
Dinner was quiet, on my part.
My darling did the talking for me.
I wasn't allowed to.
Until my mother.
"So how is school, honey?"
"She is doing fine, ma'am."
"I wasn't asking you, was I? I believe I was asking my daughter."
His eyes were hard and cold.
So were hers.
Her straight face with one delicate eyebrow raised made her scary.
Knowing what he could do made him terrifying.
My father was looking back and forth between them.
"I'm doing fine, mommy. Straight As."
"I know, I saw your report card. I'm proud."
"How do you do your homework if your books are here?"
"I have her textbooks at my home, sir."
"Did you hear that your brother got a new job?"
It went quiet.
My brother was looking at me through the corner of his eyes.
My honey didn't know how to reply for me.
"Oh? What did you get?"
My voice was shaking.
I tried to hold back my scream for help.
"I'll dumb it down for you: I'm an intern at the hospital in the ward that holds all the crazies."
"That's great. You always wanted that. Congratulations."
I felt my love pinch my arm.
Tears sprung to my eyes as an instant reaction to the pain.
He pinched one of my bruises.
I made a hissing sound as a reflex.
He glared at me with love.
My brother noticed.
"Hey, I'm the only one that makes her cry."
"What do you mean?"
"You pinched her hard. Only I do that."
"You don't know what you're talking about."
"Don't fucking tell me what I do and don't know, boy."
My small hands were shaking.
Would my brother notice?
My brother, who didn't talk to me for seven years.
My brother, who never acted like he cared.
My brother, who repeatedly made me cry with just one word.
Would my brother be my unlikely savior?
"I'm just saying: I wouldn't hurt her like that."
"I got my eye on you."
With that, my brother slumped back into his chair.
Battle won. War status: unknown.
When we got back to my lover's home
he had a few words to say to me.
I took another shower.