A Modest Proposal Part 8
by Melanie Brown
Copyright  © 2022 Melanie Brown

 

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Well shit.

“Mom! You scared me!” I exclaimed. “I didn’t expect you to still be up.”

“It is a bit late, isn’t it?” asked Mom as she stood up from the easy chair. “On the TV, it said the game ended about ten. Where have you been for the last three hours or so?”

“I… I… Don’t you remember Janet staying out late after the game for the after game party with the team?” I really didn’t think Mom would even care. Janet was always late coming home on game night.

Mom stepped next to me. “I remember. Janet always told me to expect her to be late and then she’d call when she got to whatever restaurant they went to. I didn’t hear diddly from you.”

I felt tears starting to well up. The last thing I needed right now was to cry. I said, “I’m very sorry, Mom. I just thought that you would assume that I’d do the same thing as Janet.”

Mom folded her arms. “You know it’s dangerous to assume things.”

I looked at the floor. “Yes, Mom. I know. But there wasn’t really anything to worry about. I was with friends and all.”

Mom’s eyes drilled into my head. “Friends like that boy who brought you home just now?”

I shuffled my feet. I was very uncomfortable. “Well, yeah. Jeff is on the football team. The team is very protective of the cheerleaders.”

Mom snorted. “It may be dark outside, but I could see just how much he was protecting you. The football team protecting the cheerleaders is a bit like having wolves protect the henhouse.”

“Mom!” I exclaimed. “We weren’t doing anything!”

Grunting, Mom said, “Your lipstick tells a different story.” Crap! I forgot.

I sighed. I felt like I was on trial. “Okay. Yes. We kissed. Is that a crime?”

Mom looked at me sideways. “Maybe. Does this boy… Jeff? Does he know you’re not actually a girl?”

I shook my head. “I honestly don’t know. I mean, it’s not like we kept it a secret or anything. But it seems everyone thinks I’m a tomboy.”

Mom frowned and shook her head. “It’s late. I don’t want to talk about this now. But I’ll say this. I don’t like you being out with a boy and I really don’t like him bringing you home after curfew.”

That seemed confusing to me. I said, “I don’t have a curfew.”

Mom’s eyes flared at me. She said, “You do now. Same as Janet’s was: Eleven thirty on weekends. And if you complain, I’ll make that ten thirty. Now run along to bed.”

“Yes ma’am,” I said dourly. Why is she treating me like a girl? I stopped at the bathroom to wash the make-up from my face. Am I going to be allowed to see Jeff again? Do I want to see Jeff again? It’s not like I’m a girl. I slipped out of my skirt and cheer top and slid on an oversized t-shirt and climbed into bed.

I dreamed of being kissed by Jeff.

*          *          *

I sighed in annoyance at myself as I sat down to pee. It’s the weekend and I’m at home. Why am sitting down? In the back of my head I heard Nova say, “Because you’re a girl!” I shook my head and flushed.

From the other side of the bathroom door, Mom said, “Oh good. You’re awake. I’ve decided I need to get more involved in your life. I thought we could have lunch and then spend the afternoon together. Sound good?”

Oh just peachy! “Sounds great, Mom.” What the hell brought this on? Because I kissed a guy? Anyway, it didn’t take long to get dressed. Just jeans and a t-shirt. I was sitting on the couch watching TV when Mom walked into the living room and announced she was ready. Surprisingly, we were wearing the same basic outfit. The big difference was that Mom spent the time to put on her make-up.

Mom checked her watch…yes, she actually still wears one and announced it was eleven forty-five. She said, “Since it’s almost noon, we might as well get lunch first. Do you have a preference?”

I shrugged. “There’s a Whataburger and a Taco Bueno in the mall. I’m okay with just a burger.”

Mom nodded. “Let’s hit Whataburger then. I feel like a Dr. Pepper shake.”

We drove up to the mall mostly in silence. I didn’t mind. I just looked out my window lost in thought. It was very nice day though it looked like it might rain later.

Mom looked over at me during a red light. She asked, “Not dressing as a girl today?”

Smirking at Mom I said, “I get the weekends off.”

She said, “You probably should have brushed your hair out though. Your hairdo still makes you look girlish.” She looked over at me again and laughed.

“What’s so funny?” I asked, looking back over at Mom.

Grinning at me, Mom said, “You’re still wearing nail polish.”

I looked at my hands in horror. “Oh jeez! Hopefully, no one will notice.”

“It’s a pretty color,” Mom said approvingly. “Okay if I borrow it?”

I rolled my eyes at Mom. “Sure. I have matching lipstick if you want that too.” Mom just grinned at me.

We managed to get a parking spot relatively close to the mall entrance. The Whataburger was right by the door. Also there were restrooms by the entrance as well.

Mom started heading towards the restroom as she said, “I’m going to wash my hands first.”

Nodding, I said, “I guess I should too.” I started to follow Mom into the resttoom.

She turned around and grinned at me. “Where do you think you’re going?”

I looked up at the sign that said, “Women”. I said, “What? Oh yeah.”

I turned and headed to the men’s room right next door. I almost ran into a man holding the hand of his young son. The man chuckled as he said, “Miss. I think you want that one.” He pointed at the women’s entrance.

Feeling my face turn red even though technically I was about to go into the correct restroom, I said, “Oh sorry!” The man just chuckled as I turned around.

Mom was at the sink and looked up when I came in. “Did you get lost?”

I shrugged as I walked up to the other, unused sink. “Some guy told me to go in here. I didn’t want to create a scene so I came here.” Mom just shook her head.

Done with that chore, we entered the Whataburger. There were two people standing in front of us at the counter. When they stepped away, I was shocked.

“Gary?!”

Gary grinned broadly from behind the counter at me. “Ronnie! Nice to see you again. And you brought your beautiful little sister with you. My day is complete.” Mom grinned at me.

I said, “I didn’t know you worked here.” If I had, I would have gone somewhere else. “And this is my mom.” I pointed at Mom.

Trying hard to look shocked, Gary said, “No way. I’m sure she’s your younger sister. You might as well be twins!”

Mom whispered in my ear, “I like this kid.”

I said, “Quit fooling around, Gary. We’re hungry.”

Gary wiggled an eyebrow. “I’m hungry too, if you know what I mean.”

A manager stepped up behind Gary. “Is there a problem here?”

Mom waved a dismissive hand. “Oh no. We’re just trying to figure out what we want.” The manager nodded and walked away.

We finally managed to get our order in and sat down at a table with our drinks. Mom shook her head at me. “Another boyfriend?”

I frowned at Mom. “He’s not a boyfriend. He wants to be.”

Mom took a sip of her Dr. Pepper shake and then said, “Considering that you and Janet look just like me when I was in high school, I guess it shouldn’t surprise me that boys are attracted to you. But you shouldn’t be encouraging it.”

I looked over at the woman bringing our tray of food over to us. “Mom, I don’t encourage boys to like me! It… it’s um organic.”

Mom paused as we removed our lunch from the tray. As the woman walked away with the tray, Mom said, “You must be doing something. Batting your eyes at them or wiggling your tush or something.”

I lifted the bun to ensure there were jalapeños on my burger. I said, “I’m not doin’ nothin’, Mom. Nobody knew I existed before I joined the cheerleaders. Now every boy on the planet it seems, wants to date me.”

Mom swallowed a bite of her burger. “That could be a problem. But be honest. You enjoy the attention. You like these boys.”

I nodded with a sigh. “To go from absolute zero attention to 1.21 gigawatts of attention. Yes it’s nice. But no. I’m not trying to get boys.”

Mom sighed and shook her head. “Is that true? Even if you were a girl, you have a magic word you can use to send them away. It’s ‘No’. Have you tried that?”

“They just came at me too fast,” I said shaking my head. “Boys liking me is something new.”

Mom chuckled. “I guess I’m going to have to give you the same talk about boys that I gave to Janet.”

“Mooommm.” I groaned.

We sat in silence for a few minutes until three members of the football team walked by to the empty table across from us. I tried to not look over at them.

“Hey Ronnie!”

I turned to smile at the speaker. “Hey Trace. How’s it going?”

Trace laughed and held up his burger. “We’re just getting lunch before going to see Robot Space-Ninja Invaders. It’s supposed to be pretty CGI heavy. Lots of eye candy.”

One of the other boys, Jayden I think, said, “The graphic novel was good.”

I smiled at the three cute boys and asked, “You’re not taking your girlfriends too?” Why did I think ‘cute’.

Taylor, the third boy said, “Sadly, Trace is the only one of us that has a girl.”

Trace frowned. “Besides; she didn’t want to see it. She wants to see The Last Covered Bridge. I’m sure you’re hoping Jeff takes you to that.”

I smiled patiently at Trace. Actually, I wanted to see the Ninja movie myself. I said, “I’ve heard the covered bridge movie is a great romantic movie.”

Trace laughed. “That’s why we’re staying far away from it.”

I gave Trace a smile and nodded.

Mom poked my arm. “Honey, we need to go.”

As I started to get up, I said, “Gotta run. See you Monday.” They all waved.

As we entered the main hallway in the mall, Mom chuckled, “There’s my case in point.”

I narrowed my eyes at Mom and asked, “What?”

Mom’s eyes were bright when she said, “You were flirting with those boys.”

“I was not!” I exclaimed. “I said like maybe three words to them.”

Mom shook her head. “You didn’t once take your eyes off, what was his name? Trace? You engaged them in conversation and you just soaked up their attention to you.”

“Are you off your meds again, Mom?” I asked. “I was just being friendly towards some kids I kinda know.”

“I watched your body language,” said Mom taking an analytical tone. “You like Trace. I could tell.”

“Sure, he’s cute and all,” I said and instantly regretted it. “But that doesn’t mean anything.”

Mom sighed as we started walking through the mall. “Just like you were flirting with that Gary guy.”

I chuckled. “Now I know you’re crazy!”

Mom looked over at me. “You like him, don’t you?”

I stumbled over a smooth floor and made gagging noises. “Are you serious? He’s annoying.”

She just gave me a knowing smile. “Come this way. I need a new skirt for the marketing meeting on Tuesday.”

Fuming, I followed Mom into the dress store. This was probably not a good place for me to be in.

The saleslady walked up to Mom and said, “Good afternoon, ladies. Anything I can help you with?”

Mom simply said, “I’m looking for a light gray skirt.”

The saleslady said, “Surely. Right this way, ma’am.” She then looked at me and pointed across the store. “You might find something you like over there.”

I just smiled weakly and said, “Thanks. I’m not looking for anything today.” The saleslady just nodded and led Mom over to look for her skirt.

While standing with Mom as she looked, a girl from my Home Ec class walked by. We both just waved and she walked on.

Mom continued to look, but asked, “Do you know that girl?” I nodded. Mom continued, “That was a very attractive young lady and you barely looked at her.”

I frowned. “She’s in my Home Economics class. What about it?”

Mom just smiled. “Nothing.”

Mom bought her skirt and we left the store. From behind, I was suddenly mobbed in a group hug. It was three of the cheerleaders. “Ronnie!” shouted Steph.

Regaining my composure, I said, “Hey guys! I guess you’re out shopping?” All three were carrying shopping bags from a few different stores.

Grinning, Susan said, “Oh yeah. Forever 21 is having a big sale. You should check it out.”

Steph looked over at Mom and said, “Oh! Are you Ronnie’s sister? You look so much alike.”

I shook my head. “This is my Mom.”

Looking embarrassed, Steph said, “Oh, I’m so sorry. It’s just you look so young.”

Smiling, Mom said, “It’s quite alright, dear.”

Susan said, “Well we all want to thank you for letting Ronnie join the squad. She’s been great!”

Steph turned to me and exclaimed, “Are you going to the party tonight?”

“What party?” I asked.

Maggie said, “Nova’s pizza party. She’s invited all us cheerleaders as well everyone’s boyfriends.”

Susan said, “It’s tonight at seven.”

Steph said seriously, “It’s not a sleep over. Just pizza and watching some movie.”

I said, “This is the first I’ve heard of it. Maybe I’m not invited.”

Maggie frowned at me. “Have you checked your phone?”

The pocket was tight, but I dug my phone out and sure enough, there was Nova’s text message about the pizza party. A second message from her that was just to me informed me that Jeff had already accepted. No pressure on me…

I said, “I’ll have to ask my mom.”

Maggie giggled. “She’s right there.”

Embarrassed again, I looked to Mom and asked, “Is it okay for me to go to the party?”

Mom smiled at me and said, “Of course, honey. Sounds like fun.”

Meekly, I said, “Jeff will be there.”

Mom took a deep breath and looked at me for a moment. “That’s fine, honey. Make sure you’re back home before eleven thirty.”

Well shit…

*          *          *

To be continued…