Mummy (Part 1)

We read and didn't notice the time go by until a clock somewhere in the clock chimed the hour.

I didn't want to leave. I wanted to stay here and read to Rachel. I wanted someone to talk to like this, but I had to go. There is work that I need to do and consequences if I didn't. I knew that. I'm not stupid. But wouldn't I rather stay here?

I glanced over at Rachel and she in turn watched me with her warm red eyes. Her face has a calm, restful expression, and she is leaning toward me. Her attention is all on me. Right now, she is mine, and I am hers. A thought like that made happiness spread through me like melting butter. Soft, Warm and Sweet.

But this won't last long. If I don't go back home, if I don't step back into the cold, daddy will find out about this and, if he does, he will take it all away. I had to go.

And that's how I found myself back in the alley. In the time that we were inside, the rain seems to have calmed itself down into a light drizzle. I walked quickly, jumping the pools of water that had formed on the potholes.

I reached the flat without any trouble. I inserted the key, and it wouldn't turn. Some trick of the mind? I confirmed that the room number is my family's and inserted the key in again. It didn't turn. If it didn't turn, that meant that there is another key in the door. Another key? Someone is in the room… Not daddy, surely. Why would he come two hours early? Then mummy.

I looked in both directions down the hall. What am I planning? There is no point in trying to run. I knocked.

For a while, there's no answer, but I don't dare press again. Then, suddenly, there is a fumbling of keys, and the door opens to a woman glaring at me. She had thin shoulder-length hair tied tight behind her head. Her face creased. She grabs me by the hand and pulls me through the door and slams it behind me.

The inside of the room appeared much darker than in the morning and much colder. Mummy led me to a table. She sat me down in front of a cup of brown liquid. I didn't look at her face, but hesitantly reached out and picked up the cup. The outside felt like ice. I put the rim of the cup to my mouth and poured in the bitter brown contents into my mouth.

"Where did you go?"

"I had a student council-"

"Liar." She spat. "Liar, liar, liar, liar. I know you left the student council. Don't lie to me." Mummy began to move, walk toward the wall. "I left work early because I was worried about you. Worried. Worried. Worried. Worried." She giggled for a moment and then began hitting her head on the wall repeatedly.

"No, mummy stop." I ran over and tried to pull mummy away from the wall, but she just pushed me away.

"You don't need me. I might as well die."