October 05/2009

He will sleep in 27 days.

October mornings became quite a challenge for the youth of Saint Lorne; being so used to those lovely sleep-in summer mornings to being tossed into the cold dark mornings known as the school days. Nothing would get you to come out of your blanket fortress. Well, almost nothing. The promise of breakfast usually helped convince people out of hiding. A wake-up call from a loving person would summon you to the table. Unfortunately, Marcy Hanwell wasn’t used to this kind of sweetness first thing in the morning. She usually was woken up by a rude bang on the door and something along the lines of; “Come on brat, it’s breakfast time.” Or, “If you don’t get your ass downstairs, I’m eating your half.” Very welcoming indeed.

That morning, after being woken up once again by her oh-so-charming cousin, she opened her eyes to the stars. A skylight that she always had overhead was a nice way to start the day. Marcy sat upright in bed and stretched herself out before swinging her feet over the edge. She twirled her fingers through her plum-colored hair and contemplated whether it could go one more day without a wash. Marcy shrugged it off and shuffled into the little washroom just across the hall from her room.

The yellow daisy wallpaper had begun to peel just around the walk-in shower and the sink was overrun by her cousin Amanda’s beauty products. You would think just by looking at it all, the twenty-one-year-old was really fifty-five trying to bring back her youthful look. God, what Marcy would do to just chuck the stuff into the toilet and flush it away forever, but if she did that she’d never hear the end of it. She quickly washed up and walked back to her room. She grabbed her jeans off the floor and slipped on a black tank top with a red flannel shirt. She was about to walk out of her room when a picture from her bedside table caught her eye. A somber smile was her response to the past.

"I’ll see you after school mom. I love you." She blew a kiss to the picture and slipped on her red converse with the backs broken. As she picked up her book bag, the many buttons she collected over the years jingled as she left her room.

She walked downstairs into the kitchen. There she found her two cousins, Amanda and Andrew. Andrew was a shy young thing who was one of the smartest people Marcy knew. He skipped grade seven and eight and went straight onto high school alongside Marcy. He had managed to complete all the necessary work for middle school during grade six. As for Amanda, she was a student at the local community college. Honestly, she had no clue what she wanted to take. She just lingered in a couple of catch-up course she missed in high school. Hoping something would perk her interested into a future career. Amanda, as always, had her face buried in a fashion magazine, as she just picked at the food in front of her. This was her way of protest because it wasn’t prepared in a certain manner that she requested.

Andrew was sitting at the table sharply dressed in his button-up shirt and dress pants. That was his usual attire - even if he was made fun of because of it. Her father was manning the stove, cooking up his famous bacon grilled cheese. He was a strong looking man with a navy background and the tattoos to prove it. Yet he was Marcy’s careful goofy dad wearing a ‘kiss the cook’ apron. Her father now worked from home, swearing that he would never touch the water again. An accident like he had could break any man. Marcy was always worried for his health and often wondered if he really was coping as well as he let on.

“Hey, Marcy Doll grab a seat. The diner is open for business. What can I get ya?”

“No thanks dad. I’m running a bit late today.” She grabbed some of the buttered toast that sat in the middle of the table. Marcy accidentally bumped into Amanda.

“Ummm excuse you.” Amanda sassed from behind her fashion magazine.

“Well excuse me, princess.” Marcy sassed back. Amanda rolled her eyes at her.

“Marcy you know that Amanda could drop you off at school. You won’t mind that now would you Amanda?” Mr. Hanwell dropped a grilled cheese in front of her.

She looked at it with disgust, “But Uncle Jim, I have my friends to drive to school. I can’t let them down.”

“Now Amanda, family comes first.”

“No dad, really it’s okay. I wouldn’t want to throw off Amanda’s precious schedule.”

A snarled came up from the corner of Amanda’s mouth, “Shut it.”

“What is it, my dear? Not enough time in the day to steal all your friends’ boyfriends?”

“WHAT?! I would never!” Amanda crouched over the table to get closer to Marcy.

“Oh really?” Marcy did the same so she came face to face with the wickedness that was her cousin’s face. She looked down at the table and tapped Amanda’s phone. “This little guy would say differently.” She smirked at her cousin. Amanda, on the other hand, was red in the face and nostrils flaring. Leaving poor Andrew to hide behind his copy of Maclean’s.

“Why you little bit-“

“That’s enough from you two!” Mr. Hanwell hollered. “Honestly will you two ever get along?”

“She started it, Uncle Jim,” Amanda whined as if she was just wounded by the fight.

“Marcy please apologize.”

“But I-“

Her father stood there with arms crossed and Amanda was smiling like a Cheshire cat. Andrew was the only one smart enough not to get involved. He was just too scared of what his sister would do to him.

“Fine, I’m sorry Amanda.”

Marcy stood up from the table and walked around it so that she could position herself between Amanda and the door behind her. She leaned in closer to her cousin and softly said, “I’m sorry you can’t keep your legs closed!” She gave Amanda a sloppy kiss on the cheek. “See ya’ coz!”

Marcy whipped around and bolted for the door. The cold air hit her like a good morning slap in the face, but at least it was refreshing. By the time her feet hit the grass below the cement porch, she could hear her father trying to calm down a psychotic Amanda. Marcy just laughed, “Now that’s how you start a morning.”

....

Marcy opened the back gate to enter the alleyway that would lead her to the main road. The cold air nipped at her uncovered ears, which brought her to wonder why she wasn’t wearing her hat. Her cousin’s outraged scream in the distance made her remember. She smiled to herself.

“Hey, Marcy wait up.” Marcy looked back on the ill-lit alleyway from the main road.

A small figure emerged from the darkness into the dimly orange light. His curly mopped red hair burned brighter under the light. With glasses too big for his face and a book bag twice his size, you would think he was a fourth grader.

“Andrew, how many times do I have to tell you? Going to school this early is my choice. You don’t have to tag along.” Andrew caught his breath and straightened himself.

“And how many times do I have to respond?” He asked while fixing his glasses. “I don’t mind. I enjoy the walk.”

That was Andrew’s way of saying there was no other way he could get to school, so bug off and walk. This was unfortunately true. His sister would ’accidentally’ forget about him. He didn’t want to bug his uncle for a drive and the school bus was a whole ’another story. When Marcy was growing up her family had moved to the outskirts of town. Where the school bus never traveled. So when the new route was put in place, it wasn’t odd to have the bus forget about the cousins. But of course the one day it did show up there was one idiot who had the nerve to make jokes about her family’s accident. Marcy was banned from the school bus that day and that kid went to the hospital with a broken jaw. Andrew never wanted to ride alone so they dropped the route completely.

She didn’t mind having the company. The issue is that people talk and if you don’t get the whole truth, you end up with some twisted stories. ‘So Amanda is your half-sister?’; ‘So are you really related to Amanda?’; ‘How? You don’t look anything like her.’ And of course Marcy’s favorites. ‘So are you and Andrew dating?’; ‘How long have you two been together?’; ‘Don’t you think he’s a bit young to be in a relationship?’ She tried to brush those questions off by brushing Andrew off in the process, but alas neither worked.

The sun rose over the distant city skyline causing the street lamps to start blinking out one by one, leaving only the stars to guide them the rest of the way.

“So, did you hear? Mr. Potts is back from his vacation.”

“Well, that’s great!” Marcy exclaimed with a giant grin on her face. “I was worried that he wasn’t coming back until the end of November."

James Potts was the 12th-grade history teacher and no one could ever say they flunked his class while he was teaching, but he had an odd vacation schedule. Every couple of years he would be off from school for an entire year; starting in November and ending that following year. The students were always curious, but it seemed that the teachers couldn’t care less.

“Oh, this is perfect!" Marcy stepped to the edge of the sidewalk and held her hand out with her cell phone to hail for the city bus. Dark mornings like this made it hard for Reggie, the bus driver, to see them. The bus screeched to a halt and she jumped on.

“It’s strange that he’s coming back now though. He’s usually not back until after Halloween.” Andrew commented as he jumped on the bus and took a seat next to Marcy.

“He must have wanted some extra hours or something came up. All I know is that Mr. Potts is the best history teacher around. I find he makes history come alive.”

"Gee Marcy if you like him so much then why don’t you marry him," Andrew said in a mocking tone. Marcy lightly punched him in the shoulder.

"Very funny. You know he doesn’t swing that way." She put her hands in behind her head and relaxed. “You know what Andrew?"

"What?"

Marcy smiled, "I got a feeling it’s going to be an unforgettable year.”