“So, since Obama has been elected again, our politics won’t change much,” Mrs. Brown was lecturing, “That is because at the moment, both the House and the Senate are Democrat majority. However, that could change in 2014.” She walked to the smartboard and started writing. “Suppose if more people vote for Republicans than Democrats in the 2014 midterms. Would Barack Obama be able to pass most of his desired policies or not?”
Tamie was recovering from a nasty hangover in Mrs. Brown’s US Government class while the teacher was going on about Obama or some shit like that. Mrs. Brown, wiping her chestnut brown hair away from her brown eyes, peered the cramp stuffy classroom- students either writing half-assed notes, playing on their phones while trying to be as subtle as possible, or, Tamie’s case, sleeping. “Tamara,” Mrs. Brown called out as if she caught the student napping.
Technically, Tamie was napping, but not because she was bored with the lesson. “Yeah?”
“Suppose if more people vote for Republicans than Democrats in the 2014 midterms, would Barack Obama be able to pass most of his desired policies or not?”
“Pro-Probably not,” Tamie belched before conking out.
Mrs. Brown stared at a passed-out Tamie and stated haughtily, “That’s exactly what I thought.”
…
“I heard that someone’s moving into that house across the street,” Fern said as everyone was walking home from school.
Tamie, who had been trying hard not to pass out on the sidewalk, looked up at Fern in front of her and asked, “Renting or buying?”
“I’m assuming renting since ain’t nobody able to buy shit anymore,” Fern answered with a shrug.
Charlotte, who had also been walking with them, stared straight at Fern and said, “Probably because the current politicians up in Washington are making it as hard as possible to actually afford anything, so now you need a college degree and two jobs in order to make it.”
Fern turned her head to Charlotte and replied with, “Little girl, ain’t nobody here asked for your opinion.”
“Then why’d you say something in public?” Charlotte asked condescendingly.
Fern just stared at Charlotte, flabbergasted, which made Tamie say-
Fern pushed Tamie as hard as she could and exclaimed, “Bitch, shut your fucking mouth!” Then she stormed all the way home.
Charlotte and Tamie cackled as soon as Fern was out of earshot. “Wow, she’s tight this afternoon, isn’t she?” Charlotte said.
“They’re always like that,” Tamie answered.
Charlotte and Tamie laughed again when Riley walked up to them and asked Tamie, “What the fuck are doing laughing with her, bitch? Ain’t you supposed to be walking home with us for Group Time?”
“Hey, don’t talk to my best friend like that! We were having an entertaining conversation that was meant to be private!” Charlotte barked back at Riley.
Riley rolled her eyes and grabbed Tamie’s wrist; Tamie smirked and shrugged because A) she knew that she would get a needlessly long lecture from Greg or Katja for being late for Group Time and B) she knew Charlotte was joking when she called her her best friend. So unfortunately, it was off to Group Time with Riley, Greg, Katja, the rest of the gang, and a still very tight Fern in the YouChannell Home.
…
“Ay, what are we making for dinner?” Tamie asked Katja in the kitchen right after Group Time had ended.
“Oh, I don’t know…” Katja took out a sharp kitchen knife and a brown wooden cutting board. “I was thinking about letting you take the night off and just letting you relax.”
Tamie was taken aback. “What?”
“Kishi’s going to help me cook dinner tonight,” Katja stated as a matter of fact, “I was thinking that you should take a break and enjoy yourself for a little bit.”
“What the fuck for? I didn’t even do anything.”
“Oh, you know…” Katja gently pushed Tamie out of the kitchen when she noticed Fern playing on her phone. “Fern, why don’t you hang out with Tamie for a little bit?”
Fern? Tamie? Together? Really? After what had happened on the way home from school that afternoon? What a joke.
“You two can have a makeover!” Katja suggested.
Fern scoffed, which made Tamie clench her fist. Then, seeing the pissed-off look on Katja’s face, Tamie unclenched her fists, and Fern cleared her throat and chirped much too happily, “Come on, Tamie~!” She grabbed Tamie’s wrist and dragged the fat ass to her room… where Riley was sitting on Fern’s bed.
“So erhm… what the fuck are we doing here?” Tamie asked as Riley started brushing her hair.
Fern looked up from the hair ties and mirror on her wooden desk and inquired, “You really don’t know?”
Tamie shook her head while Riley was still brushing her hair.
“Girl, how the fuck do you forget your own birthday?!” Riley questioned, beginning to cackle in laughter.
“Hold on, you forgot your birthday?!” Fern shouted, wrapping the hair ties on her wrists and carrying her mirror. She and Riley shrieked with laughter for a few minutes before Fern asked Tamie, “So how old are you?”
Tamie shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?!” Fern exclaimed. She and Riley laughed. “What year was you born in?”
“Erhm… I think 1994…”
“1994… and you’re a senior, right?”
Tamie nodded.
“You’re eighteen.”
Tamie nodded again just as Riley finished brushing her hair. Fern split Tamie’s hair into two parts and balled one up part into a bun on top of the head. She repeated the same step, finished, and announced, “Your makeover is now complete!”
Tamie, still wearing her school uniform, stared at the mirror Fern was holding.
“Listen, I ain’t no motherfucking miracle worker! You’se ugly as shit, and this is the best I can do for you!” Fern exclaimed, throwing the mirror across the room.
Tamie sighed and supposed that the female commodity thing was just a ploy from Katja to distract her from a surprise for her birthday. Speaking of birthday ploys…
“Dinner’s ready~!” Kishi shouted from the kitchen.
About time. Tamie quickly ran into the kitchen and sat down in the chair right in front of the big chocolate cake. Along with the cake was caponata and cotoletta, foods that Tamie enjoyed very much.
Greg lit the candles and began singing, “Happy Birthday to you~!” with everyone else following suit, which made Tamie very very happy indeed. Then she noticed one guy who wasn’t singing- Niklas. Instead, he was reading some note he had carried into the kitchen.
“You selfish bastard!” Tamie screeched as she leaped over the table and began to wrestle Niklas.
Greg and Katja ran to tear the two apart.
“What the fuck is wrong with you, you crazy bitch?!” Niklas shouted back as he tried to grab Tamie’s hair but instead got dragged into Greg’s room.
“You don’t really care about me, do you?!” Tamie screamed back as Katja dragged her into the Vent Room where they stayed for the next thirty minutes or so.
“Tamie, Tamie!” Katja tried to soothe, “Look at my eyes for a minute.”
Tamie slowly looked up at Katja’s eyes, but it wasn’t just hers.
The other person Tamie had seen besides Katja was her main hallucination, Breanna. Breanna had been with Tamie ever since she was around twelve years old- the first time she had been committed into a psychiatric hospital. Tamie quickly pushed her away and screamed, “GET AWAY FROM ME! GET AWAY FROM ME!”
“Tamie!” Katja said once more, “Look at my eyes one more time.”
Tamie, who was trembling so badly it felt as if the whole Vent Room was shaking, looked at Katja’s eyes once more.
“What color are my eyes?” Katja asked.
That was a pretty hard thing to tell because both Katja and Breanna had the same eye color. “…Brown?” she guessed.
Katja nodded. “Okay, are they light brown, medium brown, or dark brown?”
That was much easier; Breanna’s were dark brown. “Medium brown.”
Katja nodded again and smiled. “You’re doing a great job right now.” She pushed several strands of hair in front of her shoulder and asked, “Now, what color is my hair?”
Now, this was easy! “Light brown?”
Katja nodded once more and said, “That’s right. You’re doing a great job.” She asked if she could touch Tamie’s hands and got a ‘yes’ for an answer. She then proceeded to gently hold the trembling girl’s hands. “Are you ready to tell me what happened at the kitchen with Niklas?”
Tamie, who had almost calmed down, began shaking again and whimpering. “Oh God. Oh God, oh God, oh God!”
Katja had to soothe the poor girl once more. “It’s okay, Tamie. Take your time.”
That was exactly what Tamie did…
…
“That stupid, selfish BITCH!” Niklas screamed at the top of his lungs in Greg’s room.
“Niklas,” Greg began, “Let’s practice our deep breathing. Inhale-” He inhaled. “-Exhale.” He exhaled. After several minutes, Niklas followed the breathing techniques for a long, long time.
“Is it okay for you to tell me what happened at the dinner table?” Greg asked when the men stopped taking deep breaths.
Niklas sighed and rubbed the sides of his head. “I don’t know. I was just minding my own business when she just started to beat the shit out of me for no reason.”
Greg nodded. “I noticed you were looking at something on your lap. Can you tell me what it was?”
Niklas sighed and pulled out a piece of paper out of his jean pocket. This was what is said-
Greg stared at the letter for a few minutes before asking, “Isn’t this the letter Marianne sent you while you were in the hospital?”
Niklas nodded.
“Well, what made you bring it with you to the dinner table?”
Niklas stared at the floor, then at the rumpled peach sheets on Greg’s king-sized bed, and mumbled, “‘Cause I’m feeling a little sad, I guess…”
Greg nodded. “Do you feel like telling me why you’re feeling sad or not?”
Niklas shook his head and looked away towards the door. He didn’t want to worry Greg and the rest than he already had, especially not Marianne.
“Niklas,” Greg began in this serious voice, “Have you been thinking about suicide lately?”
Shit. How did he know? There was no way of escaping, so Niklas might as well have nodded.
“Is there anything I can do to help you?”
Niklas rubbed his forehead and ran his fingers through his hair. “I’m sorry.” He slowly looked up at Greg and asked him, “Can you tell Tamie that I’m sorry please?”
Greg stared at Niklas and said, “You don’t want to tell her yourself?”
“No, I’m gonna fuck it all up!” Niklas cried, grabbing patches of his hair. Tears started stinging his eyes, but he wouldn’t let have the honor of letting him fall.
“I’ll tell you what,” Greg said after taking in deep breaths with Niklas, “I’ll walk you to the Vent Room where Tamie is, and I’ll let you tell her whatever it is you need to say to her. Is that a deal?”
Niklas wiped his tears away with his wrist and reluctantly nodded. He got up with Greg and walked towards the Vent Room where Katja and Tamie were. It took a while for the door of that room to open, but when it did there stood Tamie with swollen eyes and hunched shoulders.
“Tamie,” Greg started, “Niklas has something to say to you.”
Tamie and Niklas just stared at each other for what seemed like forever until Niklas finally sighed and said, “I’m sorry for not paying attention to you at the dinner table.”
Tamie nodded and grabbed Niklas’s hands. She noticed that tears had been in his eyes.
“Tamie?” Katja began, “Do you have anything to say to Niklas?”
Tamie looked all around the hallway for a few minutes before she hanged her head low and mumbled, “I’m sorry for being the shit out of you during dinner.” She shook hands with the boy.
“Thank you very much for apologizing, both of you,” Katja said, “Now, let’s go back to eating dinner before it gets too cold.”
So they all went back to the dinner table, and Tamie saw the look on Niklas’s face. Was he depressed or something? Maybe. Then again, he could’ve been having a bad day or something like that, and at that point he was eating his food like a good boy. And Tamie guessed she could forgive him, too. So she went back to eating her food like a good girl, too.
Oh, and one last thing. That veal… was dry. Real dry.
ManictheMod 