Melissa chuckled.
Charles looked confused. “Ice?” he said.
“I ate after I got my haircut.” Ice said not taking her eyes off Melissa.
She saw Melissa flinch, and her eyes move around Ice’s head.
“Dad, did you know mom poisoned us?” Ice asked sharply.
“Oh, don’t be so dramatic.” Melissa rolled her eyes and cut into her steak.
“Mel?” Charles put his fork down. “What is she talking about?”
“Yeah Melissa…” Ice continued. “What am I talking about?”
Melissa put her steak in her mouth. “We all just needed to rest as a family.” She said calmly.
“To rest as a family?” Ice opened her mouth in disbelief.
“Especially you.” Melissa smiled. “You were getting out of hand. Rest always does the body good.”
“Melissa.” Charles said sharply.
“It was to clean our system.” She countered. “Now everybody eat up, I worked hard on today’s dinner.”
Ice turned her head to her dad. “And I’m supposedly the crazy one in the family, right?” She asked him.
Charles stared at his wife in disbelief. “Melissa, our daughter was sick for a week.” He whispered. “Purposefully?”
Melissa slowly brought the mashed potatoes to her mouth and chewed.
“What is going on here?” Charles demanded.
“Oh, don’t overreact babes, I’ve been doing it off and on for years.” She said calmly as she put a piece of broccoli in her mouth.
Ice’s eyes opened wide. “What?”
Charles sighed and sat back on the table.
“Eat.” Melissa said to Ice pointing to the steak on her plate. “Medium rare, just like we all like it.”
The silence at the table was so thick you couldn’t slice it with a butcher’s knife.
“Melissa why would you do something like this?” Charles asked. “Why?”
“Because we are one big happy family.” She spoke up. She grabbed her wine glass and raised it. She turned her head to Charles. “To our daughter.” She smiled eerily. “Who looks more and more like her mother every day.”
Ice looked in confusion at her mother.
“Iceria go upstairs to your room.” Charles said calmly placing his handkerchief on the table.
“Dinner’s not finished.” Melissa insisted. “She hasn’t even touched her plate.” She glared at her husband.
Charles looked at his daughter and nodded at her.
Ice quickly pushed her chair back and left the table.
“What are you doing?”
“What is wrong with you?”
“You’re ruining dinner!”
“You poisoned us? Purposefully?” Charles’ voice rose. “Ice was vomiting for days!”
“She was okay.”
“I can’t believe you!”
“I wouldn’t hurt her!”
Ice stood at the top of the stairs in surprise. Her parents never argued. Especially not over her. She smiled and made her way to her room. This was good. This was really good.
**
This was bad. This was really bad. They’d never fought for this long before. On one hand she was happy. On the other, she felt an increasing discomfort creep into her body as she sat outside their bedroom door. They’d come upstairs about an hour ago.
“How dare you insinuate that?” Melissa hollered.
“This isn’t okay. It’s not okay.” Her father’s voice was lower. It was always faint. Sometimes she could make out what he was saying, most times not.
She mostly heard footsteps, back and forth, back and forth.
“I’m trying to protect her. I’m trying to make sure she’s not like her!”
“She is not Aniyah!”
“Yes, she is!”
“Are you listening to yourself……. with Aniyah….you daughter…..twin…..”
“She’s rebelling!”
“She’s being a teenager…..breath…. live….”
“She cut her hair!”
“It’s just hair!”
“You don’t care!”
“I care, I care more than anything Mel and you know that!”
“I’ll protect her, she’s my daughter….”
“She looks at…..scared of you…..she’s growing up…..needs a mother to support her…..Let her be.”
“Never!”
“How long do you expect her to stay….18 years old…. future….takes care of us…..irrational thoughts…..stop with this talk about Aniyah…..can’t bring back……our daughter….ours…..we…..”
Ice pressed her ear against the door, straining to hear more, but her parent’s bedroom door yanked open. She stumbled back and quickly got up. Melissa stared at her, wide eyes, her hair in disarray, unkept. Ice had never seen her look anything but perfect.
“Ice sweetheart is something the matter?” Charles asked quickly stepping out the bedroom.
Ice looked from her father’s tired face to her mom’s frantic expression. She shook her head. “No…I just…”
“You need something!” Melissa yelled. “You always need something!” Melissa grabbed Ice and shook her.
“Melissa!” Charles reached for his wife.
“Why? Why? Why?” Melissa brought her hand up and slapped Ice across the face hard.
Her daughter gasped and moved back.
“After everything I did for you!” Melissa screamed. “Everything! You always want more! “Charles hugged his wife and tried to pull her back as she resisted him. “I hate you! I hate you!”
Ice stumbled back in fear.
“Go to your room!” Charles ordered his teenage daughter. “Go now!”
“You owe me this!” Melissa yelled at Ice. “You owe me this! After everything!” She shook her finger at Ice as her husband tried to pull her back into their room. “We want a child!”
Charles shut their bedroom door, leaving Ice grabbing her cheek and staring in confusion. An intense fear creeping up inside her. Her mother’s eyes. So hurt, so sad…so deadly.
She stumbled back against the wall and ran to her room. She quickly locked her bedroom door and looked down at her trembling hands. Moving back, she slowly sat down on the edge of her bed. She reached up and touched her hair. She never should have gotten this haircut.
**
(Peyton)
Peyton brought his motorcycle to a stop when he saw a couple of guys he recognized from school. They were hovered over a trash can filled with flames and were laughing at something.
“Hey Peyton, wassup?” One of the guys said looking up and noticing Peyton.
Peyton shrugged.
The tall, lanky bald-headed boy got up and grabbed an extra beer. He made his way over to him. Peyton watched as the skinny white kid with the multiple piercings and tattoos made his way towards him. His name was Seth or Sam or Sean or something like that. He couldn’t remember.
“Whatchu doing down here?” He asked handing Peyton a beer.
Peyton shrugged. “Riding.” He said as he skillfully took the top off. The kid looked impressed. Peyton took a big gulp. “Thanks…what’s your name again?”
The kid laughed. “No prob…David.” He said stretching out his hand. Peyton shook it. “Nice bike.” David said looking down appreciatively
“Thanks.” Peyton said taking another big gulp.
“So, we just chillin’ having some fun… you wanna join?” David asked, looking back at his friends.
Peyton shrugged. “Why not.” He got off his bike and followed David.
“Hey guys this is Peyton.” David said happily.
“We know who the fuck Peyton is.” A big black guy said standing up and shaking Peyton’s hand. “Steve.” He said. “I was in your 11th grade class…you know the English class where you beat up Mr. Nichols.”
“Oh yeah.” Peyton said smiling. “He was a bitch.” He shook Steve’s hand.
“I’m Matt.” A scrawny Hispanic boy said stretch
ing his hand. Peyton took it.
“Carlos.” A sturdy Hispanic boy with a Mohawk said. “Matt’s older brother.” Peyton nodded and shook his hand.
“Trey.” A tall white kid with long black hair said. He had multiple piercings in his face and a sleeve tattoo. “You fucked my ex second week of 10th grade.” He said.
Peyton winced. “Sorry about that.”
Trey smiled. “No biggie, she was a slut.”
“Paul.” Paul had pink hair cut in a Mohawk. Peyton shook his hand. Interesting group of friends.
“Anyways, Peyton said he was chillin…and we chillin so we might as well chill together know what I mean.” David said grinning to the group.
“He’s a fag.” Trey said lighting something. Peyton took a sniff and immediately knew it was weed. He felt a little nostalgic.
“Fuck you Trey, I’m just not afraid to be gay…I mean happy…you know gay happy…not gay gay.” He said.
The whole grouped roared in laughter. Peyton sat down and smiled.
“Want a hit?” Trey asked stretching out his blunt.
Peyton hesitated for a second. “No, I’m good.” He said. He drank his beer.
“Yeah man so like I was saying her tits were like this big.” David said stretching his arm out for a clearly exaggerated measure. “She was fucking pretty man…like bitch suck my dick.”
The crew laughed.
Peyton shook his head and smiled.
“Man, what she looks like again.” Matt asked.
“She was like this tall ass, you know firm ass… long tan legs…big tits like I said…she had long blond hair…kinda like Peyton’s hair color and she had these sexy blue eyes…kinda like Peyton’s…” David stopped and stared at Peyton.
The rest of the boys started snickering.
“Actually, you look a lot like her Peyton.” David said in approval.
“Fag.” Trey coughed.
Peyton smiled. “You think I got big tits?” he asked.
David blushed and the rest of the boys laughed harder. “No, I mean…I…no you’re pretty like her…I mean…fuck.” He decided to stop talking.
The boys laughed harder as they passed around the blunt.
“Thanks, you’re not so bad yourself.” Peyton said pushing him playfully.
David breathed a sigh of relief. “Man shut the fuck up, I get more action then your right hand and that’s saying a lot.” He said to Paul who was laughing uncontrollably.
“Suck my dick David…you know you want to.” Paul said, as they laughed again.
“I’m not gay.” David said as though he had to reassure Peyton.
Peyton nodded and drank his beer. He didn’t say much and just took the crew in. Carlos started saying a joke and Peyton zoned him out. Maybe he just needed to talk to her. She told him to trust her. She wouldn’t fucking do this. She couldn’t just leave dammit. She said she wouldn’t leave him. He drank his beer. This hurt was all too familiar. It hit way too close to home. Maybe he pressed her too much…maybe he’d been too forceful…maybe she felt as though he was rushing her…as though he was demanding too much. Damn Peyton there you go again, fucking things up. You should have given her space when she asked for it. You would be pissed as fuck if someone was in your face all the fucking time wouldn’t you? He’d overdone it with the messages, he should’ve have just let her be.
“Hey you alright?” Steve asked looking at Peyton with concern.
Peyton snapped back to the scene in front of him. “Yeah I’m fine…I’m good…I..” he watched as Matt was carefully sectioning off a thin line of a white powdery substance on a mirror. Peyton’s mouth went dry. He could practically feel it going up his nose. He shifted uncomfortably.
“Want some?” Matt asked lifting his head from the mirror
One snort was nothing…it didn’t even do anything. His mom would kill him. She would be so disappointed. What about Priya and Bam-Bam? He was their older brother. What about Ice? His mom would give him that look again…that look he swore he would never put on her face. Peyton drank more of his beer. “Naw, I’m good.” He said weakly.
“Naw man this is good.” Matt grinned goofily as he snorted and carefully handed the mirror to Paul. “Especially if you feel like shit.”
Peyton rubbed his nose. It will do nothing to help his situation he knew that. Hadn’t he told Ice he wasn’t like that anymore? There was no such thing as a temporary high.
Peyton’s head was roaring. The weed came his way and he stretched out his hand for a pass. His body stilled when he brought it to his lips, and he smoked. It was calming and soothing. He needed it. He took another drag and passed it down. They were passing down the mirror. He just needed to clear his head. Yes, clear his head…but not like this. Not with this… this fuck everything up. Think about family. Mom? Priya? Bam-Bam? The man that died? Dad? Peyton felt a sharp pain in his heart.
“No boys, those are little kids’ stuff. This is the real deal.” Trey said as he took the bottom of a soda can. He put a chunk of something inside. He took out a syringe and squirted water on it. He took out a lighter and placed it under the bottom of the soda can. Peyton’s mouth went dry. This procedure was all too familiar. Trey stirred the solution. He took a cotton ball and dropped it in the solution. He put the tip of the syringe into the cotton ball and sucked up the solution.
“Oh, Fuck.” He whispered to himself as he drank some more beer, but the dryness in his mouth didn’t go away. The end of his fingers started tingling.
Trey grinned as he took an alcohol swab and wiped the bend of his arm. He placed the needle flat on his skin as he looked for his vein. Trey closed his eyes as he put the needle through his vein and injected himself. “Anybody wanna go?”
Family. Ice. Future.
But this really did make the pain go away.
Peyton licked his bottom lip and opened his mouth.
**
Cheryl sat at the table scribbling on a piece of paper. She looked at the clock for the millionth time. 1:23 in the morning. Priya and Bam-Bam had gone to sleep a long time ago. But her eldest son was still not home. Cheryl rubbed her hands. As much as she tried not to think about it, the many times he’d left home upset, he’d came back a wreck. Her hand was shaking. She trusted him, he’d promised her. But what if…she laid her head down on the table. With Peyton, one could never be sure and that scared the shit out of her.
“Peyton knows what he’s doing; he knows what he wants out of life. He wouldn’t do this to us again. We came here to run away from all that. He wouldn’t.” Cheryl whispered to herself, the tears forming at the corner of her eyes. He was so hurt and mad when he left. He was still just a kid. Cheryl buried her face in her hands and shook.
The front door opened slowly, and Cheryl got up abruptly knocking over the chair.
“Peyton.” She whispered gently as she made her way to the door.
“Yeah it’s me.” He wasn’t slurring his words.
“Honey are you okay?” Cheryl asked smiling through her tears. His head was down.
Peyton shook his head. Cheryl’s heart dropped. She came closer to him and touched his shoulder.
“It was right there…right in front of me…I could have but I didn’t.” He said his voice was shaking.
Peyton looked up at his mom. Thank God, his eyes weren’t glazed over. He was focusing. “I’m so fucking weak…I wanted to so bad. It never completely goes away.” He admitted.
Cheryl brought her son in for a hug. She held him tight. “That’s what makes you strong, not weak. Strong. You fought it son. Thank you.”
“I did smoke some weed.” He said. “Helped a little.”
“That’s fine.” Cheryl said happily. She smiled and kissed him. “My boy.” She said wiping her tears.
“I didn’t want to hurt you guys again. I didn’t want to hurt Ice. I didn’t want to fuck up.” He said his voice shaking.
Cheryl nodded and held him tight.
Peyton gave off a nervous laugh. “But
you still didn’t tell me something.” He said tears at starting in his eyes.
“I’m sorry.” Cheryl said rubbing his back.
“You didn’t tell me falling in love would hurt so fucking bad. It’s…its…. just like with dad.” He managed to say before his tears crowded his vision. He sank to the floor and his mom followed suit. He clung to his mom like a little kid and cried. As she smoothed down his hair and apologized repeatedly.
Ice: Part I Page 34
