He sighs and runs his hand through his hair. We both realize that it’s time to go. That Carter is stuck inside for the night and there is nothing we can do to protect him. Not tonight anyway.
“I can’t tell you what to do. Date Mark if that’s what you want. Just be careful, you’re the only one of us that has a chance at breaking free of this shitty town.”
I smile a little as I twist my frizzy hair around my finger and put my feet up on the dashboard.
Logan starts the car and begins speeding off toward our house. He glances in the rearview mirror and suddenly steps on the breaks.
“What the hell?” I say as my body is thrust forward and then back abruptly.
Logan continues to stare in the rearview mirror as his face goes white. I turn around scared to glance behind me when I see Carter running toward our car. He throws the backdoor open and jumps in. Logan immediately steps on the gas as soon as Carter is safely inside. I see Carter’s face out of the corner of my eye. His eye and cheek is black and blue.
We don’t ask questions. We don’t have to. And Carter offers up no explanation of what happened. We just drive to our house and pretend that this isn’t our life. That we are normal kids that don’t have to worry about problems like this.
Logan parks the car in the driveway to our house. It isn’t much, just a little over a thousand square feet in total. We don’t have a garage and the lawn has never been taken care of so it is mostly weeds at this point. We walk up the sidewalk that has large cracks in it and throw open the front door that no one ever bothers to lock. It’s not like there is anything worth stealing inside anyway.
We all head to the kitchen. We’re starving and food is the only thing that will make Carter forget about what just happened. Logan throws open the fridge and finds it empty. He opens the freezer and finds one bag of peas which he hands to Carter. He puts it to his face.
“Mom! We are out of food,” I yell as I walk into the living room.
I fold my arms across my chest when I find our mother in her usual position, passed out on the couch from drinking. She works the night shift at a convenience store and then spends her days drinking or smoking. I don’t even know why we bother calling her Mom, it’s not like she is one. We are basically on our own, always have been, always will be.
I walk over to her because I can’t take her crap today. I shake her shoulder until she finally stirs enough that she opens her eyes.
“What?” she barks at me, her voice sharp with plenty of bite at being awoken from her drunken state.
“We are out of food. And I need money to buy a prom dress.” I know Logan and Carter are listening to me from the kitchen, but I don’t care. I know Logan is just trying to protect me, but he isn’t actually protecting me. I can take care of myself. And Carter is just being his usual self. If he isn’t happy, then no one should be happy.
Mom sighs and closes her eyes again. “Take the cash in my purse to buy some food for tonight. And you don’t need a prom dress. No one has asked you.”
“Mark Wagner asked me.”
She half chuckles and half chokes on her saliva. “I didn’t think any boy would ask out a girl as flat chested as you.”
My head falls back and my eyes close tight trying to block out the disgusting woman in front of me. Her words mean nothing to me.
“What are we going to do about a dress?” I ask. I don’t bother asking about getting my hair done or buying some half decent makeup for the occasion because I know the answer to that is a no.
She yawns. “Wear one of Amber’s old ones or get a job and pay for one yourself.”
My heart sinks. I only have a few days until prom. I won’t have time to find a job, let alone make enough to afford a dress. And Amber was much curvier in high school than I am. Her old dresses will never fit me, not without some serious help.
I’m not going to let it deter me though. Good things don’t happen to me very often. And I’m not going to let my brother, his best friend, or even my mother from preventing me from having a good time at prom like every other normal teenager.
I storm into the kitchen and find her purse lying on the kitchen counter. While Logan and Carter both stare at me, I reach into it hoping for a miracle that there is actually money in here.
I pull out the wallet, open it, and pull out the single bill that sits inside. A five dollar bill. It couldn’t even be a twenty. With a twenty we could buy enough real food for us to last for days. Instead, we will have to settle on ramen noodles for the week.
I start walking out of the cramped kitchen and thrust the five dollar bill into Logan’s hand as I walk by. He can go figure out what to do to prevent us from starving tonight. I can’t deal right now.
I storm upstairs to my bedroom that I used to share with Amber. I throw open the sliding closet door that is barely hanging on. I start digging through the closet to the very back where I know Amber kept her prom dress. I pull out the single dress. It is light pink with some silver sparkles at the bodice. It’s strapless and flows out at the waist. There is no way it will fit me. I have no boobs.
I walk over to the landline because we can’t even afford cell phones. I dial Amber’s number.
“Hey sis,” she says.
“Hey, I need your help. A boy asked me to prom and I don’t have anything to wear. Mom said I could wear your dress, but there is no way it will fit me.”
“I’m sorry Victoria, I wish I could help.” I hear the baby crying in the background and I know there is nothing she could do to help. She has much mo