Vincent (Made Men 2)

Lake used every bit of strength she had left in her body to push off the floor. That time, when she looked up at the string dangling from the ceiling, it no longer rested on the moon, but the Earth. She knew she had only one shot to jump up and grab it; otherwise, the string would become a pendulum, and she wasn’t going to be able to stand up long enough for it to stop.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she jumped up and grabbed the string with a tight grip, opening the hole in the ceiling. She continued to pull the string until the folded, wooden stairs appeared. Then she quickly unfolded them.

Lake stared up at the steep stairs. She was so close.

As soon as she climbed the first step, her eyes welled up again. Climb! More tears fell with each step she took. Climb! Climb! Climb!

Before she knew it, she had reached the attic floor. Her tears kept flowing as she crawled toward the simple mattress on the ground.

The moment her body hit the bed, she was out cold…

Lake piled noodles on the two plates then added marinara sauce on top. Picking up the plates, she headed toward the table and set them down in front of John and Ashley.

“About fucking time. I thought it would just take five seconds to cook for trailer trash. Isn’t that all you people can afford?” John said.

Knowing it was a rhetorical question Lake kept her mouth shut, no matter how much she wanted to open it. Then she started to head off to finish her chores, even though her stomach was growling. She was only allowed to eat what John and Ashley couldn’t consume.

When she got close to the doorway, her mother walked in with a big bag of to-go food.

Her mom walked over to the table and set down the bag. “John, I called and told you an hour ago I was bringing home dinner.”

He put on a smile. “Ashley didn’t know and decided to cook dinner. I didn’t want to upset her, but you know I can definitely eat both.”

“Aww, Ashley, that is so sweet of you! And you had time to clean the house, too. Thank you.”

Ashley’s smile widened. “You’re welcome.”

“Honey, are you going to come sit down?” Her mom waved toward her.

Lake walked toward the table and took a seat. She watched John and Ashley push their hardly touched plates of spaghetti away as they grabbed the to-go bag.

“Tr—” John coughed, restarting and pointing toward Lake. “She has something she wanted to talk to you about. I didn’t agree at first, but she talked me into it.”

“What is it, honey?” Her mother turned to look at her.

Lake’s eyes went to John’s mad-looking face.

“Go on, tell your mother.” His voice didn’t match the way his face looked, but that was for her mother’s benefit.

“Well, I was wondering if it would be okay if I could move my room to the attic.”

“Why would you want to do that?” Her mother looked confused.

Lake shrugged. “I don’t know. I just thought it would be pretty cool.”

“How would you even get any furniture up there?”

“I’ll give the gardener a hundred bucks to take care of it. She only needs a mattress and desk up there. Think about it. We could turn her room into a gym, and I know you’ve been wanting me to get back in shape,” John said while he hit his gut.

“Well, if you’re sure, honey?”

She put a smile on her face. “Yeah, Mom. I’m sure.”

Her mother grabbed the remaining contents in the bag and handed them to Lake. “Look what I got, your favorite!”

Lake’s stomach growled in happiness that it was finally going to be fed, and by her favorite grub at that.

“I don’t think she’s that hungry anymore. You should have seen the big plate of spaghetti she ate. She doesn’t need to get any bigger.” John laughed, pretending he meant the last part as a joke.

“So full you can’t even eat one bite?” Her mother smiled.

Lake’s eyes again went toward John, and his face said it all: ‘Don’t you fucking dare.’

“Yep, I’m stuffed. Maybe I’ll heat it up later after I finish my homework.” Yet again, Lake began walking out of the kitchen with nothing other than her belly rumbling…

Lake finally awoke when she realized the sound of her stomach growling wasn’t in her dream. I wish it was just a dream. Sadly enough, it was her reality.

As she sat up in bed, she had no clue how long she had been out by looking out the huge window to the dark sky. She could tell her body was still sore, and the crust in her eyes told her she had fallen asleep bawling.

She reached into her jeans’ pocket and pulled out her cell phone to check the time, finding she had slept until the middle of the night. She was actually happy about it, because the evil stepsister and the revolting old man would be sound asleep.

Lake headed downstairs and took her time as she showered in one of the guest bathrooms then dressed in clean clothes. She even got to make herself a nice, hot breakfast. When she was done, she headed back up to her bedroom to get to work on Ashley’s paper.

She clicked on the light to illuminate her new bedroom, which was actually better than it seemed. Sure, it was a little sparse, but at least it was safe up there. There was no way anyone wanted to climb those stairs; as a result, at least she could sleep soundly.

It was a little on the dark side at night, but the room really was cool with its triangular shape. Every inch was wood from floor to ceiling, and the exposed wooden beams made for a nice touch. She had her mattress, a chair, and a small desk which held an old box computer. She also had an old leather trunk where she put her clothes. She was pretty certain the trunk had come with the house, though. But, all in all, it had everything she needed for two days of living. Besides, a hell of a lot of people were turning attics into bedrooms. It’s a very hipster thing to do, right?