Rebel Love Song

11: Only By a Minute, You--OWWWWW!!

   The ride home was silent, and now, as we park, the only sound is our sniffling. On the way, I glance back at my headdress I didn't realize I'd grabbed before focusing back on the road. I get out of the car the same time Mom does, and we get our stuff before walking up to the Michelson's door and knocking.
  Dakota rips open the door, very violently might I add, and has an angry/worried look on her face. She opens her mouth to scold me, but stops at the looks on our faces. All of the anger in her face turns to pure worry, and out of the corner of my eye, I see a livid Elijah bounding towards me, but I ignore him. I lead mom over to the stairs, suitcases in our tow.
    "Do you know how---" his voice booms, but is quickly shushed by Dakota. I pause, and take the picture out of my pocket, staring at it.
   I can feel the weight of three eyes glued to me, but I ignore it and stuff the picture back in my pocket before continuing up the stairs.
   Mom goes into the guest room without a word, and I go into Dakota's. I drop the suitcase and backpack by the bed, and dig out the teddy bear, leather jacket, and Slash top from the backpack.
     I take off my shirt and replace it with the slash one, slip my arms into the swimming leather jacket, and dive under the fluffy covers of Dakota's super comfortable black bed.  I curl up on my side, clutching the plushy to my chest while I fish out the picture of the crying me in Mason's comforting hold.
     I allow myself to breathe in the scent of My older twin's clothing, while I stare at the picture. Why couldn't Mason have stayed the sweet, loving, overprotective brother he used to be? It would've been bearable, Dad's house, and we wouldn't have left. Or we would've taken him with us. What did I do to make him hate me?
  On either side of me, the bed dips, but I keep my tearful gaze on the picture.
   "Why didn't you tell us where you were going, Hun?" I hear Dakota's voice ask.
  "We would've understood," Elijah adds.
  "Because," my raspy voice starts, "I felt as if I said it aloud to anyone but Mom, I would wake up back in that house." My voice is like putty by the time I finish, and the twins climb in bed right next to me and hug me while I sob. Why is life so cruel?

*  *  *

  I guess at some point I fell asleep, because when I peel my eyes Open, my head pounds, making me groan. Dakota and Elijah had left at some point in my slumber I guess, because they aren't here.
    There's a knock on the door, and Mom comes in. Her eyes are puffy from crying, and her nose is red too. She has food in her hands: a VeggieFi burger, green style, from BurgerFi. My favorite.
   "The twins got you this, I already ate mine," her raspy voice fills the air. She looks better. Her bruises are finally turning a yellow color, showing that they'll probably be gone in the next few days. But she has a spark--no, a shine---in her eyes that has not been seen in a long time.
   She sits at the edge of the bed, and I sit up, groaning again while she finishes. "Dakota told me she left Advil and a bottle of water for you when you woke up on the nightstand." I glance over, and sure enough, there are my painkillers in all their glory.
  I politely hold out my hand for the burger, and Mom hands to me silently. I devour the thing in seconds and quickly gulp down the Advil with the entire water bottle.
  We sit in silence before Mom gets up. "Mommy, wait," I say before reaching around me for the picture. "This was on Mason's bed." I hand it to her, and tear well up in her eyes.
  "We'll make it through this phase in our lives," her wavering voice sighs.
*. *  *. *. *
I hear the entrance scream to perfect weapon, and my eyes I snap open. I yawn and stretch, while Dakota screams next to me in her bed and falls to the floor.
"oops, sorry," I say as I lean over the bed to look at her, and I barely have time to move my face before her foot slices through the air where it had been. I turn off the music and jump out of bed, opening her curtains. Today I am not going to cry. I'm going to be strong. Today, I'm promising myself not to cut, not today. Today, is only about me being me.
I grab my white iPhone 5c and plug it into Dakotas speakers, blasting beautiful remains. I had gotten the henna on my right hand, going from my wrist to my index finger, and on my stomach. I take my burnt brown eyeliner and do my Cherokee arrows, which are two arrows pointing down on my cheek and fill them in. I also draw one on my forehead too, filling it in as well. I walk into the bathroom, and quickly wash my hair making sure not to get my face wet. I then deep condition it, and wrap my head in a towel and I finish getting ready.
I don't do my usual black eyeliner, instead I do thick brown eyeliner, and brown mascara. My eyeshadow starts Aztec gold by my nose, and fades into an Adobe Brown at the corners. I still do my ruby red lipstick, and put in a gold lip ring.
For clothes, I put on a cream colored crop top, showing off my henna. I know henna isn't usually native, but I had the woman do Cherokee and Aztec designs anyway.
   I throw on my cream and brown Aztec print shorts, and my light for brown ankle boots, with a native print at the rim near my shin and a strip by the side of my foot. Fringe cascades over it and along the whole shoe, and out of the same material as the fringe, a small bow is placed at the top of the native print, each piece decorated with beads.
   I walk to the closet and gingerly pull out my headdress out of one of Dakota's old boot shoe boxes. I Carry it to the bathroom, placing it on the sink while I rinse out my hair and blow dry it. I then slip it on and call out, "Mom, are you almost ready?" I walk out and unplug my phone and chuck it at the sleeping the Dakota. As it hits her head she groans.
  "I'm up!" She snaps, and I lift my hands up and surrender. I walk into the closet, to pick out her clothes, since I know she won't be up to do it herself yet. Elijah and Dakota are half Inuit Indian, and because of that they are really pale. Might also have to do with the fact that their dad is white. My mom had the dominant traits so I appear Mexican, which is also that I am. I am one fourth Cherokee, one fourth Aztec, and one fourth Mexican. I'm also one fourth white, thanks to daddy dearest, which is also where I get my Aztec side from.
   Anyway, since the Inuit tribe lives near the Arctic, I pick out her black thigh high skirt, taking the arctic wolf tail she'd gotten at comic con one year, a flowy white crop top with black trim, and that Inuit Krystal necklace Dakota's mom's grandma gave to her.
   I grab some white feathers with black tips and her white knee-high boots that have black fringe material intertwined to the edge of the opening, where it ties into bow on the side. The ends of the bows are connected to bells, so when Dakota walks, the boots will jingle.
  I walk to the, yet again, sleeping Dakota. I sigh, knowing that I'm going to have to do what I did last year. I yank a strand of her hair so hard her whole body is lifted and she screams out, "NONONONONONONO NOT AGAIN! OWWYOWWYOW!!" I take the feathers and braid them in, taking a white bead and using it like a hair tie. I take another strand on the other side of her head, and repeat the braiding process, with Dakota screaming the whole time.
    Mom runs in, clothes in hand, still in her pajamas, not a single thing done, and stands there, horrified. Elijah walks in behind her and sighs.
  "Didn't wake up again, Did you, little sister?"
"Only by a minute, you--OWWWWW!!" She screeches, and Elijah chuckles. I pause tugging at Dakotas hair to look at mom.
"you're not even dressed yet! Sit there, you're next." Mom looks at me terrified, and backs up, shaking her head.
"relax, Natalie, it's only because Dakota never wakes up on time. It's like this –" he pauses because I started to tank again, making her screech, "every year."
Yeah, mom had the twins call her Natalie, considering she's only 10 years older and still is in her 20s. Mom nods. Still a bit wary, but sits on the couch. With one final twist and a yelp, I release the traumatized Dakota. She scrambles into a comfortable sitting position, and grabs a pillow to protect yourself. I roll my eyes.
"Relax, killer, I'm done with you. For now," I add, making her shake with fear. Ah, the affect I have. Sike. "Now," I pause to grab her clothes. "Change." She nods firmly, and salutes me, sweeping up the clothes and scrambling away. I smile and shake my head in her direction before going back into her closet grabbing brown feathers for mom.
I walk back out saying, "I won't hurt you Mom, but first," I stopped to drop the brown feathers onto the bed and grab the remaining white. I point to Elijah, who is already making his way towards the bed and sits down. I quickly braid a few into his hair, sealing it off with two white beads.
"Done," I tell him, and he shuffles off. I turn to Mom and pat the bed, and she hesitantly walks over, and sits. I look her brown-to dark-brown-ombré and get started. I start from the scalp with the braid, and add in the feathers towards the end. I used to cream colored beads before gently pushing her away with her clothes. I go to Dakotas bathroom cabinet, and grab the nail polish box all she is getting dressed in the closet.
I take the quick dry cream color and paint it on my long, slender nails. With a minute or two, they're dry, and Dakota comes out. I know it's her because of the bells. I reached out my hand in her direction and start shaking the quick dry black nail polish. I feel her slip her hand in my grip while she drops her self into the chair across from me, and I quickly paint her nails in a minute. While hers are drying, I take the quick dry burnt orange for mom, and prepare for her to come out. When she does, I gasp at her. I take in her outfit. She is wearing a quarter sleeve burnt orange shirt that has cut outs at the stomach.
She's wearing high waisted black leather shorts, and shin high boots that have multiple layers of fringe on them. On the heels, the bells cut off at the rim. Her face has the same arrows as mine, only red, and she has a head chain with a Cherokee songbird on it.
"you look amazing Mom!" I say, awe in my voice. She beams at me.
"Thanks, Hun!" I raise the nail polish and she walks over to me, sitting in Dakota's, who has now got up to help Elijah, old spot. I quickly paint her nails, and get up to find Elijah. "I'm going to help the weirdos," I tell her, and she nods.
I walk to the room right next door and jump back right as an empty warpaint bottle is thrown out of it.
"I said hold still!" Dakota hisses.
"It's freezing!" Elijah argues. I walk in, and when Dakota spots me, she completely changed her demeanor. She's helping Elijah paint Inuit designs on his chest, with the warpaint from last year.
"Hold still!!!!!"
"I can't! It's colder than a Motherf---"
"I dare you to finish that sentence." I cut in with a glare, nodding my head to the room next door. Elijah just shrugs it off and squirms as more war paint is applied to his arms.
"You move one more time and I swear," Dakota slams the war paint bottle on the coffee table Elijah's sitting on and picks up a pair of scissors. "say bye bye to those Raven locks!" Elijah immediately freezes and let's put a finish painting the Inuit symbols. Meanwhile, I walk up to Elijah's bed and pick up the arctic fox fur tail and clip it onto the side of the skinny jeans Elijah refuses to get out of. He gets up and slide it into his shin high boots that are exactly like moms, except black and has white stitches at the rim of the bottom of the shoe.
We look him head to toe and nod in approval. "Wait!" Dakota says, and disappears, only to return with a sleeveless amber brown cardigan that ends in fringe at the back of my knees, gold bells on each strand.
She throws that they saying, "use that when you perform."
"Why?"
"you are dancing in the crew that is performing for the Cultural Arts and Spring Tour Festival, so you're doing the native dancing, and they always use--"
"Bells," I finish. What would I do without her?
"Time to go!" Elijah calls, and you really can't tell who is going downstairs. The point is, we all made it down the stairs, and got into Elijah's old rusty Chevy. "Hey guys?" I ask. The twins look at me. "Where's your Mom?"
"She's been going to the festival's location to help set up all week," they respond at the same time, earning glares from each other. I smile at them.
Mom had volunteered to drive, so Dakota's in the middle. I take my head dress off and stare at it. it. The rim is blue and has two buttons by the ears and bells in between them. The feathers range from white to tan, from light brown to dark brown. There are two red brown strands that hang from it that sit in front of my shoulders, and some Cherokee designs, along with a songbird, that decorate the blue rim, along with the buttons and bells.
When I realize we're at the festival, I put my headdress back on.

Another short one. Byes!!