Rosehead

Chapter 10. Gabby's Wrath

Lilith gulped. Her mother offered a frightening sight. Knitting needles stuck behind her ears, two bags bulging with what could only be new yarn, Gabby marched in and slammed the door so hard it made Daniel jump. She pushed up her glasses and leered at her daughter. Lilith cringed, expecting the tirade of the month to be forever etched in her memory. She slid the garden map under her thigh, Panther barked, and all hell broke loose.

"Don't you bark at me!" Gabby snapped. "And you, missy, what did you do this time? I want to hear all about it. Your grandfather says you've caused trouble and are not allowed in the garden until he changes his mind. What could you possibly do to upset him so much? I have a very sneaky suspicion where this is coming from." She snatched the orange vial from the bedside table and examined it, counting the pills.

"Gabby, now, don't be so hard-knuckled," Daniel put in hesitantly. "She's just jetlagged."

"Jetlagged?" Gabby spun around. "You call this jetlagged?"

Lilith used the moment to stuff the map into her jeans pocket.

"We've talked about this a million times."

"I'm aware of that. It's not—"

   "Then you weren't listening to me. What if she's going into relapse? Here, away from Dr. Crawford? Jetlag? I don't think it's simple jetlag." She turned back.

"But, Gabby, love—"

"Dad, it's okay. I've got it from here." Lilith composed her face, ready for battle.

"You've got what from here?"

"Jetlag, Mother, is typically classified by medical professionals as a circadian rhythm sleep disorder. I'm perfectly fine with another disorder to be added to my collection. I'm rather fond of them. Do you think they have pills for that?" Lilith forced a smile.

"Don't start your nonsense with me, missy."

"But it's not nonsense, Mother," said Lilith. "How can a girl like myself produce nonsense if she has no sense whatsoever to begin with? I must have some to counterbalance it with its opposite, don't you think?"

Her mother glared. "Here we go. She's doing her thing again."

"Love, I don't think we should—"

"There is no should. We must, before it escalates into something else—something we can't handle. Listen to her. Do you hear how she talks? There is absolutely no emotion in it. None. It's scaring me, Daniel. It's getting worse." She propped up her glasses. "She's your daughter, too. Don't you care about her wellbeing? Don't you ever think what would happen if she simply wandered off into the street? Here? She doesn't know any German!"

Daniel opened and closed his mouth.

"Didn't think about that, did you?" Gabby continued throwing terrible scenarios at her husband, while Lilith increasingly felt like a third wheel. Her parents often discussed her in the way people would discuss an object—a disabled adolescent to be fed, medicated, educated, and properly housed. Well, rather her mother issued long monologues, and her father pretended to listen. Nobody asked Lilith how she felt, not even Dr. Corby Crawford, an overpowering, inquisitive matron buttoned in knit jackets made by Gabby Bloom. Her soft talk seeped under Lilith's skin and made her feel stupid.

 "...said she ruined his most precious rosebush, tore off every single bud and had Panther pee on it!"

Panther produced a few coughs that sounded suspiciously like That's a load of cow poop. Lilith gave him the stare. She listened with avid interest, adding a third reason to her mental list of why she had every right to hate her grandfather, a brute, a book-hater, and a liar.