Like My Mother

Chapter Six

I'm hearing the familiar crunch of the gravel beneath my feet as I get closer to that tree and that pond. I climb up to that comfy nest of branches and pull out my sketchpad. I look out on the deserted pond to look for inspiration, but I can't find it. There's nothing there catching my eye, so I close my eyes.

I search my mind for something that I can channel through my pencil. I search and search until I find something. I move my pencil to begin forming the face, it's perfectly sculpted. Then the hair that lays in a perfect mess on top of the head, the lips forming a kiss in mid air before they land on the hand positioned just inches under the chin. The eyes staring up as they know they look important, they know they are important, and they know they are irresistible. I open my eyes and look down at my sketchpad and realized what I've drawn, it makes me smile but at the same time it makes me uneasy.

Daniel's eyes look up at me as his lips forming a kiss are about to land on my hand. His face looks so...realistic but yet perfect. It makes me feel some sort of giddiness inside me when I look at the picture and graze my hand over it's surface, why did I draw this? Why should I even care that he kissed my hand, that he winked at me? He's screwing around with my sluttish mother, which means that he's just as much of a lowdown asshole as she is. But yet when I look at the picture...I can't wait for the next time that I can see those eyes in real life. I lean my head back against the tree and imagine him kissing my hand again, I imagine him kissing my lips, I imagine him...

But then I hear someone in the grass, I immediatley jump and look down to see a boy walking towards the pond with a fishing rod resting contently on his shoulder and a bait box in his hand. He seems almost around my age as he nears the water with his dirty white T-shirt and his raggedy jeans and his old sneakers. He doesn't even notice me, or the world for that matter, as he sits down on the water's edge and pulls his rod around to impale a squiggly worm on the hook. He throws the rod around and then casts the line perfectly into the water, then he sits and he waits.

I linger in the tree wondering of what I should do, should I try to get down without him noticing me? I know he'll hear me, and I want to avoid talking to him. So I put my sketchpad in my bag carefully, trying to avoid noise, and I slide the bag onto my shoulders. I climb down the limbs and suddenly one breaks, I wince as I hear the crack echo in the empty air. But the Fishing Boy doesn't move, he doesn't even seem to notice. He just keeps on looking out onto the water waiting for the little bobber to move. So I keep sliding down until my feet are just inches from the ground, and then I feel them hit the grass.

I turn around and begin to walk off, I can't believe that I actually got away with that. I run until I'm back in the town and I can the smell the familiar scent of smog in the air. I round the corner about to be on my block when I get the feeling that someone's behind me, I turn my head modestly and see a man walking behind me. I can't tell if he's following me or if he just naturally looks creepy, when I get on my block he's still following me. I feel my heart begin to race as he gets closer and closer to me. Finally when I reach my mailbox I feel him standing right beside me.

"Hey darling, what you doing out here all by yourself?" his voice slurs slightly, he's drunk.

I'm about to ignore him and walk on up to my door when he grabs my arm and holds me there roughly. "Now that's not nice to try to run off without even introducing yourself to me, now what's your name baby?"

"Please let go of me." I say as I try to pull my arm out of his grip, but he holds on tighter.

"C'mon, don't act like that baby. Why don't we go to my place, we can talk there." he winks at me and it makes me feel even more nauseaus.

"My house is right there...please I don't want to talk to you." I wrench my arm harder and he grips it tighter. I just can't seem to scream.

"Fine then, we don't have to talk. We can do other things." he licks his lips as I suddenly feel his other hand slide on my butt and pinch it. "I saw you walking on my sidewalk and I'm sorry but the way you were shaking them hips, I know they were meant for someone...and I'll gladly be that someone." he leans his head in as he tries to kiss me and I try to get out of his grip when I hear someone yell.

"Hey! Let go of her!"

I look up and see Daniel running towards us. "You are kidding me!" I think to myself as he approaches us and the pervert quickly releases me.

"Sorry man...I didn't know she was taken." he backs away even more as Daniel gets closer.

"Get the hell out of here." Daniel warns and the pervert turns and takes off. Then Daniel turns to me, "Are you ok?"

"Yea I'm fine, thanks." I look at his face and notice that he looks nervous, almost worried.

"Why are you here?" I ask him.

"I was going to ask your mom if you guys perhaps wanted to go hang out with me sometime tomorrow." Daniel says as he puts his hand behind me on the bottom of my back as he gently leads me to the house.

"Then why didn't you just call?" I ask looking up at him.

"Well..." he's scrambling looking for a response, "I left my phone here." he recovers his confidence and flashes me a reassuring smile.

I don't have time to decide if I believe him, because then my mother comes out of the door and squeals as if Fabio is shirtless sitting on a white pony asking for her hand in marriage. "Daniel! Baby! What are you doing here?"

He takes his hand off my back and walks ahead to me to be virtually choke-hugged by mom. I hesitate in the background, like usual, until my mom finally notices me.

"Where the hell have you been?" she says as the smile literally slides off her face, leaving the stern look that usually paints it.

"I've been out..." I say trying not to draw much attention to myself.

"Out getting drunk and pregnant huh?" she says, cocking her hip trying to make herself feel more powerful.

"No, I don't do that shit." I say getting annoyed, why did she always assume that I was doing stuff that she did. I'm not like her.

"Don't get that bitchy tone with me bitch, what the hell were you doing?" she says walking off from the porch and getting right in my face. Daniel trys to stop her by grabbing her arm, but it's no use.

"I was out...drawing." She doesn't deserve to know that inner piece of me...she doesn't deserve me.

"Oh..." she replies in disgust as she looks at my bag, "Scratching in that damn book of yours huh? Wow and I thought you were doing something more worth my attention."

I can feel my fists clench up, I know how little resistance I'll have to punch her face in if she says another thing. But Daniel finally intervenes successfully, "Hey let's go inside and get a drink, clear the air."

My mom pops immediatley out of her souless state and grows that smile back, she turns around to him and wraps her arm around his waist. "Sure babe, some drink and some...fun." she hints as she slowly reaches towards his crotch, but he stops her hand halfway.

"Sure babe, c'mon." he walks her towards the house. And the door closes loudly behind them.

And I'm left all alone still in the front yard...like usual...