The Peach Pits

Chapter 11

Mae watched in anticipation as Trina opened her few gifts. There were no decorations or friends, just herself, her mother, and aunt sitting on the living room floor. Plates of chocolate cake sat next to them. It hadn't been the best cake in the world, but Mae was pretty proud of what hours of slaving away in the kitchen had done.

"Oh, mom, I love it," Trina gushed. She looked at the silver locket in her hands. It belonged to their grandmother. Mae wondered why she hadn't been gifted it herself, but she pushed the thought out of her mind.

Aunt Lynn beamed at her daughter. "Open it," she urged.

Trina popped the locket open with her fingers. When she saw the image inside, one of her hands went over her heat. "Mae, look," she said. "It's us."

Mae leaned closer to look at the picture in the locket. Sure enough, she and Trina were in the tiny picture. Trina, maybe about three of four years old, was in their grandmother's arms and Mae stood next to her, holding her hand. The three of them smiled, the peach trees behind them, as if life couldn't get any better. As if they were happy. Mae felt the pressure of sadness and missing her grandmother inside her chest. She put on a smile for Trina.

"That's lovely," she agreed. "You're really lucky to have that." Mae slid a large pink box toward Trina. When her eyes widened in excitement, but a little bit of nervousness, Mae's heart warmed.

"It's such a big box," Trina commented with childish excitement, lifting off the lid. When she did, she nearly leapt out of her skin as she pulled the beautiful yellow lace dress out of the box. "Oh, God! It's so pretty!" she gushed. She held it up for Aunt Lynn to see.

"I figured you couldn't wear just anything to the dance," Mae smiled at her cousin. It felt like everything was okay in the world. "Go on, there's more."

Trina pulled a pair of matching shoes out of the box, along with a pair of earrings. "Ben's going to lose his mind," she gushed.

"You're going to look beautiful," Mae agreed. "I'm so glad you like it."

"That is beautiful, you're going to look like a lovely little flower," Aunt Lynn agreed. "I'm so excited for you."

Mae's mother said nothing. She looked upset. Leave it to her to ruin a nice moment.

Trina stared at the dress, touching the fabric. "It's so soft," she said. "I almost wanna sleep in it."

"Well, don't do that. You know you sweat like a grown man," Mae laughed.

Aunt Lynn sighed in that way that meant the night was coming to an end. "All right, you girls need to start getting ready to turn in. Y'all have school tomorrow, and Trina you're gonna want all your energy for the dance," Aunt Lynn pointed out. Mae would need her rest and energy too. What for, her family didn't know.

Trina scrambled to assemble her gifts, putting them in the large box along with Mae's. "Thank y'all," she said sincerely. "This is the best birthday ever."

Mae smiled at her cousin. That meant a lot coming from her, especially since she'd had years with fun birthday parties and fancy bakery cakes. Trina helped her mother up and then picked up her giftbox, following her upstairs.

It was just Mae and her mother in the living room. Mae busied herself with picking up everyone else's plates and a few scraps of giftwrap Trina left behind.

"You didn't have to do your aunt like that," her mother said.

Mae's spine stiffened. "Like what?"

"You know she can't do much for Trina. You didn't have to outdo her like that."

Mae wanted to throw a plate at her mother. "She's my cousin. I had the money to buy her a nice gift. So I did. Aunt Lynn isn't jealous like you," she spat.