Thursday, May 8, 2008

Story excerpt

Lucy had an older sister named Vanessa and she was tall and lanky, and she never wore a bra. She’d strut around the trailer in a pink tank top and sweat pants and her small breasts pokde out from the fabric. It looked real odd, not seeing the curve of her boobs but seeing the point from her nipples.
According to Lucy’s mom, Vanessa was nothing but a pot head who never worked or helped out. Vanessa and her mom argued all the time, so Vanessa was rarely at the trailer at all. Usually she was in a fight with Ms. Henderson and ended up sleeping on her friends’ couches.
It was no secret that Vanessa slept around; I’m pretty sure Mrs. Henderson even knew about it. One day Vanessa found out she was pregnant, and when she told her mom, both Vanessa and Lucy were sure Ms. Henderson would freak out. But Mrs. Henderson didn’t. She stopped arguing with Vanessa and cooked her big meals and spoke to her gently and softly, like she was reassuring a child that she didn’t do anything wrong.
Vanessa got an abortion. Mrs. Henderson drove her to the clinic and back. Lucy was waiting at home for her, to comfort her and just be with her. But Vanessa walked right through door, past Lucy, without even looking at her, then locked herself in the bathroom. Half an hour later, she came out, but she looked different. She had plucked out all her eyebrows and there was nothing but red puffy skin where they had been.
Her eyebrows never really grew back. Now she colors them in with this special brow pencil. She looks older and a little more broken now than she did before.