20. My Turn
1951 Words
Elroy has his face plastered to the window. Elek sits in a chair watching everything. Marcus and Dipak talk to their older selves.
"This is a practice run. We don't have anything going on. So it's about letting you take control of the ship and go somewhere else and then come back."
I raise my hand. "Can we go to a mountain resort? We want to see what's there and how it's different from a beach one."
Future me about jumps out of her skin. "OH I KNOW THE PERFECT ONE. I LOVE IT. HAVEN'T BEEN THERE IN LIKE 2 YEARS. I'LL CALL AND SEE IF THEY HAVE ROOMS FOR US." She runs out.
"We'll check on that for you? Did you have anything else you wanted to do?"
"I WANT TO OPEN A SPA. AND META."
"And spa and META. I do not know if we'll be able to do META on this trip. It's not very long, and we have something else to do in 5 days. But I am absolutely positive there is a spa at the resort."
"I HAVE ROOMS FOR TONIGHT AND TOMORROW. GO THERE NOW."
"Go where?"
"JUST GO."
Future Tre grabs future me. "Let's go plan what we're going to do for the 2 days. Do you want to sit by the fire with me and snuggle?" He walks out with her.
"We're going somewhere. I'll go figure out where it is and come back."
Johen sits by Elek. I sit on his lap.
"What were you doing before they got there hun?"
"Sleeping." I snuggle him.
"Are you still tired?" I shake my head and he rubs my back.
Johen wakes me up by rubbing my back. I'm in his apartment. I shake my head and snuggle into the bed.
"Come on. We need to eat dinner. You need to eat hun."
I stretch big. "I'm sleepy though."
"We can eat dinner and look at some stars. Then we'll be at the resort. We can check in and go to bed."
I wiggle. "Ok."
He picks me up.
Next thing I know, he's sitting me down at the dining room table. In my own chair. He sits beside me and I try to move into his lap.
"No, you need to eat."
I start to cry.
"Awww." Future Marcus runs over and picks me up. I snuggle into him. "She's so sleepy. Are you a tired girl?"
I nod and close my eyes.
He hugs me. He's so warm.
"Marcus, you have to let them deal with her. You can't hold her through dinner because she's young. You know this."
"f**k you dickhead." Future Marcus sits in his spot. I put my head in his chest. "She's sleepy."
"Marcus give her back. I know I'm cute, but still."
"She's so cuddly."
I play with his hair.
Future me sits down. "They are never getting her back."
My Marcus nods. "I got puked on a few hours ago."
"She may be cute and snuggly now, but she will wake up a full teenager tomorrow. Be ready for that."
Elek nods. "And you'll be getting up tomorrow about 3 in the morning. Because this is really early for her to go to bed."
Johen smiles. "Good luck."
My Marcus nods. "Remember, do not give her to much candy. Have her eat actual meals. I mean, you'll only get 4 minutes to eat them before you get dragged off to something else, but it does help."
"Now I see why there are 5 of you. Come get her."
I snuggle him.
"Yes come on." Tre picks me up.
"NNOOOO." I throw myself on the ground and cry.
He carries me to his room. "I know you're tired. But you are going to eat dinner."
I shake my head.
"Yes you are. We'll be at the resort soon, and then you can go to bed. It is still too early for bed anyway."
I try to throw myself on the ground again, but he grabs me and smacks my butt.
"You need to stop. I know you're tired, but that is no reason for this."
I throw myself on the ground and sob.
"Enter."
"SLEEPY TIME TRE." I cry harder.
"This is going great."
"I got her." Marcus picks me up off the ground and puts me on my feet. "It's wakey time."
"NO."
He smacks my butt hard and fast. I look at him shocked then I cry again. He's never hit me before. I stand in the middle of the floor sobbing.
"Come here." He steps towards me.
I jump onto the coffee table and it breaks. I fall straight down and feel something pierce my leg. Then I lay on the ground and cry. I give up.
He picks me up and cuddles me. "I wanted your attention angel. I'm not going to beat you. But I swear, you get hurt every time we're here. Enter."
Dipak comes in. "Going well I see."
"She's still having a fit, but she jumped on the damn table and it broke. Then it stabbed her leg."
"Sweetheart, what happened?"
I reach for Dipak and he takes me. "He hit me." I cry harder.
"I smacked her butt to get her attention."
Dipak nods. "I'll take her to the doctor. This should be fun."
"NO DOCTOR."
"Woman, you're going to the doctor. You have wood sticking out your leg."
Dipak puts me on the doctors table. "Now you be good for the doctor and let him clean your leg up."
"Ok."
The doctor walks in. "You are my most reoccurring patient. What happened?"
"Marcus hit me."
"With a stick?"
I shake my head.
"How did the wood get in your leg?" He pulls it out.
I stretch my leg. It feels so much better. "I jumped on the table and it broke. It went in my leg."
"Why did you jump on the table?"
"Trying to get away from Marcus, so he couldn't hit me again."
"Were his eyes red?"
"No."
"Where did he hit you?"
"My butt."
"Did he hit you with something?"
"His hand."
"Did he have his fist closed?"
"No."
The doctor cleans out the hole in my leg. Then he sprays stuff on it and it heals fast. "So he smacked your butt?"
"WRAP IT." I shake my foot at him.
He wraps my leg. "Why did he smack your butt?"
"I wouldn't get off the floor."
"Why were you on the floor?"
"IT'S SLEEPY TIME."
"HEY." I look at Dipak. "Slow down and think about your actions."
"I'm tired."
"Why not let her go to bed?"
"If she goes to bed now, she'll be up at 3."
"She needs an unwanted consequence, then she can make her decision. For example. You can go to bed now, and not get to see the resort. You will be stuck on the ship tomorrow, or you can stay up and enjoy it with everyone tomorrow. What do you pick?"
I shake my head.
"Your choice, sweetheart."
I stare at the floor. "I want to see the resort."
The doctor nods. "Do you think you can find something to do to stay up for 2 hours? There's a movie theater on the ship now. Or you can always do some sketching or painting. Do you think you can figure something out?"
I nod.
"Good. Remember it's only 2 hours. We know you're tired. I'm sure they'll help you stay awake if you ask nicely."
"Ok."
"You 2 have a good night."
Dipak picks me up and carries me back to the dining room.
I limp to my seat while glaring at Marcus.
Future Tye cracks up laughing. "I'm sorry." He gets up and leaves.
I slam myself down and cross my arms. I give Marcus a dirty look the whole time.
"What do you want for dinner, baby?"
"I AM NOT HUNGRY."
"ENOUGH. You will not get off this ship if you don't lose the attitude. All he asked was what you wanted to eat."
I cry again.
Tye smiles. "What is wrong, babydoll?"
"I miss Nikolas." I start sobbing. "I wanted to tell him we were leaving. But I didn't because I was afraid he would attack us." I lay my head on the table. "I HATE THIS. I don't care if I don't get off the ship. Wake me up when we get home."
Dipak picks me up and walks out with me. We get to his place, and he holds me on his lap.
I cry into his chest for so long. I don't even know how long. I eventually cry myself to sleep.
The next morning, I wake up in bed. It's still dark out. I guess they were right. I hug my knees and curl into the littlest ball I can. Then I throw the blanket over my head. This is good for today.
I feel the blanket get ripped off me. "Cold."
Dipak picks me up. "Well, you need to eat. Everyone is here for breakfast."
I shake my head.
"Eat breakfast and if you want to lay back down, you can. But please eat something."
"ok."
He puts me in a chair at the table. My boys are here. Elek and Elroy are here too. Where the hell am I? Everything is wood. There's a big sitting room with a fireplace. There's a big kitchen. And a man in it cooking. The kitchen stuff looks like the future stuff.
Tye kisses my head. "Good morning babydoll. We're at the ski resort."
"The what?"
"The mountain resort. Go look out on the balcony."
I run over and fling open the balcony door. People are sliding down the mountain. I watch a bunch of them do it. My eyes about pop out. People are going down slides made of snow, they are on tubes like at Tye's waterpark. I have to do that. I jump off the balcony and turn into a dragon.
My feet about freeze solid right when I land. I can't shop shaking. I'm cold and excited. I really should have worn something other than a little human dress with short sleeves and no shoes. I run for the slide.
Tye picks me up out of nowhere. "MY TURN TYE."
Tye pats my butt. "To cold need coat and boots. Then your turn."
"I'm cold."
"Yea, it's cold out here babydoll. Look up there. You see Marcus?"
"Yes."
"Fly to him."
I fly up to him while I watch the people slide down the mountain. They are on some kind of sticks. Another part of the mountain, people are going down on boards.
-Thud.-
I hit the side of the building and fall out of the sky. I catch myself about halfway down. Then I concentrate on flying to Marcus. I don't look anywhere else.
"I NEED SHOES." I run back in the room.
I see Marcus do something to the door.
"LOVE, WHERE'S MY SHOES." I run into our bedroom.
"HAVEN'T BOUGHT THEM YET. COME EAT."
"I NEED SHOES."
"You need special shoes to be out there. I will take you shopping after you eat."
"BUT."
He puts an eyebrow up.
I sit down and pout.
"You should have seen her watching the skiers. She flew right into the side of the building. Tye damn near had to catch her falling out of the air."
Dipak laughs. "We're going to have to keep an eye on them. They'll pass out somewhere weird and freeze solid."
Marcus nods. "I'm surprised your little toes aren't frozen already. Let me see your feet."
I put my feet on his lap and get them as close as I can to his body.
- Writer
