The hospital cleaned Sheena up before she was awake. She was bandaged heavily but not covered in burns. There was less smoke inhalation than planned. And best of all, Medicaid picked up the tab for her and Shane.
He was in the bed beside her and woke up quicker. Sandria sat with him for some reason, and he had a book. Homework did not stop just because they were now burn victims.
She wondered about the visitors, even if the only voice in the room was her mom’s. Surely DCS would not be happy with Sandria starting house fires based on her food cravings. And the wildlife service wouldn’t either; all of Lucky Palms was flammable. She was ready to attack any suits that hovered over her. Maybe her devotion to Sandria as a mother figure was that strong, but Sheena also wanted to sleep.
Or for better or for worse, her other parents would show up.
As time wore on, Sheena had no malice towards them. But she was almost old enough to learn how to drive and no one came to visit. No one sent her a shady phone call, no one kicked off a kidnapping plan either. If they didn’t come, did it mean that they didn’t care? Or was it a sign of good news for her health?
“Hey numbskull, I’ve been talking to you for ten minutes.”
“Shane?”
Well, he and Addison Ross kind of sounded alike. Despite being younger than all of them, she sounded old and raspy from when they were little kids. Sheena only ever crossed paths with her in gym, the only subject she was bad at. Addison dominated every sport though. She was the best in class for the Presidential Fitness Test.
And of course, she was kind of hot for a freshman.
“Oh…do I get to skip gym now?” Sheena asked.
“Yeah probably. It’s not like you enjoy it.”
“I was supposed to be a mathlete instead!”
Addison brought some snacks for Sheena in her pocket, ones that the hospital cafeteria didn’t provide. And ones that Sandria refused to buy with her foster stipends. She may have been bound to someone else’s shopping list with them though. Sheena remembered how her bio-mum scrambled to furnish the fridge with things that weren’t one frozen pizza. Sandria wasn’t perfect, there were a lot of carbs, but she liked fruit too. Addison’s family obsessed over groceries as well, and even worse because of what they could afford. Mrs. Ross was planning to retire from her VP job and the pension was through the roof.
“…and I never had a Hot Pocket until last week,” said Addison.
“That’s bananas. I at least get frybread when my mom craves it.”
“Geez…thanks?” Sandria said, from behind the hospital room’s curtain.
Addison ended up staying there until a nurse kicked her out. Visiting hours were set in stone for the unrelated, after all, and Sheena also needed to sleep. She didn’t dream about Addison due to a normal lack of control, but she wished she did.
It was hard to connect with other girls sometimes. Even if they liked girls too, the rifts were simply elsewhere. Otherwise why else would Simone never talk to her again? Why would BettyJo…be like that? Hot and cold and not fun to share a bunk with. Her crush on Yuna was hardly a secret, even if she got over it fast. She had her own secrets to keep, and Sheena would let someone else be the snitch on those.
Oh who was she kidding? It was all in the past while we sat looking at brunch menus. I made this into a two-day event with Sheena, after she learned I was a fellow gay and invited me.
She also invited Sandria, and a lump formed in my throat. Maybe it was about the hypocrisy of healthy groceries and thinking about getting stuffed French toast.
“We don’t need to talk about it here,” said Sandria. “I’m above that, especially for my daughters.”
“Crush on an older guy, not important yet,” Sheena said.
“Meh, I feel like everyone I knew tried it out,” I said. I didn’t because I was sure of my sexuality that quickly. “Get to something more interesting…I mean for Sheena. You can do what you want, Sandi.”
“Are we first name friends now?”
Anyways, Sheena tried once to save BettyJo from herself, in the way that bratty teenagers do. Everyone knew how the house’s plumbing worked once they got into high school…
…but no one expected anything when it failed or got sabotaged.
Sheena thought that she ruined BettyJo’s clothes for one day to stop her from “meeting her friend”, but as it turned out, things dried fast in the Lucky Palms dry heat. At least no one died, that was for Shane’s story that we all heard before.
A few things were coming up, namely prom and Sheena’s driver’s test. And applying to university, but mostly prom and driving. She spent weeks working up the courage to ask Addison out. For a student athlete, Addison was unassuming and humble. She liked to skip practice or spend a weekend curled up in bed with her Switch. And if Sheena invited her over, she never rejected.
“…ya really expect me to figure this board out?” Addison said.
“No, not really.”
And so another attempt failed. Sheena needed help from the wisest lesbian elder she knew.
“Well, let’s focus on driving first. I finally bought a car from my new…uh…”
“Girlfriend?” Sheena asked. There was this newlywed that Sandria once met at the grocery store. Sheena was looking at grapefruits when their banter started.
“Whatever you say, but let’s not talk about that one.”
At least Addison seemed single.
“Can we talk about college then? Or skinwalkers?”
“I’ve told you five skinwalker stories and my auntie would say that’s six too many,” said Sandria. I noticed that the kids never told me any either.
They cruised gracefully down Melnea Cass Boulevard while they talked, Sheena barely swerving into any road signs all the while.
“Soooo…can we go back to the adoption thing then? Apparently I’m guaranteed a Pell Grant if I’m not,” said Sheena.
“Will you be disappointed?” Sandria asked.
“I mean…I’ll deal with the grant stuff.” In reality, the Sheena who was eager to be adopted turned into one a little more practical. She wanted to major in chemistry and join a sorority. BettyJo wanted to be a physical therapist. The other two kids had careers that didn’t need a diploma and student loans. Then again…Addison had the same idea they did. “Eh, talk to BettyJo about it. I’ll deal.”
“Well, you might get a Pell Grant because we’re not rich and I’ll see what being my daughter gets you for scholarships,” said Sandria. “But I…I’m really happy to call you my daughter. I just called you my daughter twice…three times.”
“Thanks mom. Mom, mom, mom, beat ya.”
“And for the record, I was told that my work with kids in the system would clear my debts. No one’s gonna escape it, not even BettyJo.”
BettyJo’s tantrum was left out of Sheena’s conversation. She must have expected me to intervene myself, with wherever she was. But Sandria was uncomfortable in her seat.
“Was this your point of no return or somethin’?” I asked her.
“Well…you can’t give them back.” And yet she did it again for four more kids. Sheena didn’t drop the names or business cards of any of the powers that be at DCS. Then again, they never visited her even when Sandria looked at her worst with an accidental fire.
Then prom rolled around. The courage to ask Addison out formally did not, but Lucky Palms was a small town with a small school. There was no sea of styled and bejeweled teenagers to comb through for her.
She and Chrystal went straight for the punch, trendy metal straws in hand.
“Just ask her,” Chrystal mumbled. “I’m gonna ask the hottest guy in class for a dance.”
“Zachary is not the hottest guy,” Sheena said. “It’s not just the gay speaking either.”
“Hey Zach! Zach?” Chrystal called out. She was soon off to try and find the boy, even going out the door. He took art with Sheena and had a scraggly moustache and shaggy hair like…pretty much every teenager. And Addison on a bad day or when her mom forgot to buy razors. She admitted those embarrassing things to Sheena and it was a greater sign of confidence than anything.
Sheena caught a chaperone watching her, so she got a glass of punch instead.
It was hard to talk to Addison for once. Her best friend Ricardo both did and didn’t go as her date. It was a pact between friends, and his district’s prom sucked. Not like a school gym affair with lukewarm punch was better, but the people of Lucky Palms were.
“Heyyyyyy Addison!” Sheena said, before she finished her punch.
“Shhh, my mom had to text me,” she said. “You know what it’s like.”
“Nope, Sandi just wants us home alive and not pregnant.”
“Are you calling her mom yet?”
“Getting there…”
“Look Addison, I just want one dance tonight,” said Sheena. “I don’t have any other friends.”
“Yeah, but then you have to spend the after party with me and Rick,” she said.
“I’ll do anything, I promise!”
Addison took the lead with dancing, dipping Sheena like a professional. They even requested a song. Yes, it was “A Tout Le Monde”, which the chaperones didn’t know was about suicide. It sounded nice and that was what mattered.
Plus, they were having a better dance than BettyJo and Ferby. They never saw Ferby again, some people said he got expelled.
“So, what about the rest of it?” Sheena asked Addison.
“What, together?”
“Well…”
“Yeah, let’s talk about it over waffles tonight. We’ll even have our first drink, my dad’s cool with it and you can be the designated driver.”
“Deal.”
Addison was someone who moved fluidly and looked amazing under a disco ball. She smelled like men’s deodorant, and Ricardo did too but he was a poor little punk stuffed into an ill-fitting suit. And a guy.
It was clear that Addison did not see her best friend enough. The “afterparty” consisted of Addison trying to convince Ricardo to run away from home and live in Lucky Palms.
Shane had followed them to the diner too, along with Yuna. Granted, her family owned the place. It was one of the last times Sheena ever saw her before her demise. She and Shane had their own differences, whether they’d smooth out over time or not. But while she didn’t envy him with Yuna specifically, she wanted some certainty after prom.
She wondered how she’d even approach him.
A day or two too late: “Oh, look at me! I’m Shane and I dated Yuna.”
College applications went even worse. Sheena got rejected from her dream school, if not any of the others, and BettyJo got in! Then financial aid statements looked even worse. Yes, scholarships for American Indians covered a lot. Both girls were Pell Grant eligible. But there was still a chasm that Sandria couldn’t fill, even with the less-exploitative loans at the cheapest school. She wouldn’t sign off on the other loans for their own safety.
“Eh, as I said, I’ll deal,” said Sheena, over a meal of grilled cheese sandwiches. She was criticizing Sandria for being too healthy, really? “There’s still community college right?”
“Oh yeah, especially if you save up with your bookstore job.”
It sounded like a deal!
And so Sheena’s life became boring. The most interesting part for a while was her valedictorian speech…and the diploma too. No one was dazzled by her as a speaker, but Sandria kept a video and transcript anyways. She was a proud momma, and never the valedictorian herself. But Sheena would never fret about not fitting in. Some of us aren’t meant to anyways.
Her bookstore job continued too. Maybe she’d manage it one day instead of desperately trying to keep newspaper and magazines alive. And she thought the story would end there.
Until Addison needed books too.
“Hey, I always felt bad about prom,” said Addison. “And Rick and I haven’t talked since he moved in with that Lancaster chick.”
“Wait, Johnny’s mom?” She was around Sandria’s age. “Or Brennan’s?” There were two Lancaster women after all, Lina and Lola, daughter and mother. They both had children just a little younger than Sheena and company.
“Johnny’s, you gotta appreciate the small things.”
Sheena, as humble as she wanted to be, always felt like she deserved a kiss from Addison. Just once that prom night, but after waiting so many years…
…it was going to have to be a longer deal than just a kiss. Hence why I sat with a married couple at brunch, and the mother-in-law.
We started to eat before Sheena finished her story, taking a bite or two in between. The food was great at the bistro. The father of the two Shaw boys I taught was the head chef and I respected him a lot after that. He came off as more prickly in meetings.
Sandria was quiet for most of it. I wrote down all her interjections. Her big skill was letting her children talk, so of course I wondered who silenced her in life. The only other thing she mentioned was teaching a walk-in painting class at one of the town museums.
“Sign me up, baby!”
Head’s up but the next few chapters may be kinda rough to make the SimNaNo deadlines. Not like we’re making the next great American novel or anything but revisions were very…hasty. And Sheena lost weight for some pictures? Forgot to change the wallpaper once? Oh snap!