FIFTY FIVE: REBELLION

There was no dinner for us that night. Mrs Harley insisted we go get our dinner elsewhere. Despite our pleas, she stood on the ground that we were going to bed without dinner. Peter tried to apologize to her but she shouted him down. She looked so upset it was unsettling. Actually it was only unsettling because I was scared she'd report to my mom. If she did, mom would come fetch me immediately. I didn't want that at all. I wanted to spend my holidays with Miranda because as soon the summer was over, she'd be gone, with her family. Mrs Harley claimed her daughter was too stubborn to apologize, and despite that I apologized in her stead, she didn't listen to me. Not that I supported her rebellion. I was especially worried that what we were about to do was dangerous. That's what I thought at first. But as time went on, I thought it was dumb. No longer dangerous. Dumb, just dumb. But Miranda did say that dumb things which were equally interesting were a lot of fun. So, why not try? I mean… Ive always wanted a girl's day out. If it made her happy, why couldn't she do it? I was always awfully curious and adventurous. I know if anything kills me or harm me, it is curiouity and nothing more. Don't even tell me to stop, I am too curious to stop being curious. You cannot stop me. Even Robin failed at that attempt. Call me weird, but I swear I'm way worse. Maybe that's what attracted me to Miranda- my bold, daring attitude and the strength in my bones. She was also like that. Birds of a feather flock together, they say. I think there's nothing truer, in the case of Miranda and I . Besides, going out with her had produced an answer to one of my many questions. Now I knew that the ghost who haunted me was her father. All I needed to know now, was why and how to end it. The opportunity came to satisfy my curiousity, tell me why I wouldn't grab it. Who cared if 'an old woman' didn't support us? Well, not me. So, maybe I actually supported Miranda. Maybe I was rebellious and disobedient too. But the thing was, I was not sorry at all. In fact, I couldn't wait to execute the next item on our list for the holiday. Peter did apologize to her and told her to let sleeping dogs lie. He said there should be second chances for us especially as we were just kids, and he promised to join hands in punishing us if we mishandled our second chances. He told Mrs Harley that kids are bound to trespass, and that sending us to bed without dinner was a grave punishment, as we hadn't eaten lunch before leaving the house even. But all his pleas fell on Mrs Harley's deaf ears. I think it's the right ear. "Where did you go? Huh? Where have you been? I looked all town for you, where were you?" She barked furiously immediately we entered the living room. It was half past 10pm. She squarely faced her daughter and it felt as though I were invisible. I was not used to that. She was so offended that i was sure if we were not inches away from her, she'd have maybe puncked her daughter or kicked her in the stomach. Her eyes were full of rage, and I could not even look into them past a second. "Won't you talk?" She yelled when her first question wasn't answered. I backed away slowly but Miranda maintained her stance. "Next street" she muttered. She was very quiet but remorseless. She looked like she merely needed some food and a very good night's sleep, to welcome her, and not some uptight nagging mother. "Doing what? So you're saying you rode round the street and as if that isn''t enough, you went ahead to another street and stayed there until 10p m? Have you gone out of your mind?" I looked down the floor because I didn't know what her next move would be . She could pounce on me the next minute. Miranda remained silent all through even though she was fuming. "Look, I am your mother. If you want us to agree, you have to listen to my instructions so that you won't get into any trouble. You're accountable to me, okay? You have to listen to me all the time!" I wanted to ask her to cut me some slack and shut the crap up but I didn't want to end up spending my night on the streets, because she looked like she could fling me over the window if I said a word. "I thought the camp has changed you. The camp didn't change you still? You want me to take you back there next year, right? All right, I'll keep doing that until you grow grey hairs, and until your ears grow back, you reckless dog!" Peter was there in the living room, making a call when he entered, but he dropped the call immediately he heard the heat and anger in his mother's voice. "Do you want me to sell you off as a maid somewhere? Is that what you want?" She poked a long finger at her daughter and it almost punctured her face. Miranda was still quiet. I heard her mumble something under her breath, and it sounded like, "I'm not a dog" "Mom, please, let's let this slide. She's only eleven. They are only children. Forgive them only for tonight. I promise they won't do it again. They have realized you don't want that" That was Peter's attempt at pacifying his mother for the umpteenth time. But she shouted him down. "Leave me, Peter while I deal with this dog of a human!" Peter recoiled in shock. This was when Miranda decided she had had enough of her mom's nagging. She spoke up immediately. "I'm not a dog, mom! I said I'm not a dog" there was pain in her voice. "Don't call me that anymore!" She said and stormed out of her presence. I followed her closely. Mrs Harley didn't stop there She followed us, stylishly hastening her steps, and before Miranda slammed the door behind us,her mother said the last thing that broke the camel's back, as soon as we were at her door "Do you think your father would be happy to see his daughter grow into a rebellious girl as you?" "Don't bring my dead father into this. If you do that again, I swear I'm going to do something worse. Mark my words!" She said and slammed the door in her face. I could see it hurt her a lot to talk that way. I could see she didn't really hate her mother, she just hated what she did, just like I hated what Joe did, before he changed. When we were sure her mother was gone, Miranda broke into tears. Fresh uncontrollable tears. Her stomach rumbled as she cried. We were both starving. We didn't have lunch that day because we were very excited about cycling round town, and now there was no dinner for us. I tried to pacify her but it seemed needless because she pulled me away and cried some more. Her tears made me cry as well, because it brought back memories about Joe. I missed Joe's face, his voice, the way he walked into class and laughed, how he displayed his powers to me, and the way he bullied me. Yes, I didn't like being bullied but Joe was better off alive a bully who later changed into a nice guy, than being dead and buried, and gone forever. I crouched on the bed beside her and cried too. After a while, she stopped crying and I thought she was trying to stop by all means. "Can I get something to eat?" I heard her say. I looked around to see if she was on the phone with someone or if someone was in the window, because she couldn't have been talking to me, but there was nothing like that. "Can I get something to eat, puh-leeze?" She stressed. "Mira, you know we can't go out tonight to get food, or we'd end up sleeping on the streets. I don't know what to do. I'm starving as well. Should we go apologize again?" "Can..I said.. .can I get something.. something…" She trailed off, slurring her words and when I looked closely at her, I realized she was fast asleep. She had been sleep-talking. I sighed. I wonder who she was talking to. Our stomachs competed for the best rumbler prize. I couldn't sleep because I was starving. Suddenly, my eyes darted around the room and landed on a calender somewhere there. It had a wallpaper on top of it. On the calendar, she had marked important dates and the events that followed those dates. The last one read, "November 11th, 1997- and the event that was added was, 'Daddy left me'" Those must have been the three most painful words I ever read. The next day would be another anniversary of his death. Little wonder why she had been so cranky lately. No wonder she planned the girls' days out. She had attempted cycling her sorrow out that night only to return to the same sorrow at her doorstep. Didn't her mother know that she was struggling? Didn't she see that her only daughter was grieving and was seeking all means to stop the pain, even contemplated getting wasted on booze? Did she see it but did not know how to handle it? Or did she not see it? Did every young girl in the universe have problems or Miranda and I were just the ones singled out? At least I had a loving mother who didn't yell at me or threatened to force me to a camp of deranged immortals. But, Miranda? Oh poor girl! I didn't realize I had slept off until someone tapped my thighs. It was her. "Wake up, Ariana, let's eat" she said. She had a box of pizza in her hands, a bag of fries, and two bottles of what looked like soda on the floor. I had devoured two chunks before it occured to me to ask where she got it from. The door was still locked, and it was 12am in the midnight. Did she sneak out of the house to get pizza? Normally she wouldn't get pizza at 12am, so where did it come from? "Where did you find this?" I asked, still munching it. You could imagine how hungry I was. "I had to call him. I told him I was starving and he smuggled this in" I wanted to ask who "him" was, but I thought. Who else could it be apart from Peter, her brother? So, I didn't ask. After I had my fill, I picked one of the bottles. They were different from each other. But I thought they were both soda, so I opened anyone and drank from it. But, Miranda stopped me. "Hey, stop! Don't drink that! You could have asked. That's mine!" She yelled. I thought she was being defensive of her preference until she added, pulling me into the bathroom, "Throw up please! Throw it all up!" "Are you serious?" I asked her. "Do I look like I'm kidding? It's all for your good. Throw it up" I did as she instructed and only then did she stop whining. She moved the bottle under the bed and asked me to drink the other one. I wanted to ask her what it was, but she told me I asked too many questions. It baffled me that she behaved like an adult. She even looked like one. She looked like she was at least fifteen. Talk about stature and discretion. We are indeed twins born of separate mothers. We were so full that we couldn't lay down to sleep afterwards. "I can't sleep. What should we do?" She whined, hugging her body. Her eyes were fixated on the calender where she circled important dates. "Today is dad's death anniversary. I already promised him I won't cry. Maybe if I don't, I won't have to watch him die again, like it happens every year." "I'm sorry" I mumbled. "It's okay. I won't go to his grave either because last year, it happened. I want this year to be different. Ariana, I want you to stay with me" she said emotionally. "I'm here. Throughout the holidays, I promise" I said. She rubbed my hands and smiled. "And you have Phoebe, Josephine and Michelle" I added, and she nodded gratefully. "Let's do something. I don't want to talk about daddy. As soon as it's morning, I'll be out of this house and return only when it's dusk. If I don't, I'm sure going to cry" she said like she was very sure. "Has she always been like this?" I asked even though I knew I shouldn't. "Who? Mom? No. She started this attitude when my déjà Vu started to get on her nerves. That's why I'm intentional about doing things differently. No, let's not talk about her. Let's talk about something different" "Let's talk about the camp" I said. It was an opportunity to hear what happened when I was not there. "What camp?" "Meteors Contention. What happened when I was not there?" I asked eagerly. She hit my nose with a playful jab and said, "Curiousity will be the end of you" to which I responded, "I know" "A lot happened. Nothing but horror. Pure horror. Do you know that the one-eyed counselor died at Meteors Contention?" She sat facing me. It was a quarter past 12am. "He died? How?" I was so touched. Maybe this was the reason Robin purged me of my memories. I mean, the reason he asked me to desist from following Miranda. "A group of us went off to play near the river, and I tagged along. That's how we got to see his dead body. The sight was terrible. His heart was out of his chest and blood was gushing out of the hole. I can't help saying that Vicky knew something about it because she walked away as soon as we got there" "We had to hide for a minute until she was gone." "That's sad" I mumbled. "That man was gentle and kind" "He shouldn't have gotten on Vicky's nerves. He must have been a normal human like us, i mean not exactly supernatural like the werewolves and vampires" "Sure" I said. "That's really sad. I never knew Vicky was that ferocious" "Fe-ro-ci..cious? Where did you hear that word? What does it mean?" It wasn't the first time she'd ask me what a word I just uttered meant. Mom too sometimes wondered how I got to know some words. "Saw it in my books. I think it means fierce, wild you know" i explained. "Oh that reminds me of another thing that happened at the camp. Lucas and Maria…" "What happened to them? Oh my goodness!" I was very concerned, and so I shifted on the bed. "Calm down, it's nothing. They were playing the Tall Man Book game, and they started to spit blood. I know it was fake but they tricked us into believing it was real" she laughed. "Silly students" "What's Tall Man Book game?" I had never heard of it until then "It's a game about a tall man, that lives in every one's wardrobe. He's so tall he has to squat in the numerous dresses. Lucas and Maria chanted his name and he attacked them. Well, I don't believe it" "It's not true?" "Sure it's not" "Do you know that's how we thought werewolves weren't real? Until we met many of them? You know, the tall man could be real too" I insisted. She looked at me in disbelief. "It's just like Charlie Charlie. It's fake" "Okay. How's it done?" "Follow me" she dragged my hand and pulled me towards a compartment where she hung her dresses. "You stand in front of a wardrobe, if there's no wardrobe, you can improvise, yeah I learnt that word from Lucas. You make sure whatever you stand before, looks like a shelf of clothes, not books this time. You must also have your favorite book in hand. Open to the middle page and while fixing your eyes on the wardrobe before you, call him three times Tall Man, come here Tall Man, come here Tall Man, come here! Anything might happen to announce his presence. Maybe the dresses scatter around or you feel dizzy or spit blood. They said the Tall Man died while writing his favorite book and when he was buried, he was covered with many clothes in an old cupboard for a coffin. Isn't that dumb?" "But you like dumb things" I argued. "Well, I like trying out new things but it doesn't mean I believe they'll work" she suddenly began to laugh. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" "No Mira I'm not" I said and ran back to her room. "I'm not trying that rubbish game" "Please Ary. Let's try it. I'm curious" she pleaded, pulling my hands. Just when I thought I was the most curious person in the universe. "Do you want to be tortured by an invisible man?" I asked. "There's no invisible man. It's fake" she said. "Please. I'm gonna cry" "No!" I insisted. Not that I was scared, but I was tired of doing dumb things that night. We could continue the next day anyway. "Let's read a book then" she finally succumbed. She bent down over a bag, ransacking it and then fished out a fine new book. It was my book! The one Robin had given to me as a gift. I had not even read it. The first time I did, I realized it was written in a strange language, but he had changed it to English for me. I didn't realize it was in my travel bag. Mom must have put it there. She knew I loved to read. "Give me that" I said, snatching it from her. "You know I don't like books. I just want to fall asleep. Please read it to me" she pleaded. There, we didn't align in that aspect. She wanted to read to fall asleep. So, I carefully opened the book and started, "Long ago, before the eighteenth century, there lived a girl called Nicole. And there lived another boy called Bob. They were meant for each other , but he died. Now this is not how the story begins. This story is full of mysterious wisdom and makes you feel every emotion in it to the core, so, thread carefully. Nicole was a normal girl, born into wealth , chubby and smart and with superpowers that remained latent until her eighth year in life. The beginning and end of the mighty Nicole is contained in this book…" I stopped reading because Miranda was fast asleep.