FIFTY NINE-- GROUNDED, BUT ON WHAT GROUNDS?

Well, we got home, quite all right- Miranda and I, only to meet a very affectionate mother, and well, a Peter with a face so expressionless. "My babies, where have you been? Come have dinner. You must be awfully tired" she said sweetly. I was so uncomfortable because I expected her to be very mad at us. Nevertheless, we ate dinner together. Guess what happened after dinner? No, you didn't guess right. (Or did you?) Mrs Harley locked us up! We were grounded! She did say she'd ground us if we disobeyed her rules one more time. Her daughter hadn't taken her seriously. There was no way Wild Mira would 'have dangerous fun' anymore. Instead of apologizing and feeling remorseful, she yelled and cried and hit the door and did silly things. The 'house arrest' shook her so much that she would not eat anything and just sat in the wardrobe all day. Well, I went out to have lunch the next day without her. What was I do? She'd not even let me talk to her. I had even skipped breakfast to show some sympathy. The previous night, she had broken her phone's screen and blamed it on me. The only thing I did was try to touch her and talk to her, but she was so mad that she threw her phone at me. She was angry because I didn't catch it. When you throw something at someone in your anger, are they meant to catch it? The poor phone kept buzzing with calls from her nigga, around 6:30pm. I had to secretly answer it because it was getting on my nerves, and told him that she had been crying her eyes out since we left his place, and had nothing to eat since last night. The poor guy just kept sighing and persuading me to make her eat. It was crazy. Not just the whole situation, but their relationship. What did they see in each other? He was way older and more exposed. He was still talking when my own phone rang. It was a strange number. I was so curious that I did not think twice before accepting the call... Chris didn't get any response, since I left him hanging, so he hung up. Who would call me with a strange number? I thought. Our conversation was very short. Straightforward. Strange and short. "Hey, have you forgotten me so quick?" Yes, it was a familiar voice. I know this voice. I'd never forget it even in a million years. It's imprinted in my memory and it'll be there until I die. I know this voice, so why was I shivering, and why did I have goosebumps all over my skin? Why do I want to hang up so bad? Why do I have beads of sweat on my brow all of a sudden? "Hello, are you there?" The voice came again. Yes, I was a hundred percent certain about this voice. It was his voice. "Can...can we meet today?" He asked slowly, as if talking a bit faster would stress his vocal cords. "Wh..whe..where are you?" I whispered, finding my voice. I couldn't believe my ears. Here I was, asking him where I was when I should have hung up as soon as I noticed it was he. "Dunfermline" he said slowly, like before. His voice was very distant, like his he was gradually drowning in a deep sea. "Dun..ferm..fermline?" I repeated, questioningly, but he didn't respond. The line went off. I was shaken with fear and I had to slap my palm to stop it from shivering. That moment, Mira crawled out of the wardrobe as if she'd seen my fear. Her eyes were swollen red and she fell immediately she got out. She looked very pale. "I'm starving" she cried. "Can I get something to eat?" She said and I hurriedly forced a slice of cake in her mouth. "Thank you" she whispered. "Thank you Mash", she trailed off. I tapped her because it felt like she was losing it. I hurriedly went to fetch some milk, and some semi-solid to restore her energy. Peter was at the door, asking me if she was fine. He was very worried. He should have been out since afternoon but he delayed because of Mira. He seemed to be clueless about everything that was happening. Mrs Harley was off to work. She was working overnight. The back and front door were locked tightly and Peter dared not sneak us out. After a while, Peter and I were able to stabilize her. She soon got back to talking loudly like she used to, stuffing food in her mouth with tears running down her face. Peter left the house, locking the front door tightly outside, upon instructions, and after making me promise to call him immediately if anything went wrong. Mira had tried convincing him to leave the front door open at least, but he was not convinced. He was not sure of what his sister was capable of. You would think Mira would give up all our holiday plans after we've been grounded, but she started to talk about the pool party again at half past 8. "Mash will be there. We'll swim and have fun till dawn. Just swim and have a good time. How's that wrong? When will mom understand that if I stay indoors, I will have to mope around the house like a lonely dog. Isn't that what I'm trying to avoid? Why would mom ground me huh?" I wasn't really listening to her because I thought she was uttering gibberish. She looked so pitiful. "She's seized her credit card from me, I have no money left. I can't even go out of the house. This place reminds me of daddy! It reminds me of last year! I want to go away! I want to leave this house!" She cried running towards the front door, hitting it with her fist, and kicking at it. She was bruising so bad but she didn't care. "You'll hurt yourself, Mira. Why not wait till she gets back and apologize to her?" I advised but she didn't listen to me. "I am going to this pool party. I am going there! I'm not staying in this house! How can mom do this to me? She's lucky he's not here to stop her! That's why she's hurting me. He's not here ..he's not here anymore" She wailed. It was a little too much for me to handle. "It's okay Mira" , I repeated like a fool, "It's okay." "No it's not! This same thing happened last year! It's all coming back again! Everything is repeating itself. I am tired, I want to run away! I don't want to be here!" She fell onto the floor when the bruises started to hurt. Without uttering a word, I went into Peter's cubicle and fetched the first aid box there. She let me clean her bruises probably because she was too tired to object. "Ariana, whether anyone likes it or not, we are setting up a pool party tonight, okay?. I just texted Chris. That's the only thing I want right now-- get out of this house and have a pool party" she said calmly watching me clean her wounds. All the time, my mind was indecisive about worrying about my friend or thinking about how he was able to call me despite that... "Huh?" "Well, I'm not going with you" I smirked. I wanted to hit her for being so adamant and at the same time, I pitied her so much. I knew what pain meant, especially when I could not shed tears and everything would be all bottled up in my head, destroying me slowly. Even as a child. "Why not? You promised to stay by me. I'm not doing a wrong thing, I'm not killing or hitting anyone or destroying anyone's stuff. I'm only HAVING FUN! Because I want to FEEL BETTER! When will mom understand that and leave me be? I can't wait to go to the States with Peter. It happens very soon though, all I have to do is endure till that happens." She let it all out with one ounce of breath. She didn't stop to catch her breath until her words were all out. "Miranda, we can't do this again" "I don't care. I want to get out of here" "We shouldn't. I mean, I can't" "Then I'm going to the pool party without you! By hook or by crook! " She yelled, pushing my hands off her ankle. "With my friends too!" I sighed, walked towards the front door which was shut securely outside. She was hitting her fist again but it seemed it was on something soft this time. I checked to make sure. When I was sure she was fine, My mind went back to the call I had at half past 6. Was I dreaming or he had indeed called me? Was he really where he said we should meet? Should I really go to him? Was I just imagining stuff or he indeed called me? I was still ruminating on that when my phone buzzed again.