Page 29 of Hale's Pawn
I look over at Karessa who is fast asleep too. What is it with women and sleeping while watching movies and cuddling? “You guys can sleep here. Bug furnished the guest room for her stupid videos,” I say, rolling my eyes.
Jagger snickers. “Bug, huh?” he repeats.
“Don’t give me shit,” I say.
Jagger sobers but the smile is still on his face. “You know anyone who makes you happy, makes me happy. She’s bringing out the Oran that I haven’t seen in a long time. I missed him,” he says.
“Why didn’t you say anything?” I ask him as I scoop Ainslee up in my arms.
“Because, it's not my journey, dude. It’s yours, and I’m just here to ride in the passenger seat.”
“Deep shit, bro.”
“Thanks, motherfucker.” Jagger slowly gets up and manages to lift Karessa in his arms.
“Did you think we’d be doing this? Like, carrying our wives?” I whisper as Ainslee hums. Her fingers find their way into my hair and she smiles.
“You spoil her too much,” Jagger teases. “But no, I didn’t think that.”
We reach the hall and we both go our own separate ways after we tell each other goodnight.
AINSLEE
“Why weren’tyou at the commencement ceremony? Huh?” My mother digs her nails into my arm. She’s going to leave a mark which means she won’t let me go anywhere until it heals. I sigh as my mother drags me into our private dance studio. I already know what she wants me to do. Sometimes this is her form of punishment. Especially when my dad is gone for the week. I walk over to my ballet flats and I put them on. My mother shuts the door.
“Plié,” my mother shouts the first move. I do it without a word. “Double plié! Grand plié, retiré!” she yells.
Usually, this punishment doesn’t take long, but there was an evil look in her eyes, and I should’ve known. I should’ve realized what it was that she was going to do. She grabs a counting stick. She slams it against the wall each time to tell me which move she wants me to do.
After what seems like forever, my body is aching for me to stop but she won’t let me. “Mom! Please! I can’t…” I cry out.
“AGAIN!” my mother yells at me. “It’s only been an hour, Ainslee. This is nothing. We won’t stop until you reach two hours without puking or passing out.”
“Two!”she yells and I drop to my knees. I puke up the contents of my birthday party, cake and pizza, still heaving when it’s all gone.
“Happy Birthday, Ainslee Bishops,” my mother says in an icy tone.
For my 18th birthday, I cried my heart out. My feet bled, the blood soaking through the material of the ballet flats, but she didn’t care. In my head, I was stuck in a loop while I dropped to the floor next to my own puke. I was too tired to move. The loop of the full two hours was too far away. My feet throbbed, my head ached, and everything inside of me broke apart. “Mommy! Please. Please,” I begged.
ORAN
A beeping sound jolts me awake. I know that damn Fitbit sound anywhere. I turn to search for Ainslee with my hands first but find nothing. I sit up, opening my eyes. My eyes adjust to the dark room that’s highlighted by the moonlight. The moon’s light shines on Ainslee and this would’ve been a beautiful scene if she wasn’t doing some ballet moves in the middle of the night. “Ainslee.” I call her name out but she won’t stop.
“Please… Please…” I hear her whimper.
I jump out of bed and make my way to her, but she won’t stop. “Ainslee, stop! Ainslee!” I yell her name out.
She hears her name and she looks at me, but her eyes are so vacant. Is she even awake? Is she sleep dancing? “Please, it hurts, mom. I want to stop. Please...Please,” she cries harder as she continues to dance.
I sigh and try not to shake her. I know they say you shouldn’t shock sleepwalkers but I strike her lightly and Ainslee stumbles a bit, but she stops. Her eyes open up. “Oran?”
I walk closer to her and hug her. “Fuck, you scared me!” I say to her.
“What happened? I was dreaming. I was having a …”
“A nightmare? About your mom?”
She nods. “Yes.”
