Page 5 of Final Installment
I flinched at the callous mention of the private mental health hospital.It was a horrible threat, and I wished she would stop using it as a cudgel to beat us over the head.
A door slammed, and I nearly jumped out of my skin.The screaming had ignited the sad little mental box holding all my shitty memories of this house.Flashbacks of verbal and physical abuse floated out like burning leaves in a wildfire.My fight or flight response kicked in, and it took every ounce of willpower to stay put.
The thump of angry footsteps echoed off the vaulted ceiling of the marble foyer.My mother appeared at the top of the grand staircase, looking every bit the wealthy divorcee socialite in her white Natori loungewear, white shearling slippers and gold jewelry.Her icy platinum hair was pulled up in a fiendishly tight ballerina bun, and her lips were stained with her favorite shade of blood-red Yves Saint Laurent lipstick.
Her scrutinizing glare landed on me, and her mouth curled into a crimson sneer.I swallowed nervously and held my breath, steeling myself for the coming abuse.
“Whatare youwearing, Elona?”she demanded, emphasizing each word like a viper’s strike.
“It’s a kaftan,” I replied stupidly.
“You look ridiculous.”She wrinkled her nose as if she smelled something putrid.“It looks like a circus tent and makes you look dumpy and fat.”
“Well,” I said bitterly, “I am fat.”
There was no getting around it.I was abiggirl.Big breasts, big belly, big hips, big butt, big thighs.I hadn’t been able to squeeze into anything smaller than a 26 in years.Keyword: squeeze.
Not that I was supposed to use that sort of denigrating language.
Bold.Lush.Curvy.Rubenesque.Those were the flowery words my therapist suggested.
“Clothing is supposed to hide our flaws, not emphasize them.As if it’s not enough that I have to deal with your sister’s hysterics!Tell me you have something appropriate for the party.”
“Cheyenne and I went to Highland Village to shop.”I wouldn’t tell her that I didn’t actually buy anything there.I had gotten tired of trying to cram myself into the biggest sizes carried in the boutiques, usually nothing larger than a 20, and had gone home to shop my favorite plus size boutiques from the comfort of my couch.
“Well, I will need to approve whatever you’ve brought.”Mom reached the bottom stair.“I won’t have you embarrassing us tonight.”She glanced up toward the second floor.“Christ knows your sister has that in hand.”
The mention of Dafina and the impending forced marriage sickened me.“Is there really no way around this?I mean—it's the 21stcentury!Arranged marriage to end a blood feud?That’s medieval.”
My mother straightened her back.“It’s the price we’re paying for your father’s stupidity.So, keep your opinions to yourself!In fact, keep your mouth shut around your grandfather and the Beciraj family tonight.”
Keeping quiet tonight would not be a difficult order to follow.I intended to meld into the background and hide as much as possible.As soon as the dinner was over, I was sneaking out the back door and driving straight to the hotel room I had booked.The sooner I was away from here, the better.
“Mariana, don’t you have work to do?”Mom snapped her fingers.“I don’t pay you to stand around and chat.”
Mariana glanced at me with pity and then scurried out of the line of fire.
“Your grandfather will be landing soon.He’s going to visit that strip club pimp first.”Mom eyed me with distaste.“Get out of that bedsheet and into something more appropriate.”She let her attention fall to my purse.“Is it in there?”
Reluctantly, I nodded and silently reached into my oversized leather tote.I withdrew stacks of bank-banded cash, and she snatched them away with her grasping claws.She made a point of thumbing through each stack, checking each note as if I would cheat her.
“This is it?”She seemed disappointed by the amount I had brought even though it was what she had demanded I bring, right down to the last dollar.“I’m surprised Brett gave it to you.”
“I didn’t get it from Brett.”
Her gaze snapped up at that.Incredulous, she asked, “You were able to pull all of this together without his help?”
“Yes.”
“I suppose those fancy degrees from SMU worked out for you.”
“I do all right.”I wasn’t interested in talking to her about my financial situation.
“Sometimes I wonder what exactly it is that you’ve done to make him spoil you so much.”
“Mom!”Taken aback by her nasty insinuation, I flushed and stuttered, “That’s...It’s...I wouldnever.”
“Well, we both know that isn’t true.”She leveled an accusing glare my way, and I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me whole.
