Free Maybe Baby Lite by Andrea Smith Page B

you know, whatever
happens, happens. Are you in?"
    “ I don’t think so,
Laurie,” I answer firmly.
    “ Well, now what?” she
asks, throwing her arms up, totally exasperated with my ignorance
and my unwillingness to follow.
    “ Hey, not to worry,” I
respond lightly. "My house is four blocks from here. I'll go on
home. Just tell your mom I didn’t feel well and left Vanessa’s
party early and went home when she picks you up
tonight.”
    “ But it’s your mom’s DATE
night,” she whines, emphatically. “My mom will bust my ass if she
finds out.”
    “ That’s too bad,” I reply.
“I just know that my mom wouldn't appreciate my going with you and
this group and getting involved in that kind of stuff.”
    “ Oh really?” she snickers,
not attempting to hide her amusement. “Let me know how that works
out for you, Tylar,” she snaps. She turns on her heel and walks out
with Vanessa. I can’t believe that Laurie just put me in this
position. What's happened to her?
    Once I reach our house, I
unlock the front door and quietly let myself in. It's only 8:30 in
the evening; not even dark yet. I notice the dining room is dark. I
can see that the dinner dishes are still on the table, left exactly
as they were when Mom and her boyfriend finished dinner. I step
into the kitchen and switch the lights on. An empty bottle of wine
is on the counter. It looks like Mom cooked her infamous roasted
veal with baby red potatoes and spinach salad. All the candles are
snuffed out.
    I go ahead and fill the
kitchen sink with soapy water. I can kill some time downstairs by
doing the dishes. Hopefully it will also serve to soften the blow
when Mom finds out I came home.
    By the time I finish it's
shortly after 9 p.m. I decide to watch some television in the den
off of the kitchen. I turn on the
television and catch the end of a movie. By 10 p.m. I really need
to pee and go to bed. There's no getting around it. Hopefully, mom
and her boyfriend are now asleep. I haven’t heard them upstairs. I
make my way quietly up the thickly carpeted stairs.
    I go into my room, careful
to be quiet, discarding my jean skirt and halter-top, putting on my
favorite silk plum shorts and matching camisole pajama set. I
really need to wash all of the make-up off of my face so that Mom
doesn’t see it in the morning, but my first priority is to pee. I
pad quietly down the hall, past the closed door to my mom’s room.
All quiet so far.
    I go into the bathroom,
softly closing the door behind me and switching on the light.
Deciding that it's just too gross not to flush the toilet even
though it might wake Mom I do it. I go over to the sink and wash my
hands. As I'm lathering up with soap to scrub my face, the bathroom
door opens abruptly. It's Mom, dressed only in a red corset and
panties. She slips into the bathroom, closing the door behind her
softly. She is livid.
    “ What the hell are you
doing home?” she whispers loudly. “Why aren’t you with
Laurie?”
    “ I’m sorry,” I stammer. “I
just didn’t feel well and I left the Video Palace to walk
home.”
    “ Does Mona know you did
this?”
    “ Yeah,” I lie, “she wanted
to drive me but I told her I needed the air.” I can tell that Mom
doesn’t believe me. She glares at me.
    “ Look,” I say, “I’m sorry.
I can fill you in on it tomorrow. I'm just getting ready to go to
bed.”
    “ Forget all of that, just
get down to your room now and get to bed,” she hisses.
    I’m not about to argue
with her. She's definitely pissed. As I pass her open bedroom door
I hear a man’s voice call out.
    “ Maggie, what the hell's
going on out there?”
    “ Nothing sugar,” she
croons, “just my sissy coming home earlier than
expected.”
    “ Well get your tight
little ass back to bed,” he orders. “Or have Sissy come in and join
us."
    A look of pure hatred
crosses my mom’s face in that moment. I scurry down the hallway,
shutting my door and climbing swiftly beneath my covers. Within