Judy Manley stood in the middle of her bedroom, telling her naked reflection, “Judy Manley, you need a life.”
And every irregular fold and roll of fat replied, “Yes, Judy, you really need a life.”
In essence, Judy Manley did have a life. She was thirty-two years old, had a sixteen-year-old son and a fourteen-year-old daughter who both wanted nothing to do with her and a workaholic in place of a husband. Judy’s life consisted of making sure her family’s lives were always stocked with premade lunches, clean clothes, freshly laundered sheets, a spotless home, taxi service, and dinner made and served at 6:35 pm every day.
Yes, Judy sighed, she needed a life.
Judy pinched the roll of fat along her abdomen, stretching the skin out that had never retightened after her second pregnancy. Though, Judy thought, continuing to eat 5000 calories a day may have contributed to that.
She let the skin go and watched the roll resettle below her belly button. Then she turned and inspected her rear’s profile. There was still a remnant of the cute apple bottom she had once had beneath an array of stretch marks. Judy winced and moved to the closet, hastily pulling on an ill-fitting pair of jeans and an old college tee of her husband’s. She winced, knowing the jeans were a size 16. Once upon a time, she had been a size 8.
Turning back to the dreaded mirror that hung like a daily insult above her dresser, Judy inspected her hair. It hung in a limp, wet mess down to her shoulders, a dull amber colour that had once been a vibrant strawberry blonde. Judy picked at it uselessly before tying it back in a ponytail.
The few bottles and tubes of cosmetics lined beneath the mirror laughed at her as she picked up a bottle of concealer. Carefully Judy dabbed some along the faint bags that had begun to plague her four years ago. She grimaced at the result: the concealer no longer matched her skin tone. The garden work in yesterday’s spring sun had made her face just barely dark enough to make the concealer clearly visible, like two bright beacons of skin under Judy’s eyes. Judy rubbed it away and picked up a tube of mascara, plumping away at her lashes. She blinked twice before realigning her makeup on the dresser and allowing herself one more brief inspection in the mirror. Pale blue eyes stared back at her with an unimpressed expression.
“Well, this is the best I can do,” she told those eyes before she turned and left the bedroom.
The hall clock read 2:50 pm.
Judy walked down the hall and down the stairs, not looking at the many framed pictures of young smiling faces, a black velvet puppy under a Christmas tree, more smiles beside a giant Mickey Mouse, wedding portraits, and, at the base of the stairs, Judy when she was eighteen, in her puffy prom dress, holding her eight-month-old son.
Judy continued towards the front of the house, going into the kitchen and tripping over the dog.
“Ow!” She cried, “Goddamnit Chelsea!”
The black lab glanced up at her with sad brown eyes, her thick tail thumping slowly against the linoleum.
Judy sighed, bending down and stroking Chelsea’s soft, greying forehead.
“Sorry, Chels,” she said softly, “you and I have to stick together, don’t we?”
Chelsea watched her, her eyes steady.
Judy gave her another pat before she straightened and went over to the fridge. Her hand paused on the handle as her eyes strayed over a handful of art projects made with macaroni and bits of wool, school photos that spanned a decade, and snapshots from an era long gone. Then she pulled the fridge open and rummaged around for some apples and cheese.
The dog watched as Judy sliced the apples and turned a burner on the stove that was set into the small island counter opposite the counters and cupboards along the back wall. Judy threw some buttered pieces of bread into the pan, laying the cheese on top.
Judy was just putting the grilled cheese sandwiches on a plate when she heard the front door open.
“You can’t do that!” screeched her daughter.
“Just watch me!” came her son’s hot reply.
“Mom!” Hope cried as she stormed into the kitchen and stumbled over the dog. “God Chelsea! Get out of the way you useless lump!” Hope shoved the dog away with her foot and collapsed onto a stool at the bar on the island.
“Hope,” Judy began as she pulled open a drawer and brought out a biscuit. She knelt down and gave it to Chelsea. “We don’t kick the dog. The dog didn’t do anything.”
“Mom, she was in the way,” Hope said, frowning at the biscuit, “Come on, Mom. Are you trying to kill her?”
“Shut up, Hope,” Ash said as he came in, throwing his backpack onto a chair by the table that stood at the far end of the room in front of a picture window. “Thanks Mom,” he added as he came over and grabbed half a grilled cheese and some apple slices.
“Mom,” Hope complained.
Leave me out of it, leave me out of it. Judy silenced her inner squirming monologue.
“Ash, be nice to your sister.”
“Oh come on, Mom,” Ash said as he jumped onto the counter by the fridge, “we all know she’s well on her way to becoming the neighbourhood LG.”
Hope scowled, “That’s not true!”
“LG?” Judy asked, frowning as she looked from Ash to Hope.
Hope rolled her eyes. “Little girl, Mom.”
“No,” Ash snapped, his blue eyes narrowed on Hope, “it’s more than that.”
“Well then what does it mean, big brother?” Hope asked innocently, her eyes wide and bright. “Why don’t you explain it to Mom?”
Ash met her glare from across the island.
Judy glanced between them, unaware of the battle between their intense stares.
Ash clenched his jaw before he pushed himself off the counter and stuffed the rest of his grilled cheese into his mouth. “I’m going to do homework,” he said before he turned and left the kitchen.
“Don’t forget that you have waterpolo at eight tonight, Ash. Aunty Megs and Kalli are coming,” Judy called after him.
“Yeah, yeah,” he called back.
She watched him go with a pit in her stomach. She looked back at her daughter.
Hope quickly wiped away her smug expression and asked politely, “May I go to Molly’s house?”
Judy watched her for a moment, trying to explain the off-note in her daughter’s question. Then she shrugged, “As long as you’re home for dinner.”
“Thanks Mom,” Hope smiled, hopping off the stool and skipping out the kitchen.
It was only as Hope was leaving that Judy noticed that she was wearing a miniskirt that Judy had never seen before. Judy shook her head and cleared away the dishes, taking the sandwich Hope hadn’t touched, leaning against the counter and chewing it absently.
Chelsea whined.
Judy looked down at her. “What?”
Chelsea whined again.
“What do you want me to do?”
Chelsea barked.
“Fine,” Judy said, “come on.”
The dog heaved herself to her feet and lumbered after Judy, following her to the back sliding glass door.
“Go on,” Judy said as she opened the door, “go do your business.”
Chelsea looked at her and huffed before she waddled onto the patio, down the steps, and onto the grass.
Judy shut the door and turned back for the kitchen when she stopped in the archway to Kevin’s office. She stared at the computer on his desk, watching the Microsoft logo bounce around the black monitor.
She sat down at the desk, sitting on the edge of the posture-pedic rolling chair and tentatively nudging the mouse. The screen saver disappeared and the desktop image materialized. It was a picture of Ash and Hope two years ago at Judy’s parents’ anniversary dinner. They were sitting beside each other at the dinner table, smiling and each holding a glass of sparkling apple juice that they were toasting to each other with. Judy smiled back at them.
The filing cabinet beside the desk sported more photos taped to the side among yellow sticky notes filled with phone numbers, care card numbers, memos, and quotes. A couple bookshelves stood along the side wall, filled with Kevin’s law books, dictionaries, and encyclopedias. Along the other side of the wall was a leather love seat and a large framed photo that hung above it. The photo was of a country lane stretching into the horizon, each side lined with bramble hedges and old cherry trees. White blossoms fell like love letters against the backdrop. Judy had taken that photo six years ago on the way to Kevin’s parents’ country home.
Now Judy opened a web page, typing into the address box ‘urbandictionary.com’. She waited as the page loaded. Then she entered “LG” into the search box.
“LG, little girl. Noun,” Judy murmured as she scrolled down, “A young female preteen/teen that engages promiscuously in sexual activity with older men. Synonyms include: skank, slut, etc. Associated with: LG Hunter.” Judy clicked on the link under the last sentence. “LG Hunter. Noun. An older man who seeks out LG’s (little girls) as a hobby. Synonyms include: pervert, man whore, player, etc. Associated with: LG’s.”
Judy stared at the screen. Then she closed the window and got up, going straight up the stairs and down the hall and knocking on Ash’s door.
Ash opened it, a waterpolo ball tucked under one arm. He started to slip past her almost immediately. “Hey Mom, I’m gonna go over to Jake’s house, but I’ll be home for dinner.”
“Ash,” Judy began as he started down the stairs.
“Don’t worry Mom,” Ash said, “I finished all my homework.”
Judy flinched as the front door slammed shut behind him.
She felt like screaming.
Rushing down the stairs, Judy snatched the handheld and dialled Kevin’s firm.
“Manley and Associates, Diane speaking. How may I help you?”
“Hi Diane, it’s Judy-“
“Oh, hi Judy. Kevin’s with a client right now so if you don’t mind, he’ll call you as soon as he’s finished-“
“I’d like to speak with him now please-“
“As soon as he’s finished, dear, he’ll call you,” Diane continued.
“But it’s a family emergency-“
“He’ll call you soon, take care!”
There was a click as the line went dead.
A moment of silence enveloped the house.
“The bitch hung up on me,” Judy whispered, staring at the phone. She gritted her teeth, smothering a scream as her whole body trembled.
Then the phone rang.
Judy hit the talk button and asked too quickly, “Kevin?”
“No honey! It’s Megs!”
“Oh.” Judy took a deep breath as she rubbed her forehead.
“Sweetie pie, what’s wrong?” came the voice.
Judy struggled for a moment before she replied, “Nothing, nothing’s wrong. How are you Megan?”
“Oh Judy!” Megan gushed. “Ed got that promotion I’ve been telling you about! And we’re all set to move into that house down the street now! Isn’t that exciting? Kalli’s absolutely thrilled to live beside her Aunt Judy and Ash!”
“That’s great, Megs,” Judy said as she sunk onto the stairs, resting her head in her free hand.
“And we just went to the elementary school and Kalli’s all set to transfer into that grade one class! Ms. Johnson is absolutely adorable!”
Judy made an agreeable acknowledgement as her high school best friend continued on about the moving schedule.
“The movers are somewhat expensive though,” Megan said, “so Ed and I were wondering if Kevin and Ash might be able to come over in two weeks on the Sunday to help us move?”
Judy forced a note of cheer into her voice, “I’m not sure what Kevin’s work schedule is like but I’ll ask.”
“It’s a Sunday, Judy,” Megan said.
“I know,” Judy sighed. “He’s been putting in some extra hours lately. He wants to take the family to Cancun next Christmas.”
“Well that will be exciting!” Megan said brightly.
“But I’ll ask him.”
“Don’t worry about it, honey.”
“Thanks Megan.”
There was a pause.
“Are you sure there’s nothing wrong, Ju-Ju?”
Judy managed a smile. “Everything’s fine, Megs.”
“Good, then you’ll be over here Saturday night for dinner with the kids?”
“Sure, we’ll be there.”
“Okay hun! See you tonight!”
“Bye Megs.”
“Love you, Ju-Ju!”
There was another click as Megan hung up. Judy hung up as well and got up.
A squeaking noise came from down the hall. Chelsea was pawing tiredly at the glass door. Judy opened the door for her and waited as Chelsea lumbered in and collapsed at the base of the stairs. Judy stood looking down at her, her hands on her hips as she shook her head.
“What am I going to do with you?”
Chelsea looked up at her with an expression that seemed to say, “No, what am I going to do with you?”
Judy smiled, reaching down and ruffling Chelsea’s ears. “I don’t know, girl. Throw me in the closet under the stairs and feed me stale bread and black tea?”

Emadev

March 4, 2011 at 4:53 AM PST

I like what I have read so far. When will we get to read the next chapter?