We Wear The Mask (PASH)-Chap. 8
by Chrissyn
 

WE WEAR THE MASK--Part 8
 

Simone was on her bed, fully dressed in one of her customary colorful ensembles, with her chin resting on her hand. She sighed and rolled over. From the night table, she got a green folder, and leafed through the pages. Her English teacher had written:

'This has no topic sentence. Don't end the conclusion of the paper with a new idea.'
She had to rewrite a paper. This teacher was such a pain. She made the students write two drafts of a paper, grading the second draft. So Simone had to do that, and study for a Chemistry quiz. But she was in no mood to do homework.
The door squeaked opened, and Simone turned and saw Eve, in the doorway, wearing a warm smile.
"Hi, Mom," Simone said.
Eve took a few steps to the bed, and sat down on the edge, next to Simone. "Hi, Simone," Eve said, stroking her daughter's hair. "Doing okay?"
"Yeah," Simone muttered.
"Well, you don't look okay. Want to talk about it?" Eve inquired.
Simone shrugged. "There's nothing to talk about."
"Well, you shouldn't keep your feelings bottled up inside of you. It isn't healthy. And I'm a doctor. I should know," Eve joked.
"Mom, Chad is with Whitney. And it hurts so much."
Eve hugged Simone and shushed, "I know, sweetie."
"You know?"
"Sure," Eve replied. "I was once your age...believe it or not." She chuckled. "And I've had boys to hurt me. I've had crushes and the boys didn't feel the same way about me...Surely, you realize you aren't the only girl to ever go through that."

"I know," Simone conceded. "And it wouldn't bother me so much if the other girl wasn't Whitney...my own sister."
"Well, Whitney did not betray you or stab you in the back."
"Feels that way," Simone retorted.
"But that isn't the way it was," Eve insisted. "Chad liked Whitney, and you were never involved with Chad. You had a crush. A major crush."
She sighed. "I know."
There was a pause. "And Simone you are so pretty."
Simone blushed. "You're just saying that because you're my mom."
"I'm just saying that because it's the truth," Eve retorted emphatically. "You're a lovely girl, and smart, and caring. And you're going to meet a young man who likes you a lot...And you'll feel the same way about him...Honey, at your age, there'll be more than a few boyfriends...And eventually, you'll forget all about Chad...Right now, that may seem highly unlikely..."
"It does," Simone said, unable to imagine a day when she won't care about Chad Harris.
"Somewhere down the road, you'll get over Chad...And one day, you'll look at Chad feeling absolutely nothing...And you'll look back on that time when you cared for him, and you'll giggle to yourself, and think, 'I can't believe how crazy I was about that guy.'
"You think that'll happen, mom?"
"I know it will." Eve tapped a fingertip against her chest. "This girl's been around a little bit longer than you have, and she knows how life goes."
Simone broke into a warm smile.
Eve changed the subject. "I stopped at Safeway, and picked up some ground beef, sesame seed rolls, lettuce, tomatoes, kosher dill pickles, cheese."
"Hamburger fixings."
"Yes, ma'am," Eve caroled. "Why don't you, me and your dad make burgers, and watch a video. You like MRS DOUBTFIRE. We can watch that, or maybe something by Eddie Murphy," Eve suggested.
"What about Whitney?" Simone asked. She really didn't want to be around her sister.
"She dropped by to visit your Aunt Lenore, and Lenny asked her to stay for dinner," Eve explained.
"Okay, then, burger night it is," Simone chirped.
"Simone, I understand you're angry with Whitney, but this steering clear of her can't go on forever. You two are sisters, and you live in the same house, and you're going to have to deal with each other."
Simone made a face. It was like her mom had a wiretap into her brain. She always knew what she was thinking. "I know."
"And you'll try to get along with Whitney?" Eve asked, earnestly.
Simone nodded. "Okay."
Eve stood. "So spend some time on your homework, and meet me in the kitchen in forty five minutes." Eve headed for the ajar door.
"Mom," Simone called to Eve's back.
Eve turned around.
"Thanks for the pep talk, and making me feel better. I'm glad you're my mom." She got off the bed, went to Eve and hugged her and kissed her.
Eve's eyes filled with tears.
"Mom, you're crying?" Simone stated.
"These kinds of moments always make me choke up," Eve said. Her voice strained. "You know how I get when you and Whitney cook brunch for me on Mother's Day...Or sing happy birthday to me...
I love you, Simone," Eve said, and exited the room, shutting the door. She rushed into the bathroom, and placed her palms on the basin, and the tears that filled her eyes spilled down her cheeks. She took a deep purifying breath.
I'll be a better mother to my girls than my mother was to me, she thought.
All Clarice Winston ever cared about was puffing cigarettes, drinking, and partying.
Having fun was more important to her than being a mother.
Eve gazed at her reflection in the mirror. And thought about Roosevelt aka Rosie, Clarice's no-good boyfriend.
Eve's mind wandered back to over twenty years. She saw the shabby kitchen. And Rosie. Her mother's latest boyfriend.
He was in his late thirties, with skin the color of chocolate and a bushy afro. "You a fine looking girl," he said to Eve. He stroked her skin. "And got some pretty skin."
She snatched her face away from his repulsive touch. He always looked at her, with a lascivious glint in his eyes.
But he never touched her.
How could her mother carry on with this guy. Eve had heard them in the bedroom, doing it. Her mother would be moaning, and saying, "Give it to me, Rosie."
Ugh!
"Now why you want to be that way?" Rosie asked. His tone, wheedling. "Why don't you give me a lil bit? Don't you want to know what's keeping your mama happy?"
"You're disgusting!" Eve snapped, backing away from this vile man.
"You think you so much, Miss Eve," he taunted. "Talkin' all proper. Acting like you better than everybody else. Well, you ain't nothing...You ain't sh't. You ain't nothing, but a ho." He grabbed her, and kissed her hard and furiously. He tore open her blouse; buttons flew onto the floor. Her beige bar was exposed.
He grabbed her and kissed her again. She struggled free and rushed to the cutlery drawer, and removed a butcher's knife.
"Girl, what you doing with that knife?" Rosie stepped back; held up his hands in a defense position as if Eve was a cop and demanded he freeze.
"Come near me," Eve panted, brandishing the weapon. "And so help me, God, I'll cut your ugly heart out."
"Girl, you crazy," Rosie said and went about his business.
Eve told Clarice the ugly story, and Rosie vehemently denied it. "Eve wanted me to screw her," he said "And I told her no." His tone was so matter-of-fact, like he said he went to the 7-11 and bought a newspaper.
"That's not true," Eve said. And dashed out of the room, and returned with the torn blouse. "What about this?" she said, showing the ripped garment to Clarice. "This proves he tried to rape me."
Clarice slapped Eve powerfully across the face. "Stop the lying!" she shouted. "Rosie ain't try to rape you...And when Rosie didn't give you what you wanted, you could have torn that blouse to try to make your lies look more convincing."
"That isn't true," Eve said, defensively, holding her stinging cheek.
"I don't believe Rosie came at you," Clarice snapped.
"It happened, Mama. It did."
"Liar!" Clarice spat, making Eve jump back. "Rosie's a good man. And you're just a little bitch, Eve. You don't want me to be happy. Every boyfriend I get...you try to do things to get his attention...wearing shorts, sticking your little chest out."
"I never did that," Eve said.
"But this is the last goddamn straw. You get on out of my house, with your lies, and your hatefulness."
"Mama, I'm only sixteen," Eve said. "I have no place to go."
"I was on my own, when I was younger than you, and I did all right."
Eve emerged from her flashback. She didn't even want to think about where she ended up after being kicked out by her own mother.
Tears slid down her cheeks, and trickled under her chin. "God knows, you're my mother," she said thinking about Clarice. "But I hate you." She spoke between clenched teeth. "And I'll never treat my daughters the way you treated me...and I'll protect my girls from the Rosie's and the other bastards of this world."
She put the lid of the commode down, and sat. "Get it together, Eve," she told herself. "And remember that poem...We wear the mask that grins and lies...It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes...This debt we pay to human guile...With torn and bleeding hearts we smile..."
"You must always smile, Eve," she muttered.
She washed and dried her face, and went out into the hall and bumped into Simone, immediately putting on a smile.
"I finished my homework," Simone said.
"Well, let's go down stairs and whip up those burgers," Eve chirped.