Rascal's First Halloween
By
Rebecca Anna Coleman

-4-
Breakfast with Mom

Sailor Moon was what I considered my gateway anime. It was the anime that got me addicted to the colorful and often vibrant world of Japanese Animation. It had also been mom's favorite anime. Something I never knew about mom was that she was something of a prototype gamer girl. I guess I should have known that because her old bedroom at grandmother's house still had an old Nintendo 64 and an old VHS player hooked up.

She also had a bookshelf that was filled with VHS tapes. Most of the tapes were either Sailor Moon or Pokemon. The few times I went into mom's old bedroom, I kind of treated it like a time capsule. It was like stepping back into a different time. When I was looking upon that old Nintendo 64, slowly gathering dust that still had a copy of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time still in it. Or those collections of VHS tapes. I did not see outdated hardware, I saw relics of our past. Our shared past.

Anyway it was a cool Autumn afternoon. The trees had turned a little more from green to orange and the mornings were a bit cooler though the afternoons were still pretty hot. And I was still sore from my doctor's visit earlier that morning. The seasonal change had wrecked havoc on my sinus. Resulting in a terrible sinus infection or was it a cold. I'm not sure.

Either way mom had wasted no time in booking me an appointment with a local clinic that was connected to the local hospital. I mean that, you could throw a stone from the waiting room of the local clinic to the ER. Mom worked there as a nurse and decided that was the best place to go. Either way I spent that morning being moved from one room to the next. Before Dr. Frank, I finally decided I indeed had a terrible sinus infection or a cold. He was not really sure.

But he decided the best course of action was to give me two shots in the bottom, a breathing treatment, along with a full course of oral antibiotics to be taken three times a day for ten days, and a week off from school. Because according to him to school's were on fire with this stuff.

The prescription was called into a local Walmart where of course mom decided to stock the fridge with anything and everything I might need for those ten to seven days. That included four packages of Marketside Tonkatsu Ramen Bowl, four packages of Marketside Beef Udon Bowl, Some microwave white rice, some frozen chopped steak, some frozen sausage patties. Iced rolls from the bakery, some frozen pizzas, a twelve pack of colas, and some sport drinks. And of course she tossed in a chocolate cheese cake, simple things I could fix on my own because mom was not going to call in on my behalf. She was saving her PTO for the Summer Time.

Anyway, the reason I was out of bed was because my Android had kept buzzing. It seemed Amazon had delivered my package while I was sleeping off the effects of the shot. And well, even though we live in a semi-safe neighborhood, I did not trust the neighborhood dogs, who often carried away packages from peoples porches or pissed on the packages.

And I went down and picked the package up and walked inside and set it down on the small, oval, kitchen table and went back to bed. Well first I fixed myself a pizza pie, pepperoni of course and I washed it down with several cans of rootbeer. Anyway I'm not sure how long I slept, but it was late afternoon when I went down for my second nap of the day. I came around early the next morning. My Android Phone showed the time of six thirty three.

By that time mom was off work and drinking coffee like it was life giving liquid. She looked tired, smelled like a hospital.

“Morning.” I said as I peered toward mom.

“Morning.” Mom said as she wrapped her fingers around the coffee. “Princess bed hair.”

I felt my cheeks start to turn a dark red.

“Cute pajamas.” Mom said as she took another sip of her coffee. “A little short for my taste. But then again you're almost eighteen. I also noticed you shaved your legs and under your arms too. Which is good, it will make your pass easier.” Mom added as she eased her coffee cup down upon the table.

I felt my cheeks start to flush a deep, dark red as I looked down at the set of pajamas I was wearing. The top was a race tank with all five of the main sailor guardians in the front and the bottom was dolphin shorts. I felt like I was wearing nothing at all.

“Thanks. I ordered them off Amazon.” I said, taking a deep breath. “Would you like breakfast?”

“You can cook?” Mom said, raising an eyebrow.

“I learned from the best.” I said bending down to open the fridge. I pulled out a packet of smoked sausage and a can of cinnamon roll dough.

“I hope you mean me, because your father burned water.” Mom added as she took another sip of her coffee. “The man could never even make coffee. He always has way too many grinds in the basket and that would cause the basket to flood and make a hell of a mess for me to clean up and plus the grinds would turn to coffee bitter.”

I blinked and picked up a butcher's knife, without saying a word I sliced open the clear plastic package, and placed rolls of smoked sausage on the wooden cutting board, I then started to slice the sausage into bite size pieces.

“I miss him sometimes though. I mean I sometimes wonder what I saw in that man besides just a handsome face and a strong body and a big, thick dick.” Mom said as drained the last few ounces of her coffee and then she pushed her chair back and then walked toward the pot.

I paused mid-cut with the knife and peered toward mom. I slowly turned toward her with a look of sheer horror on my face.

“What? The way I see it, you're my daughter now. Mothers tell their daughters these types of things. Sure you flat a board without any curves. But we can always put that down as you being a late bloomer. I was a late bloomer, your sister was a late bloomer, It makes sense for you to be a late bloomer too.”

“Thanks mom.” I said as I bent down, opened the stove and fished out a heavy, iron skillet. I placed the skillet on top of the stove's eye and turned the dial to three. A clicking sound followed, the clicking sound lasted around three seconds before a clear blue flame appeared.

“Anyway.” Mom said, waving her hand in the air as she refilled her coffee mug.

“Anyway?” I blinked as I tossed the sausage in the iron skillet, the sausage made a sizzling sound. I then popped the can of cinnamon roll down and slowly I started setting the rolls on a baking pan, once they were set I walked over and set the toast oven to three fifty.

“I think you're doing something really special.” Mom said finally. “Also Hailey Elizabeth Sharbrough finally emailed me back. I think I failed to mention she was one in charge of the whole dunking booth fund-raiser even though she was not volunteering to staff it. Anyway Ms. Sharbrough finally emailed me the Dunk Tank Schedule for the Halloween Carnival.”

“Sharbrough?” I said blinking. “That's like that really rich family that founded Sharbrough's Landing.”

Mom rolled her eyes.

“Yes.” Mom paused and took a sip of her coffee. “Though I won't call them 'Rich' there mostly farmers. Most of their money is tied up in land, cotton, soy beans, and catfish. Like most planters in the Yazoo Delta their wealth lies in the land itself. They have plenty of land but very little cash.”

“Oh..” I said as I flipped the sausage.

“Anyway you're in two time slots.” Mom said, taking a deep breath. “You're in the five thirty slot and the seven o' clock time slot.”

“Wow.. two tours in the tank.” I said moving the sausage onto a plate.

“Yes, two tours.” Mom said, sighing. “Also did you try on the outfit?”

“No ma'am.” I said walking over to check on the sweet rolls.

“Well after breakfast, you need to try it on. I ordered a few extra things. Things I need to go over you with.” Mom said as she finished her second cup of coffee.

“Okay!” I said blushing a little as I reached for an oven mitten. I took the oven mitten in hand and opened the door of the toaster oven. The door opened. I reached and removed the tray and set it on top of the oven and then I glazed the rolls.

And that is how another chapter comes to an end.