Cannibals by Jen Conley

Author:Jen Conley
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Down & Out Books

The house is dark when I get in, which means my daughter is out with her boyfriend and my granddaughter is probably home. I turn on the living room light and peer down the dim hallway. A sliver of light glows under the first door. I knock before entering.

Kiara is sitting on the bed, reading a book, big purple headphones on her head. I know those things are expensive, about two hundred dollars. But all the kids have them and my daughter’s boyfriend, who I haven’t met, said that Kiara should have them too.

Kiara lifts her eyes to me. She’s a pale girl with ash-blonde hair and wide cheekbones, a future beauty but not there yet. As a child she was such a nice kid, always drawing, making bracelets with beads, collecting ladybugs. When they came to my house in February, driving down from upstate New York to stay with me for a while, I hadn’t seen my granddaughter in a year. She had changed physically—no longer the skinny kid but a young woman with some pretty cute curves. She was still quiet and sweet, but boy did she show her body off. See-through tops. Jeans so tight they rode up into the crack in her ass. I scolded Lauren for buying those slutty things for her but my daughter told me to mind my own damn business, that all the girls dressed this way. After our disagreement, I suddenly remembered my own self in those teenage years—hip huggers dangerously tight, my once-long hair flowing to my butt, braless in halter tops. I blush just thinking about it.

“Did you and your mother talk?” I ask my granddaughter.

Kiara stares at me blankly. “About what?” she asks dully. I hate this habit of hers. She likes to play stupid.

“Take those headphones off,” I order.

She rolls her eyes a bit but does what I say.

I put my hands on my hips. “Did you and your mom talk?”

Kiara shrugs and then nods.

“What did she say?”

“I don’t know.” Kiara looks down at the blue bedspread and picks at it her with fingers. Her nails are fake, the square tips painted black and hot pink.

“She must’ve said something,” I say.

Kiara lifts her eyes to me. “She said I couldn’t get an abortion.” She shrugs and I see her swallow.

I purse my lips together, feeling heat in my face. I do not agree with my daughter on this issue but there’s not much I can do. Kiara is not my child.

This situation has had my stomach in knots, waking me up in the middle of the night, my body in a stiff anger. How did this happen? Why isn’t my daughter a better mother? She leaves Kiara alone too much. She buys her things, or the boyfriend buys her things, but she doesn’t pay attention to her. Lauren didn’t even go to Kiara’s art show in April. It was a big deal. Kiara’s painting won second place in a county-wide competition.

I step towards my granddaughter and soften my tone.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.