If I Say No (Say Something #2) by Brandy Jellum

Author:Brandy Jellum [Jellum, Brandy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Amazon: B00R7GHNS2
Publisher: Booktrope
Published: 2014-12-18T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

“SIT,” MY MOTHER COMMANDS.

Liza and I pull out stools next to the breakfast bar and take a seat. I watch my mother head toward the refrigerator, and I feel Liza tense next to me. We’re sitting close enough that our arms brush against each other. A jolt of energy shoots through my body.

My mother starts rummaging through the refrigerator. She pulls out a tub of butter and a carton of eggs and sets them on the countertop next to her. Her petite frame moves like lightning through the kitchen. She heads into the pantry, comes out with an armful of who-knows-what and places it all on the counter next to the butter and eggs. Her cooking at ten at night isn’t a good thing. This only means we’re about to get the ass chewing I knew was coming.

She starts sorting through everything on the counter, banging items around, and stops to look at us. “Chocolate chips?”

“In the pantry,” Liza says softly without looking at her. “Second shelf along the left side.”

She’s making cookies.

I’ve never been more terrified of cookies.

If she’s not humming while she’s making them, then it’s not good. And she’s not humming now. The banging of drawers and the rattling of utensils give me a pretty good idea how upset she is. My mother rubs her temples with her hands and brushes a strand of her gray hair out of her face.

The sight of her gray hair makes me smile. For the longest time she colored her hair, because the gray made her feel older than she really is and she still has a long way to go before I can “get rid of her.” That is not anywhere on my agenda. I like to think of my mother as invincible. That I will be gone long before she is. I consider her a friend, and even though she gets on my nerves, I love her.

I watch out the corner of my eye as she goes into the pantry. I grab Liza’s hand and give it a reassuring squeeze. She squeezes slightly in return before releasing it. Both her hands fall in her lap as my mother comes back into the kitchen with a bag of chocolate chips, places them on the breakfast bar in front of us, and goes to gather the rest of the ingredients she needs.

She slams down a large mixing bowl in front of us and Liza lets out a soft yelp. I don’t think she was expecting that from my soft-hearted, good-natured mother. I see the corner of my mother’s lips curl up and shake my head. She’s achieving exactly what she is trying to do: she’s making Liza nervous. I’m not so easy to get to; I’ve grown up with the woman, and I know how she works. I’m not saying that I’m not shaken by this. I am. But I know what to expect, and I try not to let my fear show. That’s what she wants. I’m not going to give her the satisfaction.

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