Chapter one, My life in a nutshell.

          After a long day at school I figured it would be best to relax. Finals are this week and I need to get my mind clear. My mother always says that a rested mind is a healthy.  It allows you to obtain more information for the future. I love my house. It’s very cozy and warm; I bet everyone says that about their house. The smell of Macintosh Apple fills the eighteen hundred square foot brick ranch. My mom is always trying new ways to get the smell of cigarette smoke out of the house so apples are this week’s attempted solution.  There are two stories to my home. It is nice to have a second floor because I can get away from my problems if I need to. It’s as if the second floor is my own personal haven. On the second floor there are three bedrooms. The staircase leads into a hallway with one bedroom on the right. This is my Mom and dad’s bedroom and it is pretty basic as far as the décor goes. Deep forest green covers the walls and a king size bed sits in the middle with two dressers and closets on either side. Once up the stairs of this ranch a bathroom is located straight across from the stairway and two bedrooms are next to each other on the left hand side. Both of these bedrooms are mine. Since I’m the only child I figured I get special rights to both. This gives me a place to sleep and get ready for the day and another to focus on school work. On the main floor an uninviting family room remains untouched while the Kitchen just through the main hallway is the most popular room in the house.

    I head for the first bedroom to the left of the stairway, my bedroom. I decorated it about six years ago; let’s just say it’s a bit outdated. I don’t really like change so naturally my room is light blue with paintings of clouds covering the top of the walls. I thought the only way I could wake up on time for class was to make my room as bright as possible. The paint job couldn’t be complete without a big yellow sun that surrounded a yellow ceiling fan. I still have Ncync and Backstreet Boy’s Posters hiding behind my door. My bed is the only exception in my room. It’s a nice full size bed with a down mattress. It has a very grown up off white comforter with dark blue throw pillows. 

    I plopped down on my bed as soon as I walked in the door. My eyes are so heavy. I didn’t realize how tried I was until I laid down. I still had some studying to do for my chemistry class. Trying to remember all of those formulas seems impossible. I told myself in a short breath, “five minutes”.  Not even two minutes in to my power nap, my mother came bursting through the downstairs front door. Bursting through doors in this house can only mean two things. First, mom has come home from a get together with Aunt Grace. The discussions always seem to get a bit heated. Next thing you know the discussion escalates to a full blown argument that only leads to my mom storming out. The second assumption is grocery day.  My mom and dad try to carry every single bag out of the Yukon to the front porch so they don’t have to make and second trips.  The door usually slams open and my name is instantly called for assistance. Grocery day is a Saturday. Today is Friday and Mom just paid a visit to Aunt Grace’s.

    “She thinks she knows everything!” mom just barely yelled. I rolled my eyes while my eye lids were still closed. I opened them, sat up, and headed toward the kitchen. Sure enough there was my mother pouring herself a glass of red wine to calm herself down. She is a beautiful woman for being in her forties.  About five foot seven inches and a hundred and thirty pounds. She is slim but not unhealthy looking like those little “It” girls you see all over the news. She has light blond hair cut shoulder length with a natural shade of makeup covering her face.  A cigarette is automatically pressed to her lips with a lighter in her right hand.

    “I just don’t understand why she has to bring your father in every conversation. Like she is so into the economy, her husband works for a friggen computer store!”  She says exhaling the smoke out of her mouth.
“Mom, don’t let her get to you. Uncle John is a technician for a computer store, he makes decent money but not amazing money.”
“I know Johns is working very hard, it’s just your fathers plant may close so we need to be prepared for the worst. I heard GM is closing another factory in Lansing.” She says in a apologetic tone.
“What did Auntie Grace say that made you so upset today?” Probably the wrong question to ask but I had to get it all out for her sake.
“Oh! Well maybe I shouldn’t answer that one” She states. I sit in silence for about two minutes before she spills her guts. Mom is not very good at keeping secrets, especially from me.  In those two minutes her face went through numerous emotions. First her mouth was frowning, and her eyes were staring up at the ceiling. Next her eyebrows came together and one of them lifted while the other stayed put. She then looked down at me and smiled resting her eyebrows.
“Well do you promise not to tell your father?” She asked.
“Sure thing” I replied.
Next thing I knew I this woman was spilling everything. Family gossip is always welcome as long as it doesn’t include your immediate family.
“Grace told me that John was getting a raise, Can you believe it!” not giving me a chance to answer she went on. “Then the Bitch, Pardon my French sweetie.  Has the nerve to bring up that your father hasn’t received a raise in over a year!” I could see where this was going from the beginning but my mother and I are close so I figured I would appease her and listen. “I told her no shit GM isn’t at its best right now, and then she told me that John could probably get him a job working on computers. Like your father would want to do that after working for this company for twenty years!” 

    After her rant I wasn’t really that sleepy anymore. I figured I would give her some advice and move on to some much needed studying. “Mom, Dads going to be fine. Don’t let Auntie Grace get you down because her life sucks.” My mom let out a little giggle and said “your right sweetie, thanks for listening”. I said you’re welcome and headed back upstairs.  On my way up I decided that chemistry was the only thing I needed to tackle tonight. I walked past my room into my second bedroom, the office, and opened up my chemistry book to “Acids” and began to read.
   
    After the first few paragraphs I began drifting off. I was certain I was awake enough for this. I guess I could lie down and finish up tomorrow morning. I walked to my bedroom, kicked off my brown Keds, Pulled off my jeans and red sweater and curled into the big comfy mattress. I fell asleep instantly.

    I woke up to my dad singing and banging pots and pans in the kitchen. This is his way of waking everyone up for his Saturday ritual of making breakfast. I enjoy his cooking, it’s always a festivity. I grabbed some Pajama pants and my University of Michigan hoody.  I ran downstairs not even looking at myself in the mirror before welcoming the day. “Hey Emilia, How was studying last night?” He accused. “Fine” I retorted. He placed a plate of eggs, bacon, hash browns, pancakes, and toast. When my father cooks he usually goes overboard, cooking for three people but making enough food for ten. I fill a glass of orange juice and go to sit at our round oak table. My mom comes out from the bathroom and floats downstairs to join us. “How was work yesterday dad?” I ask.  “Fine, they laid off Frank though. I don’t think it’s anything to worry about. Frank isn’t the most reliable employee there.” He says in a confident tone. “Tom don’t you think you should be looking for something else?” my mom said. “Joyce, I don’t think that’s an option right now, and I don’t really feel like discussing this any further. I would like to enjoy my breakfast and my weekend without talk of the economy.” He replies. “So kid, what’s on your list of things to do today?”  “Well I was kind of going to stay home and study for Chemistry, the test is on Wednesday and I haven’t looked through my notes as much as I wanted to.” I answer. “Emilia, you are seventeen years old, why don’t you go out its Saturday.” He starts digging through his wallet. “Here is fifty bucks go shopping or out to the movies on me“. “Dad it’s really ok”. He has been doing this lately. Trying to give me money in an attempt to keep things as normal as possible. He hopes this will make me think that nothing’s happening at work, and that things are better than ever. That’s a load of crap. The fact of the matter is Detroit is going down the toilet, and its only getting worse. People have lost their homes, their job, and their cars, a lot of people. We are fortunate because my dad is needed at his plant. I am just wondering for how much longer? How much longer can we keep pretending things are going to be ok? I tell my mother things will work out but this is just to make her think I am oblivious to it all. She doesn’t need to worry about me right now.

    After his persistence I take the money, but I’m not going to spend it. I take my plate to the sink and rinse it off. My parents are still eating so I went back upstairs to shower and get ready for the day. This is usually how it goes. I’m in a daily routine. After my shower I walk up to the library to take on some major chemistry notes. I swear, the library is the most interesting place in this town. Everything is all quiet and students sit at tables with their heads down and one had pressed against their foreheads. It’s like they are trying to shove the information in their skulls by force.  I am one of them and I can never get enough studying in before a big test. Sometimes I think that maybe I should just skip school or not do my homework, or better yet fail a test. This would make things easier for me, my parents would be push my so hard since the expectation of my passing would be ruined. I am a good student. I could never fail a test, even if I tried. But I can always dream.

    My life is normal. It’s about as normal as normal could get. My perfect family, with their two story house, and their straight “A” student. I can only wish that things could get a little crazy once in a while. Just so I can feel what it’s like to be unusual. I pray for the day that the president declares peace in Iraq, or GM becomes successful again or maybe my school burns down. That would be something.  Until that day happens I’m stuck in my day to day routine.