Back in the Saddle
I'm writing again. I've had a surge of creativity and just can't stop. I wrote this for a contest (I didn't win). They provide the first line and you add to it. Let me know what you think. I can post it now that the contest is over.
Tessa sent up a hasty prayer for forgiveness as she slipped on the dress Mama had bought her in exchange for a promise not to marry Al. I watched her through the crack in her door. We shared a bathroom, and she always left her bedroom door slightly opened, which irritated the crap out of me.
Mama had the sight, and last night she said Al wouldn’t be a good husband to Tessa as she paid for the dress, somehow believing that the dress was more important to Tessa than Al. Maybe it was. Nevertheless, Tessa complained to me the way she always did about Mama.
“The whole town lives and breathes what Mama says, followin’ her word to the tee. Why can’t they see that if they followed their own minds instead of Mama’s visions, they would never know if she was actually right or not? She’s robbin’ them of their lives. She won’t rob me of mine.”
Mama and Tessa were always at odds with one another. Some say since the day Tessa was supposed to be born. Tessa was the youngest, and Mama had avoided a Leo-born child three times prior. Tessa was born two days late on a sweltering Arkansas summer morning in July. Mama didn’t want Tessa t be born a Leo like her own mother, our grandmother, and her due date was cutting it close; it was July 22nd.
Mama figured if Tessa was born on the 23rd, she could get away with calling her a Cancer, the 23rd was right on the cusp. She only had a day to play with and sure as shit, Tessa was born on July 24th. The first thing in the morning at that: 1:23. Daddy tells the story that he thought Mama was seconds away from demanding a C-section to birth Tessa before the 24th arrived. Tessa loves that story. It was her first act of defiance, or ‘independence’, as she likes to say.
For all her foresight, the one thing that Mama couldn’t see was that she and Tessa were two flowers bloomed on the same oleander plant—beautiful, but dangerous if mishandled. “They’re both as stubborn as Mother Nature herself,” Daddy always said, “there’s a reason nature’s a woman.” They were never wrong, and neither of them knew how to win or lose a fight nicely, as they were prone to gloating, pouting or if all else failed, destroying everything in their path.
There were several times when we all thought Mama was going to throw Tessa out—or that Tessa would just leave. The first time Tessa tried to run away, she was six years old. Mama had put her foot down and told Tessa that she couldn’t receive phone calls from boys. It was the first of many fights they would have about boys. Al was no exception; he was just the biggest fight of all. When Tessa met Al, it’s as if she knew Mama would take issue with him. His reputation exceeded even hers, and that seemed to make him all the more becoming to her. The whole town was talking about Tessa and Al, but that’s how it was in small rural towns, even the most trivial news was newsworthy.
We were known as the T-girls, although most folks could only remember Tessa’s name if polled. Growing up between the two of them, Tanya, Tracy, and me just felt like we were invisible when they would start up—which was most of the time. Daddy just stayed clear out of the way, working in the rice fields later than normal or having dinner with his friends to avoid the stench of war that permeated the house when they were fighting.
We survived mostly by manipulating one or both of them so that either Mama stayed in the dark about Tessa’s shenanigans: sneaking out, ditching school and the whatnot. Defending Tessa’s actions to Mama. It was hard because they both seemed to just know when something wasn’t quite right or when they were being had, but we didn’t care. We did whatever it took to keep the peace.
So, here I stand, watching Tessa slipping on that bargaining chip Mama bought, and I know Tessa chose a white dress for a reason. I can either enlist the help of my sisters to try and change Tessa’s mind or tell Mama and let her deal with it.
In the name of peace, I think I’m just going to let Tessa figure this one out by herself and experience her life, I wouldn’t want to rob her of this. I have a feeling it’ll make things more peaceful for everyone in the long run and I wouldn’t want to rob the family of that.
Tessa sent up a hasty prayer for forgiveness as she slipped on the dress Mama had bought her in exchange for a promise not to marry Al. I watched her through the crack in her door. We shared a bathroom, and she always left her bedroom door slightly opened, which irritated the crap out of me.
Mama had the sight, and last night she said Al wouldn’t be a good husband to Tessa as she paid for the dress, somehow believing that the dress was more important to Tessa than Al. Maybe it was. Nevertheless, Tessa complained to me the way she always did about Mama.
“The whole town lives and breathes what Mama says, followin’ her word to the tee. Why can’t they see that if they followed their own minds instead of Mama’s visions, they would never know if she was actually right or not? She’s robbin’ them of their lives. She won’t rob me of mine.”
Mama and Tessa were always at odds with one another. Some say since the day Tessa was supposed to be born. Tessa was the youngest, and Mama had avoided a Leo-born child three times prior. Tessa was born two days late on a sweltering Arkansas summer morning in July. Mama didn’t want Tessa t be born a Leo like her own mother, our grandmother, and her due date was cutting it close; it was July 22nd.
Mama figured if Tessa was born on the 23rd, she could get away with calling her a Cancer, the 23rd was right on the cusp. She only had a day to play with and sure as shit, Tessa was born on July 24th. The first thing in the morning at that: 1:23. Daddy tells the story that he thought Mama was seconds away from demanding a C-section to birth Tessa before the 24th arrived. Tessa loves that story. It was her first act of defiance, or ‘independence’, as she likes to say.
For all her foresight, the one thing that Mama couldn’t see was that she and Tessa were two flowers bloomed on the same oleander plant—beautiful, but dangerous if mishandled. “They’re both as stubborn as Mother Nature herself,” Daddy always said, “there’s a reason nature’s a woman.” They were never wrong, and neither of them knew how to win or lose a fight nicely, as they were prone to gloating, pouting or if all else failed, destroying everything in their path.
There were several times when we all thought Mama was going to throw Tessa out—or that Tessa would just leave. The first time Tessa tried to run away, she was six years old. Mama had put her foot down and told Tessa that she couldn’t receive phone calls from boys. It was the first of many fights they would have about boys. Al was no exception; he was just the biggest fight of all. When Tessa met Al, it’s as if she knew Mama would take issue with him. His reputation exceeded even hers, and that seemed to make him all the more becoming to her. The whole town was talking about Tessa and Al, but that’s how it was in small rural towns, even the most trivial news was newsworthy.
We were known as the T-girls, although most folks could only remember Tessa’s name if polled. Growing up between the two of them, Tanya, Tracy, and me just felt like we were invisible when they would start up—which was most of the time. Daddy just stayed clear out of the way, working in the rice fields later than normal or having dinner with his friends to avoid the stench of war that permeated the house when they were fighting.
We survived mostly by manipulating one or both of them so that either Mama stayed in the dark about Tessa’s shenanigans: sneaking out, ditching school and the whatnot. Defending Tessa’s actions to Mama. It was hard because they both seemed to just know when something wasn’t quite right or when they were being had, but we didn’t care. We did whatever it took to keep the peace.
So, here I stand, watching Tessa slipping on that bargaining chip Mama bought, and I know Tessa chose a white dress for a reason. I can either enlist the help of my sisters to try and change Tessa’s mind or tell Mama and let her deal with it.
In the name of peace, I think I’m just going to let Tessa figure this one out by herself and experience her life, I wouldn’t want to rob her of this. I have a feeling it’ll make things more peaceful for everyone in the long run and I wouldn’t want to rob the family of that.
posted by Andrea | 10:07 AM
2 Comments:
I liked it. So, who won?
Not sure. I don't subscribe (perhaps why I didn't win???)
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