Young Writers Society

Chapter Two

Curi did in fact dream last night though it seemed mostly incomprehensible, and she couldn't remember any important details. She felt there were a conga line and 70's dance within it somewhere. So much for looking inside her dreams for direction.

When she woke up, she, still in her pajamas, went to the kitchen to eat breakfast. The dishes from the night before were gone, so someone had cleaned them. What made her roll her eyes, though were the items in front of her. Spread out neatly on the dinner table she saw a stack of unwritten white envelopes and a package of generic blue pens next to it.

One of the necessary party planning rituals was the writing and the mailing of invitations. It seemed her family was keen on pushing the work off on her. They had done it before usually when they were too busy to do it themselves. Her mom was sleeping, dad was working, and brother was purposefully acting as if he hadn't noticed the cards. He wasn't blind, he could see the invitations just as well as she. Curi planned on ignoring the unwanted work too until her mom would tell her to fill them out like she did every year.

She opened the refrigerator, looking for means to make a hot breakfast. Scrambled eggs with anything were always good for her. Sidetracked for the moment, she wondered: if something were to happen to those invitations, would the upcoming Andrews' party be canceled? At most, only the guests that were invited by word of mouth would attend.

“Hey, Mom who did you tell about the party?” Curi yelled from the kitchen. The only sounds apart from her voice were Taveo crunching cereal and a clock ticking.

A muffled snore was the only response.

“MOM! Who is invited to the party?” She yelled louder.

Curi had to keep prodding her mom but eventually received a hoarse answer.

“Jeffersons...Belonys... Kisaragis...Carmichaels...Hender-”

“Alright, thanks!”

She sat at the table and mumbled greetings to her brother. Mushy eggs with just the right amount of salt and pepper traveled down to her stomach. It would be a good idea to purposefully write the wrong address on the cards. Someone else could house the Andrews party circus. Her ever perceptive mom would probably find out before she had the chance to do it, though.

Curi hummed a little tune while disposing of her plate. She had just turned to leave when she heard her mom's still grizzly voice.

“We're going to the post office! Bring your school books!”

----

Toting a small backpack, Curi followed her mother closely across the street until the federal building came into view. Because it was mid-morning, traffic wasn't thick, but the sidewalks were full. She liked city-life and watching people go to their individual destinations.

“Ooh, I hope the line ain't long today,” Mom whispered, in her light southern drawl.

“Yeah but, there's probably only three people working the registers,” Curi joked while fumbling to carry her box of invitations. Taveo trailed behind them at a leisure pace with his own box. Curi assumed he most likely thought he was too cool to be seen with them.

“Still, it is not as bad as the DMV,” her mom commented, shuddering.

Inside the cold post office, the dreary atmosphere lit up with colorful cards and stamps. Without the cards and stamps, the grayness would have sucked the color out of everything. She made note that the line wasn't too long but that only two cashiers were present, which was even less than she had expected. Two neat rows of people and packages formed an L-shape to the postal counter.

“Anyway, I need to get this mailed today! Can you believe I had some people tell me they wanna come?” her mom said, filing her nails while she held her own box of invitations tucked under her non-dominant arm. An older man in front of them twitched his nose and sneezed.

“Couldn't you have just told them in person?” Curi griped, “This box is really straining my arm by the way.”She knew she sounded a bit whiny, but she felt annoyed that the party would definitely take place. Those invitations only ensured the upcoming dinner.

Mom sighed. “Aucuria, I do stuff right. I don't mess around with it.” She pointed her filer at her daughter's nose.

Curi had to smile ruefully at her mother for that. She couldn't remember a time her mother had ever procrastinated when it came to parties. Mom’s word was bond concerning those.

“Hey, Mom-”

The man who had sneezed earlier suddenly spun around interrupting their conversation.

“You know I don't know how these people think this entire city can mail their packages with only two workers here?” He was a burly man with pale skin the texture of a crinkled paper. He had the most ridiculous-beaver tail looking white beard. His overall stature made Curi wonder if he had been a lumberjack in his youth.

Her mom's laugh resembled a pig squeal. She had put her nail filer down to hold eye contact with the old man. Curi groaned inside her mind. “I know I didn't go to the downtown building for that very reason. I knew at least someone would be working here and not in the break room. I swear whenever there's a line everyone's in the back.”

“Pfft, pretty soon they are going to have to put animals to work. My kitten could check us out faster than those bozos, and Mitzy had one of his paws broken.”

“Ehehehe!” Curi's mom now sounded like a hyena choking on its own spit. “Poor kitty but I think he'd managed better than them.”

Curi felt a line crease into her forehead. She loved her mom, but the lady had a tendency to talk too much. She hissed at Taveo for his attention.

“Bro, it never fails. No matter where we go someone always strikes up a conversation with mom, or she butts her way into one. I am firm believer Mom talks too much, but do you think I just care too much?” Curi asked him. Taveo barely acknowledged her but at least gave a nod.

“Well, that's how Mom is and has been for the last... Wait how old are you again?” He squinted at her.

Ignoring his question, Curi continued, “Why is she telling him about Dad's job now? He doesn't care or need to know that! Way too much info!”

Taveo rubbed his chin in a contemplative mood.

“I hope she realizes she's still married.”

“Hush, Taveo that guy's like sixty! Ain't nobody trying to hop onto that retirement check. Anyway, were you even listening? I wish Mom wouldn't talk so much and-”

Her brother stared at her blankly.

“You're bored, aren't you? You brought your school books, right?”

“Taveo! I'm not bored it's just...Ugh!” Curi stopped. Her words felt as muddled as her feelings, and her dense brother wasn't helping. He changed the subject and began talking about a band they both liked.

“How's a reggae group going to diss a rock and roll band that has never even talked to them?” Curi asked.

“Hey, anything for publicity, kid,” Taveo said, giving an affectionate poke to her cheek. Curi playfully pushed his shoulder.

“Hey babies, the line's moving.” Their mom had finally pulled away from her conversation with the man.

In her peripheral view, Curi saw a flash of movement. A dark-skinned woman with tightly coiled hair burst into the building, panting. She moved directly in front of them.

Her mom's eyes narrowed. Not only was Mom a motor mouth, but her words could be venomous as well.

“Mom, do not!” Curi begged quietly and pulled her mother's sleeve to emphasize her point, “Don't go off on her.”

The woman noticed the exchange and faced them with an apologetic expression.

“Oh, I am sorry ma'am I hope it doesn't look like I skipped you, but I had my friend hold my place because I had to pee so badly. He could have told me he was going to bolt.” She had a light accent that appeared at random words, but Curi couldn't place where from. “I ran all the way here from campus just to find out I left my package, and now my friend's disappeared completely leaving my place. You can imagine how disappointed I was to go back to get my package and come here and now my friend is gone and...” The young woman wheezed, still exhausted from her sprint.

Kindness stirred in Mom's eyes. “Hey, believe me, I know how hectic life can get. College student?”

“Ha!” This woman's laugh was beautiful and melodic like a song, as opposed to her mother's shrill laugh.“No, I work on campus as admission staff, but I graduated a few years ago. I have done a little this and that. I have studied abroad, interned, interviewed, bla blah.” Her small smile extended a bit.

“I certainly wouldn't have put you pass twenties. I came here with my son and daughter to mail some invitations for an upcoming party my husband and I am throwing. My daughter told me coming in something like 'gosh, mom this place is terribly slow.' And, I told her, baby it ain't as bad as the DMV.” Mom said with a smile.

“I know! I had to get my driver's license renewed last week, and I thought that time had stopped! They were so slow! I almost did a matrix move when they called my number to the counter.” The woman bent in slow motion as a visual effect, which made Curi almost snicker.

“Yeah, I was just talking to Jeffrey,” Mom gestured to the old, bearded man, “About how they need to hire extra help.” Jeffrey politely tipped his hat towards them, when he left to ship his item.

Jeffrey? Since when was her mom on a first name basis with that old guy? Curi was ready to tune the rest of the not exciting conversation out when the woman's number was called. The friendly woman sent a wave their way and picked up her package to mail.

It didn't take her long to ship whatever she had sealed away in a box, and Curi and her family were soon called next.

On the way out of the building, their paths crossed with the ambitious woman again. She had her car door open about to get inside.

“What's your name by the way? Are you new to the city? Know anyone?” Mom asked. From her purse, she pulled out an unmarked invitation to the dinner party.

The woman shut her car door. “I am Victorine-Ophelia, but most call me Ophelia or Ophie. I have been here a few years, but I am always ready to meet new people. I still haven't seen all this city has to offer.”

“Nice to meet you, Ophelia, I am Essence! Hopefully, you can come to this party and do a little networking.”

Ophelia hesitated before nodding her head, but slowly took the invitation into her hand. She grazed the front of the card before tucking it into her purse.

“I will come check it out!” Ophelia waved.

“Mom, that woman seemed cool and all, but why did you just invite her out of the blue? She didn't seem that enthusiastic about the invite, and I think her face fell at the mention of it. Besides, I wouldn't go to some party some random lady invited me to,” Curi said, once Ophelia was out of hearing distance.

“What's wrong with that? I invited Jeffrey that old man too. You heard me, honey, networking is key, that's half the reason people go to parties to meet people. This is why I always encourage you to go to professional parties.”

Curi crossed her arms. “I hate parties and I don't like people.”

Her mom rolled her eyes then kissed her cheek. “Curi, are you not a people?”

“No, Mom I am a person.”

“Wait, wait Mom did you just say she was a “people?” Taveo chimed in, laughing.

“What am I going to do with you two?” Their mom sighed dramatically as they walked to their car.

-----

“Let's grab some early lunch! Where should we go to?” Mom asked.

“Anywhere with french fries,” Curi called from the backseat. The car ride home had been postponed by some intense stomach growling. To be honest, most of the sounds of warfare were from her.

“So, burgers it is?”

“Nah, let's slow down on the red meat,” Taveo drawled slowly. He sat on the passenger side, distracted by his phone.

“Since, when are you health-conscious?” Curi pouted. Her cheeks puffed out made her seem more childlike than usual.

“Pfft, since I decided I wanted to live past seventeen,” he told her plainly.

“Tacos!”

“Huh Mom,” they both asked, surprised by the shout.

“Tacos are what we should have for lunch, beef for Curi and chicken for you, Taveo. Mom's eye shined and her mouth stretched into a wide grin. She seemed so excited to have a solution.

Curi's eyes met her brother's, and they both silently agreed. Food was food and tacos were delicious.

 ----

This is chapter two of a story I wrote almost two years ago. I am posting each chapter now to get an idea what to edit for. Thanks for any reviews/critiques and comments!