"So, Daphne, this totally cute boy took me to a Skrillex concert. It was so amazing. I wish you had a boyfriend as well."
"Yeah, I'm taking a break right now. I just don't feel like a slut jumping from one boy to the next."
"I totally get you."
"You are totally awesome. You are my bff."
Daphne slouched on her bed, half leaning against the wall. One hand was on the cell phone. The other had twirled up the charger cable around the index finger and was now digging in her exposed navel. The t-shirt had ridden up over her belly from the slouch. She starred into her stuffed childhood room with school books, Twilight posters, stuffed animals, and overfilled closet that won't close anymore.
The door opened. Ma stepped in. Her hair was partially gray and curly. She wore a hippie inspired dress. Her eyes squinted small. She was tall. Her gesturing arms took up a lot of space in the little room. Daphne threw the phone on the bed in frustration. Her hands wrapped in fists to protest.
"Ma, you can't come in here like that. You have to respect my privacy."
"Ah, I have to respect every little hair on your head. And you have not shown me the least respect in the last two years. It's time to go. You promised to watch the pastor's retarded son."
"Ugh, he is so gross. I'm not going near him."
"He may be 30 years old. But he has the mind of an 8 year old. And if you can't contribute a single thing in this house hold, you are at least contributing to our church. Get your purse, or I'll cut off your cell phone for a month. Your choice!"
"That's oppression. That's why they killed Hitler in World War II."
Daphne dragged herself off the bed. She grabbed her Tokidoki purse off the night stand. She slipped into her brown leather boots. She zipped them up to her knees. Thick, gray boot socks extended a little past the boot. Her body was slim. She had beautifully styled dark brown hair falling over her shoulders. Her mother watched her with increasingly squinting eyes like a sharp shooter gearing up for a shot.
"Young lady, you are not going out of the house in that short skirt with the thin fabric that shows your panty lines."
"Ma, like everybody is wearing clothes like that. It's just Forever 21. It's nothing scandalous."
"And those boots make you look like a street walker."
"C'mon, have you seen how people dress nowadays? And sex workers totally deserve respect."
"There is no time to change anyway. So, let's go."
Daphne let herself drop down each step in the staircase, so that her heels would make a loud sound on the wooden steps. Her bare slender knees poked forward with each step. Her medium size boobs squiggled with each bounce. The handrail was worn from her as a child sliding down into the arms of her dad. The family cat raked her paws in the air lying on her back on the yellow pillow that was messy with balls of cat hair.
"Daphne, get the trash on the way out!"
"Ma, why can't you get us a Mexican like any normal family? I shouldn't have to touch it. That bag is disgusting! There are all kinds of brown liquid at the bottom."
"Watch your tongue lady! Get the trash, no discussion!"
The two walked outside. It was the typical suburban lawn with a path to the curb and trash cans. Old trees with large crowns lined the quiet street with big single family homes and basketball hoops over the garage. They got into their five-year-old gray soccer mom van.
Daphne looked ahead as the stop sign intersections passed. Her eyes had a sparkly quality that made her green iris shine. People often paused to get a closer look at her eyes. They speculated that she must be very pure of heart or have some kind of rich intellect. Dark eye liner framed the eyes. The makeup was too artificial, as it usually is with young people until their makeup skills become more refined.
"Mom, why won't you let me drive? I'm eighteen now. I've had my license since sixteen."
"You almost ran over a boy from school. You have to show some responsibility first."
Mom idle mindedly turned the colorful wooden bracelet on her wrist while driving single-handedly. It was a memory from a vacation to Peru, when Daphne was 12 years old. They had both gotten the same bracelet as a token of their everlasting love for each other. That was the last sweet moment before the fights had started.
Daphne looked at the bracelet. She felt embarrassed about her friends finding out. So, she did not wear hers anymore. However no matter how much her stomach got a pang of embarrassment seeing it on her mother, she didn't say anything about it.
"Daphne, sweetheart, I always wondered about our summer vacation at the beach. Why did you never go swimming at the ocean? You know that you have a beautiful body. Your skin is smooth. Your butt is firm, round, and tight. Your abdominal muscles are showing as beautiful lines on your flat belly."
"The ocean is a giant toilet. All the toilets of this world empty into the ocean. Would you want to swim with all that poo and pee?"
"Child, it's not like that."