#7 – Zürich
I hid the telescope under my bed, curled up with Samuel who, for once, instead of bitching about personal space, let me, and took a nap.
My nap was so satisfying that when I woke up I decided to take another one. I rolled over and slept for another twelve hours. I was sure they checked up on me but I doubt they tried to wake me up.
I was at least partially bear since I could sleep for days at a time with no problem. It wasn't a problem, according to the doctors at the hospital when I was born, I was just dealing with stress. Other babies cried, I slept through tornadoes.
When I slept for over a week though, Mom got worried and called my doctor. Dr. Mansfield, who I call Leo, and I are close acquaintances as he visits often because my mother freaks over the slightest thing. I mean, a straight week of sleeping isn't that bad. It wasn't like I was dying or anything.
Apparently, I was dying. A week with no hydration is seriously bad for the human body and they hooked me up to an IV. Luckily, I stayed home. Elga was my personal maid for six days and my knowledge of the German language was growing by the hour with her so near me and I picked some things up. She constantly muttered about how degrading a job it was and how above this she was and how her mother didn't have to put up with this bullshit.
Somehow, I doubted this but I didn't say anything to her.
Leo came over everyday to make sure I was really recovering because, at least in my opinion, I don't think he believed that my mother and Elga would do a good job.
Elga spoke three phrases in English: “I work hard,” “She is gaining weight,” and, my personal favorite, “Fuck off Mr. Telephone Man.” You can guess which I taught her.
My mother spoke five phrases to doctors: “She's gaining weight,” “She's developing a rash,” “The rash is clearing,” “Thank you, doctor,” and “I'll sue you, bastard.”
Those aren't exactly the best people to help take care of a young girl. Leo tried to ask my Dad only to find out that telling him I was still breathing was not the way to get his assistance. Lance tried to only to start blubbering. I asked him why and he said I looked like death.
The only difference I could see was that the baby-fat on my cheeks was gone and I had high cheekbones that, according to my other personal nurse-maid, one commissioned by the hospital, “Really accentuate your face and eyes.” She then lapsed into teen speak that summarized, “Oh my God, I would so kill to have those eyes instead of my brown ones.” There was something about Edward Cullen as well but my mind automatically blocks anything it thinks is associated with vampires.
My two week-long absence from my tree-house made Tawny come over and visit. I resolved to sleep for a week again if it meant that I could see her on more desirable terms.
Yes, sleeping for a week and getting severely dehydrated and getting the hot cheerleader to visit and kiss my cheek was better than getting your family heirloom destroyed by a petty fullback and having his hot sister deliver it.
At the least I finally got her in my room.
She looked around, her pink mouth a perfect 'O' when she looked at it, and she finally smiled at me.
“Your room's so nice and pretty,” She said to me. “I was expecting something more,” here she paused thinking of the word, “morbid.” She sat on the edge of my bed and continued, “Maybe a wall dedicated to photos and the stars.” I looked at her and watched her pick Samuel up. He stayed in his teddy-bear form and didn't tell her to, “Get her dirty, greasy paws off of me.”
This meant he didn't like her. That being said, Samuel doesn't like anyone. He's a crotchety bear and seems to have the soul of an old man who shakes his stick at young children, but he does have good instincts. He talks to me and Phillip, my less rambunctious nephew. Phillip's name was Mwe in bear speak and I had a feeling his meaning would come easier than mine would. I held in a sigh.
Tawny cooed about how cute he was and how his bow-tie was the same color as my hair and how it was “aesthetically pleasing.” I nearly rolled my eyes and I knew Samuel was having a hard time holding his tongue.
Later, he told me he was thinking, “Who the fuck says 'aesthetically pleasing?' Honey, you better stick to 'cute.'” In addition to evil, old people he also channels gay men and Rosie O'Donnell.
I sat up and took Samuel from her, placing him on his desired position on the left side of my bed. I looked at her and said, “Tawny, why'd you come here?”
She smiled at me, this time it was edged with a little something besides the playfulness I was getting used to, and she said, “I can't come visit my neighbor?”
I stared at her, disbelief evident on my face, “You've never taken an interest in me before, so why now?”
She swallowed, played with the edge of my eiderdown and finally said, not meeting my eyes, “I wanted to get to know you. I mean, I didn't realize how much you were a part of my life until you weren't there and I was really sad about how Tommy broke your telescope and I felt bad for you so I came to see you.”
She tried to look up at me through her lashes but I didn't want to see her eyes. Though all of it sounded pretty and sincere, I understood it. She wasn't actually interested in me; I was a part of the scenery and now that I was gone she wanted me back to put me there and forget until I wasn't there again. She wasn't even really sorry about the telescope, which Tommy didn't know about because I only used it at night and he only practiced during the day.
I looked at her, “You told him about it.”
She seemed surprised at my random sentence and asked, “Told who what?”
I started to frown and I said, “You told Tommy about my telescope, didn't you?”
The muscles in her neck jumped as she swallowed nothing and said, “I'm sorry. I didn't mean to, we were just talking one day and it slipped out and I thought everyone knew about it and I wouldn't have said it if I knew he was going to total it like he did.”
She continued on, ranting and begging forgiveness intermittently, until she broke down in tears and left.
Samuel turned to me and said, “Yar, you're growing up. Once, you would have jumped at the chance to be friends with her but now, you're using your brain, not your vagina and you let people do the talking, not you. You'll meet your Fawsah soon, I just know it.”
I didn't ask him what a Fawsah was and instead simply curled up with him and started counting stitches in my eiderdown.
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