4. I'm So Fucked Up . . . Literally

Eleven minutes later Naima came out of her room with her pink and blue backpack slung over her right shoulder. She had on a loose, sea-crystal blue Fendi top that hit her thighs and white pantyhose with lace edging. Her pink Louis Vuitton high-tops made no sound on the floor boards as she crossed to her mommy's room. She slowly opened the door half hoping to see her awake but she was disappointed — her mommy was sprawled on the bed on her back. 

Naima softly stepped in and stood, watching her, then went over to her. She brushed her mommy's red hair out of her face and bent to kiss her forehead. She wrinkled her nose. Why did Mommy smell funny? Whatever it was she smelt of, Naima didn't think it was perfume and she definitely didn't like it at all. She kissed her forehead and ran out of the room and down the stairs to the dining room where Marlee was packing their lunch with her brother. The latter looked up at her and smiled brightly like the sun. 

'G morning, sis.' 

'G morning, Yannis.' She smiled back with equal energy. 

He handed her her lunch which she tucked into her backpack and a hot thermos flask which she tucked in the side compartment of her backpack. She noticed he'd done the same and was already munching on his scrambled eggs. She picked up a spoon for oatmeal when a vehicle honked outside. 

'That's the bus,' Yannis said and slurped down the remaining of his oatmeal. 'Gotta go, I don't wanna be left behind.' He got down from his chair. 

'Chillax, Yannis, take your juice first,' Marlee said, putting out a hand to stop him from leaving. 'No one is leaving you behind.' 

The boy pouted but then took a sip of his juice — a teeny-weeny sip. Then put his small arms around Marlee. 'Thanks for the breakfast, Marlee, tell Mommy this boy loves her when she wakes up. Naima?' He didn't wait for her reply before he tore out through the kitchen to the frontyard, slamming the screen door in his haste. 

By now Naima had eaten half of her eggs and oatmeal. She pushed the rest away glancing apologetically at Marlee who smiled and shrugged. Then she drank out of her glass of juice and grabbed a green apple from the fruit bowl then waved, her charm bracelet jingling in the process. 

'Bye, Marlee,' she said. 

'Bye, be good at school, okay?' Marlee said. 

'Aren't I always?' she said with a mischievous smilie and walked out through the loungeroom. 

Marlee waited to hear the sound of the school bus leaving before she headed upstairs to Taissa's room. 

She tapped her to wake her up. Taissa groaned and opened her eyes. 

'Get up, Taissa.' 

Taissa shaded her eyes as she squinted at Marlee and tried to stand up, only to fall back down on the bed with a cry. Her body ached all over like someone had taken the pain to pound a wedge hammer all over it and the region in between her thighs was very sore like that same person had slammed a rod through it repeatedly. 

'Taissa, get up this instant! I didn't tell you to go drown away your sorrows in booze. I've got places to go, too, you know,' Marlee said, glaring at her. 

Taissa managed to sit up this time but it still felt like the floor spun in her view and was about to give way in her vision. She pressed a shaky hand to her forehead. It felt cold. Oh, she felt so tired she wanted to fall back on the bed and go right back to sleep. It must've been work that made her this tired. Her head felt like someone was building a house inside it. She had a headache so bad that she wished she were dead, but it was the sort of migraine that promised her she'd continue to suffer but not die. 

Marlee scoffed in impatience. 'Now you tell me what the devil got into you yesterday.' 

Taissa tried to look up at her friend but that single action made her migraine worse. 'Yeah, good morning to you too. I've got a severe migraine.' 

'Taissa,' Marlee began, going to sit beside her on the bed, 'I'm being serious here.' 

'Who's not? My body aches all over, coupled with my head, I def feel like death warmed over.' 

'You're having veisalgia from your drinking alcohol,' Marlee told her. Seeing the pitiable condition Taissa was in, she'd decided to go lenient on her. 

Taissa jerked her head towards her in shock and fell back on the bed clutching her head and moaning. 'No, no, I didn't.' 

'Yes, you did, girlfriend.' 

'Oh, Gawd, what kind of mother am I?' She felt like tearing up. She'd never gotten drunk again after all those years. She should've known nothing good would come out of going to a club almost every night to booze. 

Marlee didn't answer the rhetorical question, instead she climbed the bed to sit on her heels behind her then gently sat her up and started rubbing circles in between her shoulder blades. 

'Don't.' Taissa pried her hands away. 'It worsens my migraine. Get me pain fucking killers instead.' 

Marlee made a well-I-hadn't-thought-of-that face and stood up to get Imitrex from the bathroom. She filled a glass with water and handed two tablets with it to Taissa who took it down with a gulp and held her head again. 

Marlee sat beside her again and started brushing her friend's hair out of her face with her hands. 

'I'm so sorry.' Taissa face palmed. 'So so stupid of me.' She turned to Marlee. 'My kids . . .' 

'On their merry way to school right now in the school bus.' 

Taissa let out a cry and, ignoring her pounding head, pulled Marlee in for a hug. 'You're a life saver, Marlee. What would I have done without you?' 

'Kay, I get it. Emotinal, aren't we? And here I was planning to jump down your throat.' She paused, then said, 'Um, Taissa, let go, I'm being suffocated.' 

Her friend let her go with a sigh. She owed Marlee a lot and she was right when she said she couldn't have done anything without her. Waves of happiness washed over her leaving her feeling euphoric. 'Know what? I feel greatly better already.' 

Marlee smiled at this as her eyes fell to the other side of Taissa's neck. She frowned at what she saw and leaned forward, could it be . . . It was! Marlee gasped and covered her mouth. 

'W-what?' Taissa looked scared and touched the place Marlee was staring at. 

'Taissa,' Marlee said, in shock. 'You've got hi-hickeys on your neck! What?!' 

It was Taissa's turn to gasp as she sprang up from the bed faster than a jack-in-the-box. Last night's event came to her instantly and she gasped again and ran to the mirror. Her neck was marked with reddish teeth-mark dots disappearing into the neckline of her dress. She pulled it lower and found hickeys on her breast too. 

Oh God! Channing! She'd had sex with Channing! 

'No, no, this can't be, this did not happen,' she drilled to herself, hoping that saying the words would magically make it true. But last night was already etched in her memory and she remembered everything vividly. 

She collapsed into a chair. Her face had gone through every variation of red to settle on magenta. 

In an alley! That is the most stupid thing I've ever done. 

Marlee didn't know what to feel. Being slightly elated was one, that her friend had finally let her guard down after so many years. But then maybe fear was another, after all Taissa had been drunk and may have acted out of drunkenness. Or . . . Marlee gasped, what if she'd been taken advantage of? 

'Taissa,' Marlee began, 'please tell me you know who it is, because if you don't . . .' she broke off, knowing her point was clear. 

'I . . . I do,' Taissa said, a dazed look on her face. 

Marlee blew out a sigh. 

'But that's what makes it worse, I know him, but I shouldn't have done it with him.' She face palmed. 'I'm so fucked up . . . literally.'