FirstLineFiction beta

from Contest #2

All the trouble began when my grandfather died and my grandmother - my father's mother - came to live with us. I'd never really known her throughout my early childhood, so I was excited to actually meet her when I was older. I had hoped that I'd get the chance to sit down and exchange stories, listen, and understand what the elder woman was talking about, unlike most children who might sit and simply stare.

What actually happened when she arrived, however, wasn't at all what I'd expected. I hadn't seen the woman since I was a baby, probably not even a year old. In my mind's eye I had pictured a plump, rosy-cheeked woman that had a passion for cooking and pinching cheeks. The woman who arrived looked more like a withered toothpick that had a little bit too much paint covering its toothpick face. Still, I had hope in my young heart that she'd have a personality opposite her looks. I left her alone as she unpacked her things and settled in. I sat in my room, opting to wait until dinner to finally come face to face with my grandmother that I didn't know.

When finally the call came, I bounced happily down the stairs and to the dining room to join my family and the new addition to the household. She seemed nice enough as I walked into the room and sat down at the table. She was talking with my mom at the time, but as soon as I walked in she abandoned their conversation to comment on me. “My, she’s grown big, hasn’t she?” My mom agreed, like all mothers do at that kind of statement. The older woman didn’t say anything else about me at that point, and returned to their talk about my brother and his sports scholarship offers. I sighed, taking my glass and filling it up with water.

While eating, it was deadly silent, which was unusual for my family. Normally, my dad and brother were spouting off about football, while my mom grilled me about my honors classes. My grandmother didn’t say anything, so I assumed that was why no one else decided to make any conversation. Dinner was finished quickly, and I was assigned dish duty with my brother, while the adults went into the living room to talk.

I asked my brother what he thought about the whole situation as I scrubbed a plate. He shrugged and said, “I think it’s alright. I mean…we used to never see her, and now she’s living with us. I just hope she’s as nice as grandmas are supposed to be.” For the first time in our lives, I could agree with the boy on something.

Before I begin to tell about the trouble, I want to say that it wasn’t that my grandmother was mean, cruel, or anything like that. It was more so that she had a very different way of thinking that both of my parents and my brother and I.

The first incident occurred when my grandmother saw me laying on the couch texting my best friend. I thought that most grandparents would think that cell phones we one of those really handy gadgets that young people knew how to use. That wasn’t the case with my grandmother, it seemed.

“What are doing over there?” She asked, shuffling into the room.

“Textin’ my friend.” I responded, not moving my eyes from the phone.

She came over and peered down at me. “I just don’t understand why your mother let’s you have one of those things. They’re a waste of money and it’s making all you kids brain dead.”

I wanted to laugh at her, but held it in. It would do no good if I did. Instead, I tried to explain the benefits of having my cell phone. “They don’t make kids brain dead. It helps me keep in touch with my parents and my friends, and it’s good in case of emergencies. Plus, we have a good plan, so it doesn’t cost too much.” She decided to laugh.

“Excuses, in my opinion. When are you going to get a job, girl? You’re fifteen and don’t have a job. I had one when I was twelve.” With that, she walked out of the room to talk to my mom, who was in the kitchen cooking dinner. From that night on, I never heard the end of the ‘uselessness of those old cell things’. Eventually, it got to the point where my parents got sick of it as well, and the only way to hush old grandma up about the whole situation was if I got a job to pay for the phone myself (which was a constant nagging from my grandma to my parents). So off I went after school for a week, interviewing at nearly every fast food restaurant in town, finally finding a job at one of those famous chains.

Grandma was quieted for a while, but it didn’t last for long. This time the trouble wasn’t with me, but my brother. Her complaint was his grades. Don’t get me wrong, my brother isn’t stupid. He just had trouble in school like all of the other sporty kids. His grades were just enough to keep him playing football, but between practice and his job, he didn’t have time to pull much more than that. My grandmother knew that he wouldn’t quit football, because he had some scholarships in line, but her suggestion was that he quit his job and find a tutor. Oh, he threw a fit when he was confronted with that idea, but dear old granny won out. If anyone asked him if he was glad about that, he’d say the only good thing that came from it was hooking up with the tutor he found, who eventually became his wife.

In the meanwhile, though, my brother was jobless while I wasn’t, making me the one to go to for money. He still hasn’t paid me back for all the money I leant him before he went off to college.

The last thing, and probably the worst, was the night she walked out onto the porch to sit on the swing. My boyfriend and I had just pulled into the drive and I was kissing him good night. Her first reaction was surprise, but that didn’t last long. Before I even noticed her there, I heard a loud, “What are you doing kissing that boy?” I swirled around to see my grandmother on the steps, a horrified look on her face. I groaned and told my boyfriend to go ahead and go, and that I’d talk to him later, and then marched up to the house, rather irritated.

Grandma followed me in, ranting all the way. “You shouldn’t be kissin’ boys that you aren’t married to. I never kissed your grandfather until we were at the altar saying our vows! The next thing you know you’ll have a couple kids and some credit card debt, and you’ll wish you’d waited a little longer ‘fore kissin’ that boy.” She nodded as she spoke, following me into the kitchen where my mom was.

My mom looked at the two of us, having heard most of what my grandmother was saying. She sighed and put the rag she had been using onto the counter. “Now what’s going on here, you two?” Grandma was quick to explain, and I could only stand there, face read with a mixture of anger and embarrassment. I had only just turned sixteen and been given dating privileges, so this surely wouldn’t help me.

Luckily, my mother didn’t budge that night, but she did budge a month later. No dates for me unless it was a double or more date. That was the last straw for me, and I was sick of my parents giving into the old woman’s whims. It was time to talk to them about it, but the conversation turned into something I hadn’t expected.

“Your grandmother has cancer, honey.” My father explained. That was it. That was why they tried to appease her so. I immediately felt bad for all of the cursing I did towards the woman.

Only a few months later, she passed away in her sleep. She hadn’t wanted chemo therapy because she knew she wouldn’t be long for this world either way, and she missed her husband, my grandfather. I still couldn’t believe that I hadn’t been told about that situation, but I tried to make the most of the time I had left with my grandmother, going out shopping with her, and helping her cook dinner some nights.

Never had I enjoyed Jeopardy so much in that time, and when I discovered her the morning of her passing away, I’d never cried so hard in my life.

back to Contest #2