Scraps - Grounded

Well… shit. I thought to myself as my eyes darted first to my mom and then to my mama before I uttered a nervous chuckle that was matched with a grin of the same nature. The looks that they both sported, a color of upset shaded in with a little bit of pissed off, told me that my usual charm would not help me wiggle out of this one.

“Lil, I’m going to give you the chance to explain your end of this but first you need to know how disappointed we both are in you,” Mom started things off in a calm, rational tone. “You need to understand that-”

“What in the fuck were you thinking?” Mama said, her voice loud with disbelief but not quite yelling. Yet.

Ah, yes. Good cop, bad cop. Hello, old friend. I thought cynically and forced down a smile.

“Well? What do you have to say for yourself?” Mama asked, leaning in towards me and scowling.

“Ah, well…” Boy, that was a good question. What was I thinking? I mean, nothing really. That’ll just piss her off though, can’t say that. “I don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know?” Now she was yelling.

Mom put a hand on Mama’s shoulder and squeezed before muttering a low warning, “Alex.”

Mama stared at me hard, with a face that said she couldn’t even believe me right now. Like she had no idea what the hell she was even looking at. Then she threw her hands up and turned around with a huff and a cross of her arms.

“I don’t think you understand the severity of the situation, young lady,” Mom said, turning her warning eyes from Mama to me.  

Between that tone and the way that she narrowed her eyes at me like that, all merriment left me. My spine straightened on instinct and I listened closely to ever word she was saying as if my life depended on it. Mama could be strict and that was enough to keep me from pushing too often but Mom was something else. She was normally so sweet and caring, almost too much really but those deep, piercing eyes were the exact reason why I strayed away from pissing Mom off if I could. It’s like they dug into my soul, leaving a deep sense of shame where it burrowed in.

“I’m sorry,” I muttered and looked too the ground.

“You oughta be,” Mama scoffed.

“Alex,” Mom hissed between her teeth, her head whipping back to glare at her wife. Mama physically recoiled from that glare. I could relate to the feeling. Especially when it came back around to meet my stare. “I hope you know that there’s a hell of a grounding in store for you.”

“Two weeks?” I asked with a sigh.  

“Longer,” Mama barked. This time when Mama spoke Mom only nodded in agreement with her.

“A month?” I asked cautiously. Two weeks would blow but a month was bound to throw a serious wrench into my summer plans.

“Try again,” Mom replied. Her eyes danced with a dark mirth that I couldn’t quite understand. It was probably reserved just for parents who loved to make their kid’s lives a living hell.

“A month and a half?” I asked, almost hopeful now.

“Mmm, close,” Mom hummed. “Try the rest of the summer.”

“What! That’s almost three months!” I shouted.

“Yeah. It is,” Mom said very matter-of-factly.

“Should have thought about the consequences when you decided to throw some stupid, crazy party.” Mama crossed her arms and walked up to me again. There was a noticeable calm that had come over her; compared to her presence earlier at least. “I hope it was worth it.”

They left me alone in my room then. Alone to contemplate the punishment that they had left me with. Almost three whole months locked in this house until senior year started.  

“Fuck me,” I groaned and threw myself back on the bed.

When I thought about the night, however, I had to smile a little. Breaking into Mama’s liquor cabinet and those random girls that started dancing on the kitchen table, then Jackson’s declaration as king of the party before chugging damn near half a fifth.  

King of the party sure split pretty fast when my folks showed up. Jackass. Good thing he’s gonna feel that rum in the morning. I chuckled before uttering a little sigh. Being in here all summer was going to seriously suck but still, so worth it.