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Debi walked in the door to find her parents sitting on the sofa
apparently doing nothing other than twiddling their thumbs.
Great, they've been waiting for me, she thought with a sinking feeling.
"Nice of you to join us, dear. We thought you'd decided to skip town,"
her mom said acidly.
Glancing at her watch, Debi responded, "Mom, it's only 8. We just went to
have some dinner."
"It's not like we don't feed you here. God knows food, shelter and money
are all we're good for to you," mom snapped.
"That's not true-" Debi began.
"Oh really? How many times have you talked to us without yelling in the
past 6 months?!"
"The only reason I would be yelling at you is if you started yelling at
me first, like you are now," Debi said, barely keeping her anger out of
her voice.
"I wouldn't yell if you would listen to me when I talked normally!"
"I do listen, I just wish you would listen to what I have to say too! But
nooo, you're always right because you're the parents, and I'm always
wrong because I'm the child. What kind of screwed up system is that?"
Debi said in one breath, still half-heartedly trying to control her
temper.
"It's our system. We've had more experience. We've lived longer than you
have. More importantly, we're responsible for you as long as you're under
18, and until then, you obey our rules."
Debi exploded. "Your rules are bullshit. You think you know everything,
but you don't even know how to keep you own child from being miserable
and hating you. That's right, I said I hate you. I'll say it again if you
still haven't heard. I hate you! I'm not your little baby anymore. Get
over it. You still have Will to lord it over. I'm sure you'll have lots
of fun ruining his youth too! I'm sick of always trying to be so perfect
for you, and always failing to please you. I'm sick of you trying to live
vicariously through me. It's my life. You gave birth to me, but that
doesn't mean you own me. I'm my own person! All of you, just leave me
alone!" She ran upstairs, slammed the door shut with a very loud bang,
and waited for the storm to hit.
It was stupid of her, she knew. She would be in such deep shit it wasn't
even funny, but it felt good, and she had been dying to get those words
out of her system. A few minutes passed, and there was dead silence
beyond the door. She wondered what the hold-up was. Usually her parents
would have been right after her, banging on the door and screaming at
her. She decided it was probably a ruse, put her headphones on, and
played her Better than Ezra CD.
"If it feels good, do it�and if it tastes fine, drink�
there's a range of possibilities to find�"
She sat and listened to the familiar songs for another half-hour, at
which time she began to be very suspicious of the whole thing. She
peered under her door, but there were no signs of anyone outside. She
took off her headphones and cautiously stuck her head out. The coast
seemed to still be clear. She wandered downstairs warily, but she saw no
one. She searched through the entire house, but still there were no signs
of her family. She took a quick look in the garage, and surprisingly,
both cars were still there. She slumped down on the sofa and stared at
the ceiling thoughtfully.
Where the hell are they?
Is this a trick?
Did they walk to the neighbor's?
After a few more mental questions of this sort, she decided to make the
best of it, stuck a movie in the VCR, and piled an assortment of food on
the coffee table. She settled down to wait for something to happen.
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