ushered out of the house by her father and pushed into the car. Despite it being the most embarrassing experience of her life, Snow was too boring to shed a tear.
****
Snow sat at a much smaller dining room table in her parents’ house and ate dry rice, no salt or butter. Unlike Nadine, who dabbled in the real estate industry, her parents were telephone operators and earned a meager pay.
Maureen wasn’t much of a cook so Snow was certain that the soggy fried chicken on her plate would be bloody red in the center. The most tragic part of the evening was that because Snow’s titties hung low at Nadine’s house, they weren’t able to have a decent meal.
After Lamont forced his food down and begged his body not to regurgitate it and hurt his wife’s feelings in the process, he focused on Snow. “Honey, what did he do to you?”
Snow raised her eyes from her plate and focused on her father. She loved him. She loved both of her parents but she wasn’t happy and she didn’t know why.
Not only that, but Snow didn’t want to talk about the situation. It was embarrassing enough as is. She preferred to fade into the walls but neither would give her the honor.
With her upper body slouched over, for the hundredth time, she said, “He didn’t do anything to me, daddy.”
“Then why were you undressed?” Maureen asked in a soft voice. She cared about Snow so much that it was etched all over her face. Her bottom lip trembled and it was clear she expected the worst. Rape.
“Because he was touching me.” She shrugged. “That’s all.”
Although relieved, Lamont didn’t like the idea one bit. He didn’t care if the kids stole a kiss or two before the age of eighteen but grabbing nipples and shit was out of the question! “Did he make you, you know…”
“No,” she huffed.
“Did he hurt you?” Maureen asked.
“I said no, mama.”
“Then what is going on?” Lamont roared.
“I’m bored with life,” Snow admitted. “Terribly!” she yelled. It was as if she had reached an orgasm because it was the first time she used her angry voice.
Lamont and Nadine were shocked. They leaned back in their chairs and allowed their chins to swing just…like…Morris's.
“I don’t get it,” Lamont screamed, trying to regain control of his family. “How could you possibly be bored? We’re at church every other day. You have friends who you visit and with God in your life, it’s always a great day.”
“Praise be to God,” Maureen added waving both hands in the air.
He sounded so fucking stupid.
So did she.
The friends he spoke of didn’t exist because even if she did hang with the girls, they always ignored her and treated her like an outcast.
Snow’s head tilted as she tried to understand how any of what he said sounded exciting. But instead of answering she asked, “May I please be excused?”
“Yes, honey, but hurry back,” Maureen responded. “We have a lot to talk about.”
Snow scooted back in her seat and the chair’s legs made a screeching noise against the hardwood floors. She strolled toward the stairwell, which was out of her parents’ view, and crept into the basement.
In her earlier years, she danced down there but she no longer possessed the verve to move her limbs. Sadly, twirling had exited her heart long ago.
She ambled past the large mirrors on the wall and toward a huge wooden chest that sat on the floor with a hanging combination padlock attached.
Knowing the code was 4578—the number Lamont gave Louie the