This is the sixteenth part in a series, so if you have not already done so, you might want to read Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI, Part VII, Part VIII, Part IX, Part X, Part XI, Part XII, Part XIII, Part XIV, and Part XV before continuing.
As soon as we get home, I flop on the couch and turn on the TV, going immediately to Bravo so I can catch up on all the latest housewife drama. Mom makes me a cup of tea, and as she brings it to me, says, “I was thinking of making meatloaf for dinner tonight, but maybe your stomach’s not up to it?”
I shrug. I’m not nauseous, but I’m not hungry either. “You can make whatever you want. I might eat a little.”
“How about if I heat up a can of chicken soup for you?”
“Sure.”
She kisses my forehead and heads to the kitchen while I burrow into a pile of pillows and blankets, wrapping my hands around my hot mug and flip to start my show.
It’s just getting good when the TV turns itself off.
I frown, staring at the TV as my mind tries to come up with rational excuses. “Mom?”
“Yeah, honey?”
“Did the power go out?”
I hear Mom walking towards me from the kitchen and I wait for her to get close enough that we don’t have to yell to hear each other. “What was that?”
“Did the power go out?”
“No. Why?”
“The TV just went off.”
“Are you sure you didn’t sit on the remote or something?”
“I’m sure.” The remote had been resting on the arm of the couch. I hadn’t even been touching it. To prove my point, I pick up the remote and aim it at the TV as I hit the power button.
The TV comes on and my show resumes.
“See?” she says.
But I know I didn’t turn off the TV.
She goes back to the kitchen and I whisper as loud as I can without mom hearing me, “Knock it off, Addie.”
The screen goes black again.
I kick some pillows in frustration, then reach for the remote.
It flies off the couch a fraction of a second before I can grasp it.
“You have got to be kidding me.”
Addie appears in front of me, arms crossed, a smug smile on her lips.
To be continued…