Day Twenty Eight

Marvin woke up from a good night’s sleep and just knew it was going to be a great day. He stretched and yawned and flexed his feet, feeling ridiculously happy about the day ahead of him. It was the first time in a long time he had felt this happy and relaxed about the day ahead. Leaping out of bed, he again stretched and then did as many push ups as he could—he didn’t think twenty five was too bad for someone who had put more energy into avoiding gym class than in actually attending. Push ups done, he then did several sets of squat thrusts and then as many sit ups as he could. When he looked at the clock, it read 7:25am. He was delighted. It was the first time he had woke up in time to have a nice hot shower before school.

Wrapping a towel around him, he padded back into his bedroom to find something to wear. He had lots of clothes but most of them had grown too small for him and the larger ones he had worn so often they looked tatty and unkempt. They probably smelled bad too but he did not focus on this.

Finally he found a pair of jeans he had never worn before. He took them out of their plastic packaging and held them up for inspection. The last time he had tried them on, he had to lie on the bed to zip them up and they had been so uncomfortably he couldn’t even breathe properly. They were good jeans. His mom had bought them in the sales but the quality was all right—if only he could squeeze into them.

He eyed them once more.

Several days of exercise and being far more careful of what he ate may have made a difference but what if it didn’t? If he still couldn’t fit into them, he would be discouraged and might be tempted to just give up on his new fitness regime. He thought of Tonya again and smiled to himself. He decided if the jeans didn’t fit, he was going to stick to it. He may never be male model but he could certainly do better than this.

He looked at the jeans once more and then tried them on. They slipped over his chubby thighs easily and to Marvin’s relief, the zip went up without a problem. He took a deep breath and let it out again. The jeans were not at all uncomfortable and, if anything, he needed a belt to keep them up. Picking up his books, he walked down the stairs to the kitchen to get some breakfast.

He found Caroline sitting at the table, quietly reading. Ordinarily he wouldn’t think of speaking to her but he was in such a good mood and things were going so well, he could see no harm.

“I’m fixing myself an omelette. Would you like me to do one for you?”

Caroline looked up at him in surprise, blinking in disbelief. “I’m not hungry,” she said. She was still in shock he had spoken to her.

“It’s no problem,” Marvin reassured her. “There lots of eggs and I’m not a bad cook. Mom showed me how.”

At the mention of her mother’s name, Caroline frowned. She and Clarice had spoken about her mother’s absence but it still hurt that Bonnie had not even bothered to check up on her. She looked up at her brother’s imploring face and was overcome with something resembling regret. “I’ll have an omelette with cheese, please,” she said.

“Coming right up,” he replied and began breaking eggs and then whisking them with milk.

“Have you heard from mom?” Caroline asked.

“No,” Marvin answered guardedly. “I don’t think dad has either.”

There was nothing more to say about the subject. “So,” said Caroline. “No more beer for breakfast?”

Marvin tried to hide a smile. “I’m turning over a new leaf. I’m trying to be a better man.” He proudly gave her a perfectly cooked omelette with the letter “C” on top. The “C” had been cooked first so it was browner than the rest of the omelette and Caroline couldn’t help but laugh.

“I remember we used to do this with pancakes,” she said as she took a bite. It brought back memories of when they all used to eat breakfast together: her parents, Marvin and herself.

They heard the lock in the front door rattled and someone entered the house. The siblings looked at each other and shrugged. Marvin thought it had to be their father but then they heard the distinctive click of high heels on the linoleum.

Bonnie stood in the doorway, looking slightly surprised to see her two children being civil to each other over the breakfast table.

“Mom!” Brandon dropped his fork.

For a few seconds, Bonnie said absolutely nothing. Then Caroline was out of her chair. She didn’t throw herself at her mother but instead very gingerly put her arms around her as if expecting a rebuttal. It never came. Bonnie hugged Caroline back and kissed her cheek.

“I’m sorry I was away for so long.” There were tears in her eyes.

Then Marvin got up and gave her a quick hug. “We missed you,” he told her.

“I didn’t think you wanted to see me anymore so I went away for awhile.