Post by Obelix Kappel on Apr 21, 2013 20:15:50 GMT -5
The Schwarz/Kappel or Kappel/Schwarz party divided itself in two to attack the setting up and settling in of exiled daughters. They had to do this because Levana had not shipped her stuff ahead the way the school recommended. Obelix on the other hand was ready to go, and Dad was nosey. Dad was a control freak as far as Obie was concerned. Still he had a right to see how his daughter was going to live for the next nine months.
Maybe it would be for the next four years. Maybe she would like it. Maybe everyone would leave her alone. If they really did that she would have both parents, including the more troublesome of the two, out of her hair. That was a fantasy. It had to be a fantasy. There had to be a catch in it somewhere.
The catch was that it would not happen. Obelix glanced back at her father. He had her round face and soft features made harsher by a salt and pepper ali-babba beard and bushy eyebrows. His hair was coarse and nearly jet black. His skin tanned on top of a naturally florid complexion. Dad said he was 5'8" but really stood only 5'7". Tobias, the little brother, was fast gaining on him. Dad weighed a bit too much but was not as fat as he had been when Obelix started middle school. On good days, Dad reminded Obelix of the lighter weight wrestlers or Napoleon. On bad days Dad was one of those snarling little dogs.
Obelix all ready knew this was not a good day. Dad was tired and frightened from the ride. He had a lecture brewing inside him. He missed Mathilda's company. Was he cheating on Clarice? That sucked when Obelix thought about it.
Climbing five flights of stairs to the top of the female dorm did not make Dad any happier. By the time they reached Obelix' room Dad's face glistened with sweat. His beard must have prickled and hurt his face too. He shifted from one foot to the other Obelix stuck her swipe card in the door and waited for the green light. She got it on the second try and insisted on three more tries. She tried to imagine what would happen if she locked herself out with both parents at least half way across the country. The thought left her mouth dry with fear.
"Is that what color you painted your room!" Dad exploded.
"I didn't paint it."
"We need to get it fixed."
"No, the school painted it, but it's the color I wanted...."
"What are the other kids going to think."
"They're going to think I have a green room. It's called pickle.
www.sherwin-williams.com/homeowners/color/find-and-explore-colors/paint-colors-by-family/SW6725-pickle/
"You would... Even the trim is green."
"That's called Witty Green: www.sherwin-williams.com/homeowners/color/find-and-explore-colors/paint-colors-by-family/SW6929-witty-green/.
"You're going to have to live with this all year."
Obelix decided that Dad could do better than this but she was not going to wait. A rolling doughnut was harder to intercept, and it was time to roll. She dug out her trunk keys and opened her first trunk. It was the wrong one. She closed it and wrestled it down. Dad did an exagerated jump out of the way.
"Here, let me help you?"
"Do you know what's in the trunks?" Obelix countered.
Dad didn't. The second trunk was the right one. Bedding. First job, make the bed. Obelix had some great floral print twin sheets. She began putting them on the standard, institutional bed. Then two blankets followed. The desert was cold at night, and she was going to be warm. Last came the bedspread.
"Dad we need to get the bedspread," Obelix announced.
"Where did you pack it?"
"I didn't. I ordered it. It's in the mail room."
"And where is the mail room?"
"Over in the main building."
"We're going to walk all the way to the main building..."
They weren't going to fly there. "Dad, I can walk there and you can wait for me."
Dad did not want to miss out on the action so down the stairs they went, across the lawn, and then back with not one but two packages.
"How much shit did you have sent here with your birthday money?" Dad asked.
"No shit, just a bed spread and a fleece jacket. It's cold here at night, and I wanted my dorm room to look nice."
"You're sure off to the wrong start."
"Just because you don't like green..."
"It's the color of vomit."
"It's the color of green split peas. The Owl and the Pussycat went to sea in a beautiful pea green boat."
"Obie, stop it!"
"Fuck you," thought Obelix.
She tore open the bedspread package with her house key from Westchester. The key no longer opened any doors but she kept it as a talisman of the past, not that the past was so great. She flung the bedspread on the bed and straightened it. It was easy to straighten because it was an old time chenille with a big basket of flowers woven right into the middle of it in pastel, rainbow colors.
"Sweet huh, Dad?"
"It's old fashioned and ugly. Obelix, you never learn. Well, here you're going to have to learn because there is no home to hide in. You can't even hide in your room. If you don't learn to get with it and be like everybody else, you're going to hurt. Mathilda told me that pain is a great teacher. Clarice said that too."
"Clarice said that to make you feel good," Obelix dug it in and then she stopped. "Dad, you're insulting and demoralizing me. Please stop now."
"You need to hear this."
"I don't. If you cared about what this room looked like you could have interfered back in June. You could have asked me to show you everything before I picked out the colors. It's too late now so this talk is stupid."
"Did you call me stupid?" Dad's face was beginning to flush.
"No, I called this conversation stupid. I think we should change the topic."
"Obie I love you. This is for your own good."
"No it's not. It's for you to feel control. You're going to drive off and leave me here. I'll be on my own then."
"You're not ready to be on your own, Obie. Isn't that obvious?"
"No, because you're dropping me off at boarding school in the middle of nowhere."
"There's nowhere else for you to go. I can't have you in public school in Tulsa and no where in New York would take you."
"That's because we didn't start the applications soon enough."
Dad flinched and squinted as if he were struck. This was it. Kids in Obelix' family did not go to boarding school, but a colleague at the Firm had talked him into hit and his friends had talked him into it and now he wasn't sure but there was no turning back. Dad was scaird. Oh wonderful! Dad was scaird! This was too good to be true!
Maybe it would be for the next four years. Maybe she would like it. Maybe everyone would leave her alone. If they really did that she would have both parents, including the more troublesome of the two, out of her hair. That was a fantasy. It had to be a fantasy. There had to be a catch in it somewhere.
The catch was that it would not happen. Obelix glanced back at her father. He had her round face and soft features made harsher by a salt and pepper ali-babba beard and bushy eyebrows. His hair was coarse and nearly jet black. His skin tanned on top of a naturally florid complexion. Dad said he was 5'8" but really stood only 5'7". Tobias, the little brother, was fast gaining on him. Dad weighed a bit too much but was not as fat as he had been when Obelix started middle school. On good days, Dad reminded Obelix of the lighter weight wrestlers or Napoleon. On bad days Dad was one of those snarling little dogs.
Obelix all ready knew this was not a good day. Dad was tired and frightened from the ride. He had a lecture brewing inside him. He missed Mathilda's company. Was he cheating on Clarice? That sucked when Obelix thought about it.
Climbing five flights of stairs to the top of the female dorm did not make Dad any happier. By the time they reached Obelix' room Dad's face glistened with sweat. His beard must have prickled and hurt his face too. He shifted from one foot to the other Obelix stuck her swipe card in the door and waited for the green light. She got it on the second try and insisted on three more tries. She tried to imagine what would happen if she locked herself out with both parents at least half way across the country. The thought left her mouth dry with fear.
"Is that what color you painted your room!" Dad exploded.
"I didn't paint it."
"We need to get it fixed."
"No, the school painted it, but it's the color I wanted...."
"What are the other kids going to think."
"They're going to think I have a green room. It's called pickle.
www.sherwin-williams.com/homeowners/color/find-and-explore-colors/paint-colors-by-family/SW6725-pickle/
"You would... Even the trim is green."
"That's called Witty Green: www.sherwin-williams.com/homeowners/color/find-and-explore-colors/paint-colors-by-family/SW6929-witty-green/.
"You're going to have to live with this all year."
Obelix decided that Dad could do better than this but she was not going to wait. A rolling doughnut was harder to intercept, and it was time to roll. She dug out her trunk keys and opened her first trunk. It was the wrong one. She closed it and wrestled it down. Dad did an exagerated jump out of the way.
"Here, let me help you?"
"Do you know what's in the trunks?" Obelix countered.
Dad didn't. The second trunk was the right one. Bedding. First job, make the bed. Obelix had some great floral print twin sheets. She began putting them on the standard, institutional bed. Then two blankets followed. The desert was cold at night, and she was going to be warm. Last came the bedspread.
"Dad we need to get the bedspread," Obelix announced.
"Where did you pack it?"
"I didn't. I ordered it. It's in the mail room."
"And where is the mail room?"
"Over in the main building."
"We're going to walk all the way to the main building..."
They weren't going to fly there. "Dad, I can walk there and you can wait for me."
Dad did not want to miss out on the action so down the stairs they went, across the lawn, and then back with not one but two packages.
"How much shit did you have sent here with your birthday money?" Dad asked.
"No shit, just a bed spread and a fleece jacket. It's cold here at night, and I wanted my dorm room to look nice."
"You're sure off to the wrong start."
"Just because you don't like green..."
"It's the color of vomit."
"It's the color of green split peas. The Owl and the Pussycat went to sea in a beautiful pea green boat."
"Obie, stop it!"
"Fuck you," thought Obelix.
She tore open the bedspread package with her house key from Westchester. The key no longer opened any doors but she kept it as a talisman of the past, not that the past was so great. She flung the bedspread on the bed and straightened it. It was easy to straighten because it was an old time chenille with a big basket of flowers woven right into the middle of it in pastel, rainbow colors.
"Sweet huh, Dad?"
"It's old fashioned and ugly. Obelix, you never learn. Well, here you're going to have to learn because there is no home to hide in. You can't even hide in your room. If you don't learn to get with it and be like everybody else, you're going to hurt. Mathilda told me that pain is a great teacher. Clarice said that too."
"Clarice said that to make you feel good," Obelix dug it in and then she stopped. "Dad, you're insulting and demoralizing me. Please stop now."
"You need to hear this."
"I don't. If you cared about what this room looked like you could have interfered back in June. You could have asked me to show you everything before I picked out the colors. It's too late now so this talk is stupid."
"Did you call me stupid?" Dad's face was beginning to flush.
"No, I called this conversation stupid. I think we should change the topic."
"Obie I love you. This is for your own good."
"No it's not. It's for you to feel control. You're going to drive off and leave me here. I'll be on my own then."
"You're not ready to be on your own, Obie. Isn't that obvious?"
"No, because you're dropping me off at boarding school in the middle of nowhere."
"There's nowhere else for you to go. I can't have you in public school in Tulsa and no where in New York would take you."
"That's because we didn't start the applications soon enough."
Dad flinched and squinted as if he were struck. This was it. Kids in Obelix' family did not go to boarding school, but a colleague at the Firm had talked him into hit and his friends had talked him into it and now he wasn't sure but there was no turning back. Dad was scaird. Oh wonderful! Dad was scaird! This was too good to be true!