I finally finished a solid first draft of the new project, so here’s another excerpt from it. This is a bit further into the story. Wavy is twelve here, and in case it’s not obvious, Ewan is her father and Sandy is Ewan’s girlfriend.
***
“You can pick out the make-up you like and I’ll help you put it on.” Sandy came toward the make-up table. “You need something pale. Pink, because you’re so fair. This is a good color, this lipstick. It’s called Angel’s Kiss.”
She said it so sing-songy, so tempting. Wavy put her finger on the box full of brilliant blue and green squares. Like a box of paints only more beautiful.
“That’s eye shadow. Now see, a lot of people would say because you’re so fair you need a lot of eye make-up, but you’re a natural beauty. When you’re older you’ll have to stay out of the sun or you’ll wrinkle.”
Angel's Kiss
Sandy showed Wavy how to use the little wand to smudge eye shadow on–a pretty dark purple that Sandy said was probably too dark for Wavy’s coloring, but that Wavy liked. The soft, tickly brush to put blush on. The waxy lipstick she dabbed on with her finger to not touch the tube to her mouth.
Sandy smiled in the mirror as Wavy did it. Wavy watched herself, her middle finger smoothing the pink stuff on her lips. She looked different. Her eyes looked strange with the make-up on.
“Don’t you look pretty? Oh and look at your ring. Where did that come from? Are you–are you supposed to be wearing that?” Sandy frowned at the ring.
“Kellen.” It was the one word that was always safe to say.
“Kellen? Did he give you that?”
“We’re getting married.”
Sandy giggled and clapped her hand over her mouth.
“Are you teasing me? Because you know, that’s the only thing you’ve ever said to me besides ‘no’ so I don’t know if you’re serious or if you’re just messing with me.”
Wavy shook her head and did what Kellen did: kissed the ring.
“Oh my god, really? Can I–can I look at it?” When Wavy offered her hand, Sandy leaned over it and stared, blinking. “Wow. That’s gorgeous. Kellen really bought that for you? That’s your engagement ring? He must really love you if he bought you that. So you–you love him, too?”
Wavy nodded and Sandy looked funny. Like she was going to cry, but she rubbed her nose and laughed.
“That’s nice. That’s really nice. You’re lucky. He must love you a lot.”
And then they both heard it: Ewan, calling down the hallway, “Sandy?”
Wavy shook her head, but Sandy answered: “Yeah, baby?”
There was no way to escape and he was almost outside the door, saying, “Where have you been? I gotta get on the road. Kellen’s waiting on me.”
The only choice was the closet. Wavy stepped into it, but it was so full she could only wriggle deeper into the clothes with no time to close the door. Crouching down, holding her breath, she watched as the bedroom door opened and Ewan’s legs came in.
“Where are you going?” Sandy said.
“I told you: business.”
“Yeah, but what kind of business?”
“Are you getting smart with me? What’s that mean?”
“Ow,” Sandy said when Ewan shoved her down on the edge of the bed. “I just want to know: is it business or business?”
“I don’t need Kellen to help me take care of business.”
“Asshole.”
Ewan grabbed her hair and pulled it. The way he did to Mama.
“Come on, baby. Don’t be that way before I get on the road. Why don’t you just do a little something for me before I go? Something to keep my mind on you.”
“I don’t want to.”
He let go of her hair and put his hands on his belt.
“You don’t want to or you won’t? ‘Cause maybe Dee’s not too busy for me.”
Sandy didn’t answer. She looked down at her hands on her lap and then she slid off the bed onto her knees.
“That’s right, Sandy, baby. Why don’t you suck it the way I like?”
Wavy had seen it before. In Kellen’s magazines. At a party. Once she saw Mama do it with a man she didn’t know. But Ewan wasn’t nice. He held Sandy’s hair too tight. He made her gag and say, “Ow, don’t, Ewan. I’m doing it the way you like.” Still it was the same and it made Wavy’s stomach nervous. The mouth was a dirty place. A dangerous place. A way for people to get into you, which was what Ewan was doing to Sandy. That was why she let him make her cry, because he was in her. The same way he was in Mama.
The only good thing was that he didn’t see Wavy. After he made Sandy cry, he pulled up his pants and left. When Wavy stepped out of the closet, Sandy was sitting on the bed, wiping her eyes. She looked up and said, “Oh, Jesus, honey. I forgot you were here. Did you–did you see that?”
Wavy shrugged.
Sandy laughed and sniffled. “I guess you’re getting your education tonight. It’s not always like that. He’s good to me. He just gets in these moods.”
Wavy nodded. She knew all about Ewan’s moods.
I love the way this scene shifts from a ‘girly’ activity and Sandy being sweet to Wavy to Ewan turning up and darkening things. It’s a wonderfully seamless transition and I envy the ease with which you portray the good and the bad together. I like that it’s obvious that Ewan is a bastard without you having to spell it out for the reader.
Another fantastic scene.
ditto on what Sue said. You’ve done an amazing job writing this out and it reads really well.
OMG–this just gave me chills. So sweet and then so utterly disturbing–isn’t that your forte?
I knew the whole fun girly thing at the beginnign was too good to be true, lol.
I could totally see this being made into an indie movie…love it.
Wow…”Oh Jesus honey. I forgot you were here.” Takes you to a really dark place, but doesn’t leave you alone there… just what you want from a scene like that. Quality.
Oh good grief, Bryn. Way to screw with our heads.
Seriously, that’s quite a jarring transition between sweet and dark, but jarring in a ‘it works’ way. Disturbing, as usual!
Thanks for reading, all. I hope I manage it for the rest of the book, dark, disturbing, but just enough sweet and light to make the bad stuff bearable.
This is very effective. It captures the rawness of small-town meanness, the desperation in the packed-full closet and box full of make-up. I can picture the room they’re in, and the way the closet smells, maybe cracked ivory paint on the vanity mirror left over from a little girl’s bedroom set.
Awesome. I too love the subtle shift from girly fun straight to disturbia.
Poor Wavy
God, poor Wavy. I’m near tears by the end of that. And wanna put a hurt on that bastard somethin’ fierce.
Well, I’m a fan of this book. What can I say? I think it’s great.
God, Bryn. I came in for your teaser of this week, and you sucked me in into reading this. I was a family doctor for thirteen years, and I looked after women all the time who lived a life like this – both Wavy’s and Sandy.
I truly admire your courage in writing this way. It can’t be easy for you – God knows it isn’t easy to read – but it’s 100% real. You are a damn fine writer.
Powerful writing going on here, Bryn. More!