Cory McBrown: Year 1-Chapter 5

21st of October, 2001

It’s the weekend! Today we’re shopping for fall decorations. It’s not like we don’t have a gazillion of these at home already, but perusing the store at “Halloween” is one of my favorite things about fall. While Mum does the grocery shopping, Sam, John, and I explore the decoration aisle. I return to them with a basket full of stuff. It has an orange pumpkin-shaped candle, a bat garland, and a sign that says “a witch lives here.”

“What do you think?” I ask.

“I’m amazed you only picked three items,” Sam says, holding a squirrel candle holder and a bag of fake acorns.

“Well, I got the big scarecrow last year, so I thought I’d downsize a bit this year.”

John holds up a bobblehead crow and a miniature turkey statue. “How very mature of you.”

“Plus, a lot of the decorations are gory and morbid. Death imagery is one thing, but there was a severed arm back there,” I say.

“Those things are good for pranks, though,” Sam winks at me.

I shush her. She’s referring to a prank we play on John every now and then if the power goes out. We put on sheets and become The Ghosts of the Emerald Isle. He still doesn’t know it’s us that do it. But we haven’t done it since he was, like, ten.

We meet up with Mum and ring up our stuff, and then head home. It’s been almost two weeks since Mum and Bart’s last big fight, but things haven’t really improved between them either. Bart doesn’t really talk to her if he doesn’t have to. I just don’t get it, and I don’t really want to ask, either. Mum and I are still close, and Bart and I are still close, but I’m afraid I’m going to have to choose which one to stay close to.

When we get home, Mum and Edward help us start to decorate, while we play my favorite spooky song “I Wanna Scare Myself” from Winnie the Pooh: Boo To You Too!

Even Bart joined, which I hadn’t expected. He usually avoids activities that Edward is part of. By the time we’re done, it looks like a “Halloween” store in our house. Mum suggests pumpkin spice pancakes for dinner, which I love!

We’ve got to do our homework first, though. I sit down to do my algebra.

It’s not long before our hopes for the night fall through. Mum has to go deliver a baby again. I know this is one of the things that makes Bart mad. He’s always the one that ends up being responsible for me and Jenny, cause Edward works a lot at night, even if he doesn’t actually go to work. He works from home a lot, too. So Bart makes me and Jenny dinner instead.

After dinner, I go to his room. I have to ask him something. I knock on the door. Ever since I caught him and his girlfriend I’ve learned to knock.

“Come in,” he says.

I come in. He’s doing homework. “Hi.”

“Are you busy?”

“Sort of. Do you need something?”

I sit on his bed. “I don’t like the way you and Mum keep fighting.”

“We haven’t fought in two weeks.”

“But you don’t talk. I know you’re mad at her for something.”

Bart closes his book. “Cory, you don’t need to be worrying about me and Mum.”

“But I’m already worrying about it. I feel caught between you, and I don’t like it,” I can feel myself start to cry.

Bart tries to be sympathetic. Sometimes that’s hard for him. Honestly, it’s hard for Mum sometimes, too. It’s sometimes tough to be an emotional water sign surrounded by practical earth and intellectual air signs. “I’m sorry, Cory. I don’t mean to be involving you in that.”

I wipe a tear. “But why are you doing it?”

Bart sighs. “I just don’t think she’s handling what happened with Dad very well. She won’t talk to you about it… She won’t even really talk to me about it. I know she just wants to protect us, but… I’m already feeling it… I can only imagine you are, too.”

I nod. “Do you ever think about it?” Bart asks me.

I nod again. “I wonder why he left all the time… I wonder what I did.”

“You didn’t do anything.”

“Then why’d he leave?”

Bart sighs. “That’s not a question I can answer for you. That’s why I wish Mum would talk to you.”

We sit in silence for a moment. Then Bart gets up and gently ushers me up. “Come on. Let’s get you to bed.”

I go with him and we brush our teeth together

22nd of October, 2001

This time, my radio alarm wakes me up to “Wake Up” by Hanson. Fitting, but I don’t feel like getting out of bed. I’m too tired, and life kinda bites right now anyway. Grudgingly, however, I lift up the covers to find a big red spot on my sheets.

You’ve got to be kidding me! I think. Of course it had to happen on a Monday morning. I rush to the door and call for Mum.

Bart comes out of his bedroom, sleepily. “Cory, what is all the shoutin’ about?”

“I need Mum.”

“She’s still at work. Long labor. Can Edward help you?” Bart asks.

I turn beet red. “Good God, no!”

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I just need help. Can you call Sam?”

Bart goes to the phone in the hall and calls Sam. Technically, I know Bart would help me, but I’m not sure if he knows how. I need a girl.

Sam is over within a few minutes, and I show her what happened in the night. “You got it! Cory, congratulations!”

“Thank you. But what do I do with it? And how do I deal with it during a school day?” I ask, panicking a little.

“Well, first, go see if your mum has any pads or tampons.”

I get wide-eyed. I can’t imagine tampons being very comfortable. I hope she has pads. I go into the bathroom and search under the sink. Luckily, Mum does have pads. Sam shows me how to put it on. Then she shows me what to do with my bloody laundry. Turns out it’s not as scary as I thought. She just sprays the bloody spots with Zout, and then we change the sheets on my bed.

I’m still wondering what to do about school. “What if I feel crampy? What if I leak?” I ask Sam.

Sam pats my arm. “You’ll be fine. There’s an acupressure point that helps with cramps. And if you leak, that’s why I carry extra pads and clothes for school.”

“But if other kids see it, I’ll die of embarrassment.”

Sam smiles, sweetly. “Well, I’ve never heard of anyone dying of embarrassment. But I’ve been getting mine for over a year and I’ve only leaked once.”

“You sure?”

“Well, everyone’s different, but either way you’ll be fine. And you know I’ll punch anyone out for making fun of you.”

I laugh. Sam would, too. One time, this boy pushed me out of his way to get on the swings, and I thought Sam was gonna murder him. That’s why it’s good to have both Sam and John as my best friends. They both look out for me, but John keeps us out of jail.

We walk to school with no problem, but it was during science class that the cramps started (ironically). Man, this is not as “not bad” as Sam made it out to be. It feels like my uterus is one of those frosting tubes and someone is squeezing the bejesus out of it. I try the acupressure point that Sam taught me, but it doesn’t do much.

At lunch, I ask her: “What am I doing wrong? I’m pressing between my thumb and finger like you said, but it’s not doing anything.”

“Give me your foot,” Sam says.

John frowns. “What is her foot gonna do?”

I’m wondering the same thing, but I give Sam my foot anyway. “It’s another acupressure point, but this one requires assistance.”

Suddenly, Sam presses her thumb into my foot, right under my ankle. “Ow! That hurts!”

“Good,” Sam says. I thought she was joking at first.

“Good???” I say, indignant.

“I know it’s weird, but it’s supposed to hurt. That’s how we know it’s working. Do your cramps still hurt?”

I check. “Not as much I guess.”

“Then it’s working. Now eat your lunch, and let me do this,” Sam tells me.

I wince slightly, cause she really is hurting my ankle, but at the same time, it’s very nice of her to help me so I can eat my lunch. It’s nice to have Sam as a friend.

That night, I come home and find Mum reading on the couch. “Mum, guess what? I got my period today!”

“You did! Congratulations!” Mum gets up and hugs me. “Did it happen at school?”

“No. I woke up with it. Sam helped me clean up, and she did the ankle trick with me at lunch to help my cramps.”

“Aw. What a good friend.”

“Aye, it worked for a while, but now I’m really crampy and tired.”

“Well, why don’t you lie down and put on The Golden Girls. I’ll get you a heating pad.”

“Thanks, Mum,” I say.

I put in the show and lay down on the couch. It’s the episode where they help the cops with the jewel thieves. I love the part where Sophia wonders why lying isn’t part of the Ten Commandments.

Bart comes in while I’m watching it. “I will never understand the George Clooney heartthrob thing,” he says, sitting down with me. George Clooney’s in the episode.

“I will never understand the Sean Cassidy heartthrob thing,” I say.

“We’re ‘90s kids I guess.”

I look at him. “Well, which heartthrob do you understand?” I ask him.

Bart thinks for a moment. “Well, among the guys I kind of get the *NSYNC thing.”

“Oh, no. The Hanson brothers, sure, but not *NSYNC,” I refute.

Bart nods. “Okay… Among the women, I… Never mind, you’ll make fun of me.”

“No I won’t!”

“Oh really? ‘Oh, Bart, Kelly Baker. Kelly Baker. Why haven’t you asked out Kelly Baker?’” Bart reminds me of my teasing him about Kelly Baker.

“That was only cause you talked about her all the time. Plus, I was nine. You can’t hold me to nine-year-old behavior.”

Bart sighs. “Fine. Britney Spears.”

I frown. “Well, I already knew that.”

Now Bart frowns. “How? I’ve never told you.”

“Well, you make it kind of obvious since you ALWAYS turn the radio up when she’s on, you have posters of her all over your bedroom, and your username on Mario Kart is Spear,” I say.

Bart gives me a mock look. “I thought I had cleverly disguised that.”

“You wish. Now shush. I can’t hear my show.”

Bart pats me on the knee. “I gotta go do my homework. Can I get you anything?”

“No. Mum’s making dinner.”

Bart nods. “Good deal.” Then he leaves.

I eat dinner and end up watching The Golden Girls until I fall asleep.