Munmun(40)

“That is really lovely, and you guys are valuing the right things in life forsure,” agreed Prayer.

“Warner, Prayer, Dad, the exchange was shallwesay refreshing, because as I was defeating them with arguments, they sprayed me with refreshing juice,” explained Tony.

“Okay,” said Hue. “Warner, how was your first day at your new scale? How was Scale Up and everything?”

“Great, amazing, forsure,” I said.

I felt timid and small, so I made a silence and Tony jumped in.

“It’s like, nicework, geniuses!” said Tony. “Now you have less juice.”

“Not your best story, Tony,” said Hueagain through a mouth of porkthighs.

“Warner, Prayer, you should know that Hue was born middlepoor, infact below halfscale until he was a teenager,” Dawn told me. “So he knows what it’s like to scale up majorly in life.”

“Oh wow,” Prayer said.

“Dang, noway,” I said.

“Yes, it’s true,” said Hue. “My dad was a plumber and my mom sewed business shirts. So I know from personal experience that here in the Yewess, our scale doesn’t limit our potenchill. That’s the Yewess I know.”

Daisy made a grumpy throatnoise, immediately got a deathstare from her mom.

“But another thing I know,” continued Hue, “is we need to work harder at creating opportunities for poors, forsure. And too many riches and middles don’t think poors can take advantage of opportunities. So Warner, Prayer, you’re here because you deserve a second chance, sure, but also because I think you two can help me prove them wrong.”

“Dad, okay,” said Daisy.

“Daisy, we have guests,” said Dawn.

“No kidding, Mom, we literally always have guests,” snapped Daisy, as Kitty made sad smiling eyes at me of, please forgive my sister, the jerk.

“I really don’t understand why you insist on behaving this way,” said Dawn.

“What I don’t understand is why Dad has to give a stumpspeech at dinner for an audience of his own freaking family, plus two nervous speechless kids Kitty met hanging around the jail and dragged here because she needs everyone to like her because she’s basically Girl Dad,” said Daisy.

“Whaaaaaat, over the line,” chuckled Hueagain painfully, meanwhile Hue murmured, “Okay, Daisy,” in a different voice from before, softer sadder family voice, also with the sympathetic face of, my poor tragic daughter, maybe one morning she will wake up and no longer be a sociopath.

“Prayer wasn’t in jail, just me, Prayer was busy being married to a crusty freaking jerk,” I corrected nervously.

“You should think about hanging around a jail, Daisy,” suggested Kitty. “Then maybe someone would finally like you.”

“Ohmygod, are you even listening to yourself,” cried Daisy.

“Daisy, it’s never okay to attack poor Kitty,” defended Tony, “anyway if anyone’s similar to Dad I would say it’s either me or Hueagain, except he’s in med school and I’m more into politics, so, process of illumination, me.”

“Everyone, silence,” yelled Dawn. “Daisy, I need you to apologize to Warner and Prayer immediately.”

Daisy locked eyes with me, then Prayer, then me again, not even angry.

“Warner, Prayer, I’m sorry,” she said, getting up. “I’m sorry my jerky family wants you to be campainprops.”

“That is not how anyone sees you, obviously,” explained Kitty after Daisy left.

“As a little girl she was completely different,” Dawn wanted us to know.

Tony’s dumb words were the ones echoing in my head though, never okay to attack poor Kitty, what does that mean, didn’t ask though.





DREAMWORLD


In the special cozy halfscale bedroom Prayer and I finally got to catch up, huddling and whispering. My voice still felt like a monster’s boom to me but Prayer assured me it was still quiet and small.

“You’re just not used to being halfscale yet, trustme, they can’t hear us outside the room,” she soothed.

Her day with Hue actually was prettygood. She said Hue seemed to like her, made a point of telling her how polite she was and wellbehaved and even charming, made it clear to her though that he really hoped she applied herself in the days and weeks and months to come.

“Kitty doesn’t really want me here so I need her dad on my side,” strategized Prayer.

“Whaaaat, that’s crazy, ofcourse Kitty wants you here,” I lied.

“Bro, comeon,” said Prayer.

“Why do you think she doesn’t want you,” I asked. Prayer made a big shrug and eyeroll, whoknows, actually I do probably know, judging from this enormous shrug and eyeroll, but I’m not going to tell you, why don’t you just change the subject.

So I asked her if she was sad about her dead marriage, nononono, she whipped her head toandfro, if I never see Paddy again it’s toosoon.

He wasn’t cruel or evil, just thoughtless, to him she was a workdog or horse that cost too much, and the more work she did for him, the more he shrank into his bed and screens, the more he disappeared down holes and so did their munmuns.

“I do understand a little bit though, scaling down feels awfull, today I scaled down from threefifth to halfscale and even just that makes you feel so sick and sad, weak and helpless, your lungs don’t bring in enough air and your tummy doesn’t hold enough food,” she sorrowed.