Today, I will be sharing a sample from my story, 'Passing Loop', which I hope to have finished very soon (...along with two other works-in-progress that are sequels...oy...).
This is what I call my Jodi Picoult. It will still be geared to the New Adult audience so that everyone can enjoy it but it will be longer, deeper and more emotionally involved that my other works have been. I'm excited about it.
The story centers around three generations of women who are more alike than they realize, brought together through tragedy. There are mini plots along the way (including a story of my fiance's family that I HAD to include because it is both sad and beautiful at the same time) so there should be something for everyone. Yes, the entire story is finished in my head...I just have to get it onto the computer. HA!
So this is the first Chapter of 'Passing Loop'. I hope you enjoy it as much as I am enjoying writing it. Constructive criticism is always welcome! I hope you all have a happy Saturday!
Toronto, June 2011
“You can make me go but you can’t
make me like it,” Chrissella Cantelli said.
“Oh come on, Chrissy,” her mother, Enya, said. “It’s not that
bad.”
“How can you say that? You’re kidnapping me to some stupid butt hole
small town in the middle of nowhere. All of my friends are here. I only
have one year left at school before I go to university, and I just started a
job at the coffee house. Why are you doing this to me?”
Her mom shoved bubble wrap on top of an open box, and folded the
flaps down. “Stop being so dramatic. First of all, Melville is not that small.
There are over 4500 people living there. And I’m not kidnapping you. You are
only seventeen. You’re going because I’m your mother and I say so. You’ll
survive, I promise.” She ripped off a line of packing tape, pressed it down on
top of the closed box, then added, “Besides, I think you could stand to make
some new friends.”
“And what’s wrong with my friends?”
“You want the whole list, or just the top ten?”
Chrissella folded her arms across her chest and glared. “That’s
really nice. I get into trouble once…”
Enya stopped mid-taping, and raised an eyebrow. “Once?”
“Fine…a few times…”
“Crissy, you cut school, I’ve caught you smoking, I came home from
work one night to a bunch of under-aged teenagers drinking in my home, and that
one girl…Karen, is it?…making out with some boy in my bed.
“Mom, they aren’t that bad. Seriously. Don’t you remember being a
teenager? And that thing with Karen was crappy. I didn’t invite her. We aren’t
even friends. Plus, I didn’t even know that was going on or I would have
stopped it.”
Her mom finished taping up the box, then shoved it to the side with
the others piled up almost ceiling high. “Maybe if you hadn’t been hanging over
the toilet, that is, right? In fact, I think you are still serving a grounding
sentence for that little party, if I’m not mistaken.”
Heat rose up Chrissella’s neck, settling into her cheeks. “Well, if I’m
not mistaken, you did a lot of those things and more. And you were a lot
younger than me.”
Enya froze mid-stride on her way to the kitchen and turned, her face
frozen in a glare. “Now look. I ‘get’ that you’re ticked off that I am moving
you out of the big city to my hometown. I ‘get’ you’re resentful that I’m
taking you out of school so close to graduation to finish somewhere else. I can
even ‘get’ that you might not feel great about having to meet new friends. But
you do not get to talk to me like that or treat me like crap under your shoe.
Yeah, I did make some bad choices when I was younger. But I learned from them,
and so will you.” She continued walking, then said over her shoulder, “Now go
make sure you have everything packed up in your room and that you have what you
need for the trip. The truck should be here soon.”
Angry tears flooded Chrissella’s eyes as she stomped off to her
room. I’m not going to make this easy on anyone, she thought. No one
asked me how I felt about moving two provinces away to help care for a
grandmother who never gave a hooter’s damn about me.
She flopped face down on her bare mattress lying in the middle of
her room. The walls were all bare, the closet empty and all of her possessions
packed away in various sized boxes. She flipped over onto her back, staring up
at the ceiling fan.
What happened? Two weeks earlier things had been awesome. She had
gotten a new job, had planned on saving up for her own car and had actually
been doing better in school. Then Lily Gran’s doctor called her mom telling her
that the old woman had fallen and broken her hip. Her mom had decided that once
Chrissella had finished the school year, they’d pack up and move to Melville to
help her grandmother. Moving to a small town after living in the big city her
entire life was going to be hard enough. The added ‘bonus’ of being forced to
live with Lily Gran was enough to make her want to jump from the top of her
apartment building.
“Still mad at me?”
Without taking her eyes off the ceiling fan, Chrisella responded to
her mom. “Of course. But you feed me and don’t make me pay rent yet so I’ll
force myself to be nice to you.”
Her mother’s gentle hoarse-like laugh echoed around the empty room.
“Move over. I’ll join you.”
Chrissella scooted over, allowing her mother to lie down. They didn’t
speak for several seconds. A breeze blew the smell of car exhaust, mixed with
food and coffee smells from the street below, through the open window. A car
honked, then a loud squeal indicated a sudden stop. A woman cursed, and a man
responded with several insults of his own. Food truck vendors yelled to
passers-by about their wares.
“And you’re making me give up all of this toxic wonderfulness,”
Chrissella finally said.
“Personally, I’m looking forward to a bit quieter of an environment.
The city stinks, literally. And it’s loud. And you can be guaranteed there will
be no smog warnings in Melville.”
“Oh great. Fresh air too? My lungs are going to go into shock. If
you tell me we’ll be living on a farm and I’m going to have to wear overalls
and a straw hat singing, “Ee-I-Ee-O”, I may as well end it all now.”
They looked at each other, then burst into giggles.
“No, Lily Gran doesn’t live on a farm. She did in Scotland but hated
it. Don’t tell her I told you that. She lives in a big house on a small acreage
just outside of Regina.”
“The woman hates me.”
Her mom pushed herself up and leaned on her elbow. “She does not.
Why would you think that?”
“Mom, she has seen me once in my entire life and she never even
talked to me. I may have only been five, but I remember it clearly. She
wouldn’t even look at me. She’s never called me or sent me a birthday card.
Hell, she rarely calls you. How am I supposed to feel good about sharing
a living space with a woman who obviously harbors some serious resentment
towards me?”
“She’s more angry with me than with you. And she’s more bark than
bite.”
“Her bark is pretty damn scary from what I remember.”
“Nah. That’s her natural tone and attitude. She’s Scottish.”
Chrissella moved her gaze from the ceiling fan to her mom. Actually,
her mom looked a lot like Lily Gran with her dark red hair, fair skin and green
eyes. The major difference is that her mother had a beautiful, kind face and
was rarely without a smile, whereas her grandmother had a constant scowl.
Maybe if Lily Gran loosened up that bun she always wears, her face
would relax, Chrissella thought, repressing a
laugh.
“Give her a chance, Chrissy,” her
mother said, pushing herself up to her knees. “You might find the two of you
have more in common than you think.”
Doubt it.
Enya got up, stretched, then repressed a yawn.
“Tired again? You’ve been like that a lot lately.”
“Ah, don’t worry about me. It’s probably just the stress of the
move. I’ll be okay. Promise.”
“Yeah. I totally ‘get’ the stress part.”
Suddenly, a loud honk, similar to the sound of a semi horn, blared
from the street caused them both to jump.
“That must be the moving guys.” Her mother moved to the window and
looked down. “Yup. They’re here. Let’s get the last of the stuff ready.”
Chrissella groaned, got up then
leaned the mattress against the wall of boxes. She walked up beside her mom,
resting her chin on her shoulder. Her mom leaned her head down on Chrissella’s.
“We good?” her mom asked.
“Guess so. For now.”
“Anyone you need to say goodbye to before we start loading up?”
“Nah. I’ll just text everyone later. That’s if I can have my cell
back.”
Enya kissed Chrissella’s temple, then said, “We’ll see after we get
everything all loaded up.”
“Fine.”
The door buzzer went off in the living room and Enya ran to let the
movers in.
Thank God we have an elevator,
Chrissella thought. Otherwise I’d start chucking crap out the window.
She took one last look around her
room, and her eyes stopped at an old, ragged teddy bear she’d had since she was
little. His dark brown fur was worn and balling. And although it was faded, he
still wore a beret and traditional kilt of her family’s clan. She had no idea
where she got the bear, or who named it Quincy, but he’d always been there.
Her mother’s voice calling her
from the living room brought her out of her thoughts. “Chrissy? The movers are
up. Let’s get going.”
“Coming!” She grabbed her backpack, stuffed Quincy inside then
walked toward her door.
I’m keeping one thing from my life here with me,
she thought. And I won’t make this easy for
anyone. Get ready, Melville. And especially you, Lily Gran.
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