Transparent Color's

Dinner tonight consists of steak, slightly pink inside, light colored pink mashed potatoes, and cauliflower, always cauliflower, because they say it has “no color”. We get to eat green vegetables in January, and the other colored vegetables on its certain month. The only thing we get to drink is water and a pink juice. I chose the pink juice. Either way, I can’t complain, at least we have something to eat. At lease I’m not in the Gutter.

“Boy! Why are your eyes so red?” Uncle Ping shouts suddenly at the table, causing me to jump a little in my seat, “Go wash your face! I don’t want to see your eyes looking like that again at this dinner table, you hear?”

“Yes sir.” Toby quickly walks away with his head down.

Aunt Bristol is sitting to the right of me, just staring at me, waiting for me to say something, but I don’t. With my mouth, it would only make the situation worse, so I sit clinching my teeth. I’ve learned how to pick and choose my battles, and in this case the battle’s affects would land on Toby. Toby comes back to the table, with not just red eyes but his whole face red from rubbing it too hard.

“So did we learn about washing today?” I look over at Aunt Bristol cutting her steak.

“Why yes in fact we did, we also learned some new vocab like injudicious and imprudent. Two different words, but they actually can mean the same thing. It just depends on how you use it.”

Aunt Bristol turns her head towards me, just glaring at me until she’s finished chewing up the piece of steak in her mouth; she swallows it, and says, “I’m glad you are expanding your vocabulary.”, then turns her head back to her plate of food.

They seem more on edge tonight than normal. I watch them in silence look up at each other then look away, like they are talking to each other with their eyes. Somewhat nervous, somewhat unsure but about what?

After a few minutes of silence, Uncle Ping springs in, “Bristol, did you hear about that nut who tried to climb the fence today?” he begins to grunt.

“Faintly, why, what happened?” She always has a different tone to her voice when talking to him, like a half –wit trying to please her man. But this reply is a bit different, can’t really explain how but the tone is a little off. I feel her noticing me watching her, so she over exaggerates her smile like she’s about to hear an amazing story.

My Uncle grunts some more, and then clears his voice, “Well, word around the city is that he went clinically insane. Starting yelling at his co-workers, then ran down the street shouting for everyone to follow, that there are other humans outside the fence, and that we all need to rise up and leave this evil place.” He gives a short chuckle, “other humans, evil place…”

They both start laughing, he continues, “The poor sap got shot five times as he was climbing the fence.”

They both begin to laugh hysterically now. He wipes the tears coming out of his eyes for laughing so hard, and then turns his head straight and looks at me for the first time since I arrived thirteen going on fourteen years ago. He sits there looking at me, like trying to figure out what he is going to say. Then he clears his throat, and proceeds.

“See what defiance does, Sunshine, it gets you shot five times in the back.” his face now stone cold, “Just like your parents.”

The words that came out of his mouth send me into a full rage.