Sisters, Marie Brown [reading women txt] 📗

Rene and Mechel came into the world with little or no expectations and so they lived their lives content with their father, without any hopes of ever having a mother. They had plenty of love and acceptance from those around them Almost twins, eleven months apart, their dad dressed them alike, and they did everything together. Yet they were so different. As different as night and day. Rene and Mechell sort of took care of each other.

Mechel lived in a five bedroom house that she shared with her husband, Mark Bridge. It was her house, with her appliances, in her yard, with her flowers. When Mechell decided to cook, it was in her kitchen, with her utensils, and when she went to bed at night it was under her pink and yellow flowered bedspread, with her matching ruffled curtains.

She had married Mark because it seemed as if he had always been there for that purpose and it was just the right thing to do. All through school they did everything together. They even went to the prom together. She and Mark were more like the best of friends, never lovers. Her dad was dripping with approval, knowing that Mark was a hard working man and would take care of his little girl for him. When Mark decided to go into the military to supplement the income, Mechell was all for it.

“Of course I‘ll miss you..” Mechell said. The way the economy is we can use all the help we can get. I work like a dog and your income is just not enough. I was hoping you would have a better job by now….” Mark nodded his head and left the room.

Her sister, Rene lived just around the corner in a two-bedroom apartment with her fiancée, Jeff Newsome. He was a car dealer with great possibilities of an advancement in the near future. They would get married real soon. Mark was ready to do it now, today, Johnny on the spot, but Rene wanted everything to be just right. A big wedding and honeymoon. Her plans were to travel after they were married. The honeymoon would be in Jamaica where she had always wanted to visit. Mechell just thought that Rene was a great dreamer and planner and she always pacified her.

Life was basically normal for them up into the summer of 2001. Rene’s black hair was pulled back in a ponytail with a flamboyant flowered, hairclip where it lay swirled about her neck. Her dingy, worn, slippers, were misplaced on each side of the chair where she sat with her legs twisted around the legs of the chair. Rene looked at her fingernails and pouted as she placed the split manicured nail, on her index finger, back in it’s place. She continued to peck at the computer’s keyboard until the website came up. Houses for Sale.


“I’ll never find a house.” Rene sipped the mint tea from her cup. She stretched her arms over her head and then started searching through all the houses that popped up on the website. Fat Cat, moved
leisurely and lazily around her legs, one at a time, caressing them under the computer desk. Rene had rescued the cat from the sewer out back of her apartment. She was scrawny and emaciated, but Rene lovingly nursed her until she was more than healthy. She reached down now and tickled her yellow-orange fur. Fat Cat stretched and yawned before closing her eyes.


Mechell had been at Rene’s apartment most of the morning and now they were going out with some of their co-workers for brunch. She brushed her short frizzy hair with a soft bristled brush, on second thought, she picked up her baseball cap and slapped it on with the rim to the back. Mechell had chewed her nails down to the nubs, as if she were actually getting some kind of nutrients from eating them. Her cuticles were painfully sore. She never polished them because she figured she would only go to work and wash the heck out of her hands. She looked into the mirror and smeared lipstick impatiently across her lips and then turned to Rene. She would not insist that Rene turn that computer off and come on. Her sister would only move that much slower, and so Mechell faked interest. It wasn’t that she didn’t care, but Rene was just too picky for her.

“You find anything yet honey, you’ve been looking for months now, why don’t you just--- pick one.” Mechell said.

“You can’t just pick one.” Rene frowned. “It’s so many and they all cost so darn much.” she drawled.

“And look at this one. Who would even consider buy’n such a desolate looking house for so much money?”

“Looks like that one has a lot of yard space.” Mechell pointed out.

“Which one?”

“God, Rene, the one with the bay window and brick and flowers in the yard.”

“Mmh.” Rene contemplated what it would be like to live in a brick house with flowers. It could survive a hurricane, but of course they didn’t live in hurricane area. The biggest disaster they would have would be a chemical leak or an explosion from one of the nuclear plants.

“We gotta go, the girls are expecting us.” Mechell finally ordered Rene up from the computer. Rene’ slowly turned.


“Do we have to rush? I gotta go put on my shoes and fix my hair. Oh yeah, Jeff brought me some new earrings, I think I‘ll wear them today.”

“Come on----Rene.” Mechell pulled her to her reluctant feet and directed her toward the bedroom door.

While Rene was getting ready Mechell sat down at the computer. She typed in “baby apparel.” Mechell wanted more than two children. Preferably all boys. Mark came from a large family and was content with no children. Determined, with time, Mechell would change his mind.

Sometimes on weekends Howard cooked breakfast for his girls. They still loved his home made pancakes with faces made out of raisins, and fried apples so sugary syrupy that they burnt around the edges.

The girls knew where their dad kept pictures of their mother in his tool box out back in the shed. They sometimes went there pretending to look for anything other than pictures.

The wind had blown the black covering on top of the old shed. Weeds had grown close to the structure. It used to be a place for grandma’s canning goods. It now was now a tool shed and a place for storage. Everything was stored in there, an old mattress lay in one corner, a shelf to one side filled with some dusty old books and a rusty old lawnmower.

“Dad needs something on his wall.” Rene said.

“Yeah, maybe this.” Mechel picked up a picture of a house in the country with trees and a cow standing by a body of blue water. It made her think of a childhood with a mother and father complete, living in a house in the country surrounded by water.

Joan Olson had left her girls when they were two and three years old. They only remembered seeing her during birthday parties and some special occasions such as graduations and Mechell‘s wedding. Howard Olson never complain. Not once did he murmur a negative thing about their mother. He just got on with raising his daughters. Everybody thought that he would get married again but Howard could never find that right woman. Rene considered her mother a real bitch because what woman would take her grandma ma’s bo from her. Her grandma ma just happened to be her dads step -grandmother. Mechell went to the bottom of the pile and pulled out a photo of their mother. She studied the picture while Rene dusted the painting.

“I found a picture.” She held it up to the light.

“Your eyes are like hers.” Mechell said. Rene snatched the photo from Mechell.

“No…. they look more like your’s.” Rene said.

“My eye’s are shaped just like daddy’s and blue like his?” Mechell cried.

“Your hair is dark like hers.” Mechell said.

Rene hesitated, “You have teeth like hers. Long and kind’a canine look‘n.” And so Mechell threw the picture back into the box. “She’s really kind’a pretty.” She said.

“I guess.” Rene sniffled.

Mechell massaged the back of her own neck with her fingers.

“Lets remind daddy to make breakfast in the morning.” She said.

“Pancakes and the whole works.” Rene chimed in. “Hash browns and biscuits too. “ And so they spent the night again with their dad.

In the beginning Adam and Eve had children and were family. Must have been the most important priority of all things created. Rene and Mechell planned a dinner outing once a week with their guys.

Rene and Jeff liked Italian food. Mark was a steak and potato man. Mechell didn’t care as long as it was food and so this night they agreed on Japanese’s at Hibachis. Hibachis was fun. The food was cooked in plain sight with the chef entertaining the customers while they watched.

The young brown skinned boy wore an apron down to his knees and a large white chefs hat was placed to the side of his head. The group of four waited patiently while he tossed and sautéed the evenings dinner. He stopped for a moment with a shrimp on his fork and motioned to Mechell to open her mouth. Wide. It was suppose to go inside, but it plopped on the corner of her shoulder. Mechell giggled while Mark and Jeff chanted more, more. Rene’ gave the chef a “don’t you dare” look. And so the chef went back to doing what he was doing. Rene laid her head on Jeff‘s shoulder and gave a melancholy sigh.


“Mechell and I was look’n at houses again today.” She said.

“Oh yeah. You find anything yet?” Jeff stuffed a cabbage roll into his mouth. He didn’t care what house Rene picked out as long as she was happy.

“Naah…” She said.

“I saw one I liked.” Mechell piped in. “ You know Rene, the one with the big yard and the bay window. Remember?”

“But I liked the one way on top of the mountain.” the charms on Rene‘s bracelet dangled when she picked up her glass of wine and took a sip. The chef filled her plate and the others with the first coarse, they still had sushi, noodles and egg rolls to go.
“It was too far out.” Mechell mumbled dropping noodles into her mouth, onto her shirt and the