JACK Read Free Page B

picked it out.
    “Something light green or maybe peach colored. We could get some of those white sheer curtains to let the light in.” Emma walked around touching my things with a dreamy expression on her face.
    I wanted to poke her eyes out. “Didn’t you hear me? I don’t want a new room!”
    “We could get your hair done while we’re out. You’d be amazed how wonderful and beautiful you can feel after a trip to the salon. You could even get a manicure.” She laughed and I thought of hyenas. “We could make it an all day thing. Just you and me. My treat.”
    “I don’t want to.”
    “Saturday will be perfect!” Her hands came together with a clap.
    “I’m busy.”
    “We’ll go early. Get to the mall first thing. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if they’re having a sale and we could find you a few new dresses?”
    New dresses? She never listened and when she did listen she never heard me. I jumped off the bed, ran out of my room to the hall bathroom, and locked the door behind me.
    Mall. Beauty shop. Nails. Hair.
    I didn’t want a stupid day out with her. I didn’t want any of those things! All I wanted was my momma back and my life to be happy again.
    Emma jiggled the doorknob and said my name.
    “Go away.”
    “Come out here right now, young lady.”
    Lady. I’d show that bitch. I’d show all of them. I’d make her never want to take me to the mall. Never want me to wear a dress. Never call me a girl.
    I jerked open the drawer under the sink and grabbed the hair cutting scissors Momma kept inside.
    “Jacqueline, what are you doing in there?”
    “None of your business!”
    Emma called for Jonathan. Her voice faded away and her footsteps made soft thumps against the hardwood.
    The scissors felt heavy in my hand. I opened the handles and the gleaming blades whispered. I gathered up a wad of brown curls on my head and chopped it off, getting as close to my scalp as possible. I kept going until the only thing left was a butchered mess of bangs. Skinned in some places, longer in others, I looked like I had a bad case of the mange. Momma had really liked my hair and that was the only reason I’d ever let it grow long.
    Emma knocked on the door again. “Jacqueline?”
    “I told you to go away.”
    The door knob rattled again. “Open this door right now, do you hear me? Right now!”
    “No.”
    This time it Phillip knocked. “Jacqueline, you’re upsetting your sister. Open this door right now and come out here so she won’t worry.”
    “Fuck you!”
    “Don’t you dare talk to your sister or me that way!”
    “Leave me alone, both of you. Just go away!”
    Jonathan’s tone turned cold. “This is your last chance, young lady. If I have to break down this door, so help me I don’t care how old you are, I will take a belt to your hide!”
    I yanked open the door.
    Jonathan’s froze, fist raised in mid knock. He and my sister wore confused expressions like they couldn’t quite figure out who I was.
    Emma’s gaze went from my head to the sink, then my head again. I could tell she didn’t want to believe what I’d done. A high pitched sound preceded Emma’s words. “What did you do? Oh my God! Jacqueline! What did you do?”
    I pushed past both of them. “I told you no dress. Now leave me alone.”
    “Jonathan, do something!”
    As if he could. Phillip stared at me, dumbfounded and then disgusted.
    Emma wailed. “We should call a doctor, right now, a doctor, right this minute.”
    Phillip waved a hand at me. “For what? She’s cut her hair. A doctor can’t fix a haircut.”
    “She isn’t right! Can’t you see that? We need to call a doctor!”
    I curled my hands into fists. “I’m not seeing a doctor.”
    Emma grabbed my arm and her nails bit into my skin. “You’re sick. It isn’t your fault. We’ll send you somewhere there are doctors who can help you. Somewhere they will take care of you.”
    I knew what kind of doctor she was referring to. Emma wanted to send me to someone