I’m waking up for the 17th time since 3:27 a.m. and my cellphone is lighting up with a barrage of texts. I grab my coffee, sit up in bed and look at my screen.
I notice that, despite the weather warnings, the sun is fully out though the threat of rain remains all week. I raise the blinds and put my feet on the floor.
Somewhere around here is a daughter who wants something.
Her blonde hair is easing toward her shoulders and hanging onto highlights from the sun. I see in her face what some random mom told me when I was in elementary school, that I didn’t “need” makeup.
“You naturally look like you’re wearing eyeshadow,” I tell my 14-year-old. She looks in the mirror and sees that I’m right.
This daughter still owes me chores for paid and consumed trips to the Renaissance faire and The Pie Bar, but my forward-looking child sees only Stone Mountain, the city in Georgia with the racist monument of the Confederacy. Yes, as in the losing side of the Civil War. I haven’t been to the park or seen the world’s largest tribute to slave owners, but, when the kid said “Stone Mountain,” that was my first thought.
Next month, over Fourth of July weekend, a collectibles shop is hosting an anime party with cosplay contests and “Squid Game” games. It does look pretty cool, and it’s free. So is parking.
“If we do go do this, I’d like to mention I might want to cosplay as this guy and will try to pay for it with the majority of it with the money I saved up,” she texted.
A relative sent her a card with a $10 bill in recognition of my daughter’s accomplishment of finishing middle school with straight A’s. This was after the RenFest at which I was promised payment later for the purchased and now consumed meat stick.
She says she wants a white wig with a black fedora to match her cosplay character. After estimating $20 to $30 for a white wig and black fedora, she suggests buying at a local store because what she found online costs more than $50.
I side-eye my firstborn child as my way of saying, “Maybe.”
I ask her to head to the basement and put my laundry in the dryer and start a load of towels. She rolls her eyes and walks away.