My Name Is Elizabeth
Part Two
It’s already the next morning, but for some reason I feel so lethargic... I’ve been just lying in bed for who knows how long trying to find the energy to wake up. I keep trying to play back the events of yesterday in my head. I know after dinner I was so full that I had to just sit there and zone out for a while, then when I finally came back upstairs I noticed it was already 11pm. Good thing I can check my phone for the time, because my mom and Jim apparently don’t believe in having clocks around the house… Even the kitchen stove’s time was horribly off. Even though it was only 9am it felt like I slept for 12 hours or longer. I probably could have after eating so much last night…
So, I’m stranded here… my car is apparently messed up worse that I thought it was and now Jim is going to fix it. The notion is troubling to say the least. From the state of things around here I really don’t trust him to be able to repair my car correctly. Maybe I should ask him nicely to just take it to town so I can pay a proper mechanic to look at it. If I don’t, who knows how long it could take him?
And with that I decide to finally get up out of bed. I’m still a sweaty mess, and I stink to high heavens on account of everything I went through yesterday. My room is the coldest place in the house, but it’s just barely comfortable enough and I still was sweating all throughout the night. It wasn’t a particularly good night sleep; I must have been half asleep the whole time. I remember tossing and turning and sweating up a storm. My sheets stuck to me so I eventually had to toss them off of me, I even had to take my shirt off. Usually I sleep in an oversized shirt and my panties, but last night I had to sleep nearly nude. Needless to say my bed had become a sweaty mess and I’m going to have to take a shower before I do anything.
The bathroom is actually surprisingly well finished; they must have renovated it recently. There’s a glass shower stall, and the whole place is tiled. The only problem is there’s no window to let in natural light, but I guess that’s no big deal. It’s not like they could add one in, it’s just a flaw in the architecture of the house… Still it actually might be just as cool in here as my room is. I waste no time peeling my sweat covered shirt off yet again, then I rolled my panties down and turned the shower on. The cold air is so refreshing on my nude skin I had to relax for a little bit. I just stared at the walls as the shower ran, the light of the bathroom flickered just like all the rest, it’s like everything in this house was half way broken for the sole purpose of annoying anyone who visited her. After zoning out for probably a little too long I get in the shower to find shampoo and a bar of soap. Such a letdown, didn’t my mom know that these things were so unsanitary? I swear it’s like she dumbed down since she married Jim. Oh well… better than nothing, I reasoned. Then I started to wash all the sweat and dirt off my body.
I did my regular routine, which also included a thorough inspection of my body for health reasons. My overall frame is rather thin; I don’t usually eat much so there’s not a lot of meat on my bones. In the past I was made fun of for it. I didn’t really hit a major growth spurt ever, my boobs are the same petite size there were in middle school, and I never really grew into a particularly womanly figure. I don’t mind though, at least I don’t have to deal with guys sexually harassing me nearly as much. My hair is long and dark brown, I don’t do much with it so it doesn’t have an incredible luster or anything, I don’t wear any makeup either. It’s not because I’m lazy though, I just don’t believe in contributing to the messed up social expectations of women. The more I think about that sort of thing the more bummed out I get. I used to think my mom felt the same way, but something must have changed in her once I moved out. She never would have put on makeup and perfume only to stay home.
I finish my shower and dry myself off brining my dirty clothes back to my room. I look for a hamper or something, but the whole room is barren. Guess I’ll just put them in the corner? I’m only gonna be here for a few days max hopefully.
I get dressed and go downstairs, I was planning on going straight to Jim and talking to him about my car, but I realized just how hungry I was when I walked by the kitchen. My mom was making some kind of breakfast. I never thought she was interested in cooking, but apparently she’s a regular home chef now. I decided to sit down and wait for her to finish making breakfast before I do anything else.
The weather report is playing on the news, It says it’s gonna be in the 100s all week. I feel hotter just watching it, but then I remember that apparently this is a prerecorded broadcast… Guess that explains why the picture is so fuzzy. It looks like another channel is bleeding through into this one.
Hold on… I remember changing the channel yesterday, didn’t I? What kind of set up is this? I start looking for the remote as the gears in my head start turning, but then my mom calls out from the kitchen table
“Liz... Come eat some breakfast sweetie!”
As if on cue, my stomach growls, I was hungry and the weird jury rigged cable substitute playing on the TV could wait to be explained.
I went over and sat down at the kitchen table. Biscuits and gravy, and a lot of it were plated in front of me. I considered telling my mom that I really couldn’t eat this much, but oh well, I was just too starving to bother.
As I was chowing down it struck me how similar this dish was to what we ate last night. I was also experiencing a similar thirst because of how salty it was. I looked around the table for something to drink and found... more milk.
“Uh, Mom, don’t you have anything else to drink around here? I don’t really like milk…”
My mom smiled and she poured a glass for me despite my protest. “Oh quit yer fussin’ sugar. You really ought to be drinking more of it; you know how good it is for you.”
I felt like a kid again, complaining about drinking milk. She was right, it was good for me, and the milk here didn’t actually taste that bad. There was just something about it that just stuck in my mouth for a while, like an aftertaste that I couldn’t really describe. So I drank some more milk. It made me feel so much more refreshed. It’s like I could feel it working to make my body healthier with each gulp I took. I stopped myself half way to think about why I was drinking it so fast. It stretched my throat each time I drank. I guess it was just because I was still dehydrated.
But it was like a balancing act with my taste buds, as soon as I finished the glass of milk I had this crazy urge to eat some more, maybe it was partly because I wanted to get rid of that aftertaste. I ended up eating until I was so full that my stomach hurt. What was getting into me? I felt dizzy and lethargic again. I tried to piece together how much of this fucking milk I’ve drank in only two days, but it just felt like a blur. It really did feel like something was wrong, no one drinks … three? glasses of milk with breakfast. I got up maybe 20 minutes later with an iron will to stop pigging out. I didn’t eve LIKE this stuff…
The second I stepped outside I felt the intense heat hit me. It was muggy too. I had forgotten how much cooler it was inside because it was still hot enough in there for me to sweat. I stood there in almost a daze for a little bit, trying to collect my thoughts again. That breakfast had maken me feel slow, like everything I did, even thinking had been brought to a crawl.
Oh yeah. I’m gonna tell Jim that I want him to bring my car to the mechanics in town. Where was he anyways? I walked back to the garage and looked around in there for a bit, then around the back of it. I started going towards the barn which was a little farther out, behind the house. It was locked, but I could hear something inside, like a machine? He must be in there then I thought, but then he suddenly snuck up behind me and spoke, I nearly jumped out of my skin.
“Whatcha doing over here Lizzybeth?” He seemed to call me something new every time he talked to me
“Uh, I was looking for you…” I mumbled. I was sweating again. It felt like I was sweating worse than yesterday but I was only out here for a short bit.
“Well ya found me, interested in the cows?” he gestured to the locked barn.
“Huh?” I looked back; the heat must have been getting to me. “Uh… yeah…”
“Oh, well I can’t let ya say high to ’em just yet, they don’t take kind to strangers to well. But how’s about I get you a nice glass of milk? Fresh from the source? Ain’t nothin’ better in the whole world.” He already started walking to the barn before I could answer his question. He disappeared around the side, and after a few minutes he comes back with a glass filled to the brim
He hands me the glass and instinctively I bring it to my lips, I was so parched from standing out here that I needed a drink, even if it was more milk. This stuff was… different. It was WAY creamier than the other stuff I had been drinking. It stuck to the back of my throat and the creamy coating on my mouth wouldn’t go away no matter how hard I swallowed. Jim said something and started walking towards the back porch, I followed him and we sat down in the shade on a bench swing. The heat must have been getting to me worse that I thought… I was zoning out, my body felt so tingly and I was drenched in sweat again.
“My my, yer looking pretty tuckered out, maybe you should head in side and get some rest.” I nodded and then went inside through the kitchen door. I never let go of the glass, but somehow it had gotten full again by the time I headed up to my room. Oh well, I thought, and drank some more the creamy goodness was really starting to grow on me.
Maybe I could be a milk girl after all, I thought as I collapsed onto the bed, taking a short nap to cool off my dirty glass placed next to my bed.