LITR 3731: Creative Writing
Student Fiction Submission 2003

LaQuita Rhone

The Last Visit
(revised submission)

           I sat alone on the couch.  It had stopped raining outside and I could see the sun peeking through the scattered puffs of clouds.  There was a rainbow and I smiled.  The limousine would arrive in a few minutes and I needed to freshen up my makeup.  As I brushed on the bronze colored foundation, I gazed into the familiar eyes staring blankly back at me.
           “Comeon girl, you can do this.  Your sister is counting on you.”
           My sister is in her senior year of high school. Even at seventeen, she has a cherubic face with a star shaped dimple just below her left eye.  She is active in her high school choir and church as well.
           She also loves to eat.  She weighs over 300pounds and I have never actually seen her eat more than one helping of a full course meal.  Where does all the extra weight come from and when does she gain it? I can’t quite remember when it began that way.  But I do know that she has been obese all her life.
           We used to argue all the time.  My mother would get so exasperated with us.  She threatened to sequester us in a locked room when our squabbles got on her nerves.
           I often wonder about my sister’s self image. I wonder if she is happy or if she even dates or has a boyfriend.  I don’t even know her favorite color or her favorite song.
           I’m certain all of that will change now.
           
The doorbell rang and I caught my breath.  I turned to leave the bathroom but my legs failed to respond.  I grabbed on to the door facing to keep from falling.  The doorbell rang again and I could hear my cousin sing out, “Just a minute!”  In a moment, she met me in the hallway.  “The limousine is here Cassy; it’s time for us to leave.”
My legs couldn’t bear the burden of my body.  It was my uncle who had to help me navigate my way down the front steps.  The limo ride was a quiet one.  Everyone sat muted and imprisoned in a world of private reflection.  My sister sat next to me.
We arrived at the church.  There was a crowd gathered out front with anxious expressions that threatened to worry the services.  As I stepped inside, the soft fragrance of the flowers filled my senses.  I walked down the center aisle and stopped in front of the altar.
She was beautiful as she lay in elegant repose.  She died quite unexpectedly.  My sister squeezed my hand and we sat down to bid our mother farewell.
It would be a new beginning for us both.  The most important link in our lives was now gone and we had to turn to each other for strength.
The funeral service began with a solemn dirge.  As family and friends filed quietly into the small cozy little church, I thought back to that hot summer three years before when my sister visited me at college.  I had decided to stay at school for summer classes.  My mother thought it would be a great idea for Kellie to visit me and tour the college campus.  I figured it to be more of a plot to get my sister and me to spend time together.  

When I got to the airport, I headed straight for the baggage claim area.  I was not about to go searching all over“ airport Egypt” for Kellie.
“Hey Cassy!”  Kellie shouted from across the conveyor belt.
“I thought you would never get here,” she said.  “Myflight arrived thirty minutes ago and I expected to see you as soon as I got off the plane.”
Kellie huffed and puffed as she struggled toward me with her luggage.  She was a chubby girl with fat cheeks and an infectious smile.  She wore oversized clothing that flapped around her as she hurried toward me. It was hard to tell where her body began and her clothing ended.  A big fat ponytail swung like a pendulum first to the left of her head then to the right.
“I’m sorry,” I said, trying to sound as sincere as I could. “I had planned to get here at least an hour before your flight but Icouldn’t find a parking space.”
I helped Kellie with her luggage and we ambled out of the airport to the car.  It was an extremely hot and humid day.  The sun beamed brightly in a clear blue cloudless sky.  There was no breeze, just suffocating heat.
“I’m hot!” Kellie blurted as rivulets of sweat ran down her forehead.  “What are we going to eat?” she asked.
“I hope you’re not planning to cook me anything,” she said sarcastically.  “All I had on the flight was a package of peanuts and a diet coke.”
“What would you like to eat?” I asked.
“How about seafood?” she chimed.
“Sounds good to me,” I said.
We drove in silence until I pulled into the parking lot of the Seafood Kitchen.
           “Whenare you going to teach me to drive, Cassy?”
           “Never!” I retorted.
           “See,that’s why I hate asking  you things because you always act so uppity!  Can’t you ever just act like a regular human big sister?”
           “I’llteach you when you can show me that you are a responsible young lady.”  I said.
           “Doyou always have to act like you are my mother?”  She asked.
I look into her dark brown eyes and at her cute little chubby face and try to give her my best “I’m O.K. and you’re O.K. smile.”  It was going to be a long visit.