The Favored One's Party

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NEW PROMPT:
In keeping with the birthday theme....write a short story or poem about having to plan a birthday party for someone you just can't stand.
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“Anne, get over here this minute and help. I’m sick of your being so rude to Jean.” Birdie watched her youngest daughter heave a big sigh before ever-so-slowly joining her at the kitchen table.

Anne, jealous of the blatant favoritism Birdie showed her stepdaughter, felt put upon with having to help plan Jean’s birthday party. So what if she’s going to be 13 tomorrow? What’s so great about becoming a teenager? Anne thought, feeling insignificant from the viewpoint of her mere nine years. Nevertheless, she tried to show enthusiasm for the sake of peace in the family.

“What do you want me to do?” she asked, pasting a smile on her face. Might as well get it over with since Mom will hound me until I help. No sign of her rebellious thoughts came across to Birdie, and the two of them set out to finish planning the party.

Around 5:30 p.m., they were almost finished with just the decision of what decorations to use. Both looked up when Lawson, Anne’s stepfather, opened the back door and came into the kitchen. He sniffed the air before saying in a loud, booming voice, “No supper ready? You girls too busy to feed me?” He laughed after saying that, as if to take away the implied complaint in his questions. When he came over to where Anne was sitting, he put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed it gently. “And how’s my special girl today?”

Birdie was still looking at the items on the table and didn’t notice Anne’s body stiffening in reaction to his touch. Lawson did, though, and smiled benignly down at Anne. He moved his hand from Anne’s tense shoulder to the nape of her neck. His fingers slowly caressed the soft skin, his attention now on Birdie until she looked up at him. Only then did he remove his hand from Anne’s neck to give Birdie his undivided attention.

Anne jumped up from her chair and whispered, “Excuse me, Mom. I’ve got homework to do.” Before she ran from the kitchen, she watched her stepfather pull Birdie into a rough embrace, what the young girl knew was his version of foreplay.

That evening, while trying to get to sleep, Anne remembered the first time he came to meet the family, only a month before he and Birdie got married.

* * *

On that day a few years ago, Anne overheard him in the living room talking to her mother and hesitated before joining them.

“Birdie, what kind of a name is that?” Lawson was sitting beside on the sofa and moved closer to Birdie while asking this. To Anne’s amazement, she heard her mother giggle.

“I’ve had that nickname since I was a baby. My Daddy said I looked like a little bird when I opened my mouth for Mom’s breast.” Birdie saw Lawson looking look down at her own breasts when she said this. Without conscious thought, she arched her back.

“So, what’s your real name?” Lawson brought his attention back to Birdie’s face, not at all abashed at being caught having wandering eyes.

“I was named after my father’s aunt. Cora sounds so old fashioned, don’t you think? Before he could answer, Birdie frowned at being interrupted by Anne coming into the room to join them. “Oh, Lawson, here’s my youngest. Anne, say hello to Lawson Granger.”

* * *

The night before Jean’s party, Anne tried to blank the images of her stepfather from her mind as she slowly drifted off to sleep. She never heard the bedroom door open, before the shadowed figure standing in the doorway reluctantly closed it again.

The next morning, Birdie and Anne finalized the plans for Jean’s birthday party. The first year of marriage for Birdie and Lawson had been trying for everyone. Jean, in particular, was hostile to her new stepmother. To make matters worse, Birdie constantly found she was overruled by her new husband so that Jean ran wild, undisciplined in any way. She wasn’t made to obey rules, unlike Mae and Anne who were punished by their parents for the most minor infraction. Eventually, Birdie just let Jean do whatever she wanted, since the fighting with her stepdaughter wore her down.

Although Mae soon became friends with her new stepsister, Anne totally disliked Jean. Being forced to plan the birthday party for the “favored one” pushed Anne even further away from her mother, the wall she built in her mind steadily growing higher around her bruised emotions.

That afternoon, the front doorbell kept ringing as Jean’s classmates descended on the party one after another. Anne watched as Mae joined the noisy crowd of teenagers, not at all uncomfortable with her stepsister’s friends.

“Anne,” called out Birdie from where she was standing on the far side of the room. “Don’t be rude. Go wish your sister a happy birthday.” Anne pretended not to have heard her.

Lawson, who had stayed home from work to enjoy his daughter’s party, left Birdie’s side to walk over and hand a big box to his daughter. “Jean, I know you wanted this, but Birdie told me you were too young.” He grinned at seeing the excitement on his daughter’s face. “I am the boss of this family, though, and I want my girls to enjoy all that I can give them.” After saying this, he glanced over at Anne and winked.

Birdie said nothing as Lawson, once again, undermined whatever chance she had of keeping Jean in line. Instead, she crossed the room to where Anne was still watching the boisterous party. In a low, angry voice, Birdie said, “Anne, I told you to wish your sister a happy birthday. Show Lawson you appreciate all he’s done for you by being nice to Jean. It wouldn’t hurt you to be polite, you know.”

Anne silently looked at her mother before leaving the room, crying inside because of trust lost and words unable to be spoken.

The fifth part of this story continues in the following entry:

ID: 1470476   (Rated: 18+) The Big Bicentennial Birthday Bash  This is set a few months after "The Favored One's Party." by J. A. Buxton

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Microsoft Word count = 995

"The Writer's Cramp"  daily entry for 09/04/08
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