#14 China Cat (She was Terrified)

It took her over a year to get pregnant, and in that time, she learned to cook. China found a cookbook in the box but kept it under the deck. She cooked quiches, roasts, casseroles, and desserts. He never gave her trouble about getting the ingredients but he wouldn’t buy anything for the coming baby. She could tell he was happy, because he started to talk to her again, and he was getting fat too. She didn’t dare bring it up, even though he commented on her weight all the time. She tried to stay slim by eating only fruit at breakfast, and skipping lunch, but her belly kept growing, and her teeth rotting. There’s no way he would take her to the dentist, and he wouldn’t buy her a toothbrush. She didn’t know any better anyway. She thought it was natural for her teeth to fall out. They would grow back. He kept coming inside her every night, but he only lifted her nightgown to her hips. He didn’t want anything to do with her swollen breasts, and he kept her bare, although sometimes he shaved it. She looked like a kid down there.

An amusement park isn’t very amusing. Not to China anyway. Leading up to it, she was so excited to get out, finally. They were going with another couple who had two teenaged girls. It was going to be so much fun. The couple talked Dan into bringing his young wife to ‘handle’ them. The teenaged girls, Dora and Lora, didn’t like each other, and fought all the time. Dan liked to be in authority. The couple were the only ones that knew he was married, and were his only friends. They put up with a lot, including never being invited over. They all rode the Merry-Go-Round, and Flying Octopus, but then split up while China and the girls waited in line for the Roller Coaster. All through the line, the sisters argued, while China just stared straight ahead, and tried not to concentrate on the people screaming. They were laughing when they got off, and only some, a few, had to be helped off, because they were going to wretch, but they all got off. China was terrified.

Miraculously, the closer they got, the better the girls got along. They got together, ganged up on China called her a chicken, and got in a cart together. They were excited to get in the first cart, but China hesitated too much, so didn’t get on that round. She watched them climb, then go down. They screamed with the others, but they had smiles plastered on their faces the whole way. They were running two trains, so she took the next one but the last cart. Nobody would ride with her, so she had to ride by herself, and she lost track of the girls. She would catch up with them when they got off.

The train chugged and clacked as they climbed the hill, and went by the lake. She didn’t know they were so close to the lake. It wheezed as it climbed, but the water sparkled, and the wind was in her hair, tousling it at this height. There was a beauty in this fear. The higher it got, the more she was pushed to sit back, then crested. It stood still, stopped clanking, kept her pushed back while the front was at the top looking down, and paused, she supposed to enjoy the sights, but really all it did was increase the tension. She could see the park, the tiny people, barely hear the music, and feel the wind gently play on her cheek. Then, the front cart pulled the rest of the train down, then China didn’t see a thing. They were going down too fast; too fast for the liquids in her body. Part of her sped down, while part of her hurtled behind her. She tried to focus on the people in front. They were laughing, and screaming with their hands up, so she put her hands up. Big mistake. The ride guy didn’t click and lock the bar over her lap, and she was skinny, so when they careened around the corner, she flew out. She didn’t even have time to seize hold of the stationary bar before she was airborne. The air whipped past her ears at a velocity she knew she wouldn’t survive. She had no control over her own body. Although it was fast, it was in slow motion to her. China cleared the wooden poles, and