For three years, three months, and three days, she was the queen bee, the fairy princess, the most beloved and adored in the King Clan. “Me, me, me, me! It was all about me,” Kristie thought… “And then along came my sister.”
Joy, the cute, little, petite, blue-eyed, brunette was charming, intelligent, adorable, and the apple of Daddy’s eye. She was perfect. She could do no wrong and Kristie began her career as the bad one.
Kristie was always in trouble. She was what her grandmother called “stout,” so at the age of six she was put on a diet. She sat silently at the table drinking skim milk and eating the measured amount of food she was given. This was difficult because she had a really healthy appetite. She remained large.
The rest of the family went out for pancakes at I-Hop, but Kristie had the diet plate ordered for her: cottage cheese and a hamburger patty. Oh, how she longed to pour some of that berry syrup over the top of her hamburger!
She got in trouble for picking her nose and biting her fingernails. She was punished for getting a series of ingrown toenails. This cost money that maybe their parents didn’t have to pay for doctor’s bills.
Joy got new clothes, but Kristie wore her aunt’s hand me downs which were almost decade old. The argument was that Kristie would lose weight soon, so why bother with new things? Kristie’s friends teased her and told her that she looked like she came from the Goodwill. She learned to sew and tried making a few things, but she never really had the knack for hand crafts.
Joy was angry at Kristie because she rebelled. She asked, “Why can’t you be good?” Kristie laughed and then beat her at cards, whipped her ass at tether ball, and sucker punched her a few times.
Kristie snuck out of the house to smoke, drink beer, and make out with boys. Joy told on her smugly. The punishment consisted of being confined to her room which she shared with her sister. Oh Joy! That little bitch told on Kristie for every little thing and threatened to tell their parents more if she didn’t clean up the whole room and do all the chores too.
“What a snitch! I can’t get away with anything,” Kristie lamented with a sigh of temporary resignation. There would always be a next time for her midnight adventures… “But next time, I won’t get caught.”
(First published 12/29/11)
