Don't Remind Me

Chapter 14: The Mirror

Flashback: Layla (Aged 8)

"Laylee, we need someone on the drums!" Zaif sticks his head inside the kitchen, where I am hanging upside down from the top-most dish-rack. Ruby has already given up on trying to get me to respect gravity. Zaif mutters something about monkeys, before dragging a chair to help me down. I squealed as the blood rushed back to the rest of my body. 

"You always put me on drums." I frown up at my brother. At 12 years old, he was obsessed with starting his own band, so when his friends weren't there to play the instruments, he'd ask me to fill in. Asking Maria was kind of silly, because she often ended up frustrated when she couldn't tell if her music was good or bad. 

"It's because you play drums the best." A laughing voice from the doorway made me perk up. 

"MUSA!" I screeched before launching myself into his arms. He laughed as he twirled me around before setting me down. I gazed adoringly up at his beautiful face.

A family friend, Musa was a year older than Zaif, but the two were really close. When Zaif started his informal band, "The Crazies." (cookies on the lame name), Musa was recruited as lead guitarist. Other members included some of Zaif's school buddies, and our neighbors. The band membership kept changing, as the boys often "had disagreements about the band's sound"...whatever that meant. 

"I suck at drums!" I declared as we entered our rec-room. Mic stands, drum-sets and a few electric guitars were already plugged in. I had absolutely no interest in this, but I wanted to be around Musa for a while. He told the best stories, and he was my champion. Even if he had to go against Zaif,to take my side, he would. He had to be the better-looking older brother I wanted; with his silky brown hair falling in his eyes, and laughing grey eyes...he was perfect.

I sulkily banged away at the drum-set as my brother attempted to butcher a Nirvana song. I cheered up a bit when Musa turned to give me a thumbs up for my noise. 

Maria walked in, just as we finished the track. She signed at Zaif, 'Mama saw your report card...'

He bit his lips worriedly. I just moodily kept banging away at the drums.

"Stop banging Layla!" Zaif muttered to me before signing back, 'Does she look mildly upset? or "Zaif is roadkill"-type upset?'

I kept on banging, now changing the tempo to an annoyingly repetitive one. 

Maria shuffled her feet nervously, 'Roadkill, bro. Definitely roadkill....'

Bang-bang-bangitty-bang. Bang-bang-bangitty-bang. Bang-bang-bangitty-bang.

 Zaif turned to me with ire in his eyes. He yanked the drumsticks from my hands, before throwing them away. "I told you to stop the freaking drumming! are you a complete moron Layla?"

I stuck my tongue out at him, "You're the moron Zaif! who the hell fails math?" I knew I was pushing it too far, with my jab at his grades, but I was annoyed at him doing this in front of Musa. Zaif's face turned red with anger at my words, and he yanked at the two ponytails sticking out of both sides of my hair. 

"Hey! what the hell! don't hurt your sister Zaif! That's not cool!" Musa pulled him away from me, when I started bawling my eyes out. 

"Ugh. Now she's gonna cry for hours." Zaif sneered as he stalked away from the room. Maria tried to hug me, but I just pushed her away in my determination to keep crying.

I loved crying. 

It was the single most sure-fire way to get attention around the house. 

Mama not looking up from her laptop?