The Shadow of Oz Short

by Jay Michael Wright II

  Her mother smiled and grabbed the bottle of Scotch. “Why, I'll drink straight from the bottle like a pure and proper lady would!” She took a swig of Scotch and stumbled to the living room, departing with one last command. “Clean this shit up, bitch! Mommy has to watch her shows.”

  Dorothy stood in the kitchen for a moment and fought back tears. God! I hate my fucking life! Reluctantly, she got the dust pan and broom and started sweeping up all the broken pieces of glass. It seemed these days she was spending more and more time cleaning up her mother's messes, and she was getting sick of it.

  Knock knock.

  Dorothy took out her ear-buds and solemnly responded, “Come in.”

  The door slid open and her father stepped into her room, but this was no surprise. Her mother would have just burst in screaming and yelling. At least her father respected her privacy enough to knock, and for that, she was grateful. Everything her mother was, her father was the complete opposite. Her mother was loud and cruel, while her father was soft-spoken and the kindest soul she'd ever met. Her parents had absolutely nothing in common. She often spent hours in her room pondering how such a mismatched pair could have end up together.

  The years had been hard on Dorothy's father. His raven hair had slowly succumbed to large white patches, the lines in his face had deepened, and his once vividly bright eyes had become a dim version of their former selves. He worked twelve-hour days, busting his ass just to pay off the ridiculous mortgage they had taken out on the house because it was the one her mother had thrown a fucking hissy-fit about having. They couldn't afford it, and her father knew it, but he could never refuse her mother's wishes. For some reason, he just loved her that much.

  No matter how many hours he put in, they were always behind on the bills and had creditors beating down their doors. Twice in the last three months the power had been cut off. The month before that, it had been the water. It was a constant worry in the back of Dorothy's mind. She never knew when the utilities were going to be cut off. She just knew that eventually, they would be.

  Her father was working himself into an early grave just to please her mother, yet she was never happy and nothing he did was good enough for her. Dorothy's mother was a miserable soul, and the only time she seemed content was when everyone around her was miserable too. Sometimes, Dorothy wished the bitch would just die.

  Dorothy's father, still wearing his coveralls from work and smelling of sweat and grease, sat on the edge of her bed. He sighed heavily and said, “So, your mother had another one of her 'accidents' today?”

  Dorothy slowly nodded her head. “How'd you guess?”

  “Well, when I came home and went to pour myself a drink of soda, I got a clue when I found the cabinets empty and the garbage can full of broken glass.”

  Dorothy scooted closer and put her head on her father's shoulder. “Yea, she was in rare form today. She was in the floor of the kitchen when I got home, thrashing around like she was drowning.”

  Her father shook his head with a disgusted look on his face. “Oh, baby, I'm so sorry you had to see that.” He turned to Dorothy with his arms outstretched to hug her, when he noticed the large bruise on Dorothy's cheek. He froze with a mortified look on his face. “Dorothy, did she...did she hit you?”

  Dorothy shied away and covered her bruise. “Oh...this? Yea, she slapped me pretty good when I helped her to her feet.”

  He pulled Dorothy tight to his chest and covered her faces in tiny kisses. “Oh, sweetie, it was never supposed to be like this.” Dorothy loved her father's kisses. It was one of the few things that made her feel safe and secure.

  “Daddy,” she whispered, “how did you ever end up marrying mom? You two are so different. I just don't understand why you settled on her.”

  Her father sat there for a moment, completely silent. He then took Dorothy by the hand and said, “Follow me. I want to show you something.”

  Dorothy hesitated. “Wait! Where's mom?”

  “Passed out in her recliner, and from the looks of it, she'll be there until tomorrow. Come on, Dorothy. I should have shown you this years ago.”

  Her father led Dorothy out of her room and to the room which was part her father's study and part the junk room. Her father took a seat at the cluttered wood desk and started digging through boxes. “Dad, what are you doing?”

  Her father smiled pleasantly. “Just wait. You'll want to see this. You need to see this.”

  He pillaged one box, and then another, until he finally found what he was looking for. “Here it is.” he said with a grin.

  Dorothy took one look at the worn yellow leather folder and instantly recognized it. “The old family photo album? I haven't seen that in years!”

  Her father smirked. “I didn't think you had. There's a picture in particular in here that I want you to see. Come, kneel down beside me, sweetie.”

  Dorothy did as her father asked and took a spot beside him. She watched as her father flipped through the pages until he found what he was looking for. “Here it is. Look at this and tell me what you see. It's from your first Christmas.”

  The first thing that leaped out at Dorothy was how tacky the clothes were that they were wearing. She was just about to ask her father what was up with his long hair, when she noticed something that almost blew her mind. “Daddy, is that a picture of mom at Christmas—and she's sober? How in the world did you manage to get a picture of mom sober?”

  Her father looked solemn. He replied softly, “Well, this was before the accident with your aunt.”

  “Aunt Emily?” Dorothy asked, thoroughly confused at what she was hearing.

  “No, sweetie, your other aunt, your mom's twin sister—your Aunt Jewel.”

  “I... I didn't even know I had an Aunt Jewel.” Dorothy said softly.

  Dorothy's father caressed his daughter's cheek. “It's because your mom doesn't talk about her anymore. It's too painful a memory.”

  “Daddy, what happened?”

  He hung his head and his voice was barely audible. “The following Thanksgiving, your mother forgot to get drinks for the dinner, so she called and asked your Aunt Jewel to stop and get some. On her way to the store, your Aunt Jewel was in an accident.”

  Dorothy reached up and took her father's hand. “What kind of accident?”

  “A teenage boy with enough whiskey in him to float a battleship around got on the highway going the wrong direction. He collided headfirst with your aunt going nearly eighty miles an hour. Your Aunt Jewel, Uncle Troy, and your cousins Mandy and Billy were all killed instantly.”

  Dorothy gasped and covered her mouth. “Oh my God. I never even knew I had cousins.”

  “They wouldn't have been on that highway if not for your mother, and she never forgave herself for it. She started drinking to drown her sorrows. She just hasn't figured out how to stop yet. You see, baby, your mother wasn't always this way. She used to be a sweet, loving woman—the best woman I had ever known. I made a vow that I would love her for better or worse, and that's what I'm doing. I put up with the monster she's become in the hopes that one day, maybe the woman I fell in love with, will come back to me. That's why I keep this photo album—to remind me of the woman I loved more than life itself.”

  Dorothy hopped up and wrapped her arms around her father's neck. “Oh, daddy. I am so sorry!”

  “It's okay, baby-girl. Now you forgot about all this. You've got a sleepover to prepare for tomorrow night and you don't need the distraction.”

  Dorothy nodded her head. “Yes, sir. Thank you.”

  Her father looked confused. “You're thanking me for what?”

  Dorothy smiled feebly. “For telling me the truth.”

  He leaned over and kissed Dorothy's forehead. “You deserve it, baby. Now get out of here! I've got to hit the shower and try to figure out how to get your mother into bed without having World War 3 break out.”

  Dorothy snickered. “If I was you, I'd leave her where she lies. No point in poking the sleeping dragon.�
��

  Her father smiled and nodded. “You know, you have a point there. I'll see you later, sweetie. I love you.”

  “Love you too, dad.”

  She headed back to her room processing what she had learned. While she couldn't excuse her mother's behavior, at least she knew why her mother did it. It didn't make it any easier to accept, or make her cruelties any less painful to endure, but knowing her mother hadn't always been a monster eased her mind, even if just a little bit. People could change.

  Chapter Three

  Katie bounced on the bed, shadowboxing as she pretended to reenact Dorothy's knockdown of Mrs. Henderson. What made it even funnier, was that Katie was doing this in nothing but a white tank top and a pair of black panties with a pink skull-and-crossbones on the crotch. “You're coming with me, young lady! No, I'm not! Bang! Pow! And the bitch goes down!”

  Dorothy clutched tightly to “Mr. Bentley,” Katie's giant plush black and pink teddy bear and rolled on the floor laughing. She stopped to catch her breath and waved for Katie to cease her performance. “Oh my God!” she gasped as tears rolled down her face. “Fuckin' quit, girl! I'm dying!”

  “Hell no!” Katie gleefully shouted. “Bang! Zoom! Flat on her back the bitch goes! Oh, I would have given my left tit to have seen that. I hate that grumpy old bitch.”

  Dorothy rolled her eyes. “Oh my God. You are so right. I wonder if she's always had a stick shoved up her ass or if she just got old and cranky.”

  Katie pounced off the bed and crouched down, smiling. “I think she's just old and grumpy. I swear to God, I saw her senior year book once...it was signed my Moses.”

  Dorothy rolled flat on her back and kicked her feet. “Oh shit that's funny! I can just see her, sitting on the banks of the Red Sea holding a fishing pole while Moses parted the waters.”

  Katie's eyes got as big as saucers and she stuck the tip of her tongue out of her mouth. “You know what I wanna do?”

  Dorothy smirked. “What?”

  “I wanna dance.”

  Dorothy slapped her forehead and slid her hand down over her eyes and mouth. “Oh Lord...”

  “Come on, Dorothy Gale! Get your ass up!” Katie said with outstretched hands.

  Dorothy obliged Katie and got to her feet. Katie ran to her computer and uploaded the video she wanted to watch and turned the volume up as high as it would go. She turned back to Dorothy with a mischievous look on her face.

  “So what did you—” Dorothy heard the first guitar riffs and she knew what Katie had put on: White Zombie's Thunder Kiss '65. She smiled instantly and said, “Fuck yea!”

  Katie immediately grabbed Dorothy by the hands and pulled her up on the bed. The pair started jumping and thrashing their hair around like they had gone mad. Katie started shaking her hips like a cage dancer in a nightclub and slithered down to her knees as her body gyrated to the guitar riff. She slung her head back and at the top of her lungs she screamed, “Nineteen Sixty Fiiiiiiiiive...yea! Wow!”

  They jumped off the bed together and Katie picked up a hairbrush and started lip-syncing the verses. She intentionally leaned over her computer chair, arched her back, and looked over her shoulder at Dorothy. She crouched down quickly, then swayed from side to side as she came back up smiling from ear to ear.

  Katie turned and glided across the floor as Dorothy tried to keep a straight face. Katie took Dorothy by the hand, twirled her around and then pulled her towards her until Katie was grinding up against Dorothy's back. Together they screamed the chorus as loud as they could before falling down to their knees together and laughing at the top of their lungs.

  The door to Katie's room opened wide and Katie's mom stood there smiling. “Well, I see you two are having a good time already—not that I’m surprised in the least bit.”

  Dorothy caught her breath and said, “Hey, Mrs. Crawford!”

  Katie's mom smiled. “Hi, Dorothy. Looks like you're in good spirits for someone who got suspended from school.”

  Dorothy grit her teeth and faked a smile. “Oh...you know about that?”

  Katie's mom nodded. “Mhm.”

  “Oh shit! You didn't tell my mom, did you?” Dorothy said without thinking about the fact she was cursing. She quickly covered her mouth and her eyes got as wide as teacup saucers.

  Katie's mother gave a twisted smirk. “No, Dorothy. I didn't tell your mother. I figure that was your business, not mine.”

  Dorothy sighed in relief. “Oh gosh! Thank you, Mrs. Crawford!”

  “So,” Katie's mom asked, “are you girls hungry? I made popcorn with extra butter.”

  Katie and Dorothy exchanged glances. “Popcorn? Hell yea!” Katie said smiling.

  Mrs. Crawford grinned and nodded. “Well, I'll be right back then. Just try not to mosh-pit the room into ruins while I'm gone, okay?”

  Dorothy turned to Katie and whispered, “Oh my fucking God! Your mom is so cool!”

  Katie chuckled. “Yea, she ain't so bad for an old 80s metal-head. One day you've got to get her to tell you about the summer she spent following Guns N' Roses on tour.”

  Dorothy's jaw dropped. “Your mom did what?”

  Katie laughed. “You heard me! She spent a whole summer following GNR on tour. She won't admit it, but I think she had a thing for Axl...or maybe it was Slash. I can never remember which one.”

  Dorothy sat back in awe. She just couldn't wrap her mind around it. Her mother was anything but cool. She had to walk on eggshells around her mom, but over here, she could just be herself without judgment. She wished she could just stay with Katie forever. It would be Heaven compared to the Hell she was growing up in.

  A few moments later and the girls had a giant tub of popcorn and Katie was back on the computer looking up music. “Dorothy, I want you to hear this. It's not our normal shit, but I think you'll like it.”

  Dorothy tossed a piece of popcorn up into the air and caught it with her mouth. “Okay, what is it?”

  “Imperial Drag.”

  Dorothy wrinkled her brow. “Who?”

  Katie shook her head. “I swear, nobody digs the hidden classics. Imperial Drag, they were a band back in 1996. The lead singer is Eric Dover from Townley, Alabama.”

  “Where the fuck is Townley?”

  “In the middle of bumfuck nowhere Walker County from what I’ve heard, but don't let that turn you off. This guy was the original lead singer for Slash's Snakepit, which was basically everyone from the Guns N' Roses 'Use Your Illusion' line-up, minus Axl, plus this guy singing lead. He's also been the lead guitarist for Alice Cooper for a while.”

  Dorothy giggled. “Sounds like someone has a crush.”

  Katie glanced over her shoulder. “If I wasn't so in love with you, I'd fuck this guy's brains out.”

  Dorothy took a step back. “Damn! That's quite the endorsement. Pull a pic of him up. Let me see this music-man.”

  Katie hit a few keystrokes and brought up a picture of the man in question. Dorothy's jaw dropped. “Okay, if you can make this a three-some, I am totally in.” Katie reached her hand out and Dorothy slapped her five. “He's got the looks, but does he have the chops. Play me that song, baby.”

  Katie once again hit a few keystrokes and pulled up the video she was after. Dorothy leaned over Katie's shoulder and giggled at the title. “'Boy or a Girl,' huh?”

  Katie turned and smiled. “Trust me, this is groovy Heaven. Give it a try.”

  The music started playing and Dorothy caught herself tapping her foot along to the beat. “Oh, that's a sweet bass-line.” When the guitar kicked in, she was hooked. “Damn, this ain't bad.”

  Katie got out of her chair and took the popcorn out of Dorothy's hands. She sat the bowl down and locked hands with Dorothy and began singing to her. “Come sit with a total stranger. Now's the time to vent your anger. And oh, are you a boy or a girl?”

  Dorothy laughed out loud as Katie started dancing and continued to sing. “Do you get off casting hexes, assuming forms of either sexes, and oh… are you a
boy or a girl?”

  When the chorus struck Dorothy had decided she was now in love with this song. Katie twirled her around and pulled her close as she sang as loud as she could. “Well, I've been confused by the startled look in your eyes. Have I been misused, hanging on by the skin of my teeth while you're raping my mind? Do you feel misunderstood? You feel straight, but you knock on wood. Oh. Oh. Ohhh-ohhhh. Are you a boy or a girl?”

  Katie pulled Dorothy even closer and planted her lips on Dorothy's. They kissed for the rest of the song and then crawled into bed and turned off the lights. They spent the night cuddled up as close as they could be. Dorothy smiled the rest of the night. Everything was simply perfect.

  Chapter Four

  Dorothy and Katie walked hand in hand down the cracked sidewalk. Katie reminded Dorothy, "Step on a crack, break your mother's back, Dee." So, Dorothy made a point to stomp on every crack she came across. She smiled joyously with every step. Times like these are what made her life tolerable. More than that, for brief moments in time, her life took on a happy hue, and those times all revolved around Katie.

  Katie let go of Dorothy's hand and hurried forward, getting a step in front of Dorothy and spinning around to face her. "Dee, I have the greatest idea."

  "Oh, yea?" Dorothy said curiously. The anticipation in her built up until it bubbled over. Just what are you up to, Katie?

  "Next month is the Rocky Horror Picture Show Ball in Topeka. What about me and you going?"

  Dorothy absolutely adored that movie. She maybe even had the teeniest tiniest crush on Tim Curry because of his role of Frankenfurter. What could she say? The man had legs just made for a pair of stockings. "Are you fucking serious? My parents would never let me go to that!"

  Katie bit her bottom lip and batted her eyelashes. "Well… what if I have my mom cover for us? She'd totally do it. Hell! She'll go with us! So, what you say? Which one you wanna be? Columbia or Magenta?"