Chapter 21: Sweet Sixteen

Their house was fully decorated with streamers and balloons in Val’s favorite color, a deep “forest” green. All three girls were wearing new dresses for the party, and Leah had prepared a buffet table of delicious finger foods next to a bakery’s decorated sheet cake bearing a huge “16” across the top.

Abel was already there, and Nia went to answer the door.

“Hi, I’m Nia. You’re here for the party? C’mon in.”

Inside, the guests introduced themselves.

“I’m Carrie, and this is Robbie—short for Roberta.”

“Thanks for coming. I’m Leah, Nia was the one who let you in. We are Val’s sisters. Over there are guys you might already know, our brother Ted and Val’s friend Abel. Over there in the blue outfit is Fernanda, Abel’s cousin. And there’s a shy younger brother around somewhere, he’s Tim. Fussing in the kitchen is our oldest brother, Andrew. I’m sure Val will be out in just a minute.”

And then, there she was.

Unlike everyone else, Leah knew what was coming. The room was dead silent until Abel blurted out, “You’re so beautiful!” He had never seen Val like this in a formal gown. Her hair was styled, and her twenty nails were all visible, lacquered in a glossy dark red. On her face, a touch of makeup, and lipstick in the same dark hue of red.

Her outfit made the biggest impression. The silken dress fitted her body closely, perfectly, as if to advertise her maturing body.

Abel had learned his lesson.

“My girlfriend is incredible! She looks like a million bucks, doesn’t she?”

Her friends rushed up with a bunch of questions, but she held them off for a moment by rushing over to Abel.

“Did you say, girlfriend? Now I have to kiss you. Mnph!”

Everybody laughed. Tim walked in and asked, “Why is everybody laughing?”

“Val kissed Abel because he’s her boyfriend,” answered Nia.

“Well, duh, everybody knows that. Besides, she’s all fancy, in a dress and all.”

“Hey, dope. I’m in a dress too.”

“Well, yeah, but you’re not even 10. So...”

Nia debated with herself. She wanted to slug Tim for being so mean, but she didn’t feel up to a confrontation. Nia wandered off unsteadily in the direction of the bathroom.

From the other side of the room, Leah watched her youngest two siblings interact. With Nia, Tim was oblivious; that wasn’t new. But Nia wasn’t bickering with Tim; she was not looking well at all. But it was Val’s party, and Leah wanted to make sure she had a good time celebrating becoming sixteen.

Two more girls showed up. One was Maryanne, and the other was Cindy. Cindy, after checking in advance with Leah, brought her boyfriend Carl with her. Carl had a remarkable personality for a 15-year-old boy. He had a flair for telling stories and had the whole group laughing. He was athletic and tall, and he doted on Cindy, and she was just as connected to him.

Just one issue: Carl’s face was greatly disfigured by severe acne. He even made jokes about that.

“I squeeze them and collect it in a little glass jar, like the ones baby food comes in. When the jar is full, I bring it to the research lab. They’re trying to invent a cream that slips inside a pimple and consumes the contents before it gets all red and ugly. They’re going to call it Carl’s Complete Creamed Pimple Eater.”

Nia had come back to the party. But Carl’s story was too much, and she fled to the bathroom again. Val’s playlist was loud enough that nobody heard Nia vomiting into the toilet. But Leah had once again seen her growing pale and fleeing.

Eventually, the party started ending when Val carved up the cake and served it to her guests and her siblings. Leah was not surprised when Nia passed on her slice. Val turned and looked directly at her younger sister.

“You don’t want any cake? Nia, you don’t look well. Again. Maybe you should go lie down for a while. I’m going to help clean up anyway.”

“OK. I’ll just rest for a minute.”

Again, she left the room, obviously unsteady, and watched by both Leah and Drew. Val returned to the cake, as she wanted to carve off her own piece, which she had politely waited for while serving the others.

“This is delicious! Thank you, Leah.”