I Grew My Boobs in China (2 page)

“No way,” Terri exclaimed, “Who!?”

“Tommy Jones. He’s dreamy!”

With that, she began a long, drawn-out story of how he was so great, and how she was so great, and how they were so great together. She’d concluded her self-centred story by confidently professing that it was true love.

“But enough about me,” she finally said. “Tell us about your love life, Terri.”

“Who, me? Hah! Oh, no. No, no, no. I’m not interested,” Terri assured us, and I knew it was true. Her heart lay in a career. Her adoration for her father, a well-respected medical doctor, had years ago inspired her dream of working right there next to him, saving lives.

“And Savannah?”

“She’s not allo---”

“No, no! Nothing. No interest.” I jumped in before Terri could finish her sentence. What she had been about to say was that I wasn’t allowed to date until I was sixteen. Mom enforced strict, some might say ridiculous, rules about when her daughters should get involved with guys. Everyone but me had started to date and discover boys. I was willing to obey Mom’s rules, but I sure didn’t need other people to know how strict she was about that.

“Wasn’t there a boy at Terri’s house the other night that you thought was pretty cute? He was older, too,” Kelly noted, twirling her hair and giving me the oooh-la-la look.

“Who? Grady?! Hah!” I objected. “He’s my sister’s best friend. Practically my brother!”

“Oh, don’t lie. I saw the way you looked at him. You
so
like him!” Kelly said excitedly. Panicking a bit, I wondered if I’d really been that obvious. Thankfully, the manicurists showed up to end our conversation. I drifted into my own reveries as the rhythmic routine began with my left pinkie finger.
Could Grady ever see me as more than just “the little sister”? Could he? Maybe? Would he? Nah, I don’t have a chance with him! He’s so funny, everybody loves him, and what am I? Just plain geeky!
With that, I answered my own question before I scowled in the direction of Kelly’s gorgeous four-inch heels.
Those things must have cost a fortune.
No wonder she has a boyfriend. I am nothing like her. She’s the kind of girl who’d catch any guy she wanted with those long legs that just didn’t quit.

Continuing my upward scrutiny, I envied the full breasts accentuating her elegant dress.
I mean, geez,
my mind wandered as I glanced cynically downwards at my flat chest,
I must be the only girl I know who has no boobs
.
Even her hair smells like it might actually be edible.
I flared my nostrils to inhale almost reflexively but instead, an overpowering whiff of manicure chemicals nearly choked me.
Grady would never be attracted to me! How much uglier could I get?! But maybe when I get my braces off, maybe then he’ll see a beautiful girl ...
I pondered that thought, looking down as the woman held my fingers in her soft, delicate hands and watching as my nails were transformed beneath the file and polish. I naively thought a manicure might spark his interest.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later that day we’d returned to Terri’s house before deciding to spend the night at my place.

“Hey, Mom just called,” Terri said, grabbing her coat and throwing me mine. “She’s waiting at the top of the driveway.”

“Why do you call
her
mom, Mom?” Kelly asked as she put an arm through her gorgeous red jacket accented with real rabbit fur.

“I really never see my real mom or talk about her. Plus, I’m always with Savannah – I’m practically part of the family. And that way, there’s never any confusion about whose mom we’re talking about,” Terri explained. Over the years, we’d “adopted” many people into our family. Our home was always open and bursting with life. Friends, siblings, and foreign students we were hosting from abroad and all their friends were always welcome. Our family was often spontaneous and always very easy going, a situation that encouraged even unrelated people to think of Mom as a second mom.

Trudging up the driveway of my best friend’s mansion of a house and stepping around to the back of the car, we threw our bags in the trunk. It was a cool night. Snow was forecast, and our breath was already forming ghosts in the air.

We hopped into the back of Mom’s black, Mustang convertible. She interrupted her phone call to say hello as we climbed in before quickly returning to her conversation.

As I collapsed into the seat, my little dog, Harrison, leapt onto my lap to greet me.

“Why do you do that to him?” Kelly giggled and patted him on the head.

“Do what?” I asked, clueless.

“Paint him blue!” she exclaimed, as if it were obvious.

“Oh,” I laughed at my blindness to it, “I didn’t
paint
him!! It’s just food colouring.”

Because he was a white Maltese, it was hard to resist giving him a colourful coat.

I rubbed my nose on his black, button-shaped snout as I listened in on Mom’s phone call. Trying to narrow down who could be on the other end was a bit of a game for me. She was always busy on the phone making preparations for work. This time, it wasn’t work related. I knew that much, but I still couldn’t figure it out. I overheard her saying, “pack up everything,” “travel around the world,” and “backpacks.”

I’d heard enough.
Ugh! That sounds horrible. I just can’t imagine why anybody would do that,
I thought sincerely, experiencing a rare moment of gratitude.
I’m so lucky I’m not that poor soul!

Seconds later, Mom hung up the phone and presented her “great news.”
We
were going to pack up everything,
we
were going to travel around the world, and
we
were going to live out of backpacks – for a whole
year
! Her mouth was still moving, but I heard nothing else. I was desperately trying to process what she had said. I couldn’t fathom her words. They were dizzying. Suddenly bells rang, smashing about painfully in my skull. My jaw dropped in utter terror and my life transformed in a heartbeat.
We – as in us – as in ME!
I
am going to travel the world,
I
am going to sell everything, and
I
am going to live out of a backpack for a
year
!

Chapter 2

Aftershock

“But, what about my party? You can’t leave before my party,” Kelly muttered under her breath.
Leave it to Kelly to just not get it at all.
I acted as if I didn’t hear her.
Who cares about your stupid party?!?!
I felt like shouting,
My life is gone! Did you not hear what she just said???
I wanted to scream. Instead, tears suddenly started flowing, and I bawled my eyes out. Harrison’s long, soft fur was wet from my tears as I snuggled deeper into him. Kelly’s eyes widened with surprise at the scene she witnessed in the car, and she didn’t push further. Never before had anyone, other than Terri, seen me cry, and even then, only once. I’d become pretty much an expert at hiding my emotions, but Mom’s announcement started a new trend for me that I could no longer control. I just couldn’t figure out why it was happening.
Where the heck did all this come from?

“Oh, Savannah! It’ll be okay. You’ll see. It’s going to be lots of fun,” Mom said, thoroughly convinced this was the right thing to do.

“No. It won’t. Why do you want to do this? You can’t,” I panicked.

“I’m really so excited. We’re going to go to China and see all those cool things. You girls should look at some of the pictures when we get home. It’s gorgeous!”

“Mom, I don’t care. I just want to stay here,” a suffocating swell rose up in the back of my throat as I spoke. Without warning, without any hint or prior discussion or even THOUGHT, this calamity was laid right on me. It was as unexpected and bizarre as a blue whale falling out of the grey sky and landing on my head. The idea had never crossed my mind, and I still couldn’t understand why it had crossed hers.

We’d rented houses for years, and every time the owners either sold them or moved back into them, it meant another new start – a new house, new school, new friends, and a heck of a lot of energy to move and get established again. But this! This was something else entirely. I felt many of the same feelings, except this time, there wouldn’t be a new school, or new friends, or a new house.
It was--- It was just--- Just that---
Geez! I couldn’t even form cohesive thoughts anymore.

We were home before I knew it, but the horror continued. Getting out of the car and walking up the driveway towards the house, I saw it with different eyes. I examined the towering forest above me and really breathed consciously, trying to taste the air before I stepped inside. I opened the door and noticed the colour of the doorknob for the first time. Everything went by in slow motion, colours and textures enhanced, as we walked up the carpeted stairway to my bedroom.

This is completely insane
, I agonized as I sat, dazed, on my couch. My life seemed to be crashing around me like a pooling swirl of fragrant and delicate flower petals now drowning in the fury of a violent storm. Terri was gentle and attentive. She leaned in to tell me what she was sure of.

“It’ll be okay, Savannah.” It was simple, but it helped. She squeezed my hand in hers, attempting to comfort me. “There’s no way Mom is actually going to drag you across the world. She’s just going through a really hard time with this whole divorce thing.” She must’ve believed what she said, and not just for my sake. I nodded absentmindedly.

“But I think it would be so cool to go to China and pray with the monks,” Kelly threw in, now leaning over to hear our whispers.
She doesn’t get that I would gladly give up my spot to her.
What do I care about China? And what could Kelly possibly know about it?
I thought, standing and signalling for Harrison to follow with a quick tap on my thigh as I leaned over my couch and opened the window to let him out. At my request, Skylar, my brother nine years my senior, had piled firewood to create a ramp against the house that lead up to my second-story window. It had taken a while, but Harrison had learned how to climb in and out unassisted, and it worked like a charm. As I closed the window, I could hear Mom’s footsteps in the hall before she came in with a big book filled mainly with photos of China. I watched him prance down the wood stack before I turned to face her.

“Look at this. Isn’t it great?” she said, sitting next to Kelly and opening her book of treasures.

All I could think was,
Where the heck did she get this book? Is this what happens when I go away for the weekend? She completely changes our lives and announces it to the world without even asking me how I feel about it!?
Mom isn’t the talkative type; she just makes things happen. I’d always known that about her. Unlike many other people, she doesn’t make plans or come up with new ideas unless she intends to follow them through. That is what really scared me.

“I’ve always wanted to see the Terra Cotta Warriors, ever since they were discovered,” Mom said dreamily.
Why would she want to do this? Isn’t she over that childish dream of digging to China yet? Because that is what she is doing – digging and BURYING my life, starting with this very first scoop!
My eyes glassed over as I waited and stared out the window, letting her talk.

“All that history! Can you imagine? I’d love to have been with the farmers when they found them. Can you imagine what it took for the archeologists to put all the pieces together to rebuild those warriors?” she continued.

“Ok, Mom,” I finally cut in, taking my eyes away from the window, “there is a big difference between buying a puzzle and doing it on your free time,” the mention of puzzles put an even bigger smile on her face, “and giving up your entire life for one!”

“Oh, Savannah. It’s not the end of the world. It’s going to be fun. Trust me. And we’re not giving up our whole lives. It’s only a year. You have lots of years of your life to live. It will be an amazing experience for all of us.”

“Oooh, wow. Look! This is really cool. Soooo pretty!” Beside me, Kelly was ogling the book that was open on Mom’s lap.

“Seriously? What are you on?
’
Cause that does not sound appealing to me – AT ALL!” It was easy for her to enjoy the photos and dream of going, but I knew she wouldn’t be willing to sacrifice her life as she knew it – she’d never carried anything other than an expensive purse, let alone an ugly, heavy backpack. A faint clicking on the glass from Harrison’s claws interrupted this train of thought, but it was quickly replaced by another as I began to generate an objection I hoped Mom would appreciate more than my angst.

“Bree isn’t going to like this one little bit. You’re seriously going to take her away from her boyfriend for that long?” I asked, slamming my palms down on the couch as I stood. Sliding the window open, I scooped Harrison up in my arms and dropped him on the couch.

My seventeen-year-old sister, Breanna, has always been my best friend and my worst enemy. As sisters tend to be, she is both a curse and a blessing. She has a very competitive, determined personality, which explains how it’s possible for her to spend four hours, five days a week, training at gymnastics. She’d been dating Fernando for the last ten months, and I couldn’t imagine her choosing China over him, or her gymnastics, either, for that matter.

“I already talked to her. She wasn’t too upset. She figured that she might as well be out doing this as anything else, since Fernando is going away for his two-year missionary work anyway. Ammon is already busy planning a route for us.” My eldest brother, Ammon, is a twenty-five year old “genius.” When you get right down to it, he’s not much more than a big brain carried around on a six-foot-two, surprisingly strong rack of bones. He’s the kind of dude whose head is full of random facts and figures. Research and information flood his very being, but he is not so much a nerdy brainiac as he is a crazy scientist. Even so, his desire to wander the seven seas goes hand in hand with his life-long search for knowledge. The yin and yang of his soul struggle for balance between the seeker and the wanderer.