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Maria walked down the hill slowly, whistling to herself and stopping to pick up pretty flowers for a bouquet she was going to give to her mom.
As she neared the school she took the flowers and put them neatly in a vacant compartment in her book bag.
She skipped to school, her red locks flowing freely around her.
When she got there she saw two girls look at her and then whisper to each other.
Is there a smudge on my dress? She looked at her dress but it was starch white and neatly pressed.
Is my hair unruly? She felt her hair but felt nothing except their usual bouncy feeling.
Then what’s wrong?
Maybe they aren’t laughing at me. Yeah, that’s it.
But, much to her disappointment, they were.
As their huge figures loomed closer Maria recognized them as Alice and Ella, the school bullies.
As they walked closer Alice reached into Maria’s book bag and took out Maria’s pink and blue lunchbox.
“Look what we have here,” Alice said, twirling Maria’s lunch box on her finger like it was a key chain.
“Maria’s lunch could end world hunger!” Ella exclaimed ripping open the lunch box.
Maria winced, and tears clouded her pretty blue eyes.
Alice examined the contents as they spilled onto the floor.
“A Turkey sandwich, Oreos, Lunchables fudge brownie, cereal, a chocolate chip cookie ,a bag of vinegar chips,and two bottles of sprite. Goodness, Maria, is there going to be a blackout that you’re stocking up for? Oh, wait a note from your precious mommy. Ella, let’s see what Maria’s mommy wrote. Mockingly she read the note. “I’ll always love you, sweetheart. Good luck in school today.”
Awwwww, Ella and Alice cooed simultaneously.”
The tears spilled over and slid down Maria’s soft cheeks hitting the concrete floor with
a soft plop.
“Crybaby, ” Alice laughed loudly, causing several kids to look over to see what’s happening.
“Wow Maria, you could eat this and not eat for a week. But then if I were you, I wouldn’t eat this week, period, queen of fats.”
Maria wasn’t sure who said this remark because she was looking at the floor so that neither of them could see how hurt she was.
They were right, she was fat. Maybe she should take their advice. Yeah, she would take their advice.
But then she wouldn’t be able to eat today’s lunch anyway, because Alice and Ella were already doing it for her.
They had thrown away the Turkey sandwich and the cereal. They were both happily munching on the chocolate chip cookie, the wrappers at their feet. The both held a can of Sprite. Alice juggled Oreos and the bag of chips in the crook of her arm and Ella had balanced the Lunchables pack between her legs. They were both laughing, neither of them realizing the difference they had just made in Maria’s life.
Maria sat in the back of the classroom, staring at the board watching what the teacher was writing but not understanding, not wanting to understand.
The teacher, Mrs.Haley, saw that her star pupil was not reacting, not raising her hand like she did for every answer. As, the bell for lunch rang, she called Maria aside.
“Maria, are you okay? Is anything wrong?” she asked gently. She knew that prodding into her students’ lives didn’t always generate a meaningful reply.
“Nothing’s wrong, I’m fine,” Maria said, avoiding the teacher’s gaze. If she looked Mrs.Haley in the eye she would immediately see that something was wrong.
“Maria, if anything’s wrong you can tell me, I’ll understand.”
“I know you would, Mrs.Haley, but nothing’s wrong, now, if you would excuse me I have to get going.”
Mrs.Haley let go of Maria’s bony arm with a frown.
Maria gathered her book bag and headed for the bathroom, resolving to skip lunch from now on.
Opening the door to her cheerful house she started to walk up the stairs when her mother
jumped in front of her.
“Maria, don’t you want a snack?” her mother asked her.
“No mom, I had a big lunch,” came the reply as Maria thudded up the stairs.
Her mother believed her and returned to the kitchen to prepare dinner.
In her room, Maria stepped onto her scale. 70 pounds. Not happy with the number she got she jumped onto her canopy bed. She grabbed her old teddy bear. She had gotten it for her second birthday. His name was Mr.Fuzzies. Half of Mr.Fuzzie’s fur had fallen out
and he had only one eye. His left arm had gone through a numerous number of surgeries and one of his legs dangled dangerously held together by a single piece of thread.
But no matter how many brand-new teddy bears Maria’s mom bought Maria, Maria would not give up Mr.Fuzzie. Hugging Mr.Fuzzie tightly to her chest Maria sang him the
lullaby that her mother would sing to her. As she sang, she fell asleep to her own soothing tunes remembering how her mother would rock her until she fell asleep until
she was too heavy for her to rock. I sure am heavy and fat Maria thought as she fell asleep.She awoke an hour later to her mom’s voice saying “ Wake-up sweetheart, dinner’s ready.” She moved the curtains of her canopy aside.
Slumping she went down the stairs, her mother following closely behind.
Alice and Ella’s voices rang through her ears.
“Maria’s lunch could end world hunger!” Ella’s voice rang in her ears.
“Goodness, Maria, is there going to be a blackout that you’re stocking up for?” Alice asked cruelly.
How was she to get out of this?
If she faked a cold her mother would bring her chicken noodle soup.
If she did something else her mother would probably get suspicious.
Suddenly the perfect idea hit her. How could she not have thought of it before?
It was so simple!
Eagerly she ate her dinner. Her mother had made her favorite, lasagna. Wow, what a waste of food.
Hoping there wasn’t any dessert she excused herself and ran to the bathroom.
Standing over the toilet she dangled her finger in her mouth. The tasty dinner came right up. It was practically whole, not having enough time to be thoroughly digested.
Wow, Maria had eaten and savored the food and not even gained a pound! In high spirits, she skipped back into the kitchen.
“Mom, I have some history homework to do, okay?”
“Sure, sweetheart,” came the distracted reply.
Looking over the edge of the wall Maria saw that her mother was reading a Martha Stewart Living magazine. That will keep her busy for a couple of hours, Maria thought to herself.
When her mother was sleeping Maria sneaked down and grabbed an apple.
That morning for breakfast Maria had Cap N’ Crunch. Waiting until her mother was occupied with the paper Maria ran to the bathroom and threw up. Flushing the toilet she ran out the door. For lunch Maria made two salads. One for herself and one for Alice and Ella. Just as Maria had predicted, Alice and Ella were waiting for Maria at the bottom of the hill. Alice told Maria a mean comment and Ella opened the new lunch box. Unlike her friend she used the zipper. Finding nothing but a salad she made a grunt and threw the Tubbleware container on the floor. She stomped on it and threw it in the floor. That day, like the last, Maria fell asleep and was awoken for dinner. Throwing up once again after she ate she went to do her homework.
At night she sneaked down for a glass of orange juice.
Stepping on the scale on the fifth day of her new diet, she was disappointed when the scale read 64. Six measly pounds! Throwing herself down on the bed she threw a throw pillow across the room. It hit the window seat, landing neatly where it belonged.
Lifting her shirt up she admired the hills on both sides of her stomach . But the girls in Seventeen were much skinnier. Laying down she traced the hills lightly. Closing her eyes she fell asleep.
Awaking two hours later she went through the same routine.
Sneaking down for a midnight snack she ate a pear. Feeling sick she ran to the bathroom and threw up. Deciding she had a virus she returned to bed tired and hungry.
In the morning she sat down for a breakfast of Cheerios. Deciding she wanted to keep this food in her stomach to make up for the night she grabbed her back pack. Suddenly feeling sick she ran to the bathroom. Realizing that something very bad can be going on she wrote her mom a note, placed it on her mother’s bed and ran out the door.
When she came home from school that day her mother was standing at the door, her car keys in her hands and a worried expression on her face. Maria saw tears in her mother’s
eyes and suddenly realized that the tears were mingled with something else. Fear. Maria realized that her mother might be scared. Scared of losing her. Of being alone. She didn’t want another death in the family. It had been hard enough losing her soul mate too early into their happy relationship. Losing the only thing that kept her going, her only love, her only daughter, would be too much for the old woman.
“Why didn’t you tell me earlier, sweetheart?” she asked with motherly worry.
She didn’t expect an answer and was surprised when she got a reply.
“Because I was told I was fat.”
“Sweetheart, you are not fat. Don’t let what anybody tells you get to your head.”
Driving to the emergency room Maria was quickly put in the intensive care unit.
The doctors tried several ways to keep the food down, but none worked.
Suddenly a quiet voice spoke up.
“Come here, child,” a woman’s voice gently asked.
Maria saw an old African-American woman with the thick glasses motioning to her.
She followed the woman to a tall mirror.
“Look in, child.”
Maria looked in the mirror.
“What do you see?” the old woman asked.
“I see myself,” Maria replied.
“Look deeper.”
I see a girl that doesn’t look like me. She has the same hair color, and her hair is long. But her hair is matted with perspiration and it doesn’t have that curly and free look.
“Look past the outside.”
And suddenly she saw. She saw all too well. She saw a scared and skinny girl. This girl
wasn’t sure who she was or who she wanted to be like. This girl was skin and bones and nothing else. Her confidence and spirit had gone with her weight.
“This isn’t me. This is some silly imposter. She doesn’t have my smile, my rosy cheeks, my happiness. Where’s my perkiness, my will for adventure? Who has taken over my body?” Maria asked herself
She boldly stepped on the scale. 50 pounds.
As she was ordering the staff to bring her lunch she felt faint. Before she got to bed she fell over.
Opening her eyes she found herself face to face with the wise old woman. She handed her food. Eat this then stand in front of the mirror. She did as told. And found the food stayed there. She was released from the hospital in two days.
The next day when she reached school Ella and Alice surrounded her. She marched boldly into school. She called over her shoulder “Pick on somebody with your own figure.”
She was never bothered about her figure again.
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