Arrachnia

Life was fucked up from the start.

They remembered well the lessons taught by uncles (daddy too, when he was not away), how to lie, how to cheat, how to steal. It started with corner stores, the gas station on the corner. Then evolved from there.

Daniel was meant to be a boy (Daddy was quite pissed when the penis didnt suddenly appear as ordered). Short cropped hair, her Tomboy ish attitude, rumpled clothes maintained the facade Daddy wanted to see. Noone seemed to disagree with her using the washroom instead of peeing all over the floor and spraying "things" as her big sister would giggle & happily confide to the teller that it was prone to happen. While the teller scurried "Little Danny" away to a washroom, Big sis would shop away. She'd even make off with "Specially Marked" bags of potatoe chips, then return to redeem the money back coupons found inside the bag. They were taught well. The sisters, at 4 & 6, were true pro's.

Mommy intervened in her childrens education. Instead they left the small town. Became Big City Girls. A Single Parent Family of three. They went to live at a University while mommy became educated. No longer aiding and abetting, Mommy studied Criminology.

The girls continued with their own elective education to some degree. Campus life agreed with their innovative ploys to rise up in life. The Campus Food bank alone presented ample opportunity to create a black market. To redisperse the aquired goods according to who was most willing to barter with or iou you.

The basement room ithe foodbank was located in had easy access for children small enough & creative enough to access the duct work. Daniel & Gina would scramble through the dryer ducts and drop into the darkened room, feeling for the familiar shapes of what would be prized possessions to be traded to the starving students. They would compile crude shopping lists then compete to locate them by touch alone. Triskit crackers and Kraft Dinner. Peanut Butter. Cans of Ham, Tuna or Spam. Fruit, they could sell individually for $1.50.

Pets were verboten on campus and in the dorms. Often when they analyzed their stash, a quarter of what they had grabbed would be seemingly useless to them. Danny stored the unneeded cans of catfood in her toybox. Saving it for the kitten she was not allowed yet, to have.

They studied the University. Made it their own. Compiled a short list of their favourite things.

• Finals - Cause stress to the body. The body requires nourishment and energy to complete required tasks
• Cafeteria's - Only source of 'real' food on campus. Meals consist mainly of mushy peas, reconstituted potatoe flakes and soggy fish sticks. (not to be confused with the campus Pub, whose only sustenance is provided in liquid form.) Open odd erratic hours for meals such as breakfast and lunch, at a time when most students are preoccupied with other activities such as sleep. Closed most days by three, just in time to beat the rush.
Cafeteria's close all weekend, weekdays sometimes at 3 in the afternoon. The employees go home and rest. The students do not. Most of them sleep odd hours, if at all
• Suger - Provides energy when ingested in large enough doses. Generally found mixed in with other ingredients such as chocolate and nuts.
• Candy Machines -Provide sustenance for prices slightly less than full fledged highway robbery. When operated properly, a candy machine may produce the chosen item upon insertion of various denominations of currency. For every ten candy machines on campus, three will not be operational, four requiring perfect change. Two will be empty. the remaining one will only dispense Pez.
Dimes, nickles, Quarters, intended for deposit into tiny slot allocated for this purpose - will fall under the candy machines and vanish, just out of reach, amongst big, scary dustbunnies. Bills are not an acceptable form of tender.
• Coin Changers are available elsewhere on campus. (Somewhere).
• The greatest thing there ever was on any campus in any country finals - suger. The second greatest - a near monopoly in the distribution of that first great thing.

When crawling under candy machines - Little Girls can reach much farther than grownups can.

The money, they'd trade for cheaper confections at the lone gas station on the far end of campus - many miles away. Then return to the vending areas possessed, demonic machines - to sit in wait, like vultures. Two cherub faced children offering sugery snacks. Penny candies, licorice, day old donuts, these were a few of their favorite things. They redistributed them at ten times cost. Reinvesting their profits. Making friends.

The family became less of one. Her sister left. She'd grown bored. Chose to live it up a little. Dance to her own tune.

The world nearly shattered around them. "Daddy was an asshole so what am I?" A Mantra that would echoe unto eternity. As she aged it became slightly cool. Career day, a exercise in creativity. Who & what shall Daddy be this time? This Year? Lies became the Truth became Lies.

Hard to love a man when you do not know one. Her only remnants of fatherhood a tattered zerox box, edges rubbed raw. Bail papers, Letters written from jail. Mommy needed to check the postmarks for her. She let her know which one. which time, which crime was which. They organized the boxes' contents into neat piles. A ritual. Tradition. Quality family time spent together. Reminiscing about the nasty stuff better left behind. She aged too quickly Grew up too soon. Too many questions were answered too many times. Graphic discourse unfit for a child became the familiar tale as told to friends and strangers alike. Her life became public and yet she was alone.

She Packed the box away. Tried to cut off any conversation that would turn morbid before it became an issue. Tried to shield her friends from her moms need to talk, to explain. To partake in her own public form of therapy.