The
Unheard of Liza Hush
Most
people fell down the rabbit hole with Alice; Liza Hush identified more with the
Queen of Hearts. The Queen was forever shouting, “Off with their heads!” in
response to slights she suffered, but then her husband came along and pardoned
everyone behind her back. It wasn’t like Liza thought everyone needed
beheading, or even where exactly she stood on the idea of corporal punishment.
Instead, she felt that behind the Queen’s querulous command was, at heart, a
person who just wanted to be heard. Liza thought perhaps circumstances had
pushed her to be so demanding.
The
Queen had her card guards who jumped to do her bidding—or pretended to— but
Liza knew that as soon as they finished painting those roses or herding up all
the croquet ball hedgehogs, they were laughing at the Queen behind her back. If
a Queen couldn’t command respect, how could Liza expect to?
Liza
felt pressure on her back and turned slightly to look. It was a purse,
carelessly slung over a woman’s shoulder; one of those black leathered, multi-zippered
monstrosities that made you wonder if the wearer was into bondage. But then,
everyone had a purse like that, even the little cloud-haired lady whose
daughter picked her up from the assisted living facility to buy flowers from
the shop where Liza worked. Surely, that didn’t mean… no, ugh… just …No.
Another
nudge, this time harder, made Liza jump, almost losing her balance. The owner
of the bondage purse remained clueless as she shifted in her cheetah heels,
speaking animatedly to a similarly clad woman next to her.
Should
she just ignore it? If she pushed back to regain her place in line, she would
be the rude one. What if the bondage woman pushed back or yelled at her and
caused a scene? Liza’s cheeks flushed at the image. She spread her legs wider
and dropped her stance ever so slightly.
“Who’s
next?”
Liza
reached the head of the line and stepped forward, a sign of relief escaping
from between her thin, pale lips that she no longer had to contemplate battle.
Unfortunately, Bondage Purse Woman and her friend also pranced forward,
effectively pushing Liza completely out of line.
“Off
with their heads!” Liza screamed, or rather, whispered, unheard. Then she
thought about her car and that no matter how insignificant one might perceive
her as, it’s really hard to ignore a car. Liza smirked wickedly at the image of
Bondage Purse Woman stiff as a light-locked deer in her headlights. Liza would
be noticed then.
She
left her place, or really her un-place, in line and walked out to her car. She
drove around the building and licked her dry lips in anticipation as she was
finally asked to place her order.
