A clack of strappy, platform heels announced Celeste's gigantic entrance into the life of little Jimmy, a boy who kept wringing his hands and jiggling his feet out of nervousness. He didn't want her in the house. Little Jimmy had been so frightened in advance that his mind had ignored the roaring engine of Celeste's car on the curbside as well as the jangle of keys that had opened the front door. It was early in the morning. His heart pounded on his chest in unison with the clack of her shoes. Clack, clack. Every step closer, they produced a vibration on the legs of the dining chair.
Celeste Fox was a woman of enormous height and athletic build, whose motions mimicked the catwalk models that his mother saw on TV every night: back and shoulders upright, head held high, and an air of royalty.
Right hand resting on her hip, the Titanide permeated the dining room with a mix of perfume, floral soap, and fresh skin. She leered Jimmy from top to bottom, before setting a massive birthday cake on the table. It was heart-shaped, with seven candles on top. The woman placed her purse on an empty chair. Her long, blonde curls resembled venomous snakes, making him think she was Medusa's reincarnation.
"Aren't you gonna hug and kiss your new mommy, little mister?" said Celeste, extending her long arms. Worshipness was her one and only language.
Jimmy could swear that if she straightened her arms to their full length, she would bring down the roof and rise all the way to the sky. Celeste was at least six feet and seven inches tall in those crazy shoes. He gulped, wondering what deal you had to make with God to get that height and those colossal limbs.
A tiny hand squeezed his shoulder. He flinched. For a moment, he forgot his real mother had been standing next to him. Olivia was much shorter than Celeste, had long plain hair, and didn't smell as nice, even though she had just gotten out of the shower. Jimmy could see that a few droplets of her damp hair had stained her business suit, so he wondered if she had been in a hurry.
"Jimmy, don't be rude", Olivia Taylor gently tightened the squeeze. "Say hi. We talked about this."
He wished she was lying.
After getting her biological anthropology degree at the UCSD, Olivia got pregnant. Her original plans had involved traveling around the world, but the father vanished when her belly grew, so when Jimmy came, Olivia needed to stay home. Olivia wouldn't be one of those women who leave their child with their parents while they go to have fun. The greatest weight on Earth was in her shoulders: a new life. His mother was also lucky enough to have supportive friends; not only they helped her take a few, specialized translations courses —she knew English, Spanish, and French, thanks to her parents—, but they were also able to find her a reputable agency to work with, and all from the comfort of her home and before Jimmy's first birthday. She became decently successful.
However, there had been some changes in the agency, and the bosses required her presence at the office in Seattle.
"It's only a three-hour flight from there," she had repeated the night before. "That means I can come back before you know it in case of an emergency. Celeste will take good care of you."
Celeste was one of the friends that had helped her with her studies.
"Come, little mister," the Titanide encouraged him with a gesture, "don't be shy. I promise I won't bite," she winked.
Jimmy forced himself to stand with a fake smile that he hoped was good enough to convince her. She seemed strong by the sound of her voice, or maybe he just felt weak.
He approached her as slow as it was humanly possible, his head lowered. Deep down, Jimmy Leveret entertained the thought that maybe if he avoided her gaze long enough, the intimidating woman would vanish, like the night demons when you cover yourself under the sheets.
Behind him, Olivia ran her fingertips through her blouse, down where the C-section scar thickened her skin.
Jimmy tried his best to look relaxed. He breathed long, deep breaths. The ticking clock gave the impression of time being eternal, like an unmeasurable, ever-present entity.
Standing in front of her, Jimmy's head reached below her breasts. He felt tiny. Then it hit him that Miss Fox's clothes were inappropriate for a family friend.
Since her black shoes were open toe, he could see that she had painted her toenails with a shiny light pink. Her long, shaved legs, as colossal as her arms, were a deadly pale white, so devoid of color that you could bruise them with a single touch. The tiny gray piece that functioned as a skirt reached the middle of her thighs, and the sleeveless black top exposed her bare midriff, shoulders, and arms, leaving nothing to the imagination, but making him wonder the amount of sunscreen she would need to protect herself from the light.
"I'm waiting for my hug, little darling," Celeste hadn't moved an inch, patiently waiting for him to take the first step.
Their eyes met. Hers, piercing and ruthless, were a dismal shade of green, easy to get trapped into. Not a wrinkle on her face.
He wasn't sure she was of legal age yet; the woman didn't look old enough to take care of a child. Did she have a job?
As soon as he shyly wrapped his arms around her, the porcelain demon pulled him tightly, her strength equal to a bear's embrace. She rocked him in her arms like a baby, burning his face with her naked skin. Tick, tack.
"Well?" asked Olivia.
"It's on the passenger seat. Keys are on my purse," Jimmy felt Celeste gesturing towards the table, followed by a jangle of keys behind him. "Hope you spend it wisely, Ollie."
No one spoke, only a silence of uncertainty followed. After a while, Olivia walked to the door, where she said her goodbyes.
"Take care Jimmy," she sounded worried, on the verge of tears. "I love you so much."
I love you, too, he thought, fighting to run away with her, but the woman's body kept him from moving. It wasn't long before the car roared to life to take his mother to the airport. Olivia vanished.
When Celeste finally let him go, he stepped back to breathe. An irregular circle the size of his head imprinted itself on the woman's skin.
She walked back to the table, grabbed the heart-shaped cake, then returned and leaned to hold it out close to his mouth.
"Close your eyes and make a wish," her smile revealed the whitest teeth he had ever seen.
The wish was a no-brainer for him: he pictured Olivia in his mind returning home to kick the big lady out of the house. However, before he could blow out a single candle as the ritual demanded, Celeste Fox moved away the cake and kissed him on the lips.
His entire body froze, wrapped all of sudden in a second eternity.
"Happy birthday, love."