Chapter 4
While Irina had a hard time with food, Mischa had a hard time with sweets.
The only sweets they got in the Red Room were for doing horrible things. None of the girls could look at hard candy the same, especially small peppermints or bonbons.
Mischa consumed sweets like she’d be sent right back to the Red Room the next day and never be able to try them again.
Yelena didn’t mind letting her girls explore their tastes and try new foods. It’s when Mischa consumes sweets to the point of making herself sick from all the sugar she ate.
Mischa wanted to try everything. From chocolates, to taffy, to caramel, to gummies, and everything in between.
Yelena starts to find Mischa constantly chewing on some piece of candy. She liked the chewy stuff better than anything else and so far licorice ropes were her favorite. Mischa’s side of the bedroom became littered with wrappers for all sorts of candy.
Yelena hates controlling what her girls eat, especially when she knows that food control is a big issue with them. But when Mischa gets her first cavity, she has to draw the line.
Getting the cavity filled was a whole ordeal on its own but as Mischa sleeps off the numbing agent in her mouth, Yelena works to secure all the candy in the house except for Mischa’s. She gets a small plastic container and sets it aside for when Mischa wakes up.
Mischa comes lumbering down into the kitchen a few hours later, another licorice rope in her hand despite the cavity that was filled hours earlier. “Mischa.” Yelena stops her with a hand on the shoulder. “This is for you.”
The licorice rope dangles from between Mischa’s lips as she takes the clear container with her name printed on it. “What’s it for?” She mumbled around the candy.
“It’s to put your candy in,” Yelena replies and Mischa froze. “Mischa, you’re eating way too much candy and it’s not good for you.”
“It’s mine!” Mischa frowns, snapping the end off of her licorice rope with her teeth.
“Mischa, you got a cavity from all the sweets you eat,” Yelena points out and Mischa rubbed her sore jaw where they injected the novocaine.
“I’ll just brush my teeth more,” Mischa folds her arms, the container set on the counter. “It’s not a big deal.”
“It is a big deal, Mischa,” Yelena shakes her head.
“It’s not! It’s my body, I can put whatever I want into it!” Mischa’s eyes harden. “My body! I control what I do with it!”
Yelena knew that she was edging into dangerous territory. “I know. It’s your body. You control what goes in it. But I’m your mom, Mischa. And I just want you to be healthy.”
Mischa softens slightly when Yelena calls herself her mom but she’s still on guard. “It’s my candy. You can’t confiscate it.”
“I’m not. It is yours. It will remain yours. But I want to keep it all right here in this container,” Yelena gestures to the jar with Mischa’s name on it. “And keep it here in the kitchen so that you can have it as treats.”
“No, it’s mine!” Mischa stubbornly shakes her head, glaring at the jar.
“Mischa, honey, the candy will still be there tomorrow. There will always be more candy. You do not need to eat candy all of the time, it’s not going anywhere. Don’t you think I’ve noticed you’re having stomach aches? You’re too full to eat lunch or dinner sometimes.” Yelena starts to list. Mischa wraps one hand around the jar and swipes it off the counter in anger.
The plastic container hits the ground and a crack formed on one side. Mischa freezes, having not expected it to actually break. Yelena picks it up and sets it back on the counter.
“I know you’re angry,” Yelena states as she reaches out and gently braces the back of Mischa’s neck with her hand. “Come on.”
Mischa lets Yelena take her to the garage where the punching bags were set up. She barely lets Yelena wrap her hands before she starts in on the punching bag, hitting it with vigor.
Yelena stands by and watches. Mischa was just exerting control over her body and the thought of Yelena restricting it terrified her. Yelena waits until Mischa is breathing hard and rests her head on the punching bag, drained and tired.
Yelena steps forward and gently wrapped an arm around Mischa’s shoulders, pulling her into a hug when she doesn’t resist. “We need to be nice to our bodies, Cha-Cha.” Yelena says softly. “I’m not saying no more candy ever. I’m saying that we can cut back a little bit.”
“It tastes nice,” Mischa mumbles tearily into Yelena’s shoulder. “We didn’t get things that tasted nice.”
“I know. And it wasn’t fair,” Yelena agrees. She remembers her first meal out of the Red Room. The first month after her escape was a hazy of foggy memories but she distinctly remembers the taste of the pizza she ate, that made her mouth water and her tastebuds explode with flavor. “But putting so much sugar and artificial dye into our body isn’t fair either. We only get one body. It’s ours and we need to love it and look after it for a long time.”
Mischa buries her face into her mom’s shoulder, burrowing into her hold.
Later on, Mischa will help Yelena glue the crack in the container and dig out all the sweets stashed in her room. Her licorice ropes take up the most room in the container and Yelena has to fetch a second one because of all the sweets Mischa was hiding.
Yelena makes it clear to her girls that the sweets on the counter are Mischa’s and that they’re not allowed into them.
Mischa goes from constantly snacking on candy to only consuming a few pieces every day. Yelena even buys her a journal so that she can keep track of what she’s had and rate it on how much she had liked it.
Mischa suddenly has an appetite and doesn’t get any more cavities.