What Do Moms Know About Fashion?

My mother clucked her tongue when I had my neck stretched on my twentieth birthday. If she could have forbidden it, she would have. Not under my roof. Well, good thing I have my own place and my own money. When I came for Sunday dinner after having my skin sandpapered until it was soft and nearly translucent, she didn’t say a word. Her eyes traced the newly visible lines of the blue-black veins that webbed my collarbone and she choked down her protein substrate in silence. By the time the meal was over, there was a muscle twitching beneath her eye. I tried not to be offended that she flinched when I leaned in to kiss her cheek goodbye. What do old women know of fashion?The limb extensions—arms and legs—were expensive. I had to save all my hard-earned credits for ages before I could get it done. Mom came to visit me in recovery with a disapproving scowl on her face. I told her she didn’t have to come, but she muttered something under her breath that sounded like a mother’s duty. My…