Private Property

by La Jill Hunt

  “Oh, hello,” Eden said, opening the door.

  “Hi! Eden, right?” the woman asked. She wore a simple black Nike sweat suit and matching sneakers. Her hair was pulled back, and she looked like she was about to enjoy a midmorning stroll.

  Eden felt overdressed in her long black maxi-dress and heels. She nodded. “Yeah. Lisa, right?”

  “Yes. I’m sorry to bother you, but I wanted to give you this!” Lisa handed her a large decorated basket with an envelope attached.

  “Wow! Thanks!” Eden took the basket and smiled. “Come on in.”

  “Um, sure. Why not? Can I leave this here?” Lisa pointed at a red wagon at the edge of the entrance steps, which held more baskets.

  “I’m sure it will be safe.” Eden nodded.

  The two ladies entered the house. Riley’s and Peri’s laughter drifted through the rooms as Eden led their guest to where they were.

  “Who was it, Eden? Please don’t tell me the Jehovah’s Witnesses have discovered where we are!” Riley cackled.

  “I hope they have. That’s the only way you’ll get some Jesus in your life—if they knock on your door and hand Him to you in one of those pamphlets!” Peri responded.

  “Oh, my goodness, why do y’all have to be so loud?” Eden asked as she walked into the room with Lisa behind her. The two of them instantly seemed embarrassed as they realized their conversation was overheard. Peri nudged Riley, who was leaned over and giggling.

  “Why didn’t you tell me we had a guest?” Riley said, quickly straightening up in her seat.

  “Yes, why didn’t you tell her?” Peri added, placing his hand on his chest dramatically as if he were clutching a pair of imaginary pearls.

  “That’s what you get for being ignorant,” Eden scolded the two best friends. “I keep warning you about being loud and inappropriate. Now here this woman is, coming to visit and share the Gospel with us, and look how you all are acting.”

  The two of them looked down in shame and began apologizing until they saw Eden and Lisa smiling at one another.

  “You play too much!” Peri snapped.

  “You guys remember Lisa from the other night. She lives down the street with her husband, uhhhh . . .”

  “Marcus,” Peri volunteered, causing everyone to stare. He shrugged and said, “What? He looks like he could be a tight end in the NFL. Of course I’m gonna remember his name!”

  “Peri!” Riley gasped.

  “She knows her husband is fine. Don’t you?” Peri turned and asked Lisa.

  “Yes, I do know that.” Lisa laughed. “And thank you.”

  “Please, sit down, join us. Peri, pour her a drink. We were just having brunch. Grab a plate,” Riley told her. Unlike her sister, she was casually dressed in a pair of cutoff jean shorts, a T-shirt, and a pair of Ugg boots.

  “Thanks,” Lisa said, sitting in the empty chair beside Peri, who was now pouring orange juice and champagne into an empty glass and handing it to her.

  “Your husband is fine, though,” Riley teased. “I remembered his name, too!”

  “I can’t believe you.” Eden shook her head and placed the basket in the middle of the table. “Lisa came bearing gifts!”

  “Really? Awww, that’s so sweet!” Riley whined. “You didn’t have to do that.”

  “Well, I wanted to do something for the neighbors, and I also wanted to invite you to a cookout we are having next Saturday,” Lisa told them.

  “A cookout? I haven’t gone to one of those in years!” Eden laughed.

  “We used to have them all the time back home, and I figured it would be a great way to get everyone in the neighborhood together. Well, I guess the eight households who are here,” Lisa said.

  “I’m sure now that the neighborhood is all over the national news, all of the lots are gonna be sold, and those three houses that are already built are gonna go even faster.” Peri passed the glass to Lisa.

  Eden took the envelope off the basket and read, “‘This basket of sweets is just to say you’re invited to a barbecue next Saturday!’ That is soooo cute! Well, I know I will be there!”

  “That is cute! Who do have catering?” Peri asked.

  “I don’t have a caterer.” Lisa shrugged.

  “Do you need me to help you find one? I know an amazing barbecue master from Texas who does a great job if you need his number. He and his staff are impeccable! What’s your theme?” He reached into a leather bag on the floor beside him and pulled out an iPad.

  “I don’t have a theme.” Lisa laughed. “It’s a cookout!”

  “I told you. You are so bourgeois, Peri! OMG!” Riley giggled.

  “I can’t believe you’re gonna do all the work by yourself!” Peri said.

  “It’s not that much work. We’re only inviting people in the neighborhood. Heck, those are the only people we know really, and we just met you guys the other night. We’ve only lived here for about two months.”

  “Where are you from originally?” Eden asked, opening the basket and taking out what looked like a blueberry muffin.

  “We’re from a small town called Bristol, North Carolina,” Lisa told them.

  “I knew I recognized that accent.” Peri smiled. “I love Southerners! They are so hospitable!”

  Eden bit into the muffin, and it tasted like heaven in her mouth. It was slightly thicker than she expected, but the buttery flavor and sweetness were unimaginable. “Where did you get these? They are freakin’ amazing!”

  “I made them,” Lisa replied.

  “You lie!” Eden said, taking another bite. “I have never tasted a blueberry muffin like this!”

  “Well, technically it’s not a muffin. It’s a pound cake, but I put it in muffin pans to kinda make it easier to pass out. They are bigger than regular muffins. I figured that was better than putting slices of cake into the basket. That seemed kinda tacky,” Lisa explained.

  Eden and Peri reached into the basket and started pulling out items. There were additional flavors of the pound-cake muffins that she made: strawberry, chocolate, and peach. The three of them sat at the table and tasted each one. There were also cookies and brownies as well.

  “These are the best muffins . . . cakes . . . whatever they are . . . I’ve ever had. Jesus, I’m gonna have to be on that damn elliptical for two hours tonight, and I don’t care because it’s gonna be well worth it,” Peri announced, reaching and taking another muffin.

  “Stop it! You’re not gonna eat up all our goodies!” Eden smacked his hand.

  “Don’t worry, you have your own basket, Peri. Had I known you were here, I would’ve brought yours in!” Lisa told him as she stood up. “That reminds me, I need to go complete my deliveries. I hope no one has stolen them, or one of those dogs across the street hasn’t gotten to them. I’m saving that house for last.”

  “Those dogs stay barking!” Riley shook her head.

  “I hate dogs. They scare me.” Lisa sighed.

  “Are you sure you don’t need help with anything for the soiree next weekend, Lisa?” Peri offered.

  “No, my sister is actually coming to visit, so she will be more than enough help. And my husband will handle the grilling. The only thing I need is for you all to please come and have a great time,” Lisa said as they all walked through the foyer and toward the front door.

  “Marcus on the grill? Oh, I am there!” Peri nodded, giving Riley a high five.

  “He wouldn’t happen to have any brothers you can invite, would he?” Riley asked.

  “He does have a brother, but he’s definitely not invited.” Lisa laughed. “He’s more trouble than you two combined would be able to handle.”

  “I doubt that,” Peri said. “Especially if he looks anything like your husband.”

  They walked Lisa out, and she gave Peri his basket of goodies along with his invitation, and he promised to see her at the cookout.

  “That was so nice of her,” Riley said when they went back inside.

  “Yes, it was. She is a sweet
heart. I love her Southern accent.” Peri nodded.

  Eden’s cell phone rang, and she excused herself. She knew if Riley saw who it was, she would be pissed.

  “Hello,” Eden said, walking up the steps and into her bedroom.

  “How are you?” he said.

  “I’m fine.”

  “And how is she?”

  “She’s fine.”

  “Are you sure? The last time you told me she was fine, she was headed to rehab.”

  “That was because she was using to cope with the fact that you walked out on her,” Eden said.

  “That’s not fair. You can’t blame that on me.”

  “No, what isn’t fair is you were her best friend who abandoned her when she needed you the most. You said you loved her.”

  “I did love her. I still do. But I wasn’t in love with her. I was and am in love with you.”

  Eden ended the call without responding. She didn’t want to hear anything else. Her phone began vibrating, and she hesitated before answering it again.

  “I can’t deal with this,” she told him.

  “You can’t deal with the truth? Eden, you know how I feel about you.”

  “You can’t have those feelings for me. They aren’t right. I shouldn’t even be talking to you right now. If Riley knew—”

  “I don’t have a problem with her knowing. You do.”

  “That shows how little you care about her. You know she’s still in love with you,” Eden hissed into the phone.

  “She’s not in love with me, Eden. We weren’t in love. Your sister and I were codependent on one another. There’s a big difference. She needed a superhero in her life, and I needed someone to save. We fed off one another’s insecurities. But you and I, what we have—”

  “We don’t have anything! Stop it!”

  “No, you stop it. Stop denying that you feel the same way I do. Stop forcing yourself to believe that your sister and I had some fairy-tale romance when it wasn’t. Stop making me feel like my falling in love with you is something horrible. Stop acting like when we were together, it didn’t feel like magic.”

  “It wasn’t magic. It was wrong, and you know it. That’s why you walked out and left me here to pick up the broken pieces of my sister’s life, because you know what happened was wrong. You put a ring on her finger, and she was planning a wedding. ”

  There was a brief silence.

  “I couldn’t marry her, Eden. Not after everything that happened. It just wouldn’t have been right for any of us.”

  “But she loved you. I could have left, and you could have stayed. Things would be different.”

  “All of us would be miserable. Hell, I’m miserable now. I miss you, and I want to see you more than anything. Come and meet me—”

  Again Eden ended the call. This time when it rang again, she didn’t answer it. She should have never answered it in the first place, but the truth was, she wanted to and needed to hear his voice. It had been a few months since they had talked. The last time was when Riley had checked into rehab. He was furious that she hadn’t let him know what was going on. She didn’t feel inclined to let him know because in her mind, had he stayed, Riley wouldn’t have been on the downward spiral that she was now on.

  Cornelius Baker was Riley’s entire world, and now because of Eden, he was gone.

  Cornelius was a cameraman who met Riley while she was filming some low-budget commercial for a new fad diet pill. Eden didn’t understand why Riley even took the job, because she had never needed or taken diet pills in her entire life. But Riley was convinced that being on screen for a cheap commercial was better than not being on screen at all.

  They filmed for two days, and by the time they wrapped, all Riley could talk about was someone named “Neil,” whom she had met on set and who had caught her eye.

  “Eden, did I tell you what Neil said to me when I walked on set this morning?” Riley gushed through the phone.

  “Yes, Riley, three times already,” Eden said. She had never heard her sister so giddy over a guy. Most of the time Riley was unimpressed by the men she came in contact with. Neil was different. He wasn’t in awe of her being the infamous Riley Rodriguez, nor was he intimidated by her cocky attitude. When it came to Riley, he seemed unbothered, and for Riley, that was a turn-on.

  “I want to go on a date with him,” Riley whined.

  “Then ask him out,” Eden told her.

  “Nooooo, I can’t do that. That’s rude.”

  “This isn’t the nineteen-hundreds, Riley. Women ask men out all the time. Men like confident women.”

  “That’s not true. Men like the thrill of the chase. That’s why women are supposed to play hard to get. Men are natural hunters,” Riley told her matter-of-factly.

  “When is the last time you’ve been on a date?”

  “Sheesh, a while,” Riley replied.

  “Exactly.”

  “But we’ve wrapped filming, and I don’t know how to get in contact with him.” Riley sighed.

  “I’m sure the director can tell you how to find him,” Eden said. “Sometimes you have to go after what you want! Make it happen instead of waiting for it to happen!”

  “You sound like a motivational speaker. Have you been watching Tony Robbins?”

  “No, I haven’t. Now stop wasting time with me and go get your man!”

  Eden’s speech worked, and before she knew it, Riley chased Neil down and proudly showed him off on her arm. The two of them were truly an odd couple. Riley was loud, outspoken, and the center of attention. Neil was quiet, observant, and laid-back. Unlike all of her other beaux, Neil seemed to be able to handle Riley’s partying and wild streak, until about a year after they had been dating.

  “Eden! Are you home?” Riley’s voice came bellowing from outside of Eden’s apartment, which was an hour away from where Riley lived. She had been in her living room preparing lesson plans for the kindergarten class that she taught.

  “Riley?” Eden jumped up and ran to the door. She opened it, and Riley almost fell in, drunk. She looked around to see if someone had driven her, but no one was there. “How did you get here? Please don’t tell me you drove.”

  “Yes. I’m a grown-ass woman. I know how to drive,” Riley said, pushing past Eden into the living room and falling onto the sofa.

  Eden grabbed the books and papers she was working on out of the way. “You’re in no condition to drive. I’m surprised you made it here.”

  “I had to drive myself. Neil left me all alone.”

  “All alone where?”

  “We were at this party downtown. A friend of mine just got a spot on a sitcom, so we went to celebrate. Everyone was having a great time, but you know how Neil is. I was dancing, and he got all upset. Why does he do this? He gets mad over the dumbest stuff,” Riley said, slumping over onto her side. The tight sequined dress she had on rose over her hips and Eden could see that she wasn’t wearing any underwear.

  “I doubt that he got mad because you were dancing.” Eden shook her head. She went into her room and grabbed one of her oversized T-shirts and a pillow for her sister.

  “We were dancing,” Riley repeated.

  “Who is we?” Eden said, now pulling the dress over Riley’s head and helping her into the shirt.

  “Some guy. He said he was my biggest fan.”

  “All guys say they are your biggest fan, Riley. Sit up so I can pull this down.”

  “He asked me to dance. You remember that video I was in by Moby D? The one where I had on the mermaid outfit? Mom was mad because I was topless?”

  “We all remember that one.” Eden sighed.

  “The song came on. Here I was talking to my biggest fan, and the song comes on where I starred as the love interest in the video. It was fate. I had to dance with him!”

  “I think saying you were the love interest is a stretch,” Eden said. The way Eden saw it, it was more like a bunch of thug-looking rappers standing over and looking at a topless Riley dressed as a mer
maid, splashing in a bathtub and mouthing the words to the chorus. The song was offensive, sexist, and misogynistic, but it was melodic, and the video was borderline pornographic. It was an instant hit, to their parents’ and a whole lot of other people’s dismay, including Neil.

  “He pulled me up, and we were jamming. Everyone was crowding around us. Then out of nowhere, here comes Mr. Spoilsport, grabbing on me and yelling for me to stop! So the guy gets mad—”

  Eden’s cell phone began ringing. As if he could sense them talking about him, Neil was calling.

  “She’s fine,” Eden said without even saying hello.

  “Where is she? Did she tell you what happened? Your sister is crazy!” Neil snapped.

  “She told me she was dancing with some guy and you got upset,” Eden told him.

  “Did she tell you he had her dancing on top of a table to that song in front of a whole bunch of other guys who were with him? Did she tell you she ain’t have no drawers on and they were taking pictures with their phones?”

  Eden sighed. “No, she didn’t tell me all that.”

  “Is that him? Is that Neil? Give me the phone!” Riley jumped up and snatched the phone from her. “What the fuck do you want? You always ruin it when I’m having a good time! You always get mad!” Riley yelled into the phone.

  “Riley, calm down. I have neighbors,” Eden warned her.

  “You knew what the deal was when we started dating! Guys are gonna approach me, Neil! What? I don’t give a damn! I’m Riley Rodriguez! Fuck you!” Suddenly, Riley took Eden’s cell phone and threw it across the room, breaking it into pieces and scratching the paint on the wall.

  “Riley! What is wrong with you?” Eden yelled.

  “I hate him! He makes me sick! All I want is someone to love me, and he can’t even do that!” Riley cried.

  “He does love you, Riley. That’s why he is so protective of you. Hell, he needs to be here now because I’m about to fuck you up. You broke my phone, and look at my wall.” Eden picked the broken phone up off the floor.

  “Why can’t he just love me?” Riley bawled.

  Eden stared at her sister and shook her head. Not only was Riley an angry drunk, but she also turned into a crier. She went into the hallway closet, handed her a blanket, and went into her bedroom, closing the door behind her.