What They Left Behind

by Karen Teagarden

Peter came over that weekend with his American Eskimo puppy, Harley. Michele was instantly enamored with the dog and played with him for hours. She also really liked Peter. Gennie had to admit he got along great with kids. During the show’s pilot, Damien had to rescue a busload full of school kids that a crazed terrorist kidnapped. Even though the scene sounded exciting on paper, shooting it was very long and boring and the kids were understandably antsy. Peter managed to keep them entertained between takes. Before he went home that day, Peter invited her over to his house for Easter dinner.

  Gennie imagined that dinner would be a formal occasion. Peter’s mother was a well-known actress, known for dressing in extravagant and expensive designer clothes. Gennie didn’t really have enough time to go shopping so she put on her best outfit, a fitted ankle length black dress with matching pumps. She put her hair up in a bun and for the first time in her life regretted not having her ears pierced. Pearl earrings would have really made the outfit. She put on a pearl necklace instead.

  She dressed up Michele too. She had a knee length white dress with eyelet ruffles on the bottom and on the sleeves. Colleen gave it to her as a birthday present last year but Michele hadn’t worn it until now. Gennie could tell she wasn’t crazy about it by her deep pout, but she didn’t say anything.

  “We’re not eating dinner with the President, you know,” Michele said in an annoyed voice.

  “No, we’re having dinner with some famous people. They have money and always dress up, so we have to dress up too.”

  “Why can’t we just be ourselves?”

  “We are ourselves. We’re just…a little more fancy, I guess.”

  “I don’t like being fancy.”

  “Well, I don’t either, but we have to make a good impression.”

  Then, Gennie heard a knock at the kitchen door. She went to open it. Michele was not far behind her.

  She knew it was probably Peter, but she was surprised to see him in a dark brown suit, white shirt, and brown striped tie. There were a dozen red roses in his hand. He looked like he was going to the prom.

  “These are for you,” he said, handing the bouquet to Gennie. He looked down at Michele. “And I’ve got a present for you too.”

  Michele’s eyes sparkled, something Gennie hadn’t seen since Rory died.

  He pulled a medium sized box out from underneath his arm that Gennie hadn’t even noticed before and handed it to Michele.

  “Can I open it now?” she asked him.

  “Sure. That’s what gifts are for, right?”

  Michele tore the wrapping paper open. “Oh wow!” she exclaimed. It was a bright red portable tape player.

  “Do you like The Village People?” he asked.

  “Yeah!”

  “Well, that’s the tape inside the player. I figured you needed something to listen to.”

  Michele hugged him. “Thank you!” she cried. “That’s the coolest gift I ever got in my life!”

  “Thank you for the flowers,” Gennie said in a more subdued manner. “You really didn’t have to do this, you know.”

  “No, I didn’t, but I wanted to. I like making people happy, especially two cute looking girls.”

  Michele was blushing probably as much as she was.

  “You guys must be starving,” he said. “Let’s go get some dinner.”

  The Davidson family home was just as Gennie pictured it would be, a stately Spanish style mansion nestled in the Hollywood Hills. The front yard was terraced and there were flowers and statuary everywhere.

  After Peter pulled into the very steep driveway, they entered a garage that looked like a showplace for expensive cars.

  “The bikes are over there on the other wall,” Peter said, pointing to a line of shiny motorcycles.

  “This is unbelievable,” Gennie said, looking around.

  “This must be the biggest garage ever!” Michele said.

  “Well, my dad likes classic cars and I like bikes. We needed a really big place to put them all,” Peter replied.

  From the garage, they entered the house, which was even more impressive. Gennie’s entire home could have probably fit inside one of the rooms in the Davidson mansion. Peter introduced them to the house’s staff, a cook and two maids. They were dressed in street clothes and Gennie probably wouldn’t have been able to tell them apart from the guests, except that they wore white aprons over their clothes.

  “Where’s my folks?” Peter asked one of the maids.

  “Your dad is in the great room reading the paper,” One of the maids, who was around Gennie’s age and had blonde bobbed hair, said, “and your mom is still upstairs getting ready.”

  “What’s a great room?” Michele asked.

  “It’s better than a good room,” Peter replied.

  Michele giggled. “No really, what is it?”

  “Well…it’s sort of like a really big living room,” Peter said, “except it doesn’t have a TV in it.”

  “Where do you put your TV then?”

  “In the okay room.”

  Michele burst out laughing.

  “No actually, we have a den with a really big TV, then my parents and I have our own TV’s in our bedrooms, in case we don’t want to watch the same thing.”

  “Three TV’s! Wow! You must be super rich!”

  Gennie and Peter both laughed.

  “Want to say hi to my dad?” Peter asked.

  “Sure,” Gennie replied.

  They went into the great room where Damien’s face was covered by a newspaper. He was dressed more conservatively than he usually was on the set, wearing dark green slacks, dark blue socks and leather loafers.

  “Hey Dad,” Peter said, “Gennie’s here.”

  Damien’s paper came down as soon as he said ‘Gennie’.

  “I hope you aren’t dating,” he said. Though he was smiling, his voice had a sarcastic edge. Gennie couldn’t tell if he was joking or not.

  “We’re just friends,” Gennie explained.

  He then examined Michele as if he was looking at a strange object. “I forgot you had a kid. I hope she isn’t hyperactive at all. We’ve got a lot of expensive stuff in here, you know.”

  “Dad!” Peter said.

  “I won’t break anything,” Michele replied. “Promise.”

  “Good,” Damien said, and went back to his newspaper.

  Peter seemed visibly upset. “Let’s go see Mom,” he said, anger showing through his voice.

  “Is Damien in a bad mood?” Gennie whispered, as they ascended the huge curving staircase. He never showed any emotion unless he was acting.

  “No, he’s probably just annoyed because he doesn’t like being interrupted when he’s reading the paper. Plus kids aren’t allowed in that room.”

  They were on the landing when a woman came through one of a line of double doors. She had long curly blond hair and was wearing a tight fitting blue halter dress. She looked about thirty-five at the most, though Gennie knew she had to be a lot older than that. She had a body most teenagers would die for.

  “So this is the friend you invited over for dinner?” she asked.

  “Yep,” Peter replied. “This is Gennie.”

  “Oh, nice to meet you, Gennie,” her small bejeweled hand shook Gennie’s own. “I’m Sherisse. You probably recognize me?”

  It seemed more of a question than a statement. “Yes,” Gennie replied. “You used to be in the movies.”

  A smile lit up her face. “That’s right. How nice of you to remember. And who is this little one here?”

  “I’m Michele,” she said.

  Sherisse bent down and shook Michele’s hand. “It’s very nice to meet you, Michele.”

  “So, you’re a real movie star?” Michele asked.

  “Oh yes, I was in a lot of movies. You probably don’t know any of them. My last one was about fifteen years ago.”

  “I think I’ve seen you on TV, though.”

  “Oh
yes, I’m TV all the time. You’ve probably seen me on a lot of shows.”

  Michele nodded. “Why aren’t you in movies anymore?”

  Sherisse’s smile faded. “Well, when I had my son, it was very hard to do movies because I didn’t want to travel and leave him at home, so I started doing TV. That way I could be home every night to tuck him into bed.”

  Gennie suspected that wasn’t the actual reason, but she wasn’t about to say anything about it.

  “How is your father behaving himself?” Sherisse asked Peter.

  “He’s being miserable, as usual,” Peter answered.

  “Well, I’ll go downstairs and slap some sense into him,” she said. “You two make yourselves at home.”

  “By the way,” Peter asked. “When will dinner by ready?”

  “I have no idea,” Sherisse replied. “I’m not the one making it. I’ll tell the chef to let you know when it’s ready.”

  “You want to go see my nanny?” Peter asked.

  “You mean your grandma?” Michele said.

  Peter chuckled. “No, she’s a little young to be my grandma. She used to babysit me when I was little.”

  “Why is she still here? Do you still need babysitting?” Michele asked.

  Peter smiled. “No, she does other stuff around the house now, but I still call her my nanny. Her room is right down the hall here.”

  Peter led them to another pair of solid oak doors and knocked on one of them.

  “Is it okay to come in?” he asked.

  “Yes, yes it is,” a woman with a Spanish accent replied.

  They entered a room with a fourteen-foot high ceiling. It was about the size of Gennie’s living room and kitchen combined. In the far corner of the room was an oversized canopy bed, mahogany night stand and vanity that looked like something the Queen of England would have for her own bedroom. At the other end was a lady who was probably in her thirties knitting what looked like a white shawl or blanket.

  When she saw them come in her room, the woman put aside her knitting and gingerly lifted herself off the chair. It was obvious to Gennie that she had a hard time moving around.

  “Bienvenido bebé,” she said to Peter, putting his arms around him.

  “I’ve only been gone since this morning, Nanny,” Peter said.

  “I know that,” she said, “It seems longer, though. Are these your friends?”

  “Yeah. This is Gennie, who I work with on the set and this is her daughter, Michele.”

  “Nice to meet you,” Nanny said to them.

  “Nanny’s taken care of me since day one, haven’t you?”

  “Yes, and I’m still taking care of him. I have to fold all his underwear now instead of changing his diapers.”

  Gennie and Michele chuckled.

  “Are you from here?” Nanny asked Gennie. “You don’t look like a Barbie Doll like most of his friends.”

  “No, I’m originally from Alaska, but I’ve been living in California for almost twenty years. I imagine you’re not from around here either.”

  “I’m from Novillero, in Mexico. I was an extra on the movie Mr. Davidson was making. I was very poor so he helped me get my green card and hired me to take care of Peter. I’ve been here almost twenty years, like you.”

  “What was Peter like as a baby?” Gennie asked.

  “He was very good,” Nanny replied. “He was chubby and a little sweetheart.”

  “You must have been really young at that time.”

  “I was about sixteen,” Nanny replied. “I have twelve brothers and sisters and I’m the oldest, so it was no big deal to me. You have any brothers or sisters?”

  “Yes, I have a twin brother.”

  “You’re single, right? Peter wouldn’t bring you here if you weren’t.”

  “Well…I was married, but…my husband passed away.”

  “Oh…I’m sorry. I feel so stupid now for asking.”

  “It’s all right, Mrs…”

  “Just call me Rina. I’ve never been married so I’m not a Missus.”

  Rina seemed to be a very nice lady and they chatted for about fifteen minutes until the intercom buzzed and the chef announced dinner was ready. In the dining room they were served beef something or other with pine nuts and sundried tomatoes with asparagus. It was very different from the simple dinners she served at home. She noticed Michele was using her fork to toy with the asparagus, and she had a less than thrilled look on her face.

  To Gennie’s surprise, Michele managed to eat about half of her meal. Though it didn’t look like much, Gennie was stuffed. She had to decline the chocolate torte. Instead, she gave hers to Michele, who gobbled it down.

  Though it was delicious, Gennie was glad the meal was over. Damien was staring at them and it made her uncomfortable. She was afraid to say or do anything, in case it made Damien’s mood worse. She imagined with Michele’s less than perfect table manners, she was already failing in his book.

  As soon as dessert was done, Peter stood up.

  “Do you want to go for a little ride around town?” he asked.

  “Sure,” Gennie replied and within ten minutes, they left the house.

  “Is dinner always like that?” Gennie asked him as soon as they left the property.

  “Yeah, just about,” Peter said.

  “Damien is sure in a mood today.”

  Peter chuckled. “He’s jealous.”

  “Of what?” Then it hit Gennie what it could be. “Ohhh.”

  “My dad hates every girlfriend I have and now he thinks you’re one of them. I guess I’m butting in on his territory or something.”

  “Um, he’s married to a beautiful woman. What is there to be jealous or territorial about?”

  “He’s not exactly faithful and my mom knows it.”

  “Then why are they together?”

  Peter shrugged. “Beats me. I guess they don’t want to go through a messy divorce. It’s not worth it to them. Hey, you want to go get an ice cream?”

  “We had chocolate cake ten minutes ago.”

  “So what? Hey, Michele, you want ice cream?”

  “Yeah!” Michele yelled from the back seat.

  “You don’t want to break the kid’s heart, do you?” Peter said to Gennie, smiling.

  “Wow…you are a manipulative little turd, aren’t you?”

  “Was that a compliment?” Peter asked, laughing.

  Gennie sighed.

  “Just what I thought,” he said. “Hey, I think there’s a Baskin-Robbins around the corner here.”

  Peter had a banana split, while Michele ordered a small vanilla cone with sprinkles on it. Gennie gave in and had a small chocolate ice cream in a cup.

  They ate their ice cream in the car. Peter finished his banana split before Gennie was halfway through with hers. He turned on the radio. “You’re In My Heart” by Rod Stewart was playing. Gennie noticed he casually put his hand on her knee but she didn’t say anything.

  “This doesn’t seem like your kind of song.”

  “It’s okay,” he said. About two minutes later, he lifted his hand from her knee and started the car. To her surprise, Gennie found herself feeling disappointed. Obviously, he didn’t realize what he was doing.

  “You want to go home?” Peter asked.

  “Sure,” Gennie replied.

  Peter drove her home. She figured he would leave, but Michele insisted that he stay.

  “You know what?” Peter said. “I’ll stay for about an hour at your house.”

  Michele’s eyes immediately brightened.

  “I think she likes you,” Gennie said. “So, do you want anything to drink?”

  “Nah, I’ll just hang out in your backyard and be annoying.”

  Gennie chuckled. “Well, I’m going to get myself a can of soda. Make yourself at home in my backyard while you’re at it.”

  When Gennie went through the sliding glass door with a can of Tab in hand, she saw
Peter on the porch swing. It took her aback a little because they had the swing installed on the covered part of their patio only a month before Rory died. She remembered Rory joking they’d be swinging out there in 2010, when they were both older than dirt. They’d be watching the sunset while their grandkids were playing in the yard. In reality, Rory only sat on it once, right after it was installed. Gennie hadn’t used it since, preferring to sit on a blue and green canvas lawn chair she purchased at Kmart a few months after he passed away.

  She took a few steps toward Peter. He turned his head toward her.

  “It’s okay to sit down, you know,” he said.

  Gennie very reluctantly sat on the porch swing. She felt like she was committing a carnal sin being next to Peter on it.

  “This is nice,” he said.

  “Yeah,” Gennie replied.

  “You use this thing much? It looks brand new.”

  “No, I never use it. We had it installed a couple of years ago.”

  “Why did you pay to have it put in when you knew you weren’t going to use it?”

  Though it was a perfectly innocent question, it really irritated Gennie. “I didn’t know I wasn’t going to use it.”

  “Okay, that makes zero sense.”

  “Excuse me, but it was Rory’s idea, not mine.”

  Peter seemed to understand. “Oh…I get it now. Geez, sorry about that. I feel like such a moron.”

  Gennie sighed. “It’s okay.”

  Very unexpectedly, he slid his arm behind her back and held her close.

  “You’re cold,” he said, placing his hand on top of hers.

  “You’re nice and warm,” she said. She put her head on his shoulder. They stayed that way for more than an hour.

  “Hey,” Peter said, nudging her awake. “I gotta go.”

  “Huh?” she replied. She hadn’t even realized she had fallen asleep. “Okay…I’ll let you go then.”

  Gennie called Michele, who was playing on her swing set, over.

  “Maybe I’ll come back over sometime next week,” Peter said to Michele. “And I’ll bring Harley.”

  “I can’t wait!” Michele replied.

  “See you later, Michele,” he said. He bent over and gave her a hug, and then he turned to Gennie.

  “I got some advice for you.”

  “What?”

  “Use your porch swing more often.”

  “Okay,” Gennie said.

  Gennie wasn’t expecting a kiss but she received one--on the cheek.

  “See you later,” he said.

  “You too,” she replied. She wanted to kiss him in return but she didn’t. He looked a little bit disappointed, but he didn’t say anything.

  Gennie looked out the kitchen window and watched him as he drove off. Michele waved goodbye to him and he waved back before heading out onto the road. Gennie felt lost when he left, which a feeling she neither expected nor wanted.

  “Mom, can you help me take this ugly outfit off? I don’t want to be fancy anymore.”

  Thank god for Michele, she thought. She felt glad that she was taken out of that reverie.

  “Sure, hon,” she said, and they left the kitchen window.

  Chapter 63: April 16