Everything

by Williams, Jeri

  “Surprise me, chile.” She got up and was shooing me out. Again.

  Once again I sat in my car two houses down and watched as she said good-bye to Mr. Davis in a way that no one should ever have to see her almost seventy-year-old anything say good-bye to someone. And this time, I went home instead of texting Tina. I needed to talk to Mom about what happened with Opal this morning, plus I wanted to make sure Aria would come with me tonight. Before starting my car, I needed to break the news to Trevor that the double feature would be put on hold. He took it better than I thought after promising me that the double feature would be even better because it was delayed.

  I put my phone away and drove over to my parents’ house with a smile, knowing that my night wouldn’t be that bad if I had the double feature to look forward to. When I got there, I used my old key and let myself in and went to my old room, as I knew my mom wasn’t up yet but Aria would be.

  When I heard pop music coming from the bathroom, I went to her room to wait for her to come out. When she did, she had her hair wrapped in a towel and was dressed in jeans and a hot pink and green tank top. Her color choice was almost as outrageous as Opal’s. Almost.

  “Hey,” she said, not at all surprised to see me.

  “Hey, so what are you doing tonight after school?”

  “Apparently, whatever you have planned for me.” She grinned.

  “Dinner with Opal and her new special friend.” I wagged my eyebrows at the implication of tonight’s dinner.

  “Well, well, well.” She danced out the words. “Opal’s found herself a man.” She growled out the word “man.”

  “Want to know a secret?”

  “Ohhh, you Nancy Drew’d him didn’t you?” She came closer. “Who is it, Dac? Wait. Let me guess... No, no... I’ll never guess. Tell me.”

  “Are you sure? This is kind of fun to watch—your little brain trying to figure it out. I can see smoke.” I pointed to her head.

  “I know, right?” she admitted. “It hurts,” she said in a feeble voice.

  “If it had not been for Opal acting all weird, weirder than normal, I would have never found out. I think it just started, actually.” I began to tell her the story of how I had come to find out about Opal and Mr. Davis, but Aria was impatient.

  “Just tell me already!” she blared.

  “Okay, okay,” I said, laughing at her eagerness for gossip. “It’s Mr. Davis,” I said dramatically.

  “Animal clinic Mr. Davis?” she asked skeptically.

  I simply nodded and smiled.

  “Shit,” she breathed out, then quickly said, “I’m sorry, that slipped out.”

  “Apparently, it’s the normal response in this situation,” I smirked.

  “Well, way to catch a man. He’s loaded.” She let out a little whistle.

  “Well, that didn’t sound like a gold digger at all,” I said, rolling my eyes.

  “Oh, don’t tell me you weren’t thinking it too.” She cut her eyes at me petulantly.

  “Okay, maybe a little,” I conceded. “Anyway, she wants us to cook dinner for them tonight.”

  She shrugged her shoulders. “Okay, sure. What are you cooking?”

  “You mean what are we cooking. You’re helping.”

  “Dac, I burnt water,” she deadpanned.

  “Technically, you burnt the pot the water was in, but I see your point.” I laughed. “Then you can just be my kitchen aide.”

  “Okay.” She clapped.

  I rolled my eyes again and left her to finish getting dressed while I went to go and talk to Mom about my other Opal drama.

  I waited this time at the kitchen table instead of knocking on the bedroom door, so as not to suffer Wally’s not-so-warm welcome again. She came out a little while later, dressed and ready for work.

  “What brings you by this morning, honey?” She leaned over, placing a kiss on my cheek.

  I sighed considerably before replying, “Opal.”

  “Oh, dear.” Giving me a grave look, she sat down, and I began telling her about this morning’s events, holding off on telling her about Mr. Davis—that could wait until later.

  “I think it’s time that she saw someone, Dacey,” Mom said, distressed.

  “I know. I do too. But how can I convince her? I just know she’s going to put up a fight. This is Opal we are talking about here.” She once relocated her own shoulder because she was too stubborn to go to the hospital when she fell out of a tree while picking oranges and dislocated it.

  “You don’t give her a choice, Dacey,” Mom started. “Remember when you wanted a new car and I said that if you could pay for the insurance then we would get you a used one?”

  “Yeah, it took me forever to find a job that I could do after school that would work with my schedule. But I did odds and ends for neighbors and babysat to save up,” I related, remembering those grueling days.

  “Exactly. You found a way. If you dangle a fish on a hook in front of a bear...” She gave me an appreciative look.

  “Who’s a bear?” Aria interrupted, getting her usual morning juice from the fridge.

  “Mom-ism,” I muttered. “But I got it. Mom was telling me I had to dangle a fish in front of Opal.”

  Aria shrugged her shoulders and chimed in, “Soooo...” she drew out. “Did Dac tell you she and I are going to Opal’s tonight for dinner to meet her special friend?” She put air quotes around “special friend.”

  Brows raised, Mom looked at me. “No, she didn’t.”

  “I was getting to that.” I looked at her sheepishly.

  “Who is the lucky gentleman?” Mom questioned.

  “Ummm...” I hesitated. “Mr. Davis.”

  “Nooo!” Mom screamed, scandalized.

  Aria giggled and hopped up and down. “Right! That’s what I said.”

  I shot her a dubious look, and she stuck her tongue out at me.

  “Well, that’s a turn of events,” said Mom, getting up from her seat at the table.

  “Yeah, this changes things. She no longer wants me to check on her, and I told her not until I know she is okay, so she set up the dinner so I could meet the man who would be looking after her. A dinner that I have to cook,” I added, remembering.

  “That I’m helping with,” Aria added eagerly.

  “Yeah, helping,” I muttered, while she shot me a look.

  “Well, what are you going to cook?” Mom turned to me expectantly.

  “Mom, I know how to cook like five things. I don’t know,” I said hopelessly.

  She went to the box on the counter where she kept her recipes and shuffled through a few, then came back with a card and handed it to me.

  “Here, this is easy to make and good.”

  “Rice chicken potpie?” I crinkled my nose. I had never heard of rice chicken potpie.

  “Rice chicken potpie?” Aria voiced, along with my suspicion.

  “It’s a classic, trust me,” Mom winked, grabbing her purse. “I have to take off for work. The ingredients you’ll need are on the back. Call me if you need me.” She kissed her hand and blew us a kiss, then waved to us both on her way out.

  I looked at the ingredients. Apart from piecrust and chicken, I was pretty sure Aunt Opal had most of this stuff and it would take about forty-five minutes to cook but about an hour in the kitchen for prep.

  “I’m going to leave before Dad wakes up.” I stood to leave just as Wally came out of my parents’ bedroom, dressed in his uniform ready for work.

  “Morning, Dad.” Aria bounced over to give him a kiss on the cheek.

  “Morning, baby girl,” he said, leaning into the kiss.

  “What are you doing here?” He eyed me.

  “I came to talk to Mom and to see if Aria can come to Opal’s for dinner tonight.”

  He gave me a sour look. “I’m sure Aria has homework or something better to do than go to that woman’s house for dinner.” He looked at Aria pointedly. We all knew how he felt about Opal.

  She looked at him e
venly. “No, Daddy, I don’t. Besides, Dacey needs my help cooking, so I’m going.”

  “You cook?” He turned a stunned eye toward me.

  “Mom gave me a recipe,” I said, skirting the original question.

  “Don’t screw it up,” he barked out.

  “Thanks for the vote of confidence, Dad,” I muttered, making my way toward the door.

  “She’s going to rock that recipe, Dad. Want me to bring you back some?” she asked hopefully. She was always trying.

  “No thanks,” he replied in a clipped tone.

  “Well, I’m headed out. I’ll see you later, A. Bye, Dad.” I waved to them both and left.

  I didn’t expect Wally to remember that I was the one to cook for myself when he knew I was old enough to. At first it was microwaveable things like hot dogs and macaroni, but then I graduated to spaghetti and meatballs and other minor things. By the time Mom came along, she assumed the pots and pans were burnt and destroyed due to Wally’s disastrous cooking. He wasn’t a bad father, just to me.

  It was still a little early, so I decided to head to the campus bookstore, as they sold the best giant blueberry muffins there.

  “You must live here,” I said by way of greeting Riley, who was behind the counter arranging the muffins in a pyramid.

  “It feels like it.” He smiled as he was closing the glass case on the display.

  “No, don’t do that. I want one of those muffins. Blueberry, please.”

  “As you wish,” he answered, bowing at the waist.

  “And when you’re done, Cinderfella, clean off the counters and mop the floors,” I smirked at him.

  “Did you just call me Cinderfella?” He asked as he got my order.

  “I did,” I said, taking my muffin from him.

  “Thank you?” He turned his head to the side as if he was testing the word out.

  “Well, I could have called you Cinderella, but you’re not a girl. Unless...” I trailed off and raised my eyebrow at him.

  “I’ll take Cinderfella,” he said sarcastically.

  I chuckled under my breath, taking a bite of my muffin.

  “Did you offer your sister my help on The Frost?”

  “I did. She said that would be great.” I swallowed loudly. “But it can’t be tonight. We have plans.”

  “It has to be in the next three days. Auditions are then.”

  “Well, I don’t have anything planned for her tomorrow night, but you might want to ask her.”

  “What, you’re not her event planner?” he joked. “I thought you two were joined at the hip.”

  “Usually, but as of late, no. I’ll text her your number, and you guys can get together.” I pulled out my cellphone and shot her a quick text with Riley’s phone number. His phone buzzed in his pocket fifteen seconds later, and he pulled it out and smiled.

  “Man, she is quick.” He showed me the “When can we meet, Ri-Ri?” text from Aria.

  “A teenager who is quick on a phone, who knew?” I feigned shock.

  “You got me,” he said, sliding his phone back in his pocket. “So what’s on the agenda tonight for the sisters?”

  “We have a family dinner with my aunt,” I said vapidly, when it was anything but.

  “Cool. I’d like to hang with your aunt. I bet she has some great stories.” He had a look of longing in his eyes.

  “Okay?” I laughed out. “That’s not something I hear people say.”

  “Hey, she has lived in this town a very long time. I’m sure she has great stories she could tell about the history of it and the people of the town,” he said, getting defensive.

  “Oh, she has stories all right.” I continued to laugh. “My aunt once told me that the TV was talking to her, so she got rid of all her TVs in her house. Are those the kinds of stories you want?”

  “Okay, well, not those stories,” he relented. “But I’m sure if you just asked her, she could tell you a good piece of history.”

  “Yeah, but would it be true?” I challenged.

  He studied me before his next question. “Do you...do you ever ask her about your mom?”

  I let his question sink in before replying. Opal had always been Opal, the town crazy. But she was sane before she started losing her memory and being confused, and she would tell me about my mother in spurts. We would be in the backyard or around town, and she would say that something I did reminded her of my mother or that my eyes had the same sparkle as hers. Ever since her confusion took over, however, she has not mentioned my mother other than to mistake me for her.

  “She used to tell me about her, but now not so much,” I shrugged.

  “I wish I had someone to tell me about my dad,” he shrugged.

  “Riley, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sound indifferent.” Riley’s father had left his mom when he found out she was pregnant. He didn’t even know what his dad looked like. Riley was always trying to find him, which is why he wanted to talk to Opal, I assume.

  “Hey, it’s okay.” He shook his head as if to clear it. “I wasn’t trying to make you feel any kind of way about it.” He smiled.

  “You can hang out with us next week,” I offered. “She likes to entertain,” I added.

  This seemed to make him feel better, as he said, “Sure, text me.” He went over to help another customer, leaving me by myself.

  I finished my muffin, halfheartedly. I did feel bad. Ever since I had known Riley, he had been on this mission to find the man who abandoned his mother. I’m not sure if it was to give him piece of his mind or to just find his father. He would never say why. It was the only time I really saw a glimpse into Riley’s home life. Clearing my head, I took out my phone and texted Tina to let her know I was having dinner with Opal and her special friend tonight. She sent me back a text with the icon of a shocked face and “Dios Mio.” I smiled wide and texted her back telling her about this morning and asking her to talk to her dad again about those neurologists. She texted back saying she would tonight and let me know.

  I was putting my phone away when another text came in from her, asking if me and Trevor—or, in her words, “The Lump”—made up. There was no use in pretending I didn’t know what she was talking about, so I told her yes and I didn’t want to talk about, to which she sent back a foreboding “later.”

  I put away my phone and made my way across campus to my creative writing class. Professor Harris had come to know us by faces now, but I suspected he always knew mine since the first day. He nodded to me as I slipped into my seat right before the start of class. Halfway through class, my phone buzzed with a text from Aria asking me if she could make brownies, this from the girl who burnt water. I reminded her of that and she pointed out that she can read and follow directions, so I conceded and told her she could.

  I put my phone away and rolled my eyes, hoping this didn’t turn out badly.

  The day went on, and a quarter after five, I met Aria by my car, where she was with some friends talking animatedly.

  “...So he was all and that’s how the butterfly got stuck up my butt,” she finished, and the group erupted into laughter.

  “Do I even want to know?” I asked skeptically.

  “It worked!” she yelled, jumping up and down.

  “You have to tell the professor tomorrow. He may use your line in his next play,” said some tall guy leaning against my car. I looked at him with a “do you mind?” stare and he got up.

  “Sorry,” he mumbled.

  “What are you talking about?” I turned to Aria.

  “In class today, we talked about if you are in a group and someone walks up, how to make that person feel uncomfortable,” she explained. “Well, I thought of making up a ridiculous end of a conversation that a person walks in on and has no idea what was said, but clearly it was weird,” she finished proudly.

  “So there was no rest of the story?” I asked, catching on.

  “Nope!” she said, laughing hard.

  “But why would you want to make someone uncom
fortable?” I asked, baffled.

  “It was just an acting experiment, to see if you could pull off that emotion.”

  “Ahh.” I nodded my head. “Well, it worked.”

  “Your sister’s got some talent,” another blonde-headed girl about my age said, impressed.

  “I tell her that too.”

  Aria actually blushed.

  The group said their good-byes and dispersed. I followed Aria home to drop off her car, and we headed to the store to pick up what we needed for tonight’s dinner. She also stopped in the cake aisle and picked up a box of brownies, assuring me they would be epically amazing.

  We pulled up to Opal’s house a short while later, and Aria cocked an eyebrow at the sign still tacked up on the kitchen side door.

  “Don’t ask,” I grumbled.

  “Oh, I will, but later,” she grinned.

  Opal opened the door, looking more frazzled than I had ever seen her, with Rufus barking at her heels.

  “Come on, come on,” she ushered us in hurriedly.

  “Auntie, where’s the fire?” Aria giggled, bending down to pet Rufus.

  “I’m ’bout to light it unda y’all. What took y’all so long?” she threatened emptily as she pushed us into the kitchen.

  “We had to get the ingredients for dinner, Auntie.” I started to take the things out of the bags and place them on the counter.

  “What kinda ingredients?” She eyed the contents on the counter suspiciously.

  “Don’t worry about it, Auntie. Just go and get ready.” I pushed her toward the stairs.

  “Well, hurry it up. He’ll be here at seven thirty sharp an’ he’s nothin’ if not punctual.” She gave a warning eye to both of us before heading up the stairs.

  Aria giggled again. “Oh my god, it’s like she’s sixteen and on her fist date. It’s kind of cute.”

  “It kind of is.”

  We set about preparing dinner, and Mom’s recipe was actually pretty easy to follow. I had Aria chop the carrots and chicken, while I chopped the celery and prepared the piecrust and rice. Aria was just starting to make her brownies when we heard a panicked cry from upstairs.

  “CHILE, GET UP HER’!” She even woke up Rufus from his spot on the floor by the door.

  I shot Aria a glance and scrambled up the stairs two at a time with Aria on my heels. I found Opal in her bathroom with rollers sprawled on the countertop and floor, along with a blow dryer on the floor at her feet.