Firestone

by Christian, Claudia Hall

  “Do we have to listen to more?” Jacob asked.

  Blane paused the video on his laptop.

  “I just thought you’d like to know,” Blane said.

  “You want me to tell Jill rather than having to tell Heather yourself,” Jacob said.

  “Is it that obvious?” Blane laughed.

  Jacob nodded. He was sitting in a little alcove chamber in Blane’s room. There was a wall of glass between him and Blane. The wall gave Blane a chance to see visitors, but not come in contact with them. Blane had held up his laptop for Jacob to see.

  “That woman is crazy,” Jacob said.

  “Indeed,” Blane said in the creepy voice of Lo Pan, from their favorite movie, “Big Trouble in Little China.” Jacob laughed. “You can see the scar . . .”

  Blane pointed to the plastic surgery scar just under Annette’s chin. Jacob nodded.

  “Tanesha says she’s been completely redone,” Blane said.

  “Better her than me,” Jacob said.

  Blane laughed. Jacob smiled.

  “You think Jeraine is using?” Blane asked.

  “I think Tanesha would flat out kill him if he was,” Jacob said.

  “That’s right,” Blane said.

  “Should I call him? Have sexy Jeraine play a song for the infirmed Blane?” Jacob asked.

  “No,” Blane laughed. “I couldn’t stand the throng that would appear.”

  They laughed.

  “Shall we deal?” Blane asked.

  “Sure,” Jacob said. “No cheating.”

  Each dealt out a game of solitaire with his own pack of cards.

  “Whoever wins first gets . . .?” Jacob asked.

  “We’ve always played for who makes dinner,” Blane said. “No reason to stop now.”

  “You’re on!” Jacob said.

  “Ready?” Blane asked.

  “Ready.”

  “Go!” Blane said.

  And the ferocious game of competitive solitaire began.

  ~~~~~~~~

  Monday evening — 6:30 p.m.

  “Oh look, there’s Heather,” Abi said.

  She pointed to Heather’s car pulling up to her mother’s house. Abi and Fin had arrived early. Rather than being the first guests, they’d decided to wait in the car. Abi was feeling nauseous anyway.

  “That’s her adopted daughter,” Abi said. “They call her Tink, but she’s not an actual fairy. I introduced her to Tinkerbell, but she doesn’t remember it.”

  “And the boy?” Fin asked.

  “They call him Mack,” Abi said. “His name is Sam, after Sam Lipson.”

  Fin nodded.

  “Yvonne and Rodney,” Abi said. She pointed to Rodney’s truck as it pulled up. Rodney got out and helped Jabari out of his car seat. “They still have Jabari.”

  “Yes,” Fin said. “Did Jeraine finish the transition plan with the social worker?”

  “I think so.” Abi nodded.

  “You mean, you weren’t there meddling?” Fin grinned at her.

  “Maybe.” Abi smiled. She’d spent much of the day in tiny fairy corps form “helping” Jeraine with the transition arrangement.

  “What are we doing here?” Fin asked.

  “We’re here to wake up Heather’s mother,” Abi said.

  “You know only her husband’s kiss can do that,” Fin said.

  “I know, but . . .” Abi turned to look at Fin.

  “What are we doing here?” Fin asked again.

  “I . . .” Abi sighed. “I feel bad for Heather.”

  “Why?” Fin asked. “She’s loved and happy. By all measures, her Blane will recover.”

  Abi nodded, but didn’t look at him.

  “There’s our girl,” Abi said.

  Jeraine and Tanesha pulled up to Heather’s mother’s house in his Dart.

  “Shouldn’t we . . .” Abi moved to get out of the car.

  Fin grabbed her arm. She turned to look at him.

  “What’s going on?” Fin asked.

  “Prince Finegal, I . . .” Abi looked down.

  “Prince Finegal?” Fin’s lips moved over the words. “What has happened?”

  “I . . .” Abi started.

  “Abigail?” Fin asked. “I have always enjoyed your honesty and you have enjoyed my trust.”

  “Yes, my prince,” Abi wouldn’t meet his eyes.

  “Speak!” Fin’s voice rose with frustration.

  She jerked at the command.

  “What is it?” Fin said in a lower tone.

  “I . . .” Abi nodded but didn’t meet his eyes. “I didn’t mean to and it just kinda happened. I mean, the end of the war, and your mother back on the throne, and your father returned, and we moved here, and everything that’s gone on here . . . I mean, even you’ve said that these people in Denver lead almost a soap opera life, and I’m just here to help, and we’ve been really active . . . I mean I’m teaching all these classes, and you’re . . . so . . . sexy . . . and we . . . well, we’ve been . . . a lot.”

  Abi took a deep breath. She nodded to herself.

  “I just want you to know that I didn’t plan it,” Abi said. She held up a finger. “I’d never go behind your back. Ever.”

  “What are we talking about?” Fin asked.

  “We’re going to have a baby,” Abi said. She winced and hid her head.

  “And you’re like this because . . .”

  “The girls said that you’d be mad, and we don’t have a lot of money, and we agreed we’d wait . . .”

  “Until you could have another child,” Fin said. “I agreed to wait to have another child until you were ready. That was the agreement we made. You and I would be partners and have children together. Clearly, you’re ready to have another child.”

  “Oh,” Abi said.

  They sat in uncomfortable silence for a moment.

  “You’re not mad?” Abi asked.

  “Not in the slightest,” Fin said. “I love Ne Ne and Yvonne. Tanesha is my best friend here, quite possibly the best friend I’ve ever had. Another child will be lovely.”

  “But we’ll have to go back,” Abi said.

  “Why?” Fin asked.

  “I don’t know,” Abi said. “That’s what everyone said.”

  “There’s no war to fight.” Fin shrugged. “Mother’s on the throne again. What would we do there?”

  “Nothing,” Abi mumbled.

  “So, what’s the problem?” Fin asked.

  “I thought you’d be mad,” Abi said.

  “I’m not,” Fin said.

  “Why is that?” Abi asked.

  “Was I mad the last time?” Fin asked.

  “Yes,” Abi said. “You yelled and screamed about how your progeny dies and . . .”

  Fin hugged Abi and whispered, “I’m sorry.”

  “But why . . .?” Abi asked.

  “I was scared,” Fin said.

  “And now?” Abi asked.

  “We have all of these nice people to share our good news with,” Fin said.

  “Really?” Abi asked.

  “Of course,” Fin said. “Shall we?”

  Abi nodded. Fin got out of the driver’s seat and went around the car to Abi’s door. He opened her door and held her when she got out of the car. Holding hands, they went to the door of Heather’s mother’s home. Abi knocked, and Heather answered.

  “Come in!” Heather said.

  She stepped back, and they went inside.

  Chapter Three Hundred

  Effects of bitter

  Monday evening — 6:45 p.m.

  “Sweetie?” Alma Fontaine asked as she entered the small kitchen. Heather’s mother’s voice rose with sticky-sweet irritation.

  Heather looked up from the salad she was making.

  “Mom,” Heather said.

  Heather kept her tone flat and neutral. Her quick scan of her mother told her that her mother was upset.

  “Sweetie?” Heather’s mother repeated. She put her hand on Heather’s shoulder.r />
  “What?” Heather asked.

  Alma leaned in so that her mouth was just an inch from Heather’s ear. Heather heard her mother breathe for a moment. Heather had to restrain herself from slapping her mother’s face.

  “What’s going on, Mom?” Heather asked. She moved to face her mother.

  “Why are there all these . . .?” Alma stopped talking.

  The woman batted her eyes for a moment. Heather internally cringed. She knew her mother was prejudice. She hadn’t realized that everyone she’d invited was African American until they’d all arrived.

  “These what?” Heather kept her voice gruff to indicate she didn’t want to hear any of her mother’s bigotry.

  “Never mind,” Alma said.

  “You may as well spit it out,” Heather said. “You’re going to say it anyway. ‘Why did you invite all these black people, Heather?’ ‘Why don’t you know anyone of our own race, Heather?’ ‘What’s wrong with white people, Heather?’ Well, you know what, Mom? I didn’t notice when I invited them. In fact, I didn’t even think about it until I realized you would freak out.”

  “Well, of course you didn’t notice.” Her mother shook her head. “You’re so like your father. It’s eerie.”

  “Whatever,” Heather said. “These people are my friends. You wanted to be supportive. Now’s your chance. Be supportive.”

  “I just don’t know why you had to invite all these fairies, that’s all,” Alma said. “You know fairies always have their own agenda. If they do something for you, it’s just because it happens to coincide with something they want.”

  Heather’s mouth fell open with surprise. Her mother sniffed at her, grabbed a bowl of chips, and left the kitchen. Heather’s mouth rounded out the word “fairies.” She shook her head and looked toward the doorway where her mother had disappeared. Tanesha appeared in the doorway.

  “You look weirded out,” Tanesha said.

  “My mother just asked me why there are so many fairies here,” Heather said.

  “Fairies?” Tanesha asked.

  “Fairies,” Heather said.

  “That’s definitely weird,” Tanesha said.

  Heather nodded.

  “You want to hear one weirder?” Heather asked.

  Tanesha nodded.

  “She told me that if fairies do something for you, it’s because it happens to coincide with something they want,” Heather said.

  “What Jake says,” Tanesha said.

  Heather nodded.

  “You think she’s really . . .?” Tanesha asked.

  Heather shrugged.

  “Come on,” Tanesha said. “No moping in the kitchen. Abi’s starting a game of Twister.”

  “Twister?” Heather asked.

  “Fairies.” Tanesha shrugged.

  Tanesha picked up the salad Heather had made and nodded out the door.

  “You think . . .?” Heather started.

  Tanesha shrugged and nodded again toward the outer room. Heather bobbed her head and went out of the kitchen.

  “Fairies,” Tanesha mouthed, and followed Heather.

  ~~~~~~~~

  Monday evening — 7:05 p.m.

  Heather laughed and reached over Tanesha. They had entered into a Twister challenge with Yvonne and Abi. So far, they’d mostly laughed and made fools of themselves. Jeraine had Jabari sleeping against his chest while he talked to Rodney. Tink played with Mack in a corner of the room. Fin was taking pictures of the Twister game with Abi’s phone for her Facebook page.

  Alma came in from the kitchen and sat next to Fin.

  “Prince Finegal,” Alma said.

  “Psyche,” Fin said in a low tone.

  “What are you doing . . .” Alma gestured with her hands, “ . . .here?”

  Fin squinted at her.

  “The last time we met, you were living in your mother’s queendom as a member of her court,” Alma said in a low tone. “Three children? Lovely wife?”

  “Killed by the Christians,” Fin said, and cleared his throat.

  “And Princess Sinè?” Alma asked.

  “The same,” Fin said, in a deep croak. “We fought for more than a thousand years. Every day.”

  “The war that just ended,” Alma said.

  Fin’s eyes flicked to her. Tanesha had told him that Heather’s mother was a selfish, bitter woman consumed with resentment. She was not that today. Fin saw the beautiful, charming woman she’d been hiding beneath all of her dowdy makeup and ugly clothing. As if she could hear his thoughts, she nodded.

  “My daughter went,” Alma said. “Isle of Man. With Perses’s daughter, Jillian.”

  “Yes, Jacob lifted the curse,” Fin said. “My mother is back on the throne, and my father is at her side. Order restored to our world.”

  “Yes, I heard,” Alma said. “That must be a relief.”

  “For everyone,” Fin said.

  “I’m sorry to hear about Princess Sinè,” Alma said. “I always liked her.”

  “It’s been a few thousand years,” Fin said.

  “But I’d bet it doesn’t hurt any less,” Alma said.

  Fin nodded. Abi said something, and he looked up. He smiled at her and took a photo of her and Yvonne playing Twister.

  “And this one?” Alma gestured to Abi. “She’s no member of the court.”

  “Fairy corps,” Fin said.

  “I’d bet your mother hates her,” Alma said.

  Fin looked at her.

  “Mother-in-laws.” Alma shrugged.

  “My mother’s been in pieces for the better part of an age,” Fin said. “She has no say or sway over my decisions. Abi and I are very happy.”

  “Children?” Alma asked.

  “One and one on the way,” Fin said. Fin nodded in Yvonne’s direction. “My granddaughter.”

  “Tanesha has always had the look.” Alma nodded. “I wasn’t surprised when Heather brought her home the first time.”

  Fin nodded.

  “What has your mother done about . . .?” Alma indicated Yvonne.

  “Nothing,” Fin said. “Queen Fand knows better than to cross me. My daughter, Yvonne’s mother, is currently mother’s personal librarian as mother strives to catch up with the world. She’s been cursed for the most of the last two millennia. The world has moved on.”

  “You are a better man than my husband,” Alma said.

  “I saw my friend ripped to shreds over the cruelness of his mother,” Fin nodded.

  Alma’s eyes filled with tears.

  “Why here?” Fin asked.

  “No one remembers us.” Alma shrugged. “It’s easier to live out in the open without my infernal mother-in-law pestering me all the time. Heather has been able to grow up in peace without the burden of . . . everything.”

  Fin nodded.

  “She never needs to know,” Alma said.

  “Your husband will find you,” Fin said. “He’s been looking. It takes up most of his time. The fairy corps is assigned to help him.”

  “Let him look,” Alma said firmly, and Fin saw some of the bitterness Tanesha had referred to. “You will not tell him.”

  “If I do?” Fin asked.

  “I will move,” Alma said. She nodded to Heather. “We’ve done it before.”

  “You’d take Heather from all of the people who love her?” Fin asked. His voice reflected his horror.

  “I’ve done it before,” Alma said.

  “But her husband . . . her children . . .” Fin said. “Her friends? Tanesha, Jill, and Sandy?”

  “Better than her grandmother killing her outright,” Alma said. “Better than having to deal with her weak and pathetic father.”

  Fin swallowed hard. He knew by the set of her jaw there was nothing he could do to change her mind.

  “She forgets after a time,” Alma said. “I mean, it always takes a while.”

  Alma nodded.

  “She eventually makes new friends,” Alma said.

  “She’s an adult,” Fin said.
r />   “For now,” Alma said. “I usually return her to an age when she’s happy — nine or ten.”

  “And her children?” Fin asked.

  “Oh, they stay with their father,” Alma said. “I’m no child killer.”

  “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” Fin said.

  Alma gave him a sickeningly sweet smile, and Fin had the distinct feeling that Alma had already made a plan to take her daughter somewhere else. He swallowed hard.

  “I won’t allow my only child to be injured like I was,” Alma said, before she got up from her seat.

  Fin’s eyes followed her across the room. Alma picked up Mack and laughed at something Tink said. Heather looked up when Alma touched her child. Fin watched a wave of deep distrust flow from daughter to mother.

  “I’ll change him, Mom,” Heather said.

  Tanesha turned to look at Alma.

  “It’s my pleasure,” Alma said, and carried the baby to the back to change his diaper.

  Heather and Tanesha shared a long look. Just then, Abi and Yvonne fell over on the Twister mat, and it was Tanesha and Heather’s turn. Fin watched Heather wait for her mother to bring Mack back. It wasn’t until the baby returned that Heather engaged in the game.

  “Did you talk to her?” Abi said in a low tone.

  Fin nodded.

  “And?” Abi asked.

  “Nothing nice,” Fin said.

  Abi looked at Alma and scowled.

  “We’ll talk later,” Fin said. “You should play.”

  Abi nodded and returned to the game.

  ~~~~~~~~

  Monday evening — 7:26 p.m.

  “Mommy?” Katy asked.

  “Yes, Katy-baby?” Jill asked.

  She pushed away layers of tulle to see her daughter’s face. Katy was wearing pancake makeup and bright blue eye shadow from the makeup kit they’d found in Valerie’s dress room above Mike’s garage painting studio. Katy had put on a big dress with a full skirt. She kept pulling the skirt over her head to show just the tulle.

  “What do you think is happening at Auntie Heather’s house?” Katy asked.

  “I don’t know,” Jill said.

  She pulled the big skirt down and put a saucy hat on Katy’s head. Katy ran to the full-length mirror to take a look. She laughed.