by Mia Ford
Although I knew where I was and who I was the whole yard seemed to tilt just a little as I walked. Thankfully I had enough friends on all sides I could use them to steady myself.
“Why did you invite them?” The words Tilly spoke in the backseat were kicking my ass right now. I don’t know why I invited all these people. I don’t know why I let strangers join in. Like that little red-headed guy who was hanging on Tilly the whole time.
I couldn’t help think she’d be with him later tonight. I couldn’t prove it. I didn’t know it for sure. She didn’t say anything to me about a boyfriend, either.
Maybe she was just the kind of girl that slept around.
No. We had something. Between the two of us in the back seat of my dad's Bentley, it was more than just fucking.
You mean, it was for you. You don't know if it was for her and by the way, she's acting. I looked in the window of the sunroom and saw her getting her ass grabbed as if it were nothing. She’s not thinking of you at all.
My body began to revolt against me. My stomach lurched and I quickly went back inside. Henry was just a few steps away as I staggered in. All I could say was “She’s a bitch. I fucked her in my dad’s Bentley tonight.” I glared at Tilly just in time to see her turn her back and walk away. She didn’t even notice me.
"You mean Telula Grant?" Henry asked. He had been pounding the drinks since the afternoon and unless he had a wooden leg the guy could handle alcohol better than any seasoned alcoholic on the planet. "You want me to go stop her?"
I waved my hand, slipped down into a small space on one of Jenna's favorite Brunschwig and Fils loveseat and passed out.
Chapter 11 – Tilly
“Why don’t you call him?” Sandy pushed. Two days after the party I told her all about my encounter with Lucas and after I picked her up off the floor she demanded every detail.
“I can’t call him.” I humbugged. “I’ll look desperate.”
“Aren’t you?”
“Very funny. No I’m not. Give me some of that.” We were sharing a cup of double chocolate chip ice cream from the food court at a mall that was slowly disintegrating into oblivion. There were more empty storefronts than there were actual open businesses. But the food court was always jumping. It was probably the only thing keeping the place alive. “I’m not sure what I am. But I’m telling you, Sand, I saw a side of him that was different. He was funny and he listened to me. I had a good time and a “good time”, if you catch my meaning.”
“I just hope you don’t catch anything else.” Sandy mumbled looking at me out of the corner of her eye.
“Come on. Be serious.”
“I am. Tilly, I’m not trying to bust your bubble but Lucas Brine is a grade-A asshole. You remember how he was in school. A few hours after graduation does not a prince make.” She took the cup of ice cream from me and helped herself to another spoonful.
“Maybe he always was a prince and was turned into an asshole after his mom died. That is a completely reasonable theory.” Now I knew how Alexander Fleming felt when he discovered penicillin. Sort of.
“Yeah, you could be right about that.” Sandy concurred. “Divorce has that effect on children. I’m sure death does the same thing. And with Old Man Brine bringing in another woman to the marital bed, that’s got to be a mind-screw I wouldn’t want any part of.”
“See? So I can’t just focus on the negative about him. I saw something there that was better than what we saw in school.”
“That we saw every day for four years in school. Let’s not sugar coat it.”
I slouched my shoulders.
“What would you do if you were me?” I helped myself to another scoop of ice cream. “Would you call him or would you just call it an anomaly and move on?”
Sandy took a deep breath and thought for a minute.
“What I’d probably do is call him once. If I didn’t get a hold of him then I’d just treat him like a UFO. I experienced something. Not sure what it was. But I was probed and I’ll say no more about it.”
I couldn’t help laughing, elbowing Sandy playfully in the ribs as we continued to walk toward the mall exit.
“Very funny.”
“I was probed and I liked it.” Sandy laughed. I tried not to but I giggled, too.
When I finally got home I had the house to myself. My parents were both at work until five and it was only two o’clock now.
I took the tiny piece of paper that had Lucas’s number on it and pulled out my cell phone. Then I proceeded to pace around the house. I went to my room and flopped down on my bed. The springs squeaked a familiar tune that I had been hearing for the past eight years at least. I looked around at the place that had been my refuge my whole life.
I'd be living in the dorm at Columbia. My new home would be half a room with a stranger in the other half. Suddenly I felt like I wanted to cry.
There wouldn’t be any Saturday morning coffees with my parents. Sandy was waiting for her soldier boyfriend to come back from the Philippines this coming January and then they were getting married.
Everything was changing.
“That’s right. Just like that night you let yourself just enjoy life. This is no different. If he doesn’t want to talk to you. You’ll be leaving in a few more weeks and will never see him again.” I comforted myself. “Besides, who is he going to tell? If you hadn’t heard by now the chances are no one.”
I took a deep breath, dialed the number then hit end call. I walked to the kitchen for a glass of milk. Still carrying my phone and Lucas’s number I dialed once more but hit end call when I realized I didn’t know what I was going to say. I drank my milk on the way to the bathroom. I pushed my hair back and quickly rehearsed my lines.
“Hi, Lucas. It’s Tilly. Remember me?”
“Hi, Lucas, It’s Tilly. How are you?
“Hi, Lucas. Sorry to hear your arms got chopped off so you couldn’t dial my number.
"Lucas, the phone works both ways. Believe it or not, you can call me, too."
“Hi, Lucas. I was just calling up to see if you needed any help yet cleaning your house. I’m not offering to help I’m just inquiring if you need help.”
I snapped my fingers. Biting sarcasm was always my language of choice.
I dialed the phone and hit the little green button.
“Brine Residence.” An older sounding lady too old to be Jenna answered the phone.
“Hello. My I speak to Lucas please?”
“May I ask whose calling?
“Tilly Grant.” I let out a deep breath. At least I wouldn’t have to say “Tilly. Tilly Grant. Telula Grant from school. The one you had sex with in your dad’s Bentley the other night.
“I should hang up. If he wants to talk to me he’ll call back thinking we got disconnected. Maybe I should do that. It’s a perfect plan that would save me a lot of embarrassment and I could…”
“Hi, Tilly.” His voice sounded serious. All business.
“Hi, Lucas.” I swallowed hard. “I was just calling to see if you survived your party.”
“I did.” He sighed. “The cleanup cost me a lot more than usual. But the house looks pretty good now.”
“Well, I’m glad.” This was not going well. It was like calling a friend right after their spouse died in a freak chainsaw accident or some relative you know hates you but keeps you on the phone none the less just to hear you squirm.
He didn’t say anything more.
“I guess I’ll let you go. I didn’t mean to bother you.”
“No, Tilly. You are no bother. In fact, I had been meaning to call you.”
"Sure you were," I smirked. "It's okay, Lucas. I'm a big girl and I don't; regret anything. In fact, I had a great time with you and at the party so I can't be mad at anything or anyone."
“No, it’s true. Let me tell you what happened.”
Lucas gave me a blow-by-blow account of what happened after I left. He had passed out and
when he woke up the only people he knew in the house were henry, some guy named Matt and a half a dozen strangers.
“I hit the shower immediately forgetting your phone number was on my hand until it was too late. My father has a continual subscription to PeopleFinders so I was just going to look you up but I hadn’t gotten to it due to the massive cleanup I had. Sorry.”
“No, don’t worry about it.” I gushed. “So, do you have big plans for the summer?”
“My dad is coming home on a special two day layover before he and Jenna head off to wherever it is they are going. That’s his idea of spending quality time with his son.”
“Do you wish you could see him more often?” I gently prodded.
“Sometimes. I just wish I could see him without her. I know for a fact that she’s already whispering in his ear about my leaving for college. She probably wants to turn my room into her hobby room or something and put a stripper pole right in the middle of everything.”
I started to laugh.
"She can't really be all that bad," I asked carefully.
“She’s worse.” Lucas chortled. It was weird how we seemed to pick up right where we had left off the other night. Again, I was comfortable talking with Lucas and listening to his problems although they weren’t really problems to me. Keeping grades up in order to get a full ride scholarship that was a problem. Trying to figure out how to make $128 dollars cover $216 dollars worth of bills, that was a problem. Making a 2001 Dodge Neon last one more year, that was a problem.
Trying to figure out a way to chase your dad’s girlfriend of a couple years out of the house wasn’t a problem. It was a quest that Lucas chose to go on. But I didn’t want to say that to him. I didn’t kick people when they were down.
“Well, other than Jenna everything else sound good. I’m glad.”
“Yeah. Uhm…”
“What is it?”
“Don’t you want to talk about what happened the other night?”
I felt my cheeks burst into flames. I held my breath for a minute and tried to think of something witty, something smart to say but my mouth went dry and so did the font of wit that normally overflowed.
“What do you want to talk about?” I sounded so stupid.
“You were really something. You must have done that quite a few times to be so good at it.”
“What did you say?” I had to have heard him wrong.”
“Hey, I’m not judging. I thought you were amazing. A little loud but I didn’t mind. Just remind me to never sneak you in my dad’s house if he’s ever home. You’ll give us away for sure.”
I stared at the floor while I listened to Lucas chuckle.
“Why are you talking like this?” I hated how the words came out so meekly.
“Well, I didn’t want you to get any ideas. I know where you live and where you come from. We’re from two different worlds.”
“You’ve got that right.” I snapped. But he just laughed at me.
“Okay, you can go ahead and play the role like you don’t care about my money if you want to.”
“Do you think I had sex with you for your money?” I gasped.
“Why else?”
“Because it was graduation and a party and I was attracted to you, yes, and for one night I thought I’d throw caution to the wind and let myself be wild and free and do something different.” It sounded lame but I was terrified to tell him I thought we had good chemistry. He’d sharpen his claws on that for sure.
“You mean do someone different.” He laughed sadistically.
“If that is how you feel Lucas, I’m sorry.” I lifted my chin even though he couldn’t see me. “I did it because you brought out something new in me. I thought maybe you’d understand that. I guess I was wrong.”
“Well, let’s not make this out to be something more than what it is. We fucked. That’s it. You don’t have a stake in my claim. We aren’t boyfriend and girlfriend.”
“I never said we were.” I bit my tongue to keep the tears from falling down my cheeks. “You’re right. We fucked. Now I’m going off to Columbia University. I got to say I bagged the richest guy in my high school. Yay for me. Good luck, Lucas. I hope someday you get over your paranoia and learn to trust people.”
I hung up my phone. I really hated how ineffectual cell phones were for the violent hang-up. You can’t slam a cell phone down. You just tap a button. Tapping anything when you’re mad is so unsatisfying. Really.
Chapter 12 – Jenna
I could smell the cigarette smoke as soon as I walked into the house. That brat had another party.
“Lucas!” I listened for a moment but knew he wasn’t going to answer. “Please put those bags over there, Clive.” I huffed. Clive the limo driver had the easiest job of all and drooped around like any minute he was going to be walked to the gas chamber.
“Will you be needing anything else, ma’am?”
“Not right away.” I didn’t want him thinking he could just go drive off to the casino or spend his afternoon drinking beers and watching reruns of Gunsmoke on my dime. Better to keep my answers vague. It keeps the staff on their toes.
I kicked off my heels and walked toward the kitchen. Everything looked in order but when I opened the fridge it was just as I expected. My avocados were gone. Every gluten-free, non-GMO granola bar was gone. There was only whole milk left to drink.
“Son of a bitch.” I slammed the refrigerator door shut and stomped upstairs. “If there is anything missing from my room even a slip of tissue paper I’ll have that kid strung up by his balls.”
This was what happened every time I left the house. I tried to explain to Michael that his son had absolutely no respect for me but he never listened. He’d just say he’s still not over his mother dying. Well, Jeez, how long does it take? The woman has been in the ground for over four years now. He’s got have a sliver of an idea that she isn’t coming back.
It was only after dating Michael for eight months that he allowed me to redo the bedroom. It was a muted, dusty rose color with cream trim. Our four-poster bed was so big it required two steps on either side to climb in.
Michael insisted that I have a black and white photo of myself framed and hung on the wall between the two floor to ceiling windows that let the glorious eastern exposure in every morning. It was the first thing you’d see when you walked in.
Trust me, it wasn't my idea. I've always been very photogenic and Michael enjoyed playing amateur photographer. After he'd snapped a few pictures of me out on his yacht he insisted I have a friend of his photograph me.
Well, who am I to argue? If you look closely you’ll see that there is a tiny strap of a thong over my hip but all my nasty bits are concealed by a cleverly placed shadows. It’s quite tactful. Very classy.
Thankfully, it was still hanging where it should be. My jewelry box was locked at all times but I still took an inventory of everything before I left and once I returned. I didn’t trust Lucas at all.
“Lucas!” I yelled again after stomping back out of my bedroom. It smelled even more like smoke up here. I marched down to his room and knocked loudly on the door.
“What!” He shouted from the other side.
“Lucas, you need to open this door right now.” I waited and listened. Nothing.
“Lucas, I hope you have finished all your packing and will be ready when the taxi arrives to take you to the airport.
That must have done it because finally, I heard footsteps charging toward the door. Junior yanked it open with so much force the breeze made his hair fly.
“What are you talking about?”
“Didn’t your father tell you? School bells are ringing, son. You’re off to Dartmouth.”
I watched him let out a sigh. It was hilarious.
“Freshman orientation isn’t until August. Sorry to disappoint you, Jenna.”
“Oh, Lucas? Didn’t your father tell you? Maybe I was supposed to tell you.” I snickered at
him. “Well, no matter now. You need to get packed. Your father had a discussion with the Dean of the school. You are supposed to start the pre-fall season. Your dad and I both thought it would be best for you to get a jump on your grades that way. You can learn your way around campus, find the best pizza places, maybe even get a part-time job to help with a little extra pocket cash.”
The look on Master Lucas’s face was almost worth the lingering cigarette smoke that was still assaulting my nostrils.
“No.” He smirked. “School starts in August.”
“Not for you. School starts next week. But you need to get there by tomorrow noon if you’re to stake your claim on a good single room.” I folded my arms over my chest and watched Lucas’s eyes. I swear, for a minute I thought he was going to cry.
“You and Dad are going to Europe or the Caribbean or somewhere for the summer. I’m not going anywhere.”
"Oh, gosh. I guess he didn't tell you about that change in plans either. Or maybe I was supposed to. I don't remember. Yeah, well, your dad and I have decided to stay home this summer. Your father is going to work from home and we are going to solidify some plans for the future."
