by S. E. Akers
However, an evening in the ER would’ve gotten me out of going to the dance with Mike, I mused as I drove off.
As I approached downtown Welch, my mind kept mulling over the markings on the snake’s neck, as well as its “questionable” demise. I’d been taught to grab a hoe and chop off its head. I’d never heard of a snake being “strangled to death”, let alone squeezing it hard enough to leave an impression. Besides, I still found it extremely odd that the snake’s body hadn’t twitched at all. It was instantly limp and lifeless. Unfortunately, something in my subconscious had started to manifest — the strange coincidence of Mr. Estell and how the Hell a snake that size was hanging from a daggone tree. Funny, I thought, that a freakishly large rattler and a possible snake-handler were both in the same place around the same time today… Really funny. And I didn’t mean the “Ha-Ha” kind either.
I looked down at the steering wheel and gazed at the little golden topaz, feeling ashamed. My suspicions were mounting against Ms. Sutherland — again. Who I really needed to focus on was Charlotte, but I didn’t know when I should commence with my interrogation. Before the dance? After the Dance? At my birthday dinner at Twin Falls tomorrow? No time seemed appropriate, but I knew the subject would come up…eventually.
Downtown Welch was hopping for a late Saturday afternoon. I spotted several of my classmates walking in and out of Caroline’s Flower Shoppe while I waited at our town’s only official stoplight. They were all carrying clear plastic containers that held either corsages or boutonnières. I hope Chloe remembered to pick one up for Mike. That wasn’t a part of the deal!
My stomach began to rumble, forcing me to acknowledge that all I’d thrown into it today was one blueberry pancake and a few cups of apple cider. I pulled into Hardee’s, one of our few fast food restaurants (aside from a Pizza Hut and a Subway), to grab a hot ham ’n cheese sandwich, curly fries, and a Diet Coke. I still had plenty of time, so I just pulled over and ate it in the parking lot. I was finished and back on Highway 52 within thirty minutes. I looked at the dash. Almost 4 o’clock. Why can’t tonight be “over” already?
I came to the fork on Highway 52. No one was behind me, so I slowed to stop. I could see Daddy’s truck sitting all by itself in the parking lot. I felt bad because he had to work when everyone else in town was enjoying their Saturday Night. But most of all, I hated that he wasn’t going to “see me off” to the dance. I sighed and turned left up the mountain. It sounded crazy. After all, I had an ugly dress and an ass of a date, but a small part of me wanted to share that moment with him.
Well, It looks like we’ll both be miserable tonight, I thought somberly as I continued up the mountainside.
I sped up as I approached the ridge. I drove swift and focused, hugging each curve. I didn’t want to linger along that stretch of road, and the thought of having any car trouble made me sick to my stomach.
Within a minute, I spotted our weathered red mailbox up ahead and turned onto our gravel-covered drive. I poked out of the car and all the way up the steps. I still wasn’t in any hurry to get this evening started. The front door flew open as soon as I landed on the porch.
“WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!? I’ve tried calling you all afternoon on your cell!” Chloe yelled, red-faced and furious.
“I forgot to charge it last night. It’s not even 4 o’clock yet, Chloe. Don’t have a conniption. It doesn’t take me nearly as long as it takes you to get ready. Oh, and by the way…Thanks for the dress!” I sneered as I pushed past her.
“Mike will be here around 7 o’clock…to see me, of course. He feels awful about the whole situation,” Chloe barked as she trotted up the stairs in a huff.
I seriously doubted that. He’ll have plenty of time to sneak around with Kara.
“FINE!” I yelled up to her. “I’ll be ready whenever he wants to leave.” I grabbed the cordless phone from off the table by the front door. Katie had probably tried calling as well. Charlotte heard the commotion and swayed into the foyer, clutching her wine glass.
“It’s about time you showed up! Chloe couldn’t get a hold of you earlier. I figured you were going to break the promise you’d made.” She took a gulp of her wine and started to stroll into the living room.
A wave of anger shot through me. “You should know all about breaking promises,” I mumbled under my breath as I made a break for the stairs. She grabbed my arm and jerked me back.
“What did you say?” Charlotte grumbled.
This was a no-win situation. Keep my mouth shut and let her get away with it, or let the shit hit the fan. I couldn’t be the one to expose her indiscretions. Daddy would be mortified. Then again…maybe he knows? The town isn’t that big.
“Nothing, Mother,” I replied. “I didn’t say a thing.”
“I DIDN’T THINK SO!” Charlotte shouted as she flung her glass around, spilling wine all over the Oriental rug. She stammered into the living room growling, “Clean that up!” Not only was my mother at her bitchiest tonight, she was well on her way to being three sheets to the freakin’ wind.
I clipped the cordless phone to my hip and headed off to the kitchen. I returned to the foyer with a damp rag and dabbed the spot of wine from off the rug. Thankfully, it wasn’t red.
With the mess now blotted clean, I headed for the stairs. On the way up, my emotions got the best of me. Out of the blue, I called out to Charlotte in my sweetest and most sarcastic southern accent.
“Oh, by the way…Coach Hayes wanted me to thank you for all of your help with the football boosters. He said you were a ‘real treat’!” My mother came stumbling back into the foyer, but I kept on my present course.
I continued up the steps and added, “And Mr. Anderson sent you a basket full of veggies yesterday to remind you of what you’ve been missin’, too.” Chloe heard me talking and stepped out of her bedroom, just as I’d reached the second floor landing.
I spun around on my heel. “And then just today, Mr. Mayfield wanted me to see if there were any other pipes around here that needed a good snakin’?” I propped my hands on the banister and threw Charlotte a blazing stare.
“That’s so sweet of them,” my naïve little sister declared. “Everybody loves Mom,” Chloe announced and then pranced back into her room.
My eyes never left Charlotte. She said nothing. My mother simply glared at me as she took another sip of wine and then staggered back into the living room.
I shoved open my lavender bedroom door and thought, See, now this would be the perfect time to be able to read someone’s mind!
I slammed my door and fell against it. My back bumped all of its panels as I slid down to the floor. All I could think was, College days can’t get here soon enough, as I punched in Katie’s number. She answered on the third ring.
“Shi, where have you been? I’ve called and texted you all day!”
I sighed. “I forgot to charge my cell.”
“Do you need me to drive the getaway car?” Katie giggled.
“No. I’m still going…but why didn’t you get a date, so we could double?” I’d been so wrapped up in all of my drama over the past few days, it really hadn’t hit me that Katie wouldn’t be there.
Katie hesitated. “As a matter of fact…Jason Woolfolk asked me two weeks ago, but I told him, ‘No’. I figured you wouldn’t be going, and I didn’t want you to be alone. I thought we’d spend Saturday night like we always do, watching movies until dawn at my house.” Katie let out a subtle sigh. “I found out yesterday that he’d already asked Cynthia Baldwin,” she added.
I sprang to my feet after hearing I’d absentmindedly abandoned my best friend. Ugh! I felt horrible!
“I’m so sorry, Katie. Now you’re going to be ‘alone’.”
“Don’t be. He’s cute and all, but he kisses like a Hoover vacuum…I’ll let Cynthia deal with that. Yuck!” Katie gagged. “But…you can make it up to me by letting me come over and help you get ready,” she pleaded. “It’ll be fun!”
“Don’t you mean hilari
ous?” I rebutted with a grunt.
“Well, that too,” Katie laughed.
“I don’t think so. I’m in such a pissy mood. I don’t even want to fix myself up for it, and there aren’t enough accessories in the world that’ll improve that ugly, old rag of a dress.” I walked over to my closet and listlessly pulled open the door. I couldn’t even bare the thought of looking at it any longer than I had to, let alone wearing it.
Katie begged some more. “Please, Shi? Are you sure your bestest, bosom friend in the whole wide world — who’s going to be all alone tonight — can’t come over?”
I was amused by her attempt to play on my feelings. My “bosom friend” knew just what tactic worked the best on me — guilt.
While I listened to her desperate pleas, I laid my cell phone on the dresser and hunted around for its charger. That’s when I noticed something hanging on the back of the closet door. I turned around curiously. Dangling on the chrome hook was a long, ice blue garment bag stamped with the word, “Lavish”, in a bronze metallic script. Lavish was a fancy boutique in Bluefield that carried extremely chic women’s attire. There was a note attached to the hanger. I opened it up and read:
Happy Birthday, Shiloh
I love you too much
to have you go outta the house in
that ‘ole yellow nightmare!
Try to have a good time.
I love you, Daddy
P.S.- If it’s not too much trouble,
have Mike drop you by
the mine after the dance.
I’d like to see you all gussied up!
Nervously, I unzipped the delicate bag. The lower the zipper fell, the more I trembled. I slipped out the garment and held it up in front of me. There, hanging before my eyes, was the most stunning little black dress I’d ever seen. It had a surplice bodice that cinched in at the waist and flowed down into several shimmery, cascading layers. It was short, but not slutty short. The bodice was held by two black beaded straps, which gradually tapered around to the back. As I looked down in the bottom of the garment bag, a white shoebox caught my eye. I pulled it out and whipped off its top. Resting inverted, under several layers of bronze metallic tissue, was a killer pair of black stilettos — the most gorgeous ones I’d ever seen! They were an iridescent black satin and embellished with delicate beads that resembled the ones fashioned to the straps on the dress. To top it off, they fastened at the ankle with two taffeta ribbons that had been shaped into a crisp black bow. I gasped at the divine ensemble that — of all people — my father had bought me.
“Shi? Are you still there? What’s going on?” Katie asked repeatedly after hearing my gasp.
Elated, I twirled around as I pressed the dress up against me.
“Katie, bring every ounce of makeup you can fit in your bag and get over here — Like, yesterday!” I ordered.
“Really?” she questioned.
“Yes! You won’t believe what was hanging in my closet! Apparently, I have a Fairy God-Father! Just hurry. I’m going to jump in the tub.” As I hung the dress back on the closet door, I noticed my little golden topaz didn’t appear to be as sparkly in the light of my bedroom.
Maybe I need to shine it up with a quick salt-soaking?
“Katie, does your mom keep any sea-salt in her pantry?” Katie’s mom, Julia Stowell, was one of the best cooks around. Unfailingly, the television at their house stayed tuned to any of the numerous gourmet-cooking shows on the Food Network or the Cooking Channel.
“Yeah…Why?” Katie asked, confused.
“Grab some and bring it over,” I insisted impatiently. “I’ll explain when you get here.”
“Will do,” Katie agreed. “See you in a sec! Bye!”
“Hurry up! Bye!” As I ran down the hall to draw a hot, steamy bath, I thought, Never would I have dreamed when I woke up this morning that I’d be this excited to get ready for a dance — even one with a date like Mike Riverside!
Chapter 8 — Revelations
Katie arrived just as I was getting out of the tub. I hope she remembered to bring everything, I thought as I heard her racing up the stairs. My best friend kept a treasure trove of various cosmetics in a hot-pink case that sat on her vanity. She probably just grabbed it and split.
“Knock, knock,” Katie called out as she tapped on the bathroom door. “Are you decent?”
“Yes,” I answered as I slipped into my robe and opened the door. Immediately, I grabbed her by the arm and dragged her down the hall to my room.
“What’s got you so psyched all of a sudden?” Katie questioned. “Don’t tell me that you’re actually excited about spending an evening with Mike?”
“Not exactly,” I replied as I locked my bedroom door. Katie had a curious, but confused look about her. “You’d better sit,” I ordered as I pushed her down on my bed. “Actually, I’m excited about this…” I ran over to my closet and whipped out the garment bag.
“Lavish?” Katie questioned. “I thought your dress came from a consignment store downtown. When did you buy something from Lavish?”
“I didn’t,” I replied enthusiastically as I flung the card over to her. She read it silently.
“OMG! How sweet!” Katie cried out. “I guess it’s only fitting you have the best father in the world, since you’re stuck with the world’s worst mother.”
“True,” I agreed with a proud nod.
“Open it up and let me see it!” Katie urged, sounding just as excited.
I absorbed Katie’s expression as I revealed the magnificent little black dress. It was like looking into a mirror.
“It’s gorgeous!” Katie squealed. “You’re going to look soooo hot!”
I slipped the dress over my head, still hanging from its ivory satin hanger, and turned towards my full-length oval mirror. Katie walked over to where I stood and gave me a hug. She cocked her head and studied my reflection like a discriminating art critic.
“Boy, I sure have my work cut out for me,” she announced dryly, shaking her head.
I pretended to be offended and let out a fake gasp.
“Good thing I have a great canvas to work with,” Katie assured me with a laugh and then got right down to business.
The next hour was spent drying, styling, and setting my hair. Straight or in a ponytail was the scope of my styles. Katie talked me into letting her use the hot rollers she’d brought along. Once they had cooled, she yanked them out and started teasing it vigorously. I half-joked that I didn’t want to look like I’d stuck my finger in a light socket. I just wanted to be “on record” with that one. Katie eventually had it all combed out and styled to perfection. She passed me a large hand mirror and instantly, I was left speechless. I never knew my straight dark-blonde locks could ever look this luxurious and thick.
“Do you like it?” Katie asked hesitantly.
“Oh, yeah…I’m just amazed,” I replied. If the jewelry shop didn’t work out, she would have a career as a hair stylist waiting for her.
“Good. Then let’s set it. Cover your nose and mouth,” Katie requested as she sprayed my new “do” with a fine mist of hairspray. Whatever was in that can remarkably added a shiny gleam to my hair and brought out the remaining strands of my fading summer highlights.
“Let me see your nails. Hands and feet,” Katie demanded, sounding like a drill sergeant. She looked down at my feet and shook her head in disapproval. Then I extended my hands for her inspection.
“Yuck! Those won’t do. What have you been doing? They look horrible,” Katie grumbled.
“I told you that I helped Ms. Sutherland today. I’ve been wrapping, packing, and carrying boxes for the past several hours. You know, there’s a lot more work involved with helping someone move than there is in unlocking a display case at a jewelry store,” I teased.
Katie let out a silly, arrogant, “Ha,” and went straight to filing. She glanced over at the golden topaz ring submerged in a glass jar on my bedside table. We’d mixed up the solution of sea-salt & water
before she had started on my hair.
“I still can’t believe Beatrix Sutherland is moving. I figured she would be one of those old timers who hung around and died right alongside Welch,” Katie commented.
“She just told me that it was her time to move on. I think it’s good for her,” I replied casually. Katie finished buffing my fingernails and then started on my toes.
“Well, I’m not staying around here the rest of my life…regardless of what my parents have planned. If blind old Beatrix Sutherland can get out of here, then there’s hope for me, too. I promise you…My body will NEVER see the hallowed West Virginia earth!” she vowed adamantly.
Once Katie had finished buffing my feet, she picked up the jar and gave the ring a scrutinizing stare.
“My parents have never used sea-salt to clean any of their jewelry. Just pre-made cleaners and occasionally a little Windex…Weird.”
If she thought that was weird, what would she think about the actual “bestowing of the ring?” Granted, the sea-salt thing was “different” and her mention of moonbeams was truly “odd”, but what she’d said when she slipped it on my finger…Now that was straight-up “crazy”.
Katie seemed obsessed with Ms. Sutherland’s gift. “I still can’t believe she gave this to you. It’s probably worth around seven or eight hundred dollars.”
I smiled. “Oh, really?” I’d gotten the impression that Ms. Sutherland valued it for more than just a “monetary amount”. Clearly, its worth was priceless — for sentimental reasons of course.
“Hmmm…I wonder if soaking my diamond in salt-water would work better than some of our cleaners?” Katie pondered aloud as she fiddled with her pendant. She swirled the ring around in the jar and placed it back on the nightstand. “I wonder where she bought it?” she questioned suspiciously.
“I think it’s an heirloom. At least that’s the impression I got.”
