Hell's Belles

by Alison Claire

  Beyond the study was the library which was two stories, something I hadn't noticed when I walked through it last night. There were shelves packed with books, some in foreign languages. A small winding staircase led to a second floor of books and a couple of carrels, probably used for studying by the girls. And me now, I thought.

  Then there was the Pilates and fitness room. Two Pilates machines, two treadmills, two elliptical machines, and a rack of free weights faced a tremendous flat screen television that had been left on and was playing the Today show.

  Finally, I was back in the foyer. I could see Fiona outside talking to a UPS driver. There was a hallway I hadn't been down, but all of the doors were locked on that side, something that seemed strange. I had to assume one of these was Virginia's room. I guess she didn't trust me not to go through her things, something I had completely planned on doing. Smart lady.

  On the second floor was another entrance to the library. There was a movie room, a sitting room with fainting couches, and again some locked doors. This had to be Calista's floor. I was happy not to have to see her room.

  After about an hour of snooping around I hadn't found anything very revealing about these people. Half the rooms were locked up for whatever reason. I went to see if Fiona was still outside, but she had disappeared to Lord knows where. Suddenly, it seemed incredibly lonely.

  I decided to take my iPod and a book down to the pool. It was warm enough to get in if I wanted, so I found the only one-piece swimsuit in my closet and headed on down back to the gardens.

  As I lay on a lounge chair and tried to soak in the words of Flannery O'Connor, my mind wandered to the pool house. I wondered if there were floats in there. Where else would they keep them? The chairs were nice but reading on a float would be better. Maybe I had missed a door.

  Before I could walk over to inspect anything I might have missed, I heard Fiona calling to me from the second story balcony that led to my bedroom.

  “Emma! I’m going to Harris Teeter in a bit. Any special requests? Or actually, would you like to just come with me?”

  “What’s Harris Teeter?” I called back, closing my book.

  “It’s the grocery store. They don’t have them in California?”

  “No, we have Ralph’s. And Albertson’s.”

  “Oh, never heard of either of ‘em. Yeah, come on and keep me company. I can make sure you get some good stuff. Calista and Josephine eat like birds. They love their kale.”

  I wrinkled my nose. Yeah, I wasn’t about to sneak downstairs in the middle of the night to eat that kind of mess. “Let me just throw something on and I’ll come with.”

  Fiona owned an Audi. The inside was soft beige leather. As soon as we got in, she opened up the sun roof.

  “It’s just too beautiful a day not to, right?” Fiona chirped, turning up the radio.

  “Virginia must pay you pretty well to own a car like this,” I said, suddenly realizing that was probably a semi-rude observation to make. Fiona didn’t seem to be bothered by it.

  “Ms. Embers is incredibly generous. I definitely earn my keep though,” she smiled. “Chasing after Belles all day is not always easy.”

  “Yeah, what’s with the whole ‘Belle’ thing? Josephine mentioned it last night. Is that a nicer way of calling us orphans?”

  Fiona turned down the radio. “I’m sorry, Emma. I am just so used to saying it, I forgot you wouldn’t know or understand… It’s just a nickname. Virginia used to hate it, but she’s kind of embraced it now. She’ll explain it all to you.”

  “Why don’t you explain it to me? Is it because we’re a bunch of chicks living in a big southern mansion? Like debutantes? Because I am definitely not going to match all that the word ‘belle’ conjures up. I’m no Scarlet O’Hara.”

  Fiona laughed. “None of us are, Emma.”

  Harris Teeter was fairly empty. It was mostly stay-at-home-moms disinfecting their toddlers before gingerly placing them in shopping carts. There were a lot of little girls in smocked clothing and little boys in seersucker.

  “This is an uppity area; I’m guessing?” I said as we strolled up and down the produce section. I grabbed a container of strawberries.

  “Are those organic?” Fiona asked.

  I rolled my eyes. “Nope. Pesticide riddled. Just how I like them.”

  Fiona laughed again. “Sorry, Em. Josephine is on a health kick right now. She made me watch a documentary about where our food comes from and now it’s all I think about.”

  “Well, the organic ones are like… Twice as much. I won’t tell if you won’t.”

  Fiona shook her head. “That won’t work with these girls. They’ll know. And besides, money isn’t a problem.”

  “I mean, I get that. Trust me. But it’s the principle, you know? I don’t know. I’m not used to this kind of thing.” I put the container back.

  We were quiet for a while. I grabbed some bread, cold cuts, peanut butter, and crackers. I tried to make a point of only getting things that were on sale. I don’t really know why. It just seemed like a way to stay closer to the person I had always been, up until yesterday. My mom was a big coupon person. We lived by a strict budget that sometimes didn’t always stretch far enough between pay days. Just thinking of my mom leaning over the kitchen table cutting her coupons made my heart sink.

  This one is for buy one get one free shampoo! She would be so excited.

  Great, Mom. My sister and I would roll our eyes.

  She’d smile and go back to cutting.

  When we got back home, Virginia was pulling up in front of us in a black Range Rover. I had wanted to escape to my room with a peanut butter sandwich and a soda. Virginia had other things on her mind.

  “Emma! I’m glad you’re back. I was thinking you could come with me to pick up Josephine and Calista.”

  I turned to object and was stopped in my tracks. Next to Virginia was a girl who looked like someone that had just stepped off a high fashion runway. She was a young black girl, long and statuesque, and she towered over Virginia. She had long braids and the most beautiful skin I had ever seen. She wore a long white skirt and a pastel camisole that showed off her sharp collarbones and lithe, muscled shoulders and arms. Her eyes were a piercing dark amber color. She didn’t knock you over with her beauty like Calista did, but her presence was intoxicating. I couldn’t stop staring.

  Fiona interrupted. “Aleta! Hi, honey! I haven’t seen you in forever!”

  “Hello, Fee,” the girl said, not smiling but moving towards Fiona’s opened arms. Her eyes never left mine as she spoke. “So this is Emma Ayers.”

  Fiona pulled away and nodded enthusiastically. “Yes! This is her! Emma, this is- “

  “Aleta Indigo,” the girl said. “You really are here.”

  I was puzzled. “Yep. Do I know you?”

  “Aleta, remember Emma has only been here a day,” Virginia firmly stated. “Don’t confuse her. She’s got enough going on in her head.”

  “I feel like there’s a conversation always going on around me that I’m not aware of,” I blurted out. “Last night was weird and now this. Fiona keeps putting off my questions and now this hypnotic girl is talking in cryptic code. What is going on?”

  Aleta suddenly laughed. It was a deep belly laugh, but good natured. “Sorry, Emma. It’s been a long time since we had someone new. I don’t mean to be so strange. The hypnotic part I like. Forgive me, yes?”

  I nodded. Aleta spoke with a peculiar accent. It was Southern, but there was also something else, or several somethings. Maybe a dash of Jamaican? My questions only mounted. “Sure. Just promise to explain all of this to me sometime, okay?”

  “Oh, Emma Ayers. That is a promise I can most definitely keep.”

  Virginia stepped forward. “Emma, we should go. Aleta, how long will you be staying? Dinner?”

  Aleta shook her head. “No, I won’t be long. I’m having dinner at Montagu tonight.”

  “Okay then. Thanks, sweet girl,” Virginia waved me
toward the SUV. “Let’s go, Emma. Music lessons were cancelled today and school’s out in ten minutes.”

  As I closed the passenger side door I watched Aleta Indigo glide into the back of the Embers mansion.

  “Is Aleta a Belle too?”

  Virginia looked at me, surprised. “Who told you about being a Belle?”

  “Josephine mentioned it last night,” I then remembered I wasn’t supposed to mention Palmer, so for good measure I added “Before we went to bed. And Fiona said it off hand at the store. She said it’s a nickname.”

  “Yes. For years the girls have been referred to as… Belles. But Aleta is different. She doesn’t live with me, but she’s a very close family friend to Calista and of course to all of us. I have known her a very long time.”

  “Why isn’t she at Bronwyn? She can’t be much older than me.”

  Virginia started the car. “She’s a little bit older than you. She’s not in high school anymore. Anyway, she uses the pool sometimes. She’s also distantly related to Chantelle. So she stops by a couple of times a week for supper.”

  As we drove down East Bay, toward wherever Bronwyn was, I couldn’t shake the thought of Aleta. The way she said my name and looked at me. It was as if she had been waiting for me. I got the feeling that she knew more about me than I probably would have felt comfortable with. It was an eerie feeling I had.

  We drove across a bridge that overlooked the harbor and the sailboats that dotted it. The marshlands whirled by and Virginia cracked her window enough that I could smell the salt. The Charleston air was relaxing. It was an especially beautiful day, one of those days that feels like a Friday. I could sense everyone’s readiness to start their weekend.

  Bronwyn was farther away than I had imagined. It sat across the bridge and down a couple of single lane roads and was set under enormous live oaks. It was a stunning building, clichéd with its Ivy walls and stone exterior. Young girls in typical pleated skirts and white button downs stood around the lawn and steps. School seemed to have just released.

  “I’m surprised they don’t drive themselves,” I said, suddenly nervous. Last time I had seen Calista she had been less than friendly.

  “Ha! Calista would never. Josephine would love to but she’s failed her driving test three times. Bless her. I guess I didn’t even think of it but do you drive?” Virginia looked over at me as I stared at the cold glances of girls walking by us.

  “Oh, yeah. Of course. In California everyone drives. But I haven’t been doing it long.” All of the girls at this school were beautiful. Not as beautiful as Calista, but still, it was a preternatural kind of aesthetic. Was this a school for models? How could I ever matriculate here when I was probably a slightly above average on my best days?

  “Emma!” It was Josephine. Her skirt was short and showed off perfectly sculpted legs. She was beyond pretty. It had been hard to notice that last night after being around Calista. Josephine was the sunny day kind of pretty. The girl the Beach Boys wrote about or the one who always has big dreams and a heart of gold in all the romantic comedies my sister and I used to consume as guilty pleasures. Her hair was long and swept back into a neat pony tail. Her cheeks were shiny and freckles sprinkled her nose. Being around her was like constantly being around someone who gave you compliments or the messenger who had just told you the best news you would ever receive.

  “Hey, Jo,” I said, immediately regretting the shortening of her name. Who did I think I was? But it had just come out.

  “Jo? Oh, I love it! I love nicknames. Can I call you Em?” she said, breathlessly, as she climbed into the back seat.

  I smiled, relieved. “Sure. My friends back home use that name all the time.”

  “And where is home, anyway?” The snarly question came from Virginia’s side of the car.

  The other door opened and there was Calista. She was blinding in her splendor. Her long raven hair was down and wavy, framing a perfect face. Her eyes were sapphires, edged by long dark lashes. Her stare was overpowering, it made me shift in my seat. I wasn’t a lesbian, but Calista gave me the same feeling that some of the boys I used to daydream about gave me. Her looks crossed the gender and sexual orientation divide. She was the only person I had ever met who could make anyone desire her. I hadn’t even seen anyone in the movies that could do that. Angelina Jolie had nothing on Calista Embers.

  “California. Riverside to be exact,” I turned forward as I spoke to her. She was impossible to look at for too long.

  “Ugh. The 909? How many cars in your trailer park were on blocks?” There was a heady disgust in her voice. I jerked back around to face her. The beauty spell had worn off.

  “What the hell do you know about where I’m from?” I hissed at her.

  “Enough.” Calista smirked.

  “Enough is right,” Virginia’s voice was sharp. “Calista, I thought we went over this. You will not treat Emma with that kind of disrespect. If this continues there will be consequences.”

  Calista muttered, “There already are consequences.”

  Virginia turned and gave Calista a look that was dark and foreboding. “You have no idea, Calista. Your claws need to be retracted. Emma is your family now.”

  We were silent as she reversed the car and drove away from Bronwyn. As we drove under the shadows of the live oaks I could hear Calista whisper to Josephine, “I guess it’s true what they say. You really can’t pick your family.”

  Chapter 9

  As soon as we were home I was out of the car and up the stairs. I slammed the door behind me and collapsed on the bed. Why did I care what Calista said? She wasn’t anyone to me up until yesterday. But more importantly, why did Calista hate me so much? Did she look down on me because I had none of the things she had? Was it really just aggressive snobbishness? I couldn’t take any more days or conversations like that.

  There was a light tap on my door. “It’s Virginia, Emma.”

  “Just you?” my voice quivered.

  “Yes, darling child.”

  The door opened and there she was. Virginia herself was also otherworldly beautiful. Obviously she was older but there was a regality to her. Her presence comforted me even with my desire to be alone. It reminded me of my mother in that moment. No matter how bad school could get, my mother entering my room could change everything.

  “Calista is a bitch,” Virginia said.

  I paused for a moment and then began to laugh, “I wasn’t expecting you to say that.”

  “No? Well, what else could I say? She is a terrible girl at times. And I know you don’t understand why she’s being this way. Very few of us really do. But it won’t always be like this, Emma. Calista did not expect this kind of change and it’s hard on her. That doesn’t mean she gets to talk to you the way she has been. One day it might make sense. I hope it does. Calista is the most terrible of enemies but she can be an incredible friend. I think it’s important for you to know that. Otherwise, why would I keep her around at all?” Virginia winked at me.

  “I feel like there is something going on around me that I’m not in on,” I said, sitting up. “So many cryptic things being said, a lot of ‘this will make sense’ eventually. Really, I just don’t have it in me to deal with anything complicated. I am so grateful you brought me here but I just don’t think this is the place for me. I mean, not just because of Calista. All of this,” I say waving my hand around. “This isn’t my world. My mother’s yearly salary probably wouldn’t pay one month’s mortgage here. This bed is something out of a fairy tale. The girls at Bronwyn all looked like they were in training to be in the future editions of the Victoria’s Secret catalog. This isn’t me, Virginia. I know you want to somehow make posthumous amends with my grandma, but what she would want is for me to just be okay and happy. And I don’t think this is where that can happen. For anyone.”

  Virginia stared at me for a long time. I could tell she was thinking. It was the first time she seemed to not be sure of what to say next but I realized whatever she was
going to say was going to determine everything.

  “You should rest,” she finally said, something I didn’t expect. “I have put a lot on you in a short amount of time. That part might be a mistake but you being here is not. It’s actually the very opposite of one. I hate to keep being cryptic, but I promise, it’s true.”

  She stood up and smoothed out her pencil skirt. “Nothing is a mistake. But you need a nap. Or just some time to yourself. Chantelle is making steak for dinner. See you at five-thirty?”

  I nodded, “Okay. Will you consider what I said? Will Calista be at dinner?”

  “She will, but she will be on her best behavior. And if it really is worrying you, I can make arrangements…”

  I shook my head. “No, it’s fine. As long as she’s on the other end of the table. Or the house.” I smiled.

  “No worries. Her room is my next stop. We will be having a discussion about her future behavior toward you.” And with that, Virginia was gone.

  My cheeks felt dirty from the sudden flood of tears. I went to the bathroom to wash my face. As I looked in the mirror it seemed to move. I really was tired. I walked over to my bed and immediately fell into a deep sleep.

  I was fourteen years old. Merritt and I were at Red Rock Canyon again, climbing the rocks. My mom was behind us, but my dad was far below, shielding his eyes from the blazing Nevada sun with his hand.

  “Girls, you’re getting a little too high for my comfort!” he called up to us.

  “We’re fine, Dad!” Merritt shouted down, laughing. “We’re on an exploration. We must conquer Mount Red Rock!”

  He shook his head, but he was smiling. We had been scrambling up those rocks since we were toddlers. We had never been quite so high, but we weren’t scared. It was time to test ourselves.

  Mom huffed and puffed behind us.

  “You girls are always reminding me how out of shape I am,” said my beautiful mother, with her salt and pepper hair and tan legs. She was climbing the rocks in Teva sandals, something Merritt and I had made fun of her for.