Enemies and Playmates

by Darcia Helle

  Lauren wandered into the living room. The house was quiet, almost eerie. She thought of Stephen and how he used to aggravate her when they were home alone. He’d put some heavy metal garbage on the stereo and blast it until she thought her eardrums would pop. She’d yell at him. He’d laugh and tell her to loosen up.

  She could still hear his voice. Loosen up, sis.

  Some of his CDs were still piled by the stereo. So many times she’d threatened to throw them out. Now she could. But she no longer wanted to. They were part of him. A part she actually missed.

  The doorbell jarred her. Lauren turned away from the stereo and headed for the back door. Carrie had her nose pressed against the window in the door. Lauren couldn’t help but laugh as she pulled it open.

  “Are you alone?” Carrie asked.

  “Yeah, why?”

  Carrie took Lauren’s arm and almost dragged her to the table. “We need to talk,” she said.

  “What’s up?” Lauren asked as they sat.

  “Gina told me everything.”

  Lauren’s breath caught. “What do you mean, everything?”

  “You know, about her and… your father.”

  “I don’t want to talk about this.”

  “Lauren, I know this whole thing sucks for you,” Carrie said. “I couldn’t believe it myself. My God, we’ve known each other forever and we just now find out that Gina and your dad…”

  Lauren sprang from her chair. She leaned against the counter, her back to Carrie. Her heart slammed against her chest. She sucked in a breath and suppressed the urge to scream. She didn’t want to talk about this. She didn’t even want to think about it.

  “I’m sorry,” Carrie said softly.

  “I can’t talk about this.”

  “But we’re all best friends.”

  “Not anymore.”

  “She’s a wreck, Lauren. She misses you.”

  “And I’m supposed to care?” Lauren spun around. “She’s having an affair with my father. How would you feel?”

  Carrie was silent a moment. “I’d be pissed, too,” she said. “But Gina didn’t want to hurt you. She says she really loves him.”

  “He’s my father. And he happens to be married to my mother, in case either of you have forgotten that.”

  “I know.” Carrie said. “And I love your mom. I totally understand why you’re so upset.”

  Lauren sighed heavily. She shook her head, stared down at the floor. She didn’t want to be having this conversation.

  “Gina told me she’s afraid that this has caused problems with your relationship with your dad,” Carrie said. “She doesn’t want that to happen.”

  “I don’t have a relationship with him,” Lauren said.

  “Will you at least talk to her?”

  “No.”

  “What about your dad?” Carrie asked. “Are you speaking to him?”

  “Not if I can help it.”

  “He’s still your dad.”

  “Only by a freak of biology.”

  “Maybe he made a mistake but -”

  “Sleeping with Gina was merely one of the many so-called mistakes my father has made,” Lauren said.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Nothing,” Lauren said. “Just take my word for it. Gina can and should do a lot better.”

  “She wants to marry him.”

  “Great. She can be my stepmother. And he can be a bigamist.”

  “Will you please talk to her?”

  At that moment, Alex strode through the back door. Both girls turned in his direction. Neither quite met his eyes. Carrie said, “Hi Mr. Covington.”

  “Hello Carrie. Lauren.”

  Alex placed his leather briefcase on the table. His initials, in twenty-four-carat gold, gleamed as if polished seconds ago. Lauren turned away. Her stomach churned painfully.

  “The mood here seems quite serious,” Alex said. “What’s going on?”

  “Nothing,” Lauren said.

  Alex fixed his gaze on the two of them until they had begun to squirm in their chairs. Then he said, “Carrie, I need to speak to Lauren alone, if you don’t mind.”

  Carrie nodded. “Sure.” She sprang from her chair almost eagerly. “I’ll see you later, Lauren.”

  As soon as Carrie closed the door behind her, Alex said, “What was that about?”

  “What?”

  “Don’t play stupid with me, Lauren. The act does not become you.” He removed his overcoat and placed it carefully over the back of a chair. He stared at Lauren until she finally met his eyes. “I suppose the two of you were discussing Gina and me?” he said.

  Lauren bit back a sarcastic reply. She pushed out of the chair, went to the refrigerator, and poured a glass of juice. She said nothing.

  Alex stepped toward Lauren. He said, “I have warned you about discussing my personal life with others.”

  “I didn’t say a word to Carrie,” Lauren said. “You might want to have this discussion with Gina instead.”

  Alex frowned. “I intend to do just that.”

  “Great.”

  “Your boyfriend didn’t show up this afternoon.”

  Lauren met her father’s steel blue eyes. She needed every bit of her control to keep from shouting all the things she’d learned about him. He thought he was above the law, above everyone and everything. But soon he’d be sharing a jail cell with the same scum he’d been spending his life defending.

  Alex said, “Did you relay my message to him?”

  “I told him not to go.”

  “I see. Not wise advice, my dear.”

  “I don’t want to talk about this with you.”

  “Where is your mother?”

  Lauren hesitated, thrown off by the abrupt subject change. She swallowed a mouthful of juice. Her stomach instantly soured. She said, “Shopping, I guess.”

  “She shops frequently these days.”

  Lauren shrugged. He was right. Her mother was out more often than ever before. But who could blame her? She needed an excuse, any excuse, to get out of this house.

  “She should have done the shopping days ago,” Alex said. “She should be here now, making preparations. We’re hosting important people here tomorrow.”

  “I won’t be here,” Lauren said. The words had fallen from her mouth before she’d been able to rein them in.

  “Pardon me?”

  “I won’t be here for dinner tomorrow.”

  Alex stepped closer to Lauren. His cold, penetrating stare merely hinted at the rage inside him. “Of course you will be here,” he said.

  “No I won’t. I made other plans.”

  “Which are?”

  Lauren backed against the counter. Her stomach quivered. “I’m having dinner with Jesse.”

  Alex’s eyes narrowed. His icy stare bore into Lauren until she was sure it would burn a hole through her soul. After a moment he said, “Enjoy him while you can.”

  “Stop making threats.”

  “I didn’t realize that I had.”

  Lauren glared at her father. He stood before her, perfect posture, tailored suit, clean-cut, confident, respectable. On the outside, he was the model of perfection. But inside he was pure evil. “I have nothing else to say to you,” she said. Then she strode quickly from the room.

  Lauren stomped around her room for a few minutes. She needed to get out of this house. Now. She’d like to walk away forever but guilt kept her living there. What if something happened to her mother once she’d moved out?

  She dialed Jesse’s cell phone. After four rings, his voice mail picked up. Lauren disconnected the call. No sense in leaving a message. He was probably busy and she had nothing particularly important to say. She’d be seeing him later, anyway.

  She went back to pacing her room. Ten more minutes of that and she knew she needed to get out. At least for awhile. She grabbed her keys and crept like a criminal out to the front door. The last thing she needed was to bump into her father on her way out. Her n
erves were so frayed that one more confrontation would surely snap her in two. Hopefully a drive would relax her.

  She was stepping onto the driveway when a familiar voice startled her. “Lauren, can we please talk?” Gina quietly asked.

  Lauren spun around. Gina stood less than three feet from her. Carrie stood by her side. Lauren glared at Carrie. She felt betrayed. “I have nothing to say to you,” she said.

  “It’s important,” Carrie said. “Please?”

  A tear slid down Gina’s cheek. In all the years they’d been friends, Lauren had never seen Gina cry. Lauren remained still a moment. She wished she could hate Gina. But she couldn’t. She motioned toward her car. “Get in,” she said.

  Lauren drove to a nearby pub. The girls picked a table in a quiet corner and ordered drinks. They waited in silence for the waitress to serve them.

  “I know this mess isn’t entirely your fault,” Lauren said to Gina. “That doesn’t mean that I could ever forgive you.”

  “I’m so sorry,” Gina said. “I honestly fell in love with him. He told me he loved me, too. It just sort of happened. He said we were meant to be together.”

  “He’s a lying bastard,” Lauren said. “He’s just using you.”

  Gina choked back a sob. “I always felt guilty about you… About your mom. But he kept promising me that it would all work out.”

  “I don’t want to hear this,” Lauren said. “I can’t.”

  Lauren started to get up but Carrie grabbed her hand. “Wait,” she said. “It’s really important that you listen to the rest.”

  “You don’t know him like I do,” Lauren said. “You’d never understand.”

  “I’m pregnant,” Gina said.

  Lauren sank back onto her chair. “His baby?”

  Gina nodded. Tears flooded her eyes. “I thought he’d take care of me,” she said. “Of us.”

  “You told him?”

  “Yes.”

  “What did he say?”

  Gina shrank back against her chair. She shook her head and stifled a sob. Carrie spoke for her. “He told her to get an abortion.”

  “Is that what you want?” Lauren asked Gina.

  “No.” Gina took a napkin and wiped her eyes. “He told me I had to do it because this baby would ruin everything. He was angry because it was my responsibility to keep from getting pregnant. I was on the pill. I didn’t mean for this to happen. But, still, I thought maybe he’d be happy. When I said I didn’t want an abortion, he called me a whore and said it was probably not even his kid.”

  Lauren reached across the table and took Gina’s hands in hers. “I’m so sorry,” she said.

  “I can’t go through with it.”

  “Then don’t. You don’t have to.”

  “But he told me I did. He’ll never speak to me again if I don’t do it.”

  “It’s your baby and your body,” Lauren said. “Besides, he won’t be there for you, no matter what you decide.”

  Gina nodded absently. Lauren couldn’t tell if Gina believed her or not. She said, “Are you afraid of him?”

  Gina’s gaze dropped down to the daiquiri in front of her. She hadn’t touched it. “I never used to be,” she said.

  “You are now?”

  “Sort of.”

  “Does he hit you?”

  “He didn’t mean for it to happen,” Gina said. “I kept pushing him, whining about missing him. He got angry but it was just as much my fault. Really, it was an accident.”

  “You can’t hit someone by accident,” Lauren said.

  Gina twisted her napkin but said nothing. Lauren said, “He hits my mom all the time.”

  Gina’s eyes widened. “He does?”

  Lauren nodded. “Don’t trust him.”

  Carrie said, “Why didn’t you ever tell us that before?”

  Lauren shrugged. “It’s hard to explain,” she said. “I was brought up that way. It was a family secret and I was told never to tell. Things got worse as I got older. I was scared. And ashamed.”

  “He really hits your mom?” Gina asked. “You mean, like slapping her now and then?”

  “No,” Lauren said. “I mean he beats her. She covers the bruises with makeup. He broke her arm once.”

  “Oh God,” Carrie muttered.

  “I can’t believe he would do that,” Gina said.

  “Yes you can,” Lauren said. “Because he’s come close with you lately. Right?”

  Gina looked away and swiped at a new flood of tears. “What am I going to do?” she said. “If I don’t have the abortion, he’ll deny the baby is even his. He said he’ll tell people I’m a lying whore. And he’s a respected lawyer. He told me he knows how to work the system in his favor.”

  “You can get a court order for DNA testing to prove the baby is his,” Lauren said. “He can’t change that. And you can’t worry about what he might say to people. You have to make a decision that’s right for you and this baby. Not him.”

  “I’ve thought about adoption.”

  “Don’t make any decisions yet,” Carrie said. “You need to give yourself a little time.”

  Lauren squeezed Gina’s hand and said, “Whatever you decide, Carrie and I will help you through it.”

  21

  “I’m so nervous,” Lauren said.

  Jesse reached across the car and took her hand. “You’ve got nothing to be nervous about,” he said. “It’s only my sister.”

  Lauren gazed at the homes they passed by. She’d never been to this area of Western Massachusetts, yet there was something vaguely familiar about it. She said, “Looks like my neighborhood.”

  “I know.”

  “How much farther to your sister’s house?”

  “Just down the street.”

  “She lives in one of these?”

  Jesse nodded. “Her husband does something with stocks and investment accounts. They’ve got no kids, lots of money.”

  The familiar knot tightened in Lauren’s stomach. Why should she be this nervous? She was certainly used to being around people with money. She knew all the proper etiquette. It had been drilled into her since early childhood. She had no reason to feel out of place.

  “Here we are,” Jesse said.

  He turned his old Mustang down a long winding driveway that led to a two-story brick Tudor with an attached three-car garage. The landscaping was meticulous. Even in the dawn of winter, the lawn remained green with not one leaf out of place.

  Jesse parked beside a white BMW roadster. He turned and assessed Lauren with a wry grin. “You ready?”

  “Ready as I’ll ever be.”

  As they walked along the cobblestone path to the front door, Jesse took Lauren’s hand in his. “I’m glad you’re here with me,” he said.

  Lauren smiled at the sweetness of his words. But she wasn’t sure that she could agree. Her stomach was so tense that she was afraid to even smell food. She could picture herself spending the afternoon vomiting in his sister’s pristine bathroom. Wouldn’t that make a wonderful first impression?

  Jesse rapped on the solid cherry door. Lauren realized that she was holding her breath as the door swung open. She forced herself to take slow breaths.

  A tall, thin man stood in the foyer. His fine brown hair was cut short and held a hint of gray. He had a well-trimmed beard and wore wire-rimmed glasses. He smiled and held out his hand to Jesse. “Hello stranger,” he said. “Good to see you.”

  Jesse reached out and grasped the man’s hand. “Hi Brian.”

  Brian turned his attention to Lauren, his smile still in place. “You must be Lauren.”

  Jesse introduced Lauren to his brother-in-law. They exchanged pleasantries as Brian led them into the formal living room. The room was spacious, filled with antique vases and French provincial furniture. A classical symphony piece that Lauren didn’t recognize played softly in the background. A faint scent of pumpkin pie caused a little flutter in Lauren’s stomach.

  A couple stood by the marble fireplace si
pping martinis. Brian introduced them as his brother Phillip and his wife Cassandra. Phillip looked much like his brother, though his eyeglass frames were silver titanium and his suit was a deeper brown. Cassandra matched him in height, which was probably about 5’10”. She had short blonde hair that looked natural and long, thin, perfect legs. She wore an elegant black fitted cocktail dress. A Donna Karan with a price tag of $2995. Lauren had lingered over it while searching for her own “perfect” outfit. The one she currently wore came from the discount rack of struggling designers.

  As they exchanged greetings, Jesse’s sister drifted into the room carrying a silver tray full of appetizers. Lauren could have picked her out of a crowd. She and Jesse shared the same bronze complexion and large, dark eyes. She wore an ivory dress that enhanced her perfect skin and spoke volumes with its simplicity.

  Jesse engulfed his sister in a hug and planted an affectionate kiss on her cheek. He turned, motioning to Lauren. “Monica, this is Lauren.”

  The next few minutes passed in slow motion. They all sat amidst the antiques. Jesse and Monica caught up on family gossip. Lauren’s nerves continued to keep her on edge, though she did manage to stop herself from the horrible habit of picking at her nail polish. She considered that a minor victory.

  “I’m sorry,” Brian said suddenly. “How utterly rude of me. I haven’t offered either of you a drink. Would you care for a martini?”

  Jesse scrunched his face like he’d just sucked a sour lemon. Monica laughed. She said, “Jesse doesn’t drink martinis, Brian. But I’m sure he’ll have a rum and Coke.”

  Brian smiled. “Of course. And you, Lauren?”

  Jesse stood. “I’ll make her something.”

  Dinner was an impeccably prepared, drawn-out event. Lauren managed to calm her butterflies enough to keep down her portions of the turkey and prime rib. Monica had a maid to clear the dishes, so they all retired to the den to await coffee and dessert.

  The den, with its thick Berber carpet and overstuffed furniture, was infinitely more comfortable than the living room. As Lauren and Jesse got comfortable on one of the love seats, he grinned and winked at her. She couldn’t miss the mischievous twinkle in his eyes.

  “So Jesse,” Phillip said, “Brian tells me that you left the police force.”