by Cox, Suzanne
I nodded, feeling worse, even though I thought it wasn‘t possible.
“It all begins with self control. Not everyone can control their mind and body well enough to excel at the game, but you can, can’t you.”
I forced my eyes away from the glass in front of me where I’d been tracking the path of sweat beads to keep from looking at him. His voice held that hypnotizing quality that I remembered from the first day at camp when he read the story. Finally, I met his gaze and saw his disappointment.
“I…I’d like to be good at the game, but I didn’t do it today.”
“Because you lost your self control.”
“I guess so.” I mumbled, wondering if I sounded as guilty as I felt.
Mr. Branton refilled his glass and mine. He had been nice to me. I felt like I had let him down today, which made me miserable, though I wasn’t sure why. He and Myles got along really well, and they never seemed to fight or disagree. He was a good dad, the kind I would like to have gotten. I thought of my new step dad. He wasn’t so bad, but I didn’t feel the closeness to him that I already felt with Mr. Branton. We seemed to have things in common. I didn’t know what they were, but I could just tell that we did.
“I’ll be ready next time we practice. I won’t waste your time.”
“It’s not my time being wasted, Alexis, it’s yours.” He glanced at the sky. “You better get started home before Louise starts worrying about you. After the incident with those dogs last week I imagine you don’t want to be on that path again after dark.”
“I go the long way now, and they were wolves, not dogs.”
“Right, wolves, and you really should hurry if you’re going the other way around the lake. I’ll phone Louise to let her know.”
I nodded and ran down the steps to the four-wheeler. When I reached the ground I contemplated going back and telling Mr. Branton my concerns about Louise. But, in the end, I couldn’t really put those into words. What did I think? That she’d killed somebody? The thought made me cold all over and immediately led me to the next thought. What was really happening when I was sleepwalking? Where did I go? What did I do? Where were the images in my head coming from? What if it wasn’t Louise at all? What if it was me? I felt sick and knew that was why I couldn’t go back and talk to him, couldn’t talk to anyone. Because what if it was me?
Chapter Eighteen
The early morning sun streaming in the huge window filled the room with light. I rolled over with a yawn, then bolted upright, tossing the sheet covering me to the floor. I could see a yard, grass, the rails of the white daybed I had been asleep in. This wasn’t Vicki’s house.
“And she’s awake.”
I swung my feet to the floor, glancing down at the huge man’s t-shirt that hung nearly to my knees. It very likely belonged to the stranger standing in the doorway smiling at me. I backed near the window, wondering if I could throw something through it and escape.
“Who are you? What am I doing here?”
He laughed. “Sorry, I guess I should have given you an explanation first. I’m Vincent Unger. I’m a friend of your Aunt Louise’s, believe it or not.”
“I don’t believe it.”
“We can give her a call if you want. Naturally, I called her last night when I first found you. I run late at night sometimes along the levee when I can’t sleep, or if I’ve worked a late shift. I’m a doctor. I happened up on you lying in the grass unconscious. I imagine it was one doozey of a party, huh.”
“I don’t remember.”
“That’s the worst thing about getting in that condition. You never really can recall how much fun you had.”
“I wasn’t in a condition.”
“Oh, you were in a condition all right.”
“I had been dreaming. I was sleepwalking.” I stopped. My elbow thumped against the windowpane behind me as my hand flew to cover my mouth. “Oh, my God! Was I dressed?”
Vincent swung my tiny evening bag from his fingers. “If you can call wearing this dressed, then yeah, I guess you were.”
The heat in my face had to have increased the temperature in the whole room. I stared at the floor. I never aspired to be the kind of girl who paraded naked in the streets.
“Hey, it’s okay. Looks like you came out of it uninjured, and you had this little purse around your neck. Your aunt had stuck a card in there with her name and emergency phone numbers on it. It was your lucky day.” He was quiet for a moment and I looked up to see him staring at me. “Not everybody gets one.”
I nodded. “I’ll call my aunt now if that’s okay.”
“Sounds like a good idea. She was worried.”
Two hours later, dressed in a t-shirt, shorts and flip- flops that Vincent had bought for me, I finished my last beignet and took a long drink of the Café du Monde’s latte. Vincent had brought me here for breakfast before starting the trip back to Lebeaux. Eating at the café was practically a requirement for visitors he’d said. A big hill that Vincent referred to as a levee kept us from actually seeing the Mississippi River from where we sat in the café.
“The levee helps keep water out of the city because it’s below sea level.”
I nodded, not sure if I believed him. Wouldn’t we be sitting in water if the city was below sea level? I didn’t bother to ask. Now that I didn’t have to be afraid Vincent was a kidnapper, I could once again marvel at the movie star good looks of all the men I seemed to meet lately. Vincent was by far one of the most memorable. He was single, a doctor, and must have been about Louise’s age. But he didn’t look like the doctors I ended up seeing when I went to the clinic with a cold. Of course, I hadn’t been to the clinic in a few years, so maybe this was what doctors looked like now. Either I’d missed seeing all the good looking men in Chicago or else they really did all live here. I wasn’t sure which.
“So Vincent, how do you know my aunt?”
“We were in college together.”
“Really? Did you two date?”
“No, we were good friends. How have you ended up staying with her?”
The waiter refilled my creamy coffee, and I took another drink. “My mom remarried and decided to take a honeymoon to Europe with the new husband, minus the daughter.”
“Honeymoons are usually like that.” Vincent held the bottom of his cup in his palm and tilted it to take a drink, ignoring the handle on the side.
“I guess. But I’m from the city, so being in the woods is really weird. There’s a voodoo lady we buy shrimp from, and these hybrid wolves are lurking around our house. They attacked me once. Then, when I’m sleeping, I dream about the stupid animals. It’s like they’re stuck in my subconscious.”
“They probably are. You’re stressed from the new situation so that can cause all kinds of strange dreams and anxiety.”
“Yeah, that’s it, anxiety.”
He nodded and I relaxed in my chair. If a doctor thought I simply had anxiety, then that’s what I had. I bit into another beignet that the waitress had placed in front of me wiping at the powdered sugar that stuck to my lips. Vincent smiled. I found myself wishing he lived in Lebeaux. He was a lot like Mr. Branton because I felt that weird connection with him, like we’d known each other for a long time, even though we hadn’t. Or maybe it was because he’d seen me naked, and, well… there just wasn’t much to get between two people after that was it?
***
“What happened to you, woman?”
“You tell me.” I sat on a barstool at Channing’s kitchen counter, a bag of clothes in front of me.
“I don’t know. One minute you were there and the next minute you were gone.”
I’d come to Channing’s to get my things that had been left at Vicky’s after Vincent drove me home from New Orleans. I’d asked Channing to bring them to the day camp that morning, but she’d conveniently forgotten.
“Thanks for putting out an APB on me.”
“For all I knew you were off with a guy you’d met. By the time we figured something was
up, your aunt had phoned to let us know you’d been found. Hell, we didn’t know you were missing, not by accident anyway.”
“Do I look like the kind of person who would go off with some guy I barely knew?”
“I guess. I mean who wouldn’t”
I shook my head. Maybe I needed to question Channing’s sanity. I wasn’t the kind of person who would do something so thoughtless, was I? Wasn’t that a thoughtless thing to do, or was I being a silly kid? I was pretty certain not going off with strangers was a wise thing.
“Luckily, this man who knew my aunt found me, but it could have been bad. I don’t know how I got where I was or where my clothes went.”
Channing laughed until she noticed that I wasn’t so happy, then she reached across the counter and gave the bag a shove. “Get over it. You obviously had a good time. I don’t know why you’re so mad.”
“I don’t know if I had a good time or not because I can’t remember anything.”
“Trust me, you had a great time.”
So far, Channing hadn’t proven herself trustworthy. Or maybe she was being honest. I might have met a guy and gone somewhere with him, only to end up naked in the streets. What had I done? Not knowing wasn’t that much fun. But the other three girls hadn’t seemed horrified that I might have left the party with someone I didn’t know or that I couldn’t remember a thing about the evening. I’d never been anywhere and not remembered it. Was this what it meant to be friends with Channing? Maybe that was why my friends in Chicago hadn’t really been friends at all, because I hadn’t actually been doing the things they were. So, in reality, I was an outsider. Maybe I needed to have the same experiences they did to be one of them. What if I was an outsider no matter what I did? I rubbed my forehead as the swirling thoughts in my mind began to give me a headache. I really wondered if I needed friends at all if this was how it was going to be. At the moment, being invisible was beginning to sound pretty good.
“We’re having a cookout Saturday night if you want to come. My parents have promised to provide the food. They’re going to dinner and a movie so we can be on our own. You should come. It will be a lot of fun. You can work on remembering this last party you seem to have forgotten.”
The other girls laughed, and I tried to laugh with them, but it sounded hollow even to my own ears. I wasn’t sure I could get Aunt Louise to agree to another event with Channing and some part deep inside of me wasn’t so sure I wanted to.
Celina glanced through the front window and shouted. “I think your aunt is in the driveway.”
Channing walked to the window and then stared wide eyed at me. I wanted to crawl into the neatly tiled floor. “I can’t believe your aunt is picking you up.”
“Yeah, well.” I faltered, then tried again. “You can’t believe how much trouble I’m in.”
The tall blonde shook her head. “I should have guessed your aunt would be mad over this, but she’ll get over it.”
I grabbed the bag and hurried to the door. “See you guys tomorrow.” I shouted as the door shut behind me.
I slid into the passenger seat glancing at Louise.
“Sorry, I’m sure they gave you a hard time because I came to get you.”
I shrugged. “Not too much.”
Louise pulled away from the house. “So what now?’
“Channing’s having a cookout this weekend. Can I go?” The words flowed from me, even though I wasn’t really sure I wanted to go at all.
“You’ve got to be kidding?”
“It’s just going to be some of her friends, eating. That’s it, honestly.”
“Don’t you think these parties are getting out of hand?”
“No, they’re not out of hand. Besides, this isn’t a party. It’s dinner. There will only be a few people there.”
“After last weekend I would have thought you’d be through with Channing. Don’t you care that they left you alone and in a situation you can’t even remember. Good grief, Alexis, you took drugs, and now you expect me let you go again?”
Alexis shook her head. “That’s not true, Aunt Louise. I did not take drugs. Someone drugged me. They put something in my drink. I don’t take drugs.”
She shook her head as she turned into the drive of the house. “What’s the difference, Alexis? You made some really poor decisions. That’s the point.”
Louise got out of the car and I followed her inside, trying to collect my thoughts. Some cubbyhole in my brain argued that Aunt Louise was right. I’d been really stupid, but another part urged me on. Another part of me absolutely had to go.
“It wasn’t that bad. I fell asleep and had a nightmare and did that sleepwalking thing I do. That’s all.”
In the kitchen Louise started pulling pots and pans from the cabinet. I flopped into a chair at the kitchen table. Louise paused after arranging the items on the stovetop.
“You make it sound like no big deal that you were found unclothed on the lakefront with no idea how you got there.”
“I told you I was sleepwalking.” Although when Louise said it like that the whole thing did sound really bad.
She took a bowl from the refrigerator and placed it on the counter. “A million things could have happened to you.”
“But they didn’t.”
Aunt Louise stared at me while I bumped my shoe against the chair and wadded the hem of my t-shirt. I tried to meet her eyes, but finally I gave in to the fact that I couldn’t do it, so I eyed the salt shaker instead.
Louise turned to stir in the bowl of potato salad she’d gotten out. “Okay, fine. You can go. Maybe it will work out for the best in the end anyway. I still don’t understand what makes you want to keep going over there with them after everything that’s happened. Why is that?”
I had started out of the room but stopped at the kitchen door. I turned back to her slowly. I still couldn’t meet her eyes. I stared at the chair I’d just left instead. “I don’t know. I really don’t.”
The words came from deep inside of me. It was true. I didn’t know. Though I truly wished I did.
Louise nodded. “You’ll figure it out. I only hope it happens before you do something you’ll really regret.”
I hurried to my room not wanting to give Louise the chance to change her mind. At the moment I wasn’t even sure I liked Channing. But I had to… needed to go over there, so I did. I wondered what would work out for the best, or what I might do that I’d really regret. Maybe I’d already done it.
I’d barely gotten to my room when I heard a commotion below and hurried to the top of the stairs in time to see Beowulf racing from the kitchen, sending a rug skittering across the room as he used it to get traction on the hardwood floor. Spotting me, he raced for the steps with Myles following.
I ran after the dog, but he beat me to my room. There I found him on my bed, daring me to come and take the stuffed animal that was hanging from his mouth. I jumped on the bed and managed to grab the toy which led to an intense contest of tug of war. Myles sat in the chair across the room watching us.
“You’re babysitting him until Saturday morning, hope you don’t mind.”
“No, that’ll be great.” I let go of the toy. Beowulf gave it a shake, and tossed it to the floor then went chasing after it.
“So, I hear you’ve been wandering the streets of New Orleans naked. Plan on doing that around here anytime soon?”
I pretended my face wasn’t turning red and threw a pillow at Myles. “It was a freak thing that happened and no, I won’t be doing it again.”
“Aw. I thought I might sell tickets to the event and make a little extra cash.”
I hit him with another pillow. “That is not funny, Myles.”
He frowned running a hand through his dark hair. “Yeah, you’re right it’s not. You better be careful with those friends of yours. They must be mixing some heavy stuff if you don’t remember anything.”
“I didn’t even drink one whole drink, maybe two swallows.”
“Like I said,
heavy stuff. What did Louise say?”
I frowned. “Not much really. I guess she was glad someone she knew got to me first. Her friend Vincent was running late that night. He found me and brought me home.”
Myles shifted in the chair and tossed a pillow back at me. “Vincent Unger found you and brought you home?”
“Yeah, I woke up in his house and he took me to breakfast then drove me home. Do you know him?”
“Yeah, I know him. Not personally, but I’ve kind of always wanted to be a doctor like him. I didn’t know he was in New Orleans.”
“Well he is. You should get Aunt Louise to invite him for dinner one Friday night. That would be cool.”
“Yeah, maybe.”
I settled against the pillows left on the bed. “So why am I dog sitting for you?”
“My dad and I have to go visit my grand parents in Atlanta.” Myles left the chair and stretched across the foot of my bed on his back, clasping his hands behind his head.
“That sounds nice. I don’t have grandparents.”
“Not even on your dad’s side?”
I retied the bow on the neck of a stuffed animal before answering. “I don’t know my dad, never have. He skipped out before I was born.”
“My mom did that too, right after I was born. My dad’s raised me since then.”
“You never see her?”
He shook his head.
“Yeah, me too. Never see my dad I mean. Don’t know a thing about him. He and my mom weren’t married. Do you know where your mom is?”
He kept his eyes closed and shook his head again.
“Do you ever want to try and find her?”
His mouth tightened and his eyes flew open. “No, I don’t.” He stared at the ceiling briefly before closing his eyes again.
Obviously a subject I needed to leave alone. I wondered what made him so angry. I never felt angry about the dad I didn’t know. Maybe it was different because his mom had left after he was born and my dad, whoever he was, had never been there at all.
