* * *
As the sun set over the fields I watched Liam perform a dance on the steps of Uncle Tody’s colonial home. From behind the white lace curtains I had a perfect view without being seen.
Liam squared his shoulders and marched up two steps before retreating to the path. After a few minutes of pacing on the footpath, he climbed four steps, then stopped dead-still before racing to the safety of the grass. His legs and arms were pink from working in the sun all day, his face was red with exertion. His peculiar behavior made me wish I were a mind reader.
“What are you doing?” Mama asked, seeing me hiding in the curtains.
“Just watching a boy,” I replied, honestly.
Her mouth puckered before she joined me. “What’s he doing?” she asked, fighting to keep the concern from her tone. Despite all the propaganda about needing to breed and the freedom in the law to include consorts in a marriage to optimize population growth, Mama and her family were staunch believers in monogamy.
“I don’t know,” I said, smiling at Liam’s fifth failed attempt to climb the stairs.
“Is he here to see Tamsin?” Mama asked, unconvinced.
“Maybe,” I shrugged, “or maybe he wants his pants back.”
“You have his pants?” Mama asked, her hand flying to cover her mouth.
“I took them as a joke,” I replied, widening my eyes innocently. “He was wearing shorts underneath, there was no gratuitous nudity or anything. It was a big laugh.”
Mama searched my face with the same concerned look in her eyes Tamsin had inherited. “Is everything okay with you and Oliver?” she asked.
“We’re having a break from our relationship over summer,” I stated, as though I’d actually had a choice in the matter.
“I see,” Mama replied slowly. “Did you both want this break?”
Leaving Liam to his dance I slumped into an overstuffed armchair. “I don’t know what I want,” I told her honestly. Living in a world where nudity was encouraged and everything was heavily sexualized had severely reduced the scope of awkward conversations. Even if it hadn’t, Mama was a safe person who could always be relied on to support me.
She slumped into a sofa beside me, ever the willing accomplice. “Experience is a great teacher of what we do and don’t want,” she offered, “but so is quiet contemplation. If you feel you need to blow off some city steam to work out what you want, by all means do, but be careful where you place your affections.”
“I know, I know,” I teased. “Sex leads to dancing.”
Mama laughed at my impersonation of Papa’s talks about not dancing too close in case it led to other things. The culture may have been promiscuous, but my parents were old-fashioned and proud of it.
“You’re a bright young woman,” Mama said. “I trust your judgment and I will even fight for you when you’re wrong, but life is too short to waste on things that don’t grow us to be the best version of ourselves. Oliver is a wonderful young man who is number one, and even if you’re on a break for the summer, do you really want to give part of yourself away to a boy who can’t even climb the steps?”
There was wisdom in Mama’s words, but there were also holes in her knowledge of how empty I felt with Oliver. She didn’t know how he was a different person when we were alone, that he was forceful and manipulative. It probably didn’t occur to her that Oliver and I used each other for mutual gain in the ranking system.
I opened my mouth to catch her up and gain her insight, but Uncle Tody entered with Liam in tow.
“Liam’s been wearing a groove in the concrete outside trying to muster the courage to talk to our Ambrose,” Uncle Tody boomed, his golden-blond hair made brighter by his tan skin. Tody was five years older than Mama, but there was no mistaking the sibling connection. Their features were freakishly similar, the blond hair and crystal-blue eyes, but Mama was cream skinned and delicate, while Tody was dark skinned and built like a tank. Mama’s entire visage was Pageant material, as though she’d been cloned for the event. My parents, in particular my mother, were the reason I was a number one.
“I was checking if the steps needed mending,” Liam offered lamely.
“Do they?” Uncle Tody teased.
“They do since I wore that groove in them,” Liam replied.
“Kristina, this is Thor and Villa’s boy, Liam,” Uncle Tody introduced, ruffling his hair. “I took him in and he works for me now. He usually lives in the house here, but with all the work that needs to be done over summer I’ve got him living down in the workmen’s quarters, co-ordinating everything. One of these days he might even run this place.”
Mama rose and shook Liam’s hand. “I was sorry to hear about your parents. They were kind people,” she said, apologetically. In January, Mama and Papa had mentioned Uncle Tody taking in an orphan whose parents had died in a car accident. I’d assumed it was a small child, but Liam blew that image away.
Looking undone by Mama’s sincerity, Liam said, “Thanks. It was a terrible accident. I’m lucky Tody took me in.”
“There’s always room for a hard worker around here,” Uncle Tody exclaimed, slapping Liam on the back.
I rose from the armchair, fixing my posture. “You wanted to see me?” I asked, playing it cool.
“I believe you have something that belongs to me,” he prompted, blushing in front of the adults.
“Can you jog my memory?” I asked, coyly.
Mama shook her head, bemused. “Come, Tody,” she said, taking her brothers arm. “Let the kids work out their property issues.”
“But I’m enjoying Liam being speechless,” Tody complained, laughing. “It happens so rarely.”
“I have his pants,” I loud-whispered at Uncle Tody.
“How did you come by those?” Tody asked, his face darkening. It was sweet that he wanted to defend my honour.
“It was a practical joke,” Mama explained. “No nudity. Now, let’s allow them to work out the terms and conditions of the release of said pants.”
“That’s fine,” Uncle Tody grumbled, “but you keep your pants on from now on, Liam.”
“Yes, sir,” Liam replied, sheepish.
Mama and Tody left, whispering.
“May I have my pants back, please?” Liam asked, his cheeks red from the exchange.
“I told you the terms of getting your pants back,” I replied. “No date, no pants.”
He ran his fingers through his tight black curls, and exhaled. “Why would you want to go on a date with me?” he asked.
“Why not?” I replied, shrugging my shoulders.
“I’m ranked number six hundred and fifty-seven, and dropping. Next month I’m going to be nineteen, and I won’t have even been a blip on ranking history. You, Ambrose Addams—daughter of Kristina and David Addams lifetime gold members—have been ranked number one in Tealé for seventeen months, I know because your uncle is constantly bragging about it. So what use could you possibly have for me?” he said, matter-of-fact.
His honesty caught me off guard. I hadn’t really thought through what I wanted to do with Liam. Was he just a fling, or was I looking for more? As a million questions raced through my mind, Liam stepped closer to me.
“See, I’m not the guy for a summer romance. If you want to slum it with a country boy, then find that guy with the hot chest from earlier. His name is Jai, and he is easy to find in the workmen’s quarters,” Liam informed. “I’ve lost too much this year already, and I’m not willing to put my heart on the line. So can I have my pants? Please.”
My palms broke out in a sweat, and my heart beat in fast forward. For all the witty banter I’d made over the years I couldn’t think of a single thing to say. “I’m sorry,” I blundered, unable to move. His words struck deep, bringing to mind how lost I would be without my parents.
Liam blushed crimson. "No I'm sorry," he responded. "Keep the pants. I needed new ones anyway. Sorry."
He rushed out of the room as though I'd tried to set him o
n fire.
Hugging myself, I walked to the window and watched him walk out toward the workmen’s quarters, shaking his head. I vowed to return his pants.
Celestial Page 18
