“Alex, you broke the stained glass window in the chapel with a plant. You need to take it easy. I know you’re upset.”
“Upset? You think I’m upset? You of all people should understand I’m not just upset!” Panic grips my skin. I can’t breathe. Tucking my knees close, I grab on tight.
“Pumpkin, it will be ok.”
“Stop lying to me.”
His rubs his tired eyes. “I’m not lying. I just don’t have an answer, so it’s the only thing I know to say.”
“So you don’t know?”
“No,” he mutters. My father stands up from the chair. He sits down next to me on the bed, pulling me against his shoulder. “I would tell you if I did. I won’t keep it from you.”
“Promise?” Two tears slip down my cheeks upon hearing that word. Those two syllables represent something powerful in my world, the very one that spins in a perilous orbit.
“I promise, Pumpkin.”
Chapter 16
When I was fourteen…
Arlis. Not big enough to spit on, according to those passing through the hole-in-the-wall Texas town. It didn’t take long for me to know exactly what Jess meant when I arrived at Sprayberry. Arlis was not a wealthy place, which made the Masons stand out as local royalty among the gossipmongers and coat-tailers.
My involvement with the family became fodder of many dinner table discussions. The snippets of our legendary scandal caught my ear through the years. How’d those con-artist Tanners wiggle their way in with the Masons? You know they pay for everything. Bought the dad another new truck just last year.
For Jess and me, those wild days at Sprayberry made the rest disappear into oblivion. A bubble built by children destined to burst, but we lived every moment happy and together. That worked until this summer. In a few weeks, high school would start, bringing the full world of Arlis right to my doorstep. It was an understatement to say I was worried. Those thoughts plagued my subconscious as I sat sketching poolside at the Masons.
“When are you getting your ass in the pool?” Natalie demanded from the cool, blue water. I looked up at my only other friend besides Jess. She’d spent the last hour floating around on a reclining raft in his pool while I sketched in my notepad.
“Um, maybe later. I want to finish this and then I’ll jump in before we head back.”
“Good luck, Nat. She’s not gettin’ in unless you push her.”
Hearing his deep voice from the white lounge chair, I tilted my eyes up long enough for a nonverbal, shut up! Jess winked back.
“Jerk,” I mouthed at him.
I met Natalie when she moved to town during seventh grade. The school board members, who graduated high school with Moses, thought junior high students still needed a jungle gym. This just drove some kids to hang out behind the bus barn smoking whatever they could rustle up, and the rest to stand around with petty stares of social-ranking popularity.
One lunch period, while trying to escape the courtyard of fake smiles, I found a girl kicking the crap out of the Dr Pepper machine with her laced up Dr. Martens. She wore a black ruffled skirt and a tight, Nine Inch Nails t-shirt. As I watched the strange girl, she turned and gave me a twisted smile that screamed, back the hell up!
That was the day I met Natalie, the most unique person I’d ever seen. She came to Arlis kicking and screaming louder than me with a family-forced move, courtesy of her grandfather’s dementia. I understood and accepted the fellow outsider to this place. Despise plus despise equaled a match made in despicable heaven.
Hearing a splash, I glanced up again over my paper. Jess slipped in the deep end and surfaced close to Natalie. He slicked the dark hair back off his forehead. Swimming up to the raft, he grinned close to her face. “You wanna play volleyball?”
Seeing Natalie’s hateful snarl, I chuckled to myself. Those two basically tolerated each other because of me. I don’t think Jess disliked Natalie; he just didn’t understand her harsh personality or love of black clothing. On the other hand Natalie, saw Jess as the spoiled rich kid.
Jess assembled the net across a corner section of the pool. Natalie reluctantly climbed off the raft to play with him. Sitting under the large umbrella covered table, I focused again on my sketch, adding a few more lines of shadows around the windows. I had to admit, the architecture of Mason Manor was very interesting to reconstruct on paper. Jess hated the nickname I gave the house. I used it as much as possible just to grate on his nerves.
“Alexandra, would you care for some lemonade?” I looked up to see Mrs. Mason standing over me. Her drawn out words practically turned the last one into four.
“Yes, ma’am.”
She handed over a glass with her perfectly manicured fingers. Mrs. Mason’s eyes paused briefly on my Rangers baseball cap. I thought the blue canvas looked nice with my red braids sticking out on each side. She apparently thought otherwise.
“What are you working on, dear?” she smiled, the sun reflecting off her glossed lips.
“Um, some drawings.” I noted her carefully selected outfit. The crisp white pants and gold dress sandals complemented the yellow sleeveless sweater top.
“Do you mind if I have a look?” Reluctantly, I handed over the paper. I didn’t like someone seeing my work. Even if it was just a building, the picture was a little part of the person I was inside. Mrs. Mason scanned over the drawing. “Very nice, Alexandra.”
“Hey Al, show her your book. She’s really good.”
Thanks, I glared at him.
Taking a deep breath, I opened my backpack. Thanks to Jess and his big mouth, I really didn’t have a choice except show her my drawing pad. A flush of nausea shot in my stomach mixed with the pretty lemonade.
Mrs. Mason thumbed through the pictures of animals and buildings and flowers from the meadow. She paused on the sketch of Jess perched on Clive’s saddle. The entire picture was gray and white pencil except a few highlighted points. I added bright blue watercolor to Jess's eyes and the blue bonnets in the background.
“Your sketches are very good, Alexandra. Did you ever take lessons?”
“No, ma’am. Not formal ones.” Feeling the judgment, I absently chewed on my bottom lip.
“Hmmm, I see. Well, carry on, dear.” Handing back the sketch pad, she walked toward the house. “Jessup, you really should put on sunscreen.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Jess agreed to her motherly request even though he never burned. The sun just turned his skin into dark caramel.
Jess and Natalie climbed out of the pool to get some lemonade. They each took one of the decorative poolside cups, accented with a lemon wedge in the top corner.
“Stop dripping all over my stuff!” I spat at Jess, pulling my sketch book away.
“Maybe you should just get in the pool,” he grinned, taunting me. Bending down, he scooped me up from the chair. I kicked my feet in every direction and tried to elbow his chest. Walking over to the edge of the pool, his arms held me in a vice grip, making my clothes wet.
“Don’t you dare!”
“What’d ya think, Nat?”
Natalie just nodded her dyed black head in agreement.
“What? You two are agreeing on things together now!”
I twisted around trying to get free, but Jess gripped harder into my skin. He’d spent the entire summer training with the high school football team. I couldn’t beat him anymore. His toned up body got stronger every day.
“Ok, let’s do this,” his voice cracked with a laugh. “One, two… and three!”
I flew in the air and then landed in the cold, blue water. Thrashing around, panic climbed from my chest into my throat. My toes fought against the cement bottom until I stood upright in the shallow end.
“You asshole!” I surfaced, coughing up water. “I hate both of you!”
Jess landed with a cannonball next to me, sending another splash over my head. I wiped the spray from my eyes. “I’ll get you back. You better watch it.”
He laughed, getting close to my face. “What’re you gonna do ’bout it.”
“Take you down.”