Fear and Laundry (20 page)

“Is it that bad?” I touched the loose ringlets Paige had somehow conjured from my wilted mane. After the mall excursion, she’d shown up at my house with a bag full of hairbrushes, pins, and curling irons in different sizes. Not to mention the assortment of hair goos and makeup. Here was Paige’s true “arsenal,” I’d thought, remembering Lia’s comment about her knife.

“You look fine,” Paige reassured me. She wore a tight dress that showed off her curves. She’d shown it to me in Bonfire, telling me she’d been saving for it but was still a little short. She worked two jobs, she said, but her budget was tight because she paid for her own car, insurance and gas, and was saving for her “after-high-school plans.” When I asked, she told me she was going to move back to Dallas, rent an apartment and a chair at a nice salon. I must’ve looked surprised to hear all this because she explained she’d “had a reality check” in juvie and emerged a changed woman. I wanted to ask if she’d really been sent there for cutting someone but despite our little bonding session, I was still wary of making her mad.

Seeing the wistful way she’d looked at the dress, I’d offered to spot her what she lacked with the credit card my mother had loaned me. She could pay me back later. She’d hesitated but I’d convinced her it was the least I could do considering the help she was giving me. Now I sort of regretted it, seeing how good she looked in the dress.

“Lia?” I was worried. She seemed to have stopped breathing.

“I’m okay,” she said, patting her chest. She reached out to touch my sleeve, as though to convince herself the dress was real. “It’s just that...You look so...
pretty.
”

“Shut up.” I jerked away from her touch.

“I’m serious.”

“So, should we get going or what?” I said.

Lia nodded, still looking staggered. “Mom and Dad left already. Jake’s gonna drive us.” She led me and Paige down the hall. “Hey, Jake! You ready or what?” She geared up to pound on the closed bathroom door.

Before her fist could connect with it, the door flew open and a cloud of shower steam puffed out. When it cleared, Jake stood there in black dress pants and no shirt, his wet hair sticking up in every direction. He wasn't looking at us, but at a wristwatch he'd snatched up from the edge of the sink.

“Would you hold your horses? We’ve got plenty of time. Mom said we didn't have to be there until..." He finally looked up. "Oh, hey Nic,” he said, seeing me behind his sister.

I brought my eyes back up to his face. “Hey.”

Unflustered, he put down the watch, pulled a black dress shirt from a hook on the door and put his arms through the sleeves. I looked away from him and saw Paige watching me. She turned to Jake.

“
Hello
,” she said suggestively.

He greeted her and granted her a smile, but then looked back to me, puzzled.

“Are you wearing a dress?” he asked.

Mortified, I didn’t answer.

“You look nice,” he said, buttoning a shirt cuff.

“Hurry up,” Lia commanded her brother. Her gown rustled noisily as she moved off toward her room.

“Later.” Paige wiggled her fingers at Jake, making the word sound like a promise. I put my hand on her back and pushed her after Lia.

Once the three of us were inside, Lia closed her bedroom door. “Why am I the only one around here who understands the concept of punctuality?” She tugged uncomfortably at a spaghetti strap, went to her dressing table and hunched over, peering at herself in the mirror.

“Oh, man. It’s Jake you've got a thing for, isn’t it?” Paige nudged me painfully in the ribs.

“Ow. No,” I hissed.

“Come on. I saw your mouth drop open when he opened that door.”

"It did not," I whispered, hoping it hadn't really. I glanced uneasily at Lia’s turned back.

“What? Does Lia not know?” Paige raised her voice, sounding incredulous. And far too amused.

Hearing her name, Lia spun around to look at us. “What don’t I know? What are you yammering about over there?” she demanded of Paige.

“Nothing,” I answered for her.

“Your brother looks pretty good without his shirt on,” Paige informed Lia gleefully.

Lia’s eyes widened. “Excuse me?”

Paige hooked her thumb at me. “Montez thinks so.”

“Please don’t,” I implored.

“Can’t say I blame you,” Paige said to me. “He’s kinda ripped for a skinny dude. And scrappy.” She punched at the air, referencing the fight at Lynch’s. “You should go for it.” She punched again, this time hitting me in the arm. “I think he likes you.
‘Oh, Nic. You look so hot in that dress,’
” she embellished, snickering.

I rubbed my arm and scowled at her. Lia leaned back against her dresser and stared at me.

“What?” I asked, worrying about her again. She’d gone a little pale.

“You don’t like him,” she said.  “Do you?”

The room seemed to shrink. Sweat broke out on my forehead. I thought about what Mom had asked me, if Lia would mind my liking her brother.

"No," I lied.

“Just think, Lia,” Paige goaded, enjoying herself. “If Montez marries your brother, you two’ll be sisters. And you can be Aunt Lia to their passel of scrawny little brats.”

Lia snatched the cushion from her vanity seat and pitched it at her, telling her to shut it, but Paige stepped neatly out of the way. She was looking around for something to throw back when a knock at the door froze us all where we stood.

“Yeah, come in,” called Lia. Paige made a kissy face at me, puckering and moving her lips. Lia chucked a balled-up t-shirt at her, this time nailing her in the chest just as the door opened. Paige cursed.

“Am I interrupting something?” Jake had combed his hair, buttoned the shirt, and tucked it in. A coral and gray striped necktie hung over his shoulder, ready to be put on. Like Lia, he’d mostly healed from the fight the week before, and the scrapes on his face were hardly noticeable. He looked great.

“Just Paige being a pain in the ass,” Lia said, snatching her jacket from the bed, “As usual.” She headed for the door and Paige and I started to follow her.

“Hang on a second. One of you know how to tie this thing?” Jake held up one end of the necktie. “It’s been a long time since I’ve worn one. Can’t seem to get it right.”

“Go on, Montez,” Paige said into my ear.

“Well
I
don’t know how to do it,” I mumbled at her, irritably. Why would I, I thought? My father wasn’t around, I didn’t have any brothers. I’d never tied a man’s necktie in my life.

Paige sighed and shoved her purse into my hands. She moved past me, pulling Jake into the room. Even in heels, she was too short to comfortably reach him, so she wriggled her hem up an inch and knelt on Lia’s bed. Then she flipped up his collar and draped the tie around his neck, quickly and expertly knotting it while Lia and I waited by the door. When she was done, she smoothed the collar back into place and used the tie to tug Jake’s face closer to hers.

“Gorgeous,” she pronounced, and kissed him lightly on the cheek.

He thanked her, tightening the knot against his throat. He’d accepted the kiss graciously enough, but his expression had given nothing away. I couldn’t tell if he’d enjoyed it or not.

He helped Paige off the bed and asked us if we had everything we needed. I handed Paige’s purse back to her. She didn’t have a coat but said she didn’t need one. Lia’d already put her jacket on. I said I’d forgotten mine, but would be okay without it. “Alright then, ladies,” he said, ushering. “Your carriage awaits.”

We couldn’t all fit in the van. There were no seats in the back, to leave room for musical equipment. Even if there had been, it would’ve been awkward for us to climb in and out in dresses and heels. So Lia’s parents had driven John’s Subaru to the party and left Elyse’s Volvo for the rest of us. When we reached the driveway, Jake went to “get something” from his van.

While we waited by the Volvo, Paige announced she wanted to ride in the front seat with Jake. “You don’t mind, do you, Montez?” she smirked.

“Of course she doesn’t, you moron,” said Lia, and warned her to drop it or else.

***

T
he Country Lake Reception Center sat isolated on the Northern outskirts of Carreen. The main building stood atop a small, man-made rise several yards up from the parking lot and, true to its name, rested beside a small (also artificial) lake. A footpath and ring of pecan trees circled the water. Throughout the day, live peacocks strutted around the property and at night, the place was lit by torches and strings of paper lanterns.

After professional family photos by the lake, the Mlinarichs’ vow renewal took place in one banquet hall and was followed by a reception in another. Though I’d obviously known Lia’s family was well-connected, I couldn’t help but be impressed by the number of well-wishers that rose and crowded from one room to the next after the ceremony. There had to be a hundred and fifty people swarming around the refreshment tables, all talking and laughing at the same time. There was a small dance floor in a corner and Elyse’s DJ pumped loud disco music through the building’s sound system. But so far only a cluster of little kids seemed interested in dancing.

I couldn’t find Lia anywhere and was feeling overwhelmed when an older couple, maybe in their late fifties, cornered me near a punch fountain and asked me how I knew John and Elyse. I told them I was Lia’s friend.

“Not the delinquent?” The woman, who’d introduced herself as Fiorenza Pembroke, asked me. Her face distorted with aversion. She wore a dark skirt-suit with a matching feathered hat and as she spoke, feathers bobbed up and down, reminding me of one of Clyde 2’s favorite cat toys.

“I’m sorry?” I asked, watching the hat.

“Elyse said one of the girls in Lia’s awful band had been in
juvenile detention
,” chimed in Mr. Pembroke. His watery black eyes swam behind tortoise-shell glasses. He was stooped but tall and I could see straight up his nostrils. There was a lot of hair in there.

I assured them I wasn’t “the delinquent.” Seeming pleased, Mrs. Pembroke started grilling me about school. How were my grades? Which colleges did I have in mind? She might know someone willing to mentor me; was I interested in an internship?

I looked around for Lia or Paige, anyone that might save me from the onslaught of questions. The girls were nowhere to be seen.

“Uh,” I stammered. “Um...”

To my relief, a banquet person in a bowtie and cumber bund stopped beside us, offering a tray of canapés. Distracted by shrimp crostini and Brussels sprouts wrapped in bacon, Mr. and Mrs. Pembroke finally turned their laser eyes away from me. While they were busy quizzing the server about the “herb ingredients in the forcemeat stuffing,” I took a step back and looked for an escape route.

I spotted Jake heading in my direction, a bundle of fabric folded over his arm. Our eyes met. Without speaking, he held his hand out to me and without thinking, I took it. He led me quickly through the mass of guests, toward a side door.

I was thoroughly enjoying the feel of his fingers tangled in mine when he let go of me to open the door. The wind hit me as soon as I stepped outside and I hurried to anchor my dress with both hands.

I saw that the bundle he carried was his Army jacket. This must’ve been what he’d gotten from the van and put into the Volvo’s trunk before we’d left his parents’ house. He hadn’t worn or carried it when we arrived, so I had to assume he’d trekked all the way down to the parking lot to get it after the ceremony.

“Here.” He shook it out, draping it around my shoulders.

“Thanks,” I said, truly grateful. The jacket smelled nice. Clean. Like him.

“You looked like you could use a break.”

“Who were those people?”

“The Pembrokes,” he replied ruefully. “Pretty awful, aren’t they? But they were some of dad’s earliest investors. I assumed they were subjecting you to the dreaded ‘so, what are you planning to do with the rest of your life?’ interrogation.”

“They do that to everyone?”

“Well, they sure lay into me anytime I see them. Wanna take a walk?” He nodded in the direction of the lake and I followed him to the footpath, careful not to step on any rocks. Because I’d forgotten to buy some, and didn’t own any shoes that weren’t sneakers, Paige had loaned me a pair of black heels. I was easily four inches taller than her, but she had those big feet – close enough in size to mine, if still an imperfect fit. She’d insisted the shoes were the lowest and roomiest ones she owned, but even so, my feet were screaming.

“You alright in those things?” he asked, seeing me wince.

“Not really,” I admitted.

“You look uncomfortable. But nice,” he added quickly, reiterating his compliment from before.

I told him he did too.

“Thanks,” he said. “Speaking of beautiful men; where’s your Greek god? Adonis? Couldn’t make it after all?”

“Alex?” I laughed. “No. He’s at his sister’s ballet recital.” I told him about Melina and her upcoming audition and he said that was “impressive.”

“They both are,” I said, confessing I felt pretty inadequate in the Kalivas twins’ presence.

“But things are going alright with him? With Alex?” he asked.

“I guess. We’re still getting to know each other. Or trying to.” I hadn’t been out with him since the day at Scout’s, but I’d talked to him at school and a little on the phone.

Jake said to let him know if Alex didn’t treat me right.

“Why? So you can hit him in the face like poor Dustin?”

“Screw Dustin,” he said, remorseless.

I wouldn’t
, I thought. That’d sort of been the whole problem.

“Well, so far Alex has been a perfect gentleman, so you can just relax. How’re things going with Paige?” I hoped the question sounded casual.

There were no “things” going anywhere with Paige, he said. Why was I always bringing her up?

“I dunno. The two of you seem to like each other.”
A lot
, I thought.

“She’s alright. Not really my type.”

“She’s everyone’s type,” I disputed. “Even I’ve looked at her twice.”

He smiled. We traveled a few feet more down the path and he took off his tie, undoing Paige’s handiwork, and opened his shirt collar. When we neared a bend in the path, I cleared my throat and asked if he’d made any decisions about school.