Hot Southern Mess (Hide Your Crazy) (29 page)

“Thanks.”

“Are you coming down?”

“Maybe later, you know, o
nce more of the crowd thins out.” I shrugged, flashing a weak smile back.

Jefferson tightened his lips, but nodded his head and left the room quietly.

Grabbing my phone from under the pillow, I quickly punched out a text to Reid.

*I’m sorry*

Powering down my phone once again, I decided I would send Stephanie a text later. Right now, I needed some more time for just me.

Chapter 29
: I’m going to do me, and well, you can suck it.

The house was finally quiet when I snuck down to the kitchen for a bite to eat. I really didn’t feel like explaining to every one earlier why I up and left Georgia, and yes, my hair was purple. It wasn’t like anyone would have talked to me, anyway.

All of the foo
d had been put away already, but I hoped the maids left a plate out for me like they did in the old days. Opening up the gigantic fridge, I poked around for that special plate.
Jackpot!
I hated being a part of my parents’ functions; so when I didn’t have to attend, I stayed hidden in my room. The maids had gotten into the habit of making me a plate and sticking it in the fridge. This way I didn’t mess up their clean kitchen before morning. “Perfect.” I smiled, turning around to close the refrigerator doors.

“Ah!” I screamed, coming face to face with my sister. “You almost gave me a heart attack
, Rebecca,” I gasped, clutching my plate tighter.

“Don’t be so dramatic
, Molly.” She rolled her eyes while walking over to a cupboard for a glass.

“What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be at home with Ben?” I questioned, pulling the saran wrap off my late night meal.

“Really, do you have no heart, Molly? Mom is alone in this big house now. I didn’t know when you were coming back, so someone needed to stay with her. Is that why your face is black and blue, because you are a heartless bitch?”

She knew damn well I was coming back today, considering I talked to her on the phone,
and then sent several text messages before and after the plane ride. And since when has Mom ever been technically alone. Both maids stayed on sight, and I’m sure Susan was staying out back in the guest house.

“I don’t want to argue
, Rebecca, and no, I wasn’t hit. But thanks for caring about what happened.”

“Really, then why in the hell did you show up?
The only reason you came back home was to be an awkward unsocial bitch. Did you think people would feel sorry for you looking like that?” she exclaimed, placing her glass on the counter and resting her hands on either side of her hips.

“Bec
ause he was my father! Did you forget that I’m family too?” I snapped, glaring at the nitwit standing on the other side of the island.

“Molly, you up and left with no explanation after my wedding
. Do you know what that did to Mom and Dad? Then you refused to talk with any of us until now. Did you really expect anyone to be excited to see you?”

“Wow
, Rebecca. You always were a little snit, and well now, now you’re just an evil cock juggling thunder cunt. I left after your wedding because there was nothing here for me. I didn’t want to be the charity case for Mom, or Rebecca’s sad older sister. I wanted to make a name for myself; find a place that accepted me for who I was, and not for who they wanted me to be.”

“Well
, that seems a little selfish.”

“Are you kidding me? This coming from Miss Teen Georgia who refused to go on stage
because one of the contestants had the same shade of dress color as you did? I can’t believe you just said that,” I argued. Of all things in life, being part of this family, I had never been accused of being the selfish one.

“Did you even know he was sick Molly? If you wouldn’t have run off trying to ‘find yourself’, then you would have realized that
during the last couple of months his health continued to deteriorate.”

“How could I know when none of you ever talked to me?”

“Whatever, Molly; go back to wherever you came from. We don’t need you here,” my sister snarled, sauntering her way back out of the kitchen.

I couldn’t believe we just had a conversation like that. Well, technically it wasn’t a conversation, more like a pissing match that ended in her telling me to leave. I have always shown respect for my family, and for her to claim otherwise was a flat out lie.

I glanced down at my plate on the counter and pushed it away. Walking back to my old bedroom I fought to control my emotions.

“No one needs to see you cry
, Molly Anne. Save those tears for your pillow,”
my mother’s voice once again ran through my head.

Opening the door, I dashed for my bed before letting the tears emerge from my eyes.

“Molly Anne, are you awake?” My mother’s voice screeched over me.

My eyes flew open
, once I remembered that I was back home and not on the tour bus.

“Good, you’re awake. I got you an appointment with Francis in an hour. Hurry up and get ready to leave, we don’t have all day to fix this disast
er before your father’s wake,” Mother barked, quickly turning in her heels to leave the room. “Hopefully they can do something with your face,” she muttered quietly.

“Yes ma’am,” I replied.

“Oh and Molly, wear something tasteful please.”

The door shut and I was left to stare at the creamy white color of the ceiling. I didn’t want to see Francis this morning, but I also didn’t want to be excluded from tonight’s ceremony. I grabbed my phone from my nightstand and pushed the power button on.

Quickly, I sent Stephanie a text saying I would be back on Wednesday, after the graveside service, and then rolled my body out of bed. My phone buzzed and I looked down at the text.

*Miss you*

*No you don’t*
I punched back, quickly turning my phone off again to avoid conversation with Reid. He didn’t miss me; he missed the comfort of having me around.

I stumbled to my closet, unsure of what I was going to wear this morning. My mother wanted tasteful, and that would include a skirt and blazer. That wasn’t going to happen anytime soon, so I silently prayed that I had something that I left years ago in here that would please the vile woman.

I pulled out a grey pinstriped pants suit with a coral colored top to go underneath. There wasn’t a huge selection to choose from, so making this work was my best bet. I tossed my hair up in a small ponytail, considering it was going to be ‘taken care of’ at the salon, so why spend time trying to make it behave this morning. Slipping my mother approved attire on; I grabbed a pair of black flats from my bag and hurried down the hallway to the kitchen.

“I thought you were going to make us late,” Mother remarked as I walked into the kitchen.

“Sorry,” I replied modestly, tossing a small smile at one of the maid’s behind the counter.

“Well
, let’s get going then. Hopefully Francis can salvage something with that hair of yours before everyone sees it tonight. I don’t know what they are going to do about your face, though; you really screwed it up this time, didn’t you?” Mother shuddered as she picked up her purse and headed for the garage door.

“Yes ma’am,” I replied, trailing behind her like a good little doggy. I hated what was
going to happen, but knew it had to be done if I wanted to attend the wake. And my sister called me selfish last night; stuck up bitch.

My scalp was on fire as I sat under the dryer, once again in Francis’s shop. This was the third time they had placed some sort of chemical on my head to try and get rid of the purple. Now, they were just attempting to get the perfect shade of blonde in their eyes. I about choked on my own spit after the first rinse of the product, silently crying on the inside for what they did to me.

It’s not like my purple hair defined who I was,
but it did make me different than everyone else walking the streets. Now, I looked like one of my sister’s Barbie clones; just missing the hot pink and sparkly heels, minus the huge purple bruises on my face. Other than that, I was a spitting image.

“I think you’re
done, darling; let’s go get you a blow out,” Francis’s assistant said sweetly while guiding me to another chair. Quickly, a black cape was draped around my body as another stylist came up and started to slather more crap into my hair. I closed my eyes as he pulled and cooked my now very blond hair into a sleek bob. I knew my mother would approve of the end product; I just wasn’t so sure I would.

A good twenty minutes later, I was instructed to open my eyes to th
e masterpiece they created. Now I fit in perfectly with my family, and all it only took was my dad dying. I lived in a completely fucked up world.

“Now
, let’s go see what they can do to cover that,” the stylist said while pointing to my face, never once asking what happened, just silently judging as he led me back to the makeup room. Snob.

A knock on my door came later as I finished buttoning up my black blazer to complete my outfit.

“Come in,” I yelled at the door, grabbing a pair of kitten heels from the closet and slipping them on my feet.

“I just came by to see…………………oh wow,” Jefferson’s voice trailed off when he caught sight of me.

“Yeah, I had an appointment with Francis this morning,” I mumbled, walking over to my vanity to grab my pearls.

“I didn’t mean that to sound negative, it’s just………….wow, I haven’t seen you like that in a long time.”

“We haven’t seen each other in a long time
, Jefferson,” I commented, rolling my eyes at the man.

“Need help?” He motioned at the necklace in my hand.

“Please,” I said softly, walking over to him and giving him the pearls. I lifted the back of my hair up as he draped the necklace around the front of my neck; letting his hands linger on my bare skin just a little too long for my liking.

Dropping my hair quickly, I turned around and forced a smile on my face.

“Are you ready?”

“As ready as I could ever be,” I stated, placing my hand in the crook of his arm as he guided me out the door.
I might still hate the man, but would never forget my southern manners.

The wake was awful, but I managed to keep my composure through the entire thing. I noticed my mother had yet to shed a tear when I was around her. She would claim that was proper southern upbringing; I called it being a cold hearted bitch. Even with my new and approved appearance, only a few people actually spoke to me, besides standing in a stupid line while people walked past
, offering their condolences. It really was for the best, considering most of the people that attended tonight I couldn’t stand, anyway.

“What are you thinking about over there
, Molly?” Jefferson questioned as we drove back to my mother’s place.

“That I nee
d a drink, or maybe ten……………………” I joked lightly. Actually, I wasn’t kidding. I really just wanted to go back to my mother’s and get smashed, letting the alcohol do its job at making me forget the day’s events.

“Want to head back to my place?”

“Does it have booze?” I questioned, raising my eyebrows at him.

“Lots,” Jefferson laughed
, keeping his eyes trained forward on the road.

“Well then, take me back to your place.”  Jefferson’s place had booze, and I know my mother didn’t keep anything good at her place
, anyway. Who wants to get drunk on wine, when I could have a glass of vodka? I wanted to forget today, fuck, I wanted to forget the last couple of years. My night was going to end perfectly with a tumbler in my hand; now if it was only Reid that was with me, and then my evening would be complete.

“You want another?” Jefferson asked, as I sat sprawled out on his couch, not looking very lady like.

“Sure; why the hell not?
” I laughed. I had already passed my ‘fuck it’ number two glasses back, what’s one more to add to the list.

Jefferson filled my glass again,
and then sat himself down next to me on the sofa.

“So where did you run off to
, Miss Molly?”

“Well, I went to Seattle, but have been traveling with the band Black Laden for the last two months while they are on tour.”

“Please don’t tell me you’re a cage dancer.” Jefferson smirked, bringing his whiskey up to his lips once again.

“Seriously
, Jefferson, do I look like I’m equipped to be that kind of dancer? Fuck no, I’m an assistant manager for their management company,” I slurred, tipping my head back for another drink of the Magnum Grey Goose Jefferson poured me.

“Good,
because you really suck at dancing.”

“Fuck you
, Jefferson,” I garbled, tossing my hand out to smack his chest.

Jefferson caught my hand in his and pulled me over his body on the sofa. There we
lay, face to face, not saying anything.

This man completely shattered my heart, so why i
n the hell was I doing this now?

“I’m sorry
, Molly,” he whispered softly, running his free hand through my blonde straight hair.

“I can’t say I forgive you, but I won’t tell you no either.”

What in the hell was I thinking? A one night romp with my ex-fiancé wasn’t going to end well.