Mean Season (11 page)

“I see your point.”

I was so relieved that I thought I might start giggling for no reason.

“How often do you look after your brother now?” the judge asked.

“Most of the time I'm not here. Since I'm not signed up for any classes just now.”

“You were taking some courses, weren't you?” the judge asked. “How were those going?”

“Great, when I can manage it.”

He nodded. “Your mother was worried that you might be having a hard time adjusting to our relationship. Hers and mine,” he said.

“I told her I was fine,” I said. “I think she's the one having a hard time adjusting. It's been a long time since my dad died. I'm sure you know that.”

The judge smiled. “And how are things with the criminal element?”

“Joshua? They're okay, I guess. He sees it as a punishment, that's for sure.”

“I prefer education to punishment. I hope he takes the opportunity to think about the consequences of his actions and to learn something. That's all we can hope for.”

I was actually hoping for more than that, but I didn't say so. I was hoping he'd turn out to be a decent guy, that he'd stop looking at me like I was some common hick, that I wouldn't look back on that summer with a big load of regret on my shoulders. But I worried that maybe I was hoping for too much.

Enter Alice

S
o I finally met Alice, Sandy's Alice. It was a Wednesday, I remember, because it was midweek but there was no AA meeting. Alice drove over from Hagerstown, in Maryland, and the three of us went to dinner at the Chili's in Charles Town. She wasn't anything like I'd imagined. She had short blond hair and light skin and little girl features, like an old-fashioned doll. She looked like she'd be quiet and dainty, but instead, she laughed loudly, didn't seem to worry much over keeping to polite topics and said whatever she felt like saying. She was more of a city girl than I'd expected. I liked her right off.

I'd been a little nervous about meeting her. I was worried it was going to feel weird. But right off the bat, Alice blurted out how she'd been nervous about meeting
me,
how she'd kept changing her clothes over it. She said she felt a little jealous—in a friendly sort of way—of how far back Sandy and my history stretched, of how one word could prompt a
year's worth of recollections. That made me feel better. Plus, I could tell that Alice really liked Sandy, and more important, how much Sandy liked Alice. Of course, I'd seen Sandy with boyfriends, but I hadn't seen her as happy, ever, not even when she was talking about marrying Barton Albert. I figure, that's what you want for your friends, that they find people who help them smile more.

Funny thing—Alice had also had a crush on the Colin Ashcroft character on
General Hospital,
way back when. To be accurate, she'd had a crush on Colin, then said that she found herself distracted by the Helen and Bart affair, and then by Helen.

“It was one of my early clues to myself,” Alice said. “But what a coincidence that you've got Colin Ashcroft sleeping across the hall. Have you messed around with him yet?”

Sandy must have nudged her under the table because Alice jumped a little, then turned to her.

“For God's sake, what?” she asked.

“He's a butthole,” Sandy said. “I told you that. I told you what he was like when I met him.”

“Maybe Leanne has decided to overlook his butthole tendencies, annoying though they may be. Hell, he's all sorts of good-looking. And in that interview, he came across like a decent guy, all repentant and sensitive.”

“The thing is,” I told them, “he thinks I'm a hick.”

“Oh, please,” Sandy said. “Why would he think that? I told him you were prom queen.”

I shook my head and told her how I'd heard him on the phone.

“What a fucker,” Alice said.

“I can't help being from Pinecob,” I said. Alice nodded.

I wanted to explain, but I wasn't sure where to start. Sandy could vouch for me, how I had long planned on living somewhere else. One of the first things I remember doing with Sandy, right around the time we met, was making lists of
where we were going to live, who we were going to marry, what we were going to be when we grew up. Some of the items never changed. For Sandy, it was living in New York City. From the time we were both eight, she swooned over the shiny Chrysler Building, even though she'd never been there. For me, it was Max Campbell. He always topped my list of whom I'd be willing to spend years with.

It grew to be a tradition of ours. At the end of each school year, Sandy and I would make new lists, without looking at the ones from the year before. One summer, I was crazy to see Nova Scotia. The next, I remember being certain that I would move to Colorado and become a large-animal veterinarian. Another year, I wanted to live in London and write devastatingly romantic folk songs. Then, the year we were both fourteen, we skipped the tradition. Other events had taken over my family, and I remember Sandy saying that we could always do it the following week. We didn't, and we hadn't.

I knew that working at the county courthouse hadn't ever been on my list. I knew that living in Pinecob hadn't been there, either. And I don't think that Sandy ever planned to be a nurse. Not back then. But when the time comes, you work with the available choices, and some choices seem more available than others.

Alice reached out her hand and touched my hair. “You've got such beautiful hair, Leanne,” she said. “I love the color. I really do. But could I make a tiny little suggestion?”

I shrugged. “About my hair?”

“It's just…well, I think, but it's only my opinion of course, that you could do with a slightly different cut. Hell, you've got a great face—I'd kill for your cheekbones—but your hair's maybe a few years back. What do you think, hon?”

“Maybe,” Sandy said, nodding. “Remember how Brennie used to do hers?” she asked me. “Sort of sleek and out of her face, but not feathered.”

I suddenly felt self-conscious.

“I'm not talking about anything drastic,” Alice said. “Your natural color is great. Just a little polish. Next time I come down, I'll bring some magazines I got when I was in New York last time. They might give you some clothes ideas.”

“Clothes, too?” I asked. “I can't afford anything new. He's still going to think I'm a hick.”

“Why? Because you live in Pinecob?”

“Because I've
only
lived in Pinecob. And I can't change that,” I said to Alice. Then I turned to Sandy. “At least you got to leave for nursing college.”

“Maybe it's time you looked around again,” Sandy said. “You don't want to be at the courthouse forever, do you? So there's no reason to act like you do. Sometimes, you sort of act like you do.” Sandy looked sad as she said it, and I'm sure I didn't look thrilled to hear her. You want friends to look out for you, but it still stings when they notice the exact things you'd prefer to gloss over. No, I didn't want to be at the courthouse forever.

“He's probably harping on you for, well, like you said Leanne—for being sort of grounded here,” Alice said. “Maybe focusing elsewhere isn't a bad idea—just in general.”

“I focus on things outside of West Virginia,” I said.

“Like what?” Sandy asked. “Besides the Joshua Reed Fan Club, which you don't need to talk to him about, that's for sure.”

I just stared at my plate.

“Something to think about anyway,” she said, more gentle.

“I'm so bummed that he's an ass,” Alice said. “Colin Ashcroft was so nice.”

“He's a good actor, I guess,” I told her, glad to turn the conversation away from me and my flaws. “He can pretty much sound how he wants to sound. It's creepy.”

“I wish there was something we could do,” Sandy mused.

“What, to fuck with him?” Alice asked.

“Not necessarily. I mean, I told him how cool you are, Leanne,” Sandy said.

“Why not fuck with him?” Alice wanted to know.

Sandy and I looked at each other. Sandy shrugged.

“Well, how do you mean?” I asked Alice. “I mean, it can't be anything illegal. This is a legal situation, him being in our house. I wouldn't feel right about tricking him into going past his house-arrest boundaries so he'd be thrown in jail or something.”

Alice and Sandy looked surprised.

“What?” I asked. “Well, of course I've
thought
about it.”

“What were
you
thinking?” Sandy asked Alice.

“I don't know. Just showing up, like I'm some crazy fan.”

“We had one of those already,” I told her. “It didn't faze him.”

“Then what about a prank call? From his agent or something?” Alice suggested.

“Alice did a lot of acting in high school,” Sandy said.

Alice nodded. “I was quite the drama queen.”

“He never answers the phone,” I said.

“Then,” Alice said, still thinking, “what if you said that his agent had called? While he was in the shower or something.”

“And then what?” I asked.

Alice frowned. “What does this guy really want?” Alice asked. “What are his motivations?”

“To be somewhere other than my house, mostly. To get away from me,” I told her.

“But that's not an option. What else?” Alice asked.

I thought about it. “I don't know,” I said. “He likes people from L.A. And New York. People who think they're cool, you know? And people in the movies—but not just anyone, not the extras or the assistants. Just the bigger names.”

“I'm getting an idea,” Alice said. “Someone from the movie set, maybe? What's it called?”

“
Musket Fire,
” I told her. “Maybe.”

“Oh, my God, Alice, that would be perfect!” Sandy looked delighted. “Leanne, can we? Can we at least try? Why not, right?”

“Sure,” I said. “Why not?”

 

We did it the next day, and it started out pretty funny, I have to admit. I told Joshua that someone from Judy's office had called and said that a new cast member from the movie was dropping by the house.

“I don't know who,” I said, when he asked. “Just that some actress was coming by who's the new romantic lead, you know, that your character falls for.”

“But I thought Sarah Powers was playing Elizabeth,” Joshua said.

“Who?”

“The girl in
Bottleneck Junction?
Really hot.”

I shrugged, even though I knew who Sarah Powers was. I thought it would make me seem less suspect.

“When is she coming by?” Joshua asked.

“Soon, I think. Sandy and I are making cupcakes for the hospital bake sale. We'll be in the kitchen if you need anything.”

So Sandy and I were there when Alice rang the doorbell.

“Golly day, this is so exciting! It's really you! Joshua Reed,” we heard her say. “I'm Nicolette Menderhutt. The new Elizabeth? Judy said you'd be here. You're so cute!” Alice was wearing a wig that gave her long brown hair, and she'd put on what looked like a ton of mascara.

“You're in
Musket Fire?
” Joshua asked.

“I still can't believe it. Golly, well, I can but I can't, you know?” she said. “That was some trip. I took a plane and then a train and then a taxi to get here. It's like that movie!” Alice giggled.

“Come in,” Joshua said. “I'm sorry. Your name again?” he asked.

“Nicolette. Menderhutt. Did you get my headshot? Judy said she was sending over my headshot. I sure hope you got it. It's my new one. With my dog. He's a cutie-pie.”

“Sorry, no,” Joshua said. “I only just heard you'd be stopping by. I didn't even realize that Sarah Powers had dropped out.”

“Yeah,” Alice said. “Sarah. Too bad. Oh, but not for me, of course.” She giggled again.

“Do you know what happened? I'd heard she was solid.”

“Affair,” Alice said, her voice dropping low. “So they told me. But I also heard that, well, that she caught something called an STD. That means sexually transmitted disease.”

“I know what it means,” Joshua said. “But I thought she was married. Happily, even.”

Sandy giggled. I got the impression that Alice was just making stuff up as she went along.

“I'm just telling you what I heard. And what sort of person would lie about something like that?” Alice asked. “So where do you want to practice?”

“Practice?” Joshua asked. “Oh, you want to run lines?”

“I figured we could practice, I don't know, maybe the romantic scenes. I haven't done many romantic scenes. They make me nervous so I like to practice them a bunch beforehand. You know, to get warmed up.”

“You mean, our lines, right?” Joshua said.

“Yeah,
and
our lines. But everything,” Alice said. “This is my big break. I've got to do my best and I know I get nervous if I have to improvise. I work a lot better when I know what to expect. I've never been good with surprises. Jack-in-the-boxes still totally freak me out!”

There was a pause, and when Joshua finally spoke, his words were slow and steady. “Maybe I should call Lars. I'd like to hear exactly what happened with Sarah Powers.”

“I also want to go over our characters—you know, to see if what we're imagining for their motivations match up,” Alice said quickly. “I hope I didn't come on too strong. I'm
just so thrilled to be working with you, and I bet you've done a lot of great thinking about your character.” This seemed to do the trick.

“Yeah,” Joshua said. “So what are your thoughts about Elizabeth?”

Alice paused for a moment. Sandy and I crept a little closer to the doorway, to make sure we could hear.

“Gosh,
my
thoughts? That's so nice of you to ask. Well, I see her as sort of…oh, what's that word? What's the word I'm looking for?”

“Conflicted?” Joshua guessed.

“No, that's not it.”

“Strong? Passionate?”

“Actually, sort of lusty,” Alice finally said. “I want to play her all lusty.”

Sandy rolled her eyes at me.

“She's the minister's daughter,” Joshua pointed out.

“And like you said, passionate. Sure, she's passionate. About lots of things, and definitely about Josiah Whitcomb.”

I couldn't believe that Alice was actually saying that stuff. I loved her for it—but found myself a little scared of her, too.

“I'm planning to come at Josiah differently,” Joshua was saying. “You know, he's got all that conflict built up, after his father dies. I imagine there would be a lot of tension between them.”

“Oh, okay,” Alice said. She sounded bored.

“I don't think lusty goes with that.”

“But why do you want to make him so conflicted?” Alice asked. “There's a war. His side wins. He's the pretty boy.”

“He's not just the pretty boy!” Joshua snapped. “There's more to him than that.”

“But why else would they cast
you?
”