The Crown Jewels (21 page)

It was just part of life. We’d all grown up together, and thankfully, the fighting was less and less these days. We were almost beginning to like each other.

Tonight was special, though. After the party, our parents were taking off and we would have the cabin to ourselves to continue the party into the night with our friends.

I had invited a few friends from school, and the boys had invited some of their rodeo buddies. They were all due to arrive any minute.

“Oh, that’s just so much more festive now!” My mother’s voice echoed in the living room, her smile brightening the room more than the balloons ever could. Goldie Hope had an unhealthy penchant for parties. She was always finding a reason to celebrate. Sometimes our father, Hayward, who everyone called ‘Ward’ for short, had to rein her in to keep her from running off the deep end. She’d throw a party for Flag Day if she could.

“See Ward? Aren’t you glad I made you stop and get them?” she asked, her bright green eyes that I had inherited, shined happily as she gazed at the balloons. He walked over to her and pulled her close, kissing the top of her head.

“If it makes you happy, Goldie, yes, I’m glad.” She pulled back and kissed him quickly on the lips before winking at him and turning away.

“There’s still so much left to do! Come help me, George!”

George. That’s me. I’m Georgia Hope, but everyone calls me George. Or Georgie. Every now and then, someone will throw out a Georgia, and surprise me a little. After giving birth to three boys, my parents didn’t believe the doctor when they told them that their youngest would be a girl. Supposedly, Mom had to fight Dad to even try to agree on a girl’s name, so they chose Georgia because he insisted I would end up being a George anyway.

He was right.

From day one, everyone called me George, and it stuck.

I followed my mother into the kitchen. She and Mrs. Haggard, or Lora, as she preferred to be called, had everything organized. They were a perfect team. Anytime there was a special occasion, they were the first to be assigning chores and delegating various tasks to the rest of the family.

Lora owns a bakery in town, so she is usually in charge of the food. My mother manages our family farm. She’s also really into decorating and home-making, which explains the balloons.

The kitchen was thankfully free of balloons, which allowed me to see the incredible spread they had laid out on a table along one wall. Piles of fruits, cheeses, and an assortment of finger foods greeted me, not to mention the amazing aroma of the barbecue ribs that were being prepared outside. My mouth watered and my stomach growled in hunger.

“You’ve outdone yourselves,” I said, turning to face the two most important ladies in my life. As much as I craved freedom like anyone my age would, I couldn’t deny that I’d have a hard time leaving these two.

Sometimes, it was like having two mothers, and that was wonderful.

But other times, that was a bad thing. Like when you tried to sneak out of your house in the middle of the night when you were thirteen, to go to a party with Ruby that you didn’t have permission to go to, and Lora sees you across the meadow that stretches between your two houses and calls your mom before you can even get down the driveway. I laughed about that now, but I sure didn’t when I was thirteen.

Times like that made being so close to your neighbors a real pain in the ass.

But there were other times, like now, when it felt like a blessing.

“It’s a special occasion, George. I’m so proud of you,” Lora said, embracing me in one of her usual matronly bear hugs. Lora’s plump arms almost suffocated me, but I hugged her back, pulling my face out of her ample bosom and putting it on her shoulder as she hugged me. Her grey hair stuck out in wiry wisps around her face, tickling my ears.

“Thank you, Lora,” I said over her shoulder, waiting for her to release me from her grip.

“Listen, I want to give you some advice now that you’re becoming a woman, honey,” she said, finally letting me go and sitting down at the kitchen table and motioning for me to do the same.

“Really, Lora, do you have to do this now? She’s been a woman for a while now,” Mom asked. I watched as Mom filled a vase with sunflowers she had picked earlier from the garden outside. She was the opposite of Lora. She was tall, stick-thin, and her platinum dyed hair was never out of place.

“Yes, Goldie, now. And you should come join us,” she said. My mother sighed, knowing the quickest way to get through this would be to do as she asked.

“Okay, dear,” Lora continued, putting her hand over mine on the table. “Now that you’ve graduated and you’re so pretty and well filled out,” her eyes trailed over my body, and I shifted uncomfortably, “it’s time to start thinking about other things…”

“What?!” my mother and I exclaimed simultaneously.

“I’m talking about men,” Lora explained. I resisted rolling my eyes and pulling away, instead flashing her a patient smile.

I didn’t have a whole lot of experience with men, but it didn’t mean I wasn’t interested. College had been a weird time for me. Guys didn’t seem to pay too much attention to me, so I hadn’t had too many opportunities. When you hung out with a girl like Ruby, you tended to fade into the background a little. Ruby seemed to have a different opportunity land in her lap every day. But I wasn’t like Ruby. Ruby was loud, extroverted, and sexy.

I was just…George.

“Men will look at you differently now,” she continued. “You’ll see. You’ll notice they’ll treat you differently, too. They’ll expect things, sure, but they’ll be trying to decide if you’re wife material.”

“Oh, come on!” my mother interjected. “Enough with this outdated coming of age speech!”

“It’s true, Goldie!”

“Well, it may be, but George isn’t naive. And she ain’t gettin' married anytime soon! Besides, we’ve had plenty of talks about sex, and men, haven’t we, George?” she asked.

“A few, I guess,” I replied, feeling totally weird and uncomfortable. I was used to my mom broaching this subject, but having Lora, who was a lot more conservative and prudish than my mother, sitting there trying to talk to me about sex just freaked me out.

“More than a few,” Mom replied. “Tell her what I told you, George.”

“What?” I asked.

“You know. The part about self-respect.”

“Oh, that. Yeah, you told me that it’s only natural to have sex, but that I should stop and ask myself with every decision I made, if I would respect myself the next day.”

A proud smile spread across my mom’s face, causing her to look ten years younger. “That’s right,” she said, more to Lora than me.

“Okay, okay,” Lora conceded. “I don’t have a daughter, I was just trying to be helpful. Looks like I’m way behind. Just remember, honey pie, nobody’s gonna pay for the cow if they can get the milk for free.”

“Oh, hush, Lora! George has been a good girl, so far, right George?” she asked.

A pink flush spread across my face.

“Mom!” I said, my eyes widening with a silent plea for ending this conversation.

“Okay, okay…go help your father. He probably needs these plates,” she said, as she stood up and retrieved a stack of plates that she proceeded to shove in my hands.

Grateful for an escape, I kissed her on the cheek, and strolled out of the room, leaving behind my embarrassment.

GEORGE

Dad stood and clinked his glass with a spoon as soon as everyone had their dessert in front of them. The cabin was packed full of friends and family, the balloons only serving to make the room feel even more crowded.

His tall, broad frame towered over us, his black hair had turned grey at his temples, and his dark grey eyes sparkled with intensity. My father had a deep appreciation for tradition, family, and doing the right things in life. He was strict, and demanded complete respect, but more than demanding it, he earned it.

He treated my mother like a queen, and if one of my brothers ever even thought about raising a voice to her or any other woman, he would put them in their place before they knew what happened. I adored him. He was the most responsible person I knew, but also the most fair. Hayward Hope was the rock of our family.

I watched him begin his speech with a lump in my throat, even if he insisted on making us laugh.

“I’d like to say a few words,” he said, pushing the long string attached to the balloon over his head to the side, as the voices around the room fell quiet.

“Thank you, thank you,” he began. “Thank you all for being here, for helping us celebrate George’s twenty-first birthday and her graduation. And thank you to George for being born this week, so we can combine these two celebrations and not have to pay for two parties!” I shook my head and everyone laughed.

“George is special to us. She’s our last one, as you all know. Our little baby girl is all grown up, and we can’t believe it. Although, it’ll be nice for Goldie and I to have some time to ourselves!” He paused to wink at Mom and then looked at me again. “Georgie, you’ve surpassed our wildest dreams and we couldn’t be more proud of you, baby. You were our miracle girl, and it was a miracle we all survived!”

I rolled my eyes, and shook my head again. My father loved giving speeches and I knew, from enduring countless others, that he was far from finished.

“Seriously, babe. You’re amazing. You’re smart, talented, beautiful and not too much of a pain to be around. I mean, what more could we ask for really?” His eyes filled with tears as he grew serious. “I know you’ll be running off soon, George, and you’ll be faced with countless people who won’t understand just how spectacular you are. I can only hope we’ve instilled in you a strong enough sense of self and where you’ve come from, so that you may find the strength to share your light with the world with uninhibited abandon.”

“Awwww,” a loud chorus of sarcastic moans rang out from my brothers. I reached over and hit Crit, since he was the only one within hittin’ distance.

“Shut up!” I hissed, before turning back to my dad. “Thank you, Daddy.”

“Thank you, baby, for not being another boy,” my father replied. The crowd laughed, and my mother stood up.

“George, I just want to say thank you for being you, sweetheart. We love you so much and we’re so proud of you!” my mother said, her eyes shining with happiness. I smiled and everyone clapped as she sat back down.

This was almost over
, I told myself. I looked over at Ruby. She sat to my right, and she reached under the table and grabbed my hand and squeezed.

“Your parents are so sweet,” she whispered.

“Yeah, they are,” I replied. When I saw my brother, Seth, stand up, I groaned inwardly.

“I have something to say,” he said, clinking his glass.

“Oh, come on, Seth,” I mumbled.

“What?” he replied, with mock indignation. “Can I not say a few words about my amazing sister?”

“Hurry up,” I muttered, rolling my eyes.

“Georgia Anne Hope, the youngest of the Hope clan has finally graduated college!” he bellowed. “This means she can move out and get a job! This means she can get married and have a bunch of kids! Maybe she’ll even grow up a little and finally cut off all of that stringy black hair of hers. And…well, not much else, I reckon.” Seth raised his glass and continued. “So, let’s toast my little sister, who not long ago was running around the farm naked and covered in horse poop! Have you all heard that story? When George was six, she fell off her horse —,”

Nervous laughter filled the room and I reached past Crit and pulled Seth down in his chair.

“— that’s enough! Hush!” I demanded, interrupting him. My brothers knew exactly what to say and do to irritate me. Bringing up the horse poop incident where I fell off my horse, landed in a pile of manure, tore off my poop covered clothes, and then fell smack dab in another pile, was their favorite story to use against me.

“Thank you for coming everyone! Please - enjoy your dessert!” I said, hoping to deflect the attention off of me. It worked. After some brief clapping, everyone turned their attention back to their plates.

“God, you guys sure know how to embarrass me,” I said, as Seth and I sat back down at the table. The big round table held my entire family, and Ruby. They all laughed, except Ruby, who looked at me sympathetically.

“That’s what family is for!” my Dad replied. I groaned, and dug into my chocolate cake, my mind already racing to the night ahead.

GEORGE

“Mom, can you take these balloons back in the car? They’re impossible to walk through,” I said.

“You could just pop them,” Crit said, sticking the tip of his pocket knife into one of them. The loud pop made us all jump.

“No, thanks. Please, Mom, don’t make me put up with that all night? You can put them in my room when you get home,” I said.

She was running around the kitchen, wrapping up leftovers and putting them in the fridge. Crit was standing around like a lump on a log stuffing his face full of cake.

“Sure, honey. Are you sure y’all are going to be alright tonight?”

“Yes, of course. We’ve spent how many nights here? It’ll be fine.”