The Opposite Of Tidy (18 page)

Evelyn St. Claire and her dog both came along. So Wade and Junie were stuck in the back seat with Princess between them again. Halfway to the track, Princess farted, a quiet, prim little wheeze of gas. But it stank. Wade peered over
the slope of the dog’s back and made a face. Junie laughed. She pinched her nose.

“Your dog just let one rip,” she announced.

“A little one,” Wade said.

“Silent but violent.”

“Open a window, then,” her dad said. “Here.” He used his buttons to lower both Wade’s and Junie’s window a little. “That better?”

“Better would be no dog at all,” Junie said through her plugged nose, by which she meant no Evelyn St. Claire either. Wade and her dad didn’t pick up on it, but the sentiment wasn’t lost on That Woman. After not having said much more than hello, now she spun and glared at Junie.

“I won’t have it, Junie. Not any more.”

“What?” Junie knew what, though.

“You know perfectly well what.” Evelyn pointed a finger at her. “I’ve been nothing but pleasant to you, and you’ve been nothing but horrid. Is that fair?”

“Ladies, please,” Ron pleaded. “Let’s just have a nice day together, okay?”

Wade took Junie’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “Sounds like a great idea, sir.”

“Ron.” Junie’s father sounded relieved to have someone on his side for once. “Call me Ron.”

But still, Evelyn glared at Junie. “I won’t have it. Not any more. You treat me with respect, and I will do the same. Understood?”

Junie glared right back at her. “Understood.”

“Good.” With that, Evelyn turned in her seat and settled back.

In the back seat, Junie fumed. She murmured, “Bitch,” under her breath. She could feel that her cheeks were red. If Evelyn St. Claire wanted to have a conversation about respect, she’d get one. Not right this minute. Not with Wade beside her. But soon. Junie had a thing or two to say to That Woman about respect.

As Junie guessed, Evelyn took a pass on the karts. She had put on a big floppy hat once they’d gotten out of the car and wound a long, pink chiffon scarf around her neck, as if she were spending the day at the horse races and not some rundown go-kart track in the middle of the burbs. Ron paid for Wade and Junie, and said he’d join them on the second go-round. Evelyn sat in the bleachers that rose off to one side, with Princess lying at her feet.

“So much for quality time with my dad,” Junie muttered as he went to join Evelyn there.

“Don’t be so hard on him,” Wade said. “He’s trying.”

Junie felt a pang of anger toward Wade. He didn’t know the half of it, and shouldn’t pretend to. But then she reasoned herself away from the anger. She hadn’t told him the whole story, so it wasn’t fair to expect him to know.

Before they were let out to choose their karts, the guy working there told them no bumping, no cutting each other off and no erratic steering.

“But that’s what makes it fun,” Wade said as he lowered himself into his kart. “See you on the dark side, babe.” He winked at Junie and pulled his helmet on.

“Not before I kick your ass,” Junie said.

Wade took off with his tires squealing. Junie stepped on the gas and tried to catch up, but he was going super-fast. She finally caught up to him when he took the first corner. He slowed down for it and she didn’t. Junie bumped into the rubber guardrail and careened back into the middle of the lane, knocking Wade’s rear end, sending him into a spin.

“That’s my girl!” he hollered as he wrangled the steering wheel to regain control of his car.

Over the loudspeaker, the guy reminded them of the rules.

“Can’t hear him over the engine!” Wade cranked his wheel to the right and drifted sidelong into Junie.

“Oh, that was dirty!” She laughed, gripping her wheel to stay on course. She stepped on the gas and passed Wade, pulling in front of him and slamming on her brakes. He bashed into her, jolting them both.

“Payback, mothertrucker.” He gunned it until he was alongside her.

She grinned and gave him the finger. He returned it twofold, taking both hands off the wheel to do it.

The loudspeaker crackled on again:
Please return to the garage immediately.

“Now you’ve done it,” Wade said. “Way to go.”

They were both laughing when they pulled into the garage. The guy from the track stood there, hands on his hips.

“You heard the rules.”

“Sorry,” Wade said. “Yeah. Sorry.”

“Yeah, well, you’ve lost your second and third laps. You want to go again, you pay again, plus a charge for abusing the karts.”

Junie felt bad, but not
that
bad. She’d had a blast. And so had Wade.

“You’re a vixen on wheels, Junie.” Wade set his helmet aside and helped her out of her kart. “That’s hot.”

“You’re not so bad yourself.”

Junie’s dad was waiting for them on the other side of the fence.

“Was that necessary?”

“Yes, Dad. Deeply, deeply necessary.”

“Sorry, sir.” Wade ducked his head.

“It’s Ron.” Her dad tried not to smile, but he was failing at it. “It did look like fun. Hard to resist. I get it. I was sixteen once too, you know.”

Junie couldn’t imagine it. And didn’t want to, truth be told.

“Want to go again?” her dad asked.

“How about you and Wade go?” Junie suggested. “I’ll sit this one out.”

“That’s all right, Ron.” Wade explained about the lost laps and the fine. “We should take the punch on the chin.”

“Ah, never mind,” her dad said. And again, Junie wondered who this happier version of her father was. “I’ll pay for it. I need someone to race with. I’m not going by myself. Junie, you’re sure you want to sit this one out?”

Junie nodded. As much as she’d have loved to go again, she had a few things to say to Evelyn, and now was the perfect time to do it.

She joined Evelyn on the bleachers and watched as Wade and her dad got into their karts. The two took off, much more tamely this time, racing each other around the track. Evelyn watched for a few moments and then took a book out of her large purse and began to read.
The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment.

“Good book?” Junie laughed to herself. Of course that would be the kind of book That Woman would read.

“Not that you particularly care,” Evelyn said. “But yes. It’s one everyone should read.”

Which Junie took to mean her mother.

“I was just asking.”

Evelyn didn’t look up from the page. “And I was just saying.”

Junie watched Wade and her dad start their second lap. She was running out of time to say her piece. She forced herself to say the words that she’d rehearsed.

“I don’t like you and you don’t like me—”

That made Evelyn look up. “Not true.”

“Come on, you know it’s true.”

“I hardly
know
you.” Evelyn touched the scarf at her throat. “And that’s because you haven’t let me get to know you.”

“And I won’t anytime soon.” That wasn’t part of what Junie had prepared to say.

The guys started the third lap, with Wade in the lead by far.

“Your point?” Evelyn took off her sunglasses and fixed Junie with the first real expression Junie had ever seen on
her. Annoyance. That was more like it. Now they were getting somewhere.

“My point is that I don’t like you. And I won’t. I hate you for what you did to my family.”

“We can work through those feelings.” Back to her façade. Always the life coach. “I can help you overcome your negativity.”

“Well, the thing is, Ms. St. Claire, ‘life coach’ . . .” Junie put air quotes around that, “. . . I don’t want to overcome my negativity toward you.” What Junie wanted to do was tighten that pink scarf around Evelyn’s neck until she choked. Whatever she’d rehearsed had been lost. She was making it up as she went along now. “I hate you. It’s pretty simple. I’m not looking to change that anytime soon.”

“I see,” Evelyn said quietly. “I’m sorry you feel that way.”

“And one more thing,” Junie said as Wade and her dad pulled into the garage. She hadn’t even seen who’d come in first. “Don’t ever talk to me about respect. You clearly don’t know the first thing about it, judging by what you did to my family.”

“Perhaps you should be having this conversation with your father. He’s a grown man. An adult who makes mature, grown-up decisions for himself, and his family.” Evelyn set her bookmark in her place and closed her book. “I, for one, am done with this little chat.”

“So am I.”

“Good, then.”

“Good.”

Only now, Junie didn’t know what to do with herself. Stay? Get up and leave? Evelyn made the decision for her by leaving first. She stood, replaced her sunglasses and then made her way down the steps to the asphalt, Princess at her heels. That left Junie alone on the bleachers, feeling at once relieved to have said what she’d wanted to say and ashamed for having said it.

If either her father or Wade noticed the chill between Evelyn and Junie, neither of them showed it or said anything about it. They went for an early dinner, and then back to Evelyn’s, where Wade had parked the van. When they got out of her father’s car, Junie made some lame excuse about homework and not having time to go up. Evelyn helped her along by saying that she had to prepare for a client meeting and didn’t have the time to hang out either.

“Do you really have homework?” Wade asked as they pulled away.

“Not that I need to do tonight.”

“Good.” He grinned at her. “
The Big Lebowski
is playing at the drive-in. Want to?”

“Absolutely.”

Wade parked the van at an angle, so that they could sit together on the back bench and still see the screen. It didn’t matter, though. They hardly watched the movie at all.

THIRTEEN

On Sunday morning Junie awoke to her mother calling for her from downstairs, and by her tone, Junie knew that something was very wrong. She leapt out of bed and bounded down the stairs to find her mother at the door that led to the basement. The door was closed. Her mom held the doorknob so tightly her knuckles were white.

“What is it?” Junie asked, breathless.

“The bathroom down there backed up.” Her mother started crying. “There’s water everywhere!”

Junie tried to think of the last time she’d gone down to the basement. Maybe two years ago? It was the last time her father had brought in help before That Woman. A professional organizer called Harold, who’d acted like a drill sergeant, yelling orders and chucking stuff away behind her mother’s back until she’d ended up going to the hospital in the back of an ambulance with chest pains. Turned out it
was only a panic attack, but her dad had sent Harold away, after he’d tackled only a small portion of the basement. There’d been no reason for Junie to go down there. It was floor-to-ceiling packed with her mother’s junk.

“What were you doing down there?” Junie headed for the basement door, but her mother stopped her.

“Wait!” Her mother sucked back a sob. “I went down to get that floor lamp we brought from Grandma’s. The one by my chair isn’t working any more.”

Junie couldn’t remember a particular floor lamp out of the two moving truck loads her mother had jammed into the house after her own mother had died a year ago. It was remarkable that her mother could find anything specific amidst the ruins.