September 7, 2010

Tanya frequently questioned my sanity on the subway. Three times I had made a mad dash for the closing doors at a random stop, dragging her with me, only to jump onto another train going the wrong direction. We traveled through Queens and onto Brooklyn before returning to Manhattan. She thought I was insane, her Russian accent becoming thicker as her agitation grew, but she was smart enough to keep her voice quiet. She had dealt with the Russian mob, after all, before coming here.

The third train was the charm, no faces I recognized even marginally looked back at me. Checking two cars up and two back from the one we occupied revealed nothing, and for the first time in over an hour I breathed a sigh of relief. Now I only had to worry if they knew where we were going.

Hopping off at the next station, Tanya rolled her eyes. “If all fight like Demetri have no worries, Edvard. This is crazy. When we stop moving?”

“Soon, just one more train, I hope.” Her sigh was filled with frustration and injured patience, but still she trusted me enough to go along. The A train wasn’t very full in this part of the city, it was easy to watch and search through the thinning crowd as we headed north. The train stopped at Inwood, 207th street, our final destination, I hoped.

From there we walked east and south, both our bags over my shoulder, heading for the diner that held such bittersweet memories for me. Whistles followed us on our trek, or rather, followed Tanya. Her strawberry blonde hair and model good looks were drawing attention, something we didn’t need, but she gave them back as much sass as they dished out, in Spanish, no less. Oddly, her accent wasn’t as strong there. When I looked at her quizzically she just raised an imperious eyebrow. “I learn Spanish as child, so accent better. English much harder, you know this.”

I just shrugged, because in the distance was the place I was looking for. I knew my father would already be there, probably being stuffed full of fried chicken and waffles by Miss Jessie even as we made our way. My stomach was already anticipating seeing that plate set before me. This would be a new experience for Tanya, of this I was sure.

No sooner did we cross the threshold than a voice rough and weak with age murmured, “He’s in the back. Since you didn’t call ahead you’ll just have to wait on your food, especially since I’m feeding three instead of two.” I could see her now, my eyes having adjusted to the darkness, leaning over her cash register, counting receipts. The smell of the frying chicken greeted my nose, beckoning me forward.

“Thank you, Miss Jessie,” I called, receiving a waved hand in reply. “Who’s cooking?” I said, stopping in my tracks, realizing for the first time that it wasn’t her in the kitchen.

“New girl, but she don’t want nothing to do with you, I’m sure. Especially as you’ve got your hands full with that one.” She had barely glanced up, but her eyes took in Tanya quickly. “Mmhmm, always knew you’d draw the fancy ones, boy. Pretty face like that’s bound to cause you trouble.”

Letting go of Tanya I walked over to Miss Jessie to embrace her. “Too bad I’m not twenty years older or I might be tempted by you,” I flirted with her, picking up the routine we had established years ago.

“Try fifty, and I need more than a pretty face to warm my bed, child,” she laughed, lifting her cheek for me to place a kiss on. “Now go on back to your father. If it weren’t for that sweet momma of yours, that’s where my temptation would lie.”

I laughed lightly, and gratefully. In our small exchange she’d told me that the only people in the place was a young girl who was working as her cook, and my mom and dad, who were waiting for me. She also told me that she knew I was running from something. Again.

When we got to the back it was to see my parents sitting on the same side of a booth, my mom appearing to lazily trace the triangles in the formica of the tabletop. To me it was a sign of stress. “Mom, dad,” I called, and watched as both of them visibly relaxed, seeing that I was safe.

Scooting into the booth across from them, dragging Tanya after me, was like finding a safe haven. I could feel the strain of the day drain out of me, and if I imagined hard enough, felt like Bella was near. Dropping my head to the tabletop I let out a large sigh, wanting to will away what I had finally seen on my computer.

“How bad is it?” dad asked quietly as mom’s hand reached out and ran through my hair. This always soothed me as a child, and was probably the main reason I mirrored that behavior when stressed.

“They’re dead, dad. All of them.” My mother’s breath caught, her hand stilling in my hair in surprise. “Not just mine, but everyone’s, except a few, and they all work for the firm.”

“Look at me, son,” dad’s commanding voice ordered, and I raised my head from the table. “How do you know?”

“You know how I mentioned that a few had died hours before we contacted them to collect on the life insurance?” He nodded, so I went on. “I checked further, this time using all the aliases. Some of them did collect, but died shortly after. All within a year, unless they came to work for Mr. Slovak. Then I checked deeper, and those who survived? They’re drawing huge salaries, in the millions, and are searching for others, or working as security guards, but it’s always less than what their payout should be. Only, they don’t live long either, unless they are admitted into his personal service.

“Then I checked the files of the other lawyers, and their clients were all the same as mine. I only got that information today, and that’s what put it together for me. And dad?” I waited this time, wanting to get his full attention. When I was sure I had it I continued. “I don’t think some of the other lawyers in the firm, those who died, that their deaths were accidental. They look that way, but I don’t think so.”

My mother was frozen in her seat, a look of horror on her face, mirrored by Tanya’s. My father was still perfectly calm, but the pulse in his throat was elevated. When he spoke it revealed his stress. His next words shocked me to my core. “Would you be willing to turn state’s evidence? Testify against them? It means you’d have to disappear, become someone else.” His gaze drifted from me to Tanya. “You wouldn’t have to go with him, you’re very adept at playing the dumb blonde. Now would be a good time to do that.”

“What do you know – ” I started, but was cut off by Tanya.

“No, time is gone. I go with Edvard.” She was resolute in her decision, and I understood. We had been friends for years, and would remain so. I would worry if she stayed behind, my biggest worry was that she may never find a love of her own if she followed me.

Dad sighed when he looked at me again. I knew he had heard my question, so just waited. I didn’t wait long.

“I went to work for Mr. Slovak when I was having trouble deciding between law and medical school,” he began, but stopped as food was brought forward and set on the table. I watched Miss Jessie place everything carefully in front of us, arrange the silverware, and then she pulled up a chair and made herself comfortable.

“Now don’t stop on account of me,” she said, waving my dad on. “I know a good story when I’m about to hear it.”

–
He Said
–

“It’s nothing, Officer,” I said quickly. The last thing I needed was to get hauled in over something this stupid. The reality of the situation was really sinking in now.

Maybe I should’ve listened to Emmett and refrained from further pranks.

“Doesn’t look like nothing,” he said, shining his flashlight at Bella’s taped-shut door.

I didn’t see the point of that; he already had his high powered headlights and searchlight and every other kind of light trained on her house.

“Ah, well… yeah…” I mumbled, scratching the back of my head.

Bella stayed silent, staring at the ground.

“Now, you were recently given a warning for disturbing the peace, weren’t you, Mr. Cullen?”

I glared at Bella. “Yes, sir.”

“I’ve half a mind to haul you in after tonight’s stunt. This is a nice neighborhood; these people shouldn’t have to deal with this.” He shone his flashlight at my door, chuckling when
he saw it was in the same state as Bella’s. “Alrighty then.”

“We’re really sorry for causing any trouble,” Bella said softly. “If you’ll just… let us go inside, we can guarantee it won’t happen again.”

“Oh, you’d better believe it won’t happen again,” the policeman said sharply. “Else I’ll take you both in.”

“Yes, sir,” we said.

He clicked off the flashlight and got back into his car.

“Ugh. That was close,” I muttered, swiping my face.

She threw me a withering glance, turning on her heel to head toward her backyard.

“What, you’re not talking to me now?”

“I have nothing to say to you,” she said.

“You could apologize…”

She stopped abruptly, whirling around. “For what?”

“For calling the cops on me in the first place. That’s probably why they were so quick to respond tonight.”

Bella gaped at me. “You think I called the cops on you? Are you out of your frigging mind?”

The adrenaline that had faded began to rise up again in the form of massive irritation. “Who the hell else would call, Bella?” I sneered at her.

–

She Said

–

“Probably the same person who called them tonight, genius,” I spat.

“Yeah right,” he shot back, but I could tell he wasn’t so sure. I could not believe he thought I’d been the one to call the police on him and his stupid little party.

Gritting my teeth, I once again made a beeline for the back of my home, so I could go in through the kitchen door.

“We’ll discuss this later,” he called.

Fat chance, homeboy.

–

The next day I was so exhausted from the night before that all of the extra work I had to bring home was pure torture. I didn’t even have the girls to help me; Rose was out on a date
and Alice had just as much paperwork to contend with as I did.

Pulling up in my driveway and struggling out of the car with a briefcase, purse and groceries, I made my way up the porch and paused, gazing on the cherry to my crap sundae.

The door. The damn door! Was still taped!

I hadn’t had time to do it this morning and I sure as hell was not in the mindset to deal with it now. Looked like Pranky Pants had even used the same sort of tape I’d used – Gorilla.

Taking a deep breath, I counted to ten. Twice.

I worked late into the night, making sure to cross all my ‘t’s and dot my ‘I’s. The last thing I needed was to put forth all of this time and effort only to be derailed by some tiny detail.
People were depending on me to do this right and be professional, regardless of the rather unprofessional circumstances I’d been dealing with at home.

But tonight, there wasn’t a peep from the house next door. No music, voices, cars pulling up at late hours.

I took a quick shower, got into my PJs, and was fast asleep in minutes.

The next morning, I awoke a little earlier than usual so that I could tape my front door before starting the day. I grabbed a box cutter from the junk drawer and slipped out the back
door in my flip flops, yawning as I trudged to the front of the house.

I blinked in surprise.

The tape was gone. There was even any residue left behind. Stepping forward, I gingerly rubbed my fingertips over the wood and glanced at Edward’s house.

Huh.

–

He Said

–

Our paths didn’t cross for a couple of days. Sometimes, if the music was off in my house or Em and Jasper were being quiet, I’d hear her car or the sound of her friend’s voices,
drifting over, but other than that… nothing.

I knew she knew I’d taken the tape off of her door.

The guys had pretty much made me do it after I’d explained what had gone down with the police. Jasper was especially convinced that Bella hadn’t been the one to call the cops on
us.

“I mean, that’s kind of a big deal, you know? You’re either the type to call the cops for every little thing or deal with it yourself – “

“And Chick is obviously the type to deal with stuff herself, man,” Emmett interrupted, rummaging through the fridge.

So, call it a hunch, or a feeling, or whatever.

I was still pretty pissed off at her for drugging me and making be burn my asscheeks, but there was nothing I could do about it now. We’re at an impasse, I guess.

I’d noticed she’d started mowing her lawn on Saturday afternoons, now. In response I bought a heavy duty trash can with a tight fitting lid so she couldn’t bitch about it anymore.

Sunday rolled around and I was chilling in the back yard with the boys when we smelled the sweet, sweet smell of barbeque wafting over the fence.

Before I could say anything, Emmett jumped up and squinted through a crack in the wood.

“Damn,” he said, almost drooling.

“That tasty?” I asked, rolling my eyes.

“You could definitely say that,” he panted, taking another look.

“If you’re that hungry I could probably wheel out the grill – “

“No, asshat,” he hissed, waving us over.

I stayed put, but Jasper took the bait and before long the two of them were peeping through the fence like prepubescent perverts.

It was too much. The smell of cooking food… the soft chatter and occasional girly giggle… the way my two best friends were staring like starving men in the dessert. Sighing, I got
up and went to go look.

Bella and her two girlfriends, the little brunette and the Amazonian blonde, were prancing around in little bikinis, grilling and barbequing and drinking what appeared to be margaritas.

Instant boner.

I backed up so fast I fell.

Jasper snickered, trying not to laugh too loud, but Emmett started cracking up.

“Ha ha,” I said dryly, brushing grass from my shorts as I stood.

“It was funny,” Jasper chuckled. “It’s not our fault you have no sense of humor left.”

“Amen to that,” Em agreed, returning to his peephole.

Whatever. Now all I could think of was Miss Priss in her microscopic bikini, two tiny triangles covering her boobs and one more barely covering the Promised Land. Who knew the
prude had it in her?

All of a sudden a clear, female voice – not Bella’s –called over.

“You might as well come and get it while it’s hot, Emmett.”

He elbowed Jasper. “C’mon dude. I’ll introduce you to Alice.”

They left me alone in my backyard, wondering how and when they’d gotten so chummy with the enemy.

I stepped closer to the fence and bent down to look through.

Brown eyes. Up close.

“Stop stalking and come eat,” Bella sighed.

Sleep evaded me that night. I lay in my bed in the Violet room and stared at the ceiling.

Years ago, when my grandmother redecorated this room she hand-painted the border that spread around the walls close to the ceiling. In the section just above the bed, her ornate design spread on to the ceiling, a colorful trail of stars and flowers and swirls and hummingbirds and vines and leaves. Even with the overcast sky that night, there was enough light coming in through the window to see the beautiful motif spread above me.

Triangles of light reflected in the room and I counted the leaves, the birds and the stars;
and I replayed the evening in my head over and over.

Edward.

He was so sweet and funny and smart and just knew everything. He was sensitive and creative and ambitious and had an opinion on every topic but never made me feel dumb for not knowing what he was talking about. He was going into 11th grade at some fancy private school in the city and already knew what colleges he was going to apply to. He had it all figured out.

I still didn’t even know where I was going to live at the end of the summer.

Eventually I did fall asleep, but not after tossing and turning and worrying about what I was going to wear the next day, and when I woke I was filled with eager anticipation and the sudden realization that I had a crush on Edward Cullen.

I knew that I liked him. As a friend, of course. The past week and a half spent together, swimming, laughing, talking was pure bliss. I knew he was witty and clever. I knew he was attractive and I figured he had loads of girls all over him in the city, he’d mentioned an ex-girlfriend once. But to me, he was just Edward. The beautiful boy with the nice smile who made me laugh and made me feel relaxed and confident and even a little pretty when he stared at me.

Then I thought, I probably liked him all along. And then I thought, I wonder if he liked me too.

After breakfast with Grandma and Charlotte and after successfully avoiding the third degree about Edward and what we talked about the day before and where we were going that afternoon, I managed to slip away into the Violet room where I attempted to tackle the task of finding something to wear.

It was still raining, so it wasn’t quite as hot, but it was humid, and the air felt sticky and wet. We were going to the movies, so the theater would be cool, but I didn’t want to get sweaty on the way there, or coming home. I couldn’t decide if this was a date where I should look a little nicer or if simple shorts and t-shirt would suffice.

After taking a long shower and conditioning my hair, I settled on jeans that my father complained were too tight and white tank top that my mother gave me before coming here to Grandma’s. I figured I could carry a light jacket in case the theater was too drafty.

I blew my hair dry until it was shiny and straight and put on just a little mascara and lipgloss. I fidgeted and I paced and I anxiously waited and then at 12:56 there was a knock at the door.

“Bella, your friend is here,” Grandma called after answering the door. I grabbed my purse and my jacket.

Inside, I was shaking, a nervous wreck and the butterflies were fluttering in overtime. I went to the door and my heart skipped a beat by what I saw. Edward stood there, nervously running his hand through his crazy copper locks. He looked somehow taller, more manly than usual. He wore a snug white t-shirt and jeans and looked like he just stepped out of the pages of magazine.

And when our eyes met, I swore my heart stopped beating, if only for a second or a fraction of a second. Then he smiled.

“Hey.”

“Hey, Edward.”

“Are you ready to go?” he asked.

“Yeah. Grandma, I’m leaving,” I called out to her in the other room.

We walked out to the car and I willed myself to relax, my heart to slow its rhythm. I told myself over and over this isn’t a date…we’re just friends. But then he opened the car door for me and before closing the door he said:

“You look really pretty today, Bella.” And my traitor heart beat in over drive.