Dismantling Evan (16 page)

“Honey, when does the block party start?” Dad asks loudly, pulling me from my thoughts.

Mom is shuffling pots and pans in the kitchen. “Uh, in about half an hour.”

Dad mumbles, “I hope they have the game on.”

Mom comes into the living room, shuffles her slippers off and sits on the sofa with me. Just as she sits back, relaxing into her side of the couch, the doorbell rings and she looks at me then Dad. “I wonder who that could be?”

She pops her slippers back on and answers the door. I continue to watch, but not watch, the football game on the television screen when Mom bellows, “Oh my God! Linda?” with such enthusiasm if forces both Dad and I to angle look.

Mom is hugging some woman and they are both laughing and swinging side to side in the doorway when Nikki surfaces from behind them, squeezes into the house, and makes her way to me, shaking her head. “Apparently your mom and mine know each other from high school.”

“Apparently,” I say with an awestruck yet unexpected laugh. I like Nikki bringing that out in me, but it is still unexpected. I straighten up on the sofa as she plops down next to me, “Hey Mr. Phillips.”

Dad looks over at her from the TV and says jovially, “Hey there Nikki! You going to the block party?”

Nikki’s mom walks into the living room and Mom closes the door behind her. “We thought we would come by and see if ya’ll wanted to walk over together.”

Dad stands and greets Mrs. Bell with a handshake. Her hair is as blonde as Nikki’s and cut into a short bob. Her smile is definitely something her daughter has inherited; almost identical to Nikki’s.

Mom makes introductions, “Aaron, this is Nikki’s mom, Linda.”

“Nice to meet you Linda,” Dad says cordially.

“And this is my Evan,” Mom says.

I stand instinctively to shake hands with Mrs. Bell, but instead she wraps her arms around me. “Look at you! You are a spitting image of your mama.”

Mom chuckles. “Just as Nikki is to you, Lin.”

Mrs. Bell finally releases me, but holds me at a distance with her hands gently on my shoulders as she looks me in the eyes. “Your mother and I met when we were freshman. We had almost every class together.” She angles back to Mom. “Didn’t we Lucy?”

Mom smiles. “Yes we did. I can’t believe you live across the street from us. What a coincidence!”

“I’m as surprised as you are! I asked Nikki this morning if she wanted to invite the neighbors to walk with us since I hadn’t met you all. And look what I find! Lucy Bernard!”

Mom corrects her with a smile, “Lucy Phillips now, “then winks at dad.

“Where is Mr. Bell?” I ask.

“He is meeting us there. Driving the two coolers over in his Jeep,” Nikki answers.

Dad shuts off the television. “Well let’s head over then.”

Mom and Mrs. Bell walk side by side with Dad lagging behind them. Nikki and I are behind him. As we pass the Ferguson house, I glance over briefly and ask Nikki, “Do you know if Gavin and um Brody are going to the party?”

“They are supposed to when Brody’s mom gets off work. Ash took Brody and Gavin to do something at the shop earlier today,” says Nikki.

“The shop?” Was she talking about the Brody’s work? I think of the grease on Brody’s face and white t-shirt that night I sat with him on his porch.

“Yeah, the auto mechanic shop Brody works at. Ash needed an oil change and windshield wiper fluid or something,” Nikki says.

I nod.

“Why?” Nikki’s question catches me off guard a little.

“Why? I um was just curious who all was going to be there that’s all.”

As we continue to walk, Nikki looks at me and tilts her head. “Yeah, right.”

I laugh off her calling me out. “What? I’m serious.”

Nikki kicks a rock off the sidewalk and widens her eyes in an exaggerated way. “Sure you are.”

Nikki looks at me sideways and smiles. I decidedly keep my mouth shut the rest of the way, but the “I have been caught” coy smile on my lips won’t rub off.

Music is audible as soon as we round the corner from our street to the next, but not blaring. A few people are walking in the same direction and give us a casual wave and hi as they walk past. The humidity settles on my skin. “When does it cool down around here?” I ask Nikki.

“Pffff, this is actually pretty cool for September. It usually starts cooling off in October though. I’m sure you are used to awesome weather being that you are from California.”

I nod. “Yeah.”

“Do you miss it at all?” Nikki asks curiously.

A little kid scoots his scooter past us and beyond the set of orange cones blocking the road ahead.

“No, not so much.”

“Really? I think it would be awesome to live in California,” Nikki says.

I look over at Nikki and smile. I could see her living in California. “You would like it.”

We cross the make shift orange construction cone barricade, following Mrs. Bell, I mean Linda.

There are a ton of neighbors standing in the street of the cul-de-sac, watching their little ones play, drinking their beverage of choice, smiling, and chatting with other neighbors. Like a trail of ants, the population of neighbors gets heavier near the house the music is coming from.

“Auuuuuuhhhh!” The whooping and hollering that follow have me looking in the direction of a group of men standing behind the bed of a truck in the driveway, watching the action of a football game on a huge television. Dad sees it too and makes a beeline to the cluster of them.

“I’m going to watch the rest of the game,” Dad says before he gets too far out of ear shot, then he hollers back at Mom, Honey, I’ll be over here!”

Dad has found his niche for the remainder of the game. Mom and Linda make their way up to the lawn of the house holding the party and Nikki and I follow behind.

“Nikki, who is your friend?” a deep Dad-like voice asks from behind us.

Nikki and I both turn around and she smiles at him. “Hey Dad, this is Evan.”

He is a big guy, not fat, just tall and built. His smile is so wide that his eyes crinkle around the edges almost hiding them completely. He puts his hand out to shake mine and I do the same. “Evan, nice to meet you. That is a cool name,” he says happily. “Here follow me, come get a soda from one of the coolers.”

He leads us to two huge coolers. Like really, I have never seen two coolers this large, they look like the size of two refrigerators on their sides. No wonder he needed to drive his Jeep with them in it.

“Wow, those are huge coolers.” I say, unable to contain my awe.

“Yes ma’am. Ya’ll help yourself,” he says smiling, then stiffens his face in a serious manner and points his finger at me. “But stay away from the alcohol, got it?”

His face remains serious for a moment and I’m not sure if he is joking, so I try to explain, “I don’t...”

He smiles and pats me on the shoulder. “I’m just messing with ya. Okay, I’m going to go track down my bride. The brisket is going fast, so you two better go grab plates while the gettin’ is good.”

He walks off toward the front porch where Linda is introducing my mom to a woman who I would suspect is the owner of the house and thrower of the party.

Nikki takes a soda for herself and hands me one. “Dr. Pepper?” she asks.

“Um, sure.”

It’s my first taste of Dr. Pepper. I pop the top and follow Nikki as she leads me around the many neighbors camped out on their lawn chairs, scattered over the lawn. I take a sip and instantly my mouth is greeted by a sweet, peppery, cinnamon, vanilla type flavor; it is awesome.

Nikki asks, “Like it?”

“Mmhmm,” is all I’m able to get out as I take another sip.

The backyard is where most of the teenagers are hanging out. A few of the moms and dads are milling around the Bar-b-Que grill, chatting with the cook; probably the owner of the house, I guess.

“C’mon let’s get some food and grab a seat,” Nikki says as she walks over to a table covered with the plastic utensils, napkins, and plates, next to the grill. There is an entire table dedicated to all the potluck items the families have brought too. My stomach growls a little, just seeing the huge selection.

We find an open table with four empty chairs around it.

“Huge party,” I comment as Nikki and I sit down next to each other.

“Yeah, the Nicholson’s do it once a year for the neighborhood. They have been doing it for years. They don’t have any kids, but we have known them like forever and Mr. Nicholson,” she points with her fork over to the grill, “ says that we’re like the kids they never had.” The music selection suddenly changes to something more of my generation rather than that of Mr. Nicholson. I hear a few claps coming from another table near us. It is a group of girls. “Thanks Mr. Nicholson!” they announce in sing-song unison.

He smiles at the girls and continues to flip burgers and hotdogs.

One of the girls looks familiar; I think she is one of Celine’s friends, I mean minions, but the others aren’t familiar at all.

“Who are they?” I ask just before I take a bite of my potato salad.

Nikki looks behind her at the table of girls, then turns back to me. “People I used to know.” Her cutting words make me curious.

“Celine!” calls one of the girls from the table.

Celine is walking through the side gate and into the backyard. She smiles widely and waves her hand delicately. “Hi girls.”

She goes over to Mr. Nicholson and pats him on the back. “Hi, Mr. Nicholson.”

He turns to face her and gives her a big hug.

“Hi Celine. So glad you made it sweetheart.”

The hug breaks and she looks at him, sincerely. “I wouldn’t miss it! Thank you so much for throwing this party every year, Mr. Nicholson.”

He shrugs and smiles as he says, “Oh, we love to do it, dear.”

“So sweet. Yeah, right,” Nikki grunts under her breath.

I agree, I can literally smell the sickening sweet stench of ass kissing from here.

Mr. Nicholson and Celine chat quietly for a few more minutes. She smiles and throws her head back as she laughs at something he says.

Mr. Nicholson hands her a plate with a hamburger on it and she mills around the potluck table poking at the potato salad then, using the salad fork, she picks at the salad before she decides on a few carrot and celery sticks with ranch dressing. She must feel me watching her, because her eyes suddenly meet mine. I quickly take a sip of my Dr. Pepper and look away, pretending to be interested in my surroundings.

“Oh great,” Nikki says with dread under her breath before Celine’s voice covers hers.

“Hi Nikki.”

I glance at Celine. She smiles from ear to ear at Nikki.

“Who is your friend again?” she asks as she walks toward our table, her eyes on me now. I can’t speak or I don’t want to, I don’t know which.

“Hi Celine, this is Evan,” Nikki says with a smidgen of annoyance in her voice.

One of the girls I recognize as her friend, walks over to our table. “Hi Celine.”

She smiles at her. “Hi Avery.”

They give each other air kisses. Yeah, friggin’ air kisses. I want to laugh so badly, but I have a mouth full of hamburger. My hand covers the slight smile tugging at each end while I eat.

Celine turns from Avery, then looks at me strangely. “Evan? Is that short for something?”

I watch Nikki breathe in deeply, drop her napkin on the table and say, “Yeah, it is short for...”

I know where Nikki is going with it and I don’t want to start any trouble, so I interrupt her before she can finish. “...for Evangeline.”

The minion girl, Avery comments, “Evangeline? That sounds old fashioned.”

Celine smiles through her attempt at condemnation I shot down. She brings it again though. “Evan, I noticed you are hanging out with Gavin.”

She has? Is she watching me or something?
“Yeah, he is my neighbor and really nice.”

Celine’s fake smile loosens as she stares me down. “You might want to reevaluate who you hang out with.”

I can’t believe she just said that. Without thinking I respond to her. “I have and I like the company I’m keeping. Thanks. Oh, and Brody’s nice too. Such good neighbors.”

I take a bite of my hamburger and keep my eyes on hers as she snaps her mouth shut; obviously unhappy with the results of the little war she was trying to start here and my taking a jab at her by dropping Brody’s name.

“I would say it was nice talking Celine, but I won’t,” Nikki says breaking the stare down that Celine and I are wrapped up in. Silently, Celine and Avery walk over to the table where the seated girls are already whispering.

Nikki wipes her mouth and leans over to me, her shoulder brushing mine. “That was awesome Evan,” she says behind her napkin.

My heart is pumped full of adrenaline realizing what I had just done; I stood up for myself. Something I have never done in my life. I stood up for Gavin mostly. Her talking about him like that was too much for me to let happen. I can’t believe I said all that to her. I wasn’t really even thinking what I was going to say; I just did it.