Life In The Palace (23 page)

“For what it’s worth, I ‘liked’ your band page.”

“Cheers.” Seth didn’t realize what Spike had just said, she almost never posted links. Her vote of confidence was a big deal. She must actually dig the band. She didn’t need to make any grand gestures for my benefit.

“Ricky Ray says you worked Austin with him last summer. You’d rather work than party?” Spike looked genuinely curious.

“It’s nice to have some money. I didn’t sponge off my parents. Also, working the bar is basically getting paid for partying. The band was playing a set on the Thursday night. I know the bar manager from Boston, he asked for a favor. If I was going to spend the whole weekend down there anyway, then why not? Were you there?” Seth seemed to be enjoying his lentil soup. I was glad, I’d been worried he’d eat nothing and be super crabby later.

“No, I was home holding this chick’s hand while she prepared to flee the country,” Spike quipped.

“I didn’t stop you from going to the festival, you just hate sleeping in a tent.”

Spike cringed. “Especially where there might be scorpions. There is such a thing as getting too close to nature. If we were supposed to hang out in the great outdoors, cities wouldn’t have been invented. And you did need a fair amount of handholding.”

“Could be,” I conceded, “Your help was invaluable. You provided a very vital buffer between me and my Mother.”

“And the cookies,” Spike rolled her eyes.

Spike and I were still plowing our way through the giant plates of salad we’d selected, so there was a momentary pause as we both stopped to chew.

“I have a question,” Seth wrinkled his brow. “Something Susie said made me think of it. If your parents went totally ape about Rob the tattooed biker, then, no disrespect meant, how was your uber-Goth pierced best friend acceptable?”

Spike waved her hand, “No offence taken.” She looked at me waiting for my answer.

“Because I’m the second daughter. Also Spike’s Mom drives a Lexus and lives in a luxury condo, and Spike wasn’t an official goth at age twelve when we became friends. The gradual progression sort of slipped in under the radar. But mainly because I’m the other daughter, I wasn’t the vessel of parental achievement in the same way.”

“Basically they just cut you more slack?”

I nodded, “Spike was also a straight-A student.”

“Hang on a second,” Spike held up one hand, “You’re missing a key point over here. Never in their wildest dreams did Ma and Pa Diaz suspect that I was sleeping with their daughter. They might have been waiting for her to outgrow me, but they certainly weren’t worried about hanky-panky when I slept over.”

Seth narrowed his eyes, “But theoretically … ”

Spike shook her head, “Your mother might have had her concerns, but she lives in liberal New England. Mr. Diaz is quite sure that those things don’t happen in Texas.”

“What about Jared? You could have been dating him.”

Spike and I cracked up. “It’s been obvious to everyone, except for Jared, for years that Jared was playing for the other team,” I explained.

“But I thought it didn’t happen in Texas?” Seth was bemused.

“Don’t try and understand the confused workings of my father’s abundant set of prejudices.” I stroked his hand on the table next to me and Spike pretended not to notice.

“As long as I don’t tell him I vote Democrat, I’ll be okay?”

Spike snorted, “Ye gads, don’t tell him you vote Democrat. You might want to join the NRA just to smooth things along.”

Seth was obviously not sure how seriously to take her. He checked his watch and stood up. “I feel the sudden urge to walk down the street to Barnes and Nobel’s, get a coffee and browse books I’d never think of buying, aka, leave you two to have a girly moment without me cramping your style.”

“Spike, it’s been a genuine pleasure.” He smiled at her then leaned down to kiss me. “Call me when you’re ready to go. We should probably leave here around four so we can pick up our stuff and get back on the road by five.”

“Sure.” I checked my watch. “That’s in three hours. That’s a lot of coffee, will you be okay?”

“If I get stuck, I’ve got a full pack of smokes, I can always go pollute my lungs.”

“As long as you’re doing something productive.”

He winked and left.

Spike look at me long and hard, “Where’s the fly in the ointment?”

I wrinkled my eyebrows.

“He’s as cool as you said he was. He thinks the sun shines out of you. By your own admission he’s the One. You passed the mother-in-law test. What’s the prob?”

I sighed.

“You might as well start at the beginning, we’ve got three hours.”

I swallowed. “We went to his parent’s Chapel.” I paused.

Spike nodded encouragingly.

“It sucked. We said a bunch of prayers and sang some songs. I think some of them were in the Palace, but most of us were just going through the motions.”

She leant towards me, “What were you expecting?”

“He Who Knows, the Palace, something real.”

“More like that Tal character.”

“Exactly.”

“Does it matter? So they’re not hooked up with the cosmic mojo, and what?”

I looked down, “This is how Seth thinks I’ll make the Quest. Their Guide came over to talk to me. She said you can get the workbooks that cover the curriculum on Amazon and I could work through them and just come down to Boston for the ceremony when I’m finished. Or she could hook me up with a congregation in Montreal. She has a friend that offers evening classes. She said I shouldn’t be intimidated, that it’s easier than a college class.”

“Which is not what you wanted to hear?”

“It’s not a mystical quest to prove your mettle. It’s not accessing higher spiritual realms. It’s not elevating your soul, it’s a multiple choice test offered at the local community center.” I put my head in my hands.

“And at the end of it, you’re no more in the Palace than Benny is Judy Garland. Because they can’t show you the way into something they don’t believe in.”

I looked up, “Jared’s boyfriend impersonates Judy Garland?”

“It was just a one off thing. Jared’s supposed to be sending us pics. He didn’t want to post on Facebook, at least someone’s learned from Stacy’s mistakes. But I return to the question, so you’ll get the paperwork without the real elevation, does it matter?”

“I’ll still be an Other.”

Spike gave me a look, “Does Seth care?”

“No, he says he’ll take me just the way I am, he just wants to go through the motions to make his mother happy,” I said quietly.

“Do you care?” She asked carefully.

I shut my eyes, “I don’t know. I don’t see that I have much choice. Tal’s crew won’t let me in. It is something I wanted to do. It’s disappointing. I was quite looking forward to being a superhero, but I wasn’t an elevated spiritual being yesterday either, so I guess I’m not really losing out.”

Spike looked thoughtful, “Maybe there’s only so much destiny one person can have. Could be you maxed out your quota with Seth, now the rest of your life will have to be fairly standard. I can think of worse things than a life of normal with my soul mate.”

I laughed, “When you put it like that, so could I.”

“In case I didn’t make this clear earlier, it was really kind of you to give Spike and me the whole afternoon to hang out.” I looked at Seth as the lights of Montreal appeared in the distance.

In the dark I could just about make out his smile, “What else would I have done? She’s your best friend. I’m sorry all the rest of the time was taken up with family obligations.”

“Are you sure they really liked me?”

“Yes, they liked you.” He sounded slightly exasperated. It was the third time I’d asked since we got in the car. “I don’t know what you’re so worried about, you don’t have to join the NRA.”

“Spike was mostly joking.”

“Mostly?” His eyebrows shot up.

I leaned over and kissed his stubbly cheek. “Now who’s worried?”

He moved his head towards mine. It was about as intimate as we can get while driving.

“I guess nothing in life is perfect. Did you know it says in the Way that if your life goes too smoothly then you start to worry that you’re being given your reward in this world instead of the next?”

“I never heard that, do you think we should worry?”

Seth laughed, “Nope, something’s bound to happen.”

I blame him for jinxing us.

Simone opened the door to the top of the stairs we came up. “I tried calling you, but your phone went straight to voicemail.”

“Sorry about that. I forgot to charge it last night and I don’t have one those chargers you put in the cigarette lighter. Is everything okay? I thought I told you we’d be back late.” I playfully leaned my cheek to hers to air kiss French style. Then I saw the look on her face.

“I know you said you’d be back late. That’s what I told them but they wanted to wait.”

“They?” Seth asked putting my case down on the little landing.

“They’re in the living room. I think I might go to bed now.” Simone turned and headed away.

“Good night,” I mumbled as I glanced confused at Seth.

Leaving my bags were they were, Seth and I went into the living room.

“Hey Chloe, surprise!” Stacy said.

Chapter 18

I
t’s a good
thing I wasn’t holding anything. As it was, I nearly fell over from shock.

“Hi,” was the best I could come up with.

Stacy smiled warmly from the couch. Rob just sat there looking uncomfortable. Seth looked from me to them.

“Are you going to introduce us?” she asked.

“Seth, this is my sister Stacy, and that’s Rob.” I waved my hand vaguely.

“Sorry to just barge in on you. I was going to give you some warning that we were passing through, but your phone was off,” Stacy explained.

“Yeah, so I hear. Apparently, today was the wrong day to forget to charge it.” I sat down on the big bamboo chair. Seth brought an extra chair and set it down opposite me on the other side of the couch. I couldn’t quite believe she was sitting there. I rubbed my head. Stacy reached over and took Rob’s hand.
They look like they were about to announce their engagement. But why come all the way here to tell me? I don’t care if they get married.

“On the way to where? The North Pole? You live in Florida for Pete’s sake.” My brain was finally catching up with recent events.

Stacy looked shifty, “Ok so maybe on the way was not so accurate. We were mainly on our way here.”

“To see me?”

Stacy nodded, and for the first time stood up from the couch.

“Holy crap! Are you pregnant?” I blurted out.

Her eyes filled with tears, “Yes.”

I put my head in my hands, then I looked up at her. “Why? How? Okay, I know how. What the-?”

She just stood there, biting her lip and trying not to cry.

Rob looked like he’d rather brave the fires of hell than be sitting in my living room. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Seth look from me to Stacy to Rob and back to me again.

“Do you smoke Rob?” Seth asked, “If not, now might be a good time to start. Why don’t you join me out the back?”

Rob stood and obediently followed him out to the fire exit.

Stacy was still standing in front of me. We looked at each other in silence

“Are you going to say anything else?” she asked.

Wordlessly, I stood and wrapped my arms around her. She’s slightly taller than me, but she laid her head on my shoulder and wept. I pulled her over to the couch and without moving my arms, I pulled us down to sit. She cried for a long time.

Eventually, just as my arms were beginning to ache, she pulled away. “What am I going to do?”

What you should have done is taken some precautions. How stupid are you? You go to the doctor and take the little pills every day, and if you miss a day, you use a condom, and if the condom breaks you go and get the emergency pill. You don’t let this happen. Seth wouldn’t lay a finger on me if he didn’t know that we were taking care of things.

Swallowing my internal monologue, I asked, “How far are along are you?”

“Nearly four months.”

“That’s too late to-?” I let the question hang in the air.

“I wouldn’t anyway. Rob would never let me. You can’t just kill a baby.”

Rob’s not the one that’s going to get stuck raising it for the rest of its life. It’s easy to have principles with someone else’s life.

She sighed, “I didn’t realize at first. We were moving and then getting settled in, and then I was worked round the clock to save for school. I didn’t notice that I was late. Until I realized I was very late. And then it was too late.” She started to cry again. I got up and brought her a box of tissues.

“It didn’t seem real until I started to show.”

“I don’t think I would have noticed if I wasn’t your sister. I think it’s the price of being thin; there’s nowhere for the baby to grow but out. Baby bumps are cool these days, though.” I sounded beyond lame, but I was trying to find the bright side.

“I didn’t do this as a fashion accessory,” Stacy shot back. At least I didn’t have to worry about her topping herself or anything crazy if she still had the energy to bicker.

“No, I’m sure you didn’t, but what are you going to do now?”

She shut her eyes, “I don’t know. I just woke up on Thursday and went crazy. I told Rob I couldn’t stay in Florida and be white trash. I was so mean to him. I was yelling and throwing things around. I said I had to be with my family, I had to come here and see you.”

I tried not to laugh. I couldn’t imagine perfect Stacy losing it quite like that.

“You just got on the bike and came?” I asked.

“No, Rob made me wait until we could borrow his friend’s car. He doesn’t want me riding such a long way in my condition.”

“Very considerate of him.” She didn’t seem to notice my sarcasm.

Seth stuck his head around the kitchen door. Stacy was just staring blankly in front of her. I got up and walked over to Seth.

“Did you know that they drove nearly straight here?” he asked.

“It sounds like it was a pretty spur-of-the-moment decision.”

“Can they sleep here?”

I hadn’t even thought about where they were going to stay. I groaned.

“I could take them to my place, but I’d have to find something to say to Josh and it looks like Stacy really wants to be close to you.”

I sighed, “The couch pulls out to be a bed. They’ll have to share, but I think it’s a bit too late to worry about that.”

“Do you want me to stay?” he asked quietly.

“Good grief, yes.”

I woke up alone. Without looking at my alarm clock I could tell it was still early. I tiptoed past Stacy and Rob still fast asleep on the sofa bed, to find Seth cooking up a storm while Simone tucked into the first batch of eggs.

“I’m so sorry about all of this,” I said to Simone. “It’s a bit more than you bargained for.”

Simone waved her hand dismissively. “I was only too well aware that you hadn’t invited sleepover guests without asking me. All I had to do was let them in and give up the couch. You got the worse part of the situation over here.”

“Did Seth tell you what was going on?”

Simone smiled at Seth, for whom she had a soft spot. “Seth, as ever, was the perfect gentleman and said nothing, but I did happen to overhear them talking while they were waiting. Your sister is expecting, Non?”

“It’s quite unexpected.”

Simone nodded, “I assumed as much. What does she want you to do? I’m happy for Seth to be our unofficial third roommate since he does more than his fair share in the kitchen, but your sister, her boyfriend and their lovechild would be pushing the bounds of our lease.”

“I’m glad you can joke about it,” I answered and then quickly smiled so she’d know I wasn’t offended. “The truth is I have no idea. What can she do?”

“Has she told your parents?” Simone reached for another blueberry muffin. Had Seth baked them this morning?

“Definitely not, I’d have heard the yelling all the way from Texas by now. I must be the first one she’s told.”

Just then we heard voices from the living room and that put an end to our speculation. Stacy knocked on the shut kitchen door. I opened it and smiled as warmly as I could manage.

“Hey, did you sleep well? The bathroom is through here if you want to get washed up before breakfast.”

“Thanks,” Stacy said groggily making her way through.

“There’s extra towels on the toilet,” Seth called after her.

I flashed him a smile of gratitude.

Her hunger satisfied or possibly just to avoid the tension, Simone thanked Seth and excused herself. Before I knew it the four of us were sitting around the small kitchen table playing happy families.

“Does he always cook like this?” Stacy asked me as she took her second slice of French toast.

“Frequently.”

“Although, I can’t change a spark plug,” Seth said quickly.

Rob looked up from his plate. “Have you ever actually tried?”

Seth smiled sheepishly, “Not recently.”

Rob shrugged, “Food’s good though. It’s a good idea to know how to fend for yourself when you’re dealing with the Diaz girls.”

Seth snorted and Stacy looked at Rob sharply.

“I thought it was just Chloe.”

“I told you, it’s not our fault. Look who our role model was,” I interjected.

“Is your mother really that bad?” Seth asked.

Stacy and I nodded in unison. “Mom could burn water.”

“You’ve actually gotten pretty good, all things considered,” Rob said to Stacy. I saw him rub her knee under the table.

“I spent a lot of time watching the cooking channel,” she smiled back at him.

There was a pause, before it became uncomfortable, Seth turned to Stacy. “I don’t want to bring up awkward topics, but it happens I met Chloe’s fine friend Spike for the first time yesterday. Spike suggested that I change my voting practices to Republican if I want to win a place in your father’s good graces. Is that true?”

Stacy stifled a giggle, “You’re a Democrat? Good luck.”

Rob eyed Seth suspiciously, “Are you serious, man? You’d vote Obama back in, after what he’s done to this country? All he wants to do is raise the taxes of regular hardworking Americans to give free health care to a bunch of freeloading immigrants. Our boys are over in Iraq risking their lives to keep America free and he’s making nice to the Saudis.”

Seth kept a totally straight face, “I think you’ve a got a good point. We do have to evaluate the price of our relationship with dictators especially those known for human rights abuses.” Seth paused, “By the way, Rob, are you a member of the NRA?”

“Of course.”

I looked at Stacy, “You know if Dad ever lets him through the front door, they’ll probably get on like a house on fire.” Then I regretted saying it as I saw a cloud pass over Stacy’s face as thought about Mom and Dad.

“They’re going to kill me,” she whispered.

Rob slipped one arm around her shoulders. “Shhh,” he whispered soothingly.

“I’m not sure it can actually get any worse. I know it’s not the most comforting thing to say, but if they already disowned you, what else can they do?”

“Dad could buy a shotgun.” Stacy looked up.

I smiled back and followed her lead, “No, we’re in Canada. I’m not sure they’ll let him into the country.”

The mood successfully rescued, the conversation stayed thankfully light after that.

Later Stacy and I did the dishes, as Rob took it upon himself to teach Seth to change a spark plug.

“Will you tell her for me?” Stacy asked as she dried a cereal bowl.

“Mom?” I asked without turning around from the sink. “Is that why you came here?”

“I don’t know why I came here. I needed to be with family. I just can’t pick up the phone after all this time and tell her myself. What if she yells? What if she just hangs up? I just can’t deal with her telling me I’ve ruined my life.”

Out of the corner of my eye I could see the tears running down her cheek.

“I know that already. I just can’t take hearing it from her,” she sobbed.

I wasn’t sure whether I should turn around or not. Before I decided, Stacy had dried her eyes with the dishcloth.

“You seem to be doing well for yourself. He’s a nice guy, this Seth of yours. Things seem pretty serious.” Her tone was way too casual to be casual.

“It is,” I said carefully. I was about to add, “But we’re not rushing into anything,” but realized how untactful it would be and stopped myself just in time.

“Rob looks like he really cares about you.”

“He does,” she sniffed. “That’s why he agreed to drive all the way up here. He was going crazy seeing me so upset.”

Perhaps he should have thought of that before. It takes two to tango.

“What does Rob think you should do?” I asked.

“He thinks we should go back to Texas. His mom’s in Anthony.” She sounded very reluctant.

I turned around to face her. “It’s not a crazy idea. You’re going to need help from someone. Rob’s going to need to work, right? You’ll go crazy if you’re stuck at home by yourself with just a baby for company. At least if you’re at his mom’s, you can go out without the baby for a few hours.”

Stacy sighed, “You’re right but what if I bump into Mom or worse, Dad?”

“They’re not exactly hanging around there. You’ll probably be safe, but realize you will have to see them again sometime.”

“If they agree to see me.” Her voice dripped with pain. It must be pretty hard to know that your parents could just drop you like that.

“I’m sorry it’s so hard for you,” I said as I went to hug her.

“Your parents are supposed to love you no matter what you do,” she said into my shoulder. “I didn’t even do anything that bad. I’ve never tried drugs. I think you’ve been drunk more times than I have.” She pulled away and looked at me. I wasn’t sure what to say. It was probably true.

“Are you sure you want me to tell her?” I asked.

“What’s the alternative? Send her a world’s best grandma magnet and hope she figures it out?”

I looked at my watch, “Do you want me to do it right now? She’s probably in the shop already. That way if she freaks out at least Dad’s not standing right there next to her.”

Stacy nodded her agreement, “But I’m not staying here to watch.”

Seth struck the perfect balance of not actually leaving but pretending he was busy doing something else in the living room so I could make the call alone in my bedroom.

“Hey Mom, how’re you doing?”

“Pretty good, just wrestling some hydrangeas. Wasn’t this weekend the big trip to Boston, how’d it go?”

I fiddled with a stay strand of hair, “It went well. I think his parents like me. I met his sister and his grandparents. Everyone was nice and friendly.”

“I’m glad to hear that. I thought it would go well. How was Spike? Are the other brainiacs giving her a run for her money?”

“She seems to be settling in. I think she’s enjoying the school part. I think she likes having other people around who are as smart as her, it makes for more of a challenge.”

“Very nice, well I’m glad you had a good time.”

“Mom?” I took a deep breath.

“Uh huh,” she said, she was probably using both hands and her teeth to make some complicated arrangement. I waited a minute so she could put down the sharp implements.