Marionette (16 page)

“Ha! Who knew you could be on time and funny all on the same day? You must be exhausted. We can call it a day if you want.”

She lowered her head and her devilish smile turned me on. “Tell you what, it’s gorgeous outside and you’re obviously in a good mood, so why don’t we grab a coffee or something and talk outside? A change of pace might do you some good.”

Emerging from the bowels of the building with Liddy at my side gave me a sense of pride. Did she think I was fit for human society again? If only she knew the whole truth.

After stopping to buy two coffees, Liddy’s treat, we headed out of the building. It was late September, and the sun blazed, not too hot but just perfect for a fall afternoon. We found a picnic table and sat across from each other. It didn’t take long for the warmth to get to me, and the hot coffee didn’t help.

As I rolled up my sleeves, I noticed Liddy peeking at my scars.

“I’m kinda glad you’ve seen them,” I remarked.

“Why’s that?”

“It makes it easier. It’s bloody hot, and I’m tired of always hiding them.” I noticed a dog that was frantically chasing down a tennis ball. “I guess I didn’t think my plan through. The—‌”

“The what, Paige?” Liddy’s sweet voice pressed me.

“I didn’t think I would have to deal with…‌the aftermath, I guess.” I scratched my head.

“How many people have seen the scars?”

“Less than a handful. My roommates tease me because I won’t change my shirt in front of them. They’re always getting undressed in front of me. I wish they wouldn’t.” I sipped my coffee. “I’m sure they think I’m the biggest prude.”

“It must be hard to hide so much from them. What do you think they’d do if they saw the scars?”

“Oh, geez. Minnie would flip out. She’s Catholic—‌and I found out recently that she’s a virgin.” I tapped the tabletop with my fingers.

“Are you?”

Shit! I hadn’t been expecting that one. Logically, I should have seen it coming. I fidgeted with the zipper on my backpack. How could I get out of this one?

“I…”

She watched me closely.

“Can I pass on that question for now?”

“Of course.” She placed her hand on my arm. “Paige, we can go as slow as you need.”

Her touch soothed me. I tried to remember the last person who had touched me to reassure me, besides Jess. Alex. Shit. That was four years ago. Four years.

“Where did you go?” Liddy hunched her shoulders to make eye contact with me.

I colored. “Oh, sorry. I was thinking of a friend.”

“What triggered the memory?”

“You, actually. When you touched my arm, I tried to remember the last person who had touched me in a friendly way.” I laughed nervously. “I guess I’m not the type who puts out the ‘I want a hug’ vibe.”

She smiled, but not in a mocking way; it was genuine. “I don’t know about that. When I first saw you, my first instinct was to hug you.”

“But you didn’t.” I raised my coffee cup in a victorious salute.

She chuckled. “True, but not for the reason you think.”

I looked back at the dog, which was still playing fetch. “Why, then?”

“We have rules we are supposed to follow. No touching.”

That made me burst into laughter. “But you just touched my arm.”

“I’m not good at following rules.” She smiled bashfully.

“Ah, so you’re a rebel.”

“Not sure about that, but I like to think for myself.”

Liddy was saying all the right things to me today. Had she planned all of this? I smiled at the thought of her arranging for one of her friends to play fetch with his dog to distract me.

“What friend were you thinking of?”

“Alex.”

“How odd that your friend is named Alex.”

“Why, because my last name is Alexander? We were called the A-team at school.” It wasn’t so odd, actually.

“Yeah!” She smiled. “Tell me about her.”

It was time to get down to business.

I bobbed my head and took a swig of coffee so I could get the words out. “She was my best friend.”

“Was?” The question hung above Liddy’s head like a cartoon bubble.

“Yeah. She died.” I looked back at the dog.

“Was this recently?” Liddy’s body language signaled that she was cautious not to press too hard, too fast.

I stared at the slats in the table. “Uh, no. It happened a few years ago.”

“How did it happen?”

“It was an…‌accident. She was in the hospital and there was some type of mix-up.” I looked away so Liddy wouldn’t see I was lying. It wasn’t an accident.

“What do you mean? Did they give her the wrong medicine?”

I could tell her concern was genuine.

“Oh, no. Nothing like that. She was in a treatment facility…‌for drugs…‌somehow another patient or someone gave her heroin and Alex overdosed.” I reached into my backpack and fished out my water bottle.

Liddy sat back, taking this in.

“That must have been devastating. Was she being treated for a heroin addiction?”

“From what I know, she had never used heroin. Her drugs of choice were cocaine and alcohol. She used to joke that she’d drink gasoline if it got her drunk or high.” I sighed, thinking about how quickly Alex became hopelessly hooked. The person who got her addicted to the junk was evil. Pure evil.

“How old was she?” queried Liddy.

“Thirteen.”

Liddy whistled through her teeth. “You know I have to ask?”

I looked up from the table. “No, I don’t use drugs. I never touched the stuff. Not even pot.”

She nodded her head slowly, letting the information sink in. It looked like she was forming her next question but couldn’t think of the right words.

“Alex and I knew each other since birth, pretty much. We were like s-sisters—‌” I couldn’t finish the thought. Tears blurred my vision. I felt Liddy’s hand on my arm again.

“My parents thought it would be too much for me to go to the funeral. At least that’s what they said. I think my dad wanted to distance his name from the whole thing. Bad press—‌you know how it goes.” I shrugged.

My last memory of Alex was the night the police had taken her away. I closed my eyes and saw her crazed face.

“After that, I didn’t really let anyone in…‌not until I met Jess. At school, I was friendly with some of the kids, but not close to anyone. I had casual friends to go to the movies with and such, but not a single true friend.”

For some reason, Mel didn’t enter into the conversation. I had met Mel around the same time that I met Jess. Jess started to ask about my friends, and I had been embarrassed that I didn’t really have any, so I made sure to acquire one. Mel was there, and she fit the bill. When Mel and Jess hit it off, I thought everything had gone according to plan. Now, things were weird between the two of them. I couldn’t put my finger on it yet, but something was wrong.

I scratched one of my scars. “Why do scars itch?”

Liddy contemplated my arm. “Did you hurt yourself because of Alex?”

Her question floored me.

I shrugged it off. “Maybe. I don’t really remember much from that day.” It was a lie. I remembered that day better than any other day.

“How did Jess react—‌after finding you?”

“Oh, geez. You should have heard all of the screaming.” I smiled meekly. “It’s not the best way to impress…‌someone.”

“At least not in the normal way.” Liddy gave me a “Chin-up, Tiger” kind of smile.

“True. And now I get to do this.” I motioned to her across the table.

“Next time, you might weigh your promises a little more carefully.”

I cringed. “Tell me about it. But I did get a coffee out of the deal.”

* * *

Sitting in the beanbag, I closed my eyes and tried to block out all of the hubbub going on around me. Minnie, Karen, and Jenna ran about getting ready for our night out at a party. I didn’t give a damn what I looked like, so I refused to get dolled up.

Minnie had disappeared into the bathroom when I heard someone knock on the door. I groaned. If I could have, I would have stayed on my throne for the rest of the night. Instead, I heaved my body up and went to answer the door.

“Hey, Paige. What’s up?” Tom strolled into the room.

“Not much. Come on in.” He either didn’t notice my sarcasm or chose to ignore it.

We’d had our “date” the night before. Surprisingly, it had gone well. All we’d done was talk sports. No awkwardness. When we’d said goodbye, Tom had given me a hug and that was all.

He lowered himself into the beanbag, grabbed the remote, and changed the channel to ESPN. Tom was feeling right at home, and I was responsible for that.

“Where are Ben and Aaron?”

“Oh.” He waved the remote. “They should be here soon with the beer.”

“That’s good. I was worried we wouldn’t have a drink before ten.”

“Never.” He looked solemn, as if he were praying in church. It made me laugh.

He reached into his coat pocket. “Here, I got you this.” He handed me a vodka shooter. “I know you don’t like beer much.” He winked at me.

I was touched. “Thanks, Tom. That was thoughtful.” He focused on the TV again and I was relieved that he didn’t expect a kiss in return. His cool demeanor was making it easy for me.

While I fixed up a Coke and vodka—‌I didn’t have any tonic—‌Minnie appeared around the corner.

“Hey, Tom. I didn’t hear you come in.”

“I was hoping to see you naked so I snuck in.”

Minnie looked aghast and both Tom and I broke into giggles.

“You two are wretched.”

“Wretched,” I mocked.

Tom shrugged and looked confused.

Karen sauntered in and threw open my closet. “Does anyone have a white scrunchie? I can’t find mine.” She was holding her red curls on top of her head with one hand.

“Why don’t you go like that? It looks so darn cute.”

“Very funny.”

“Well, I don’t have one.” I motioned for her to shut my closet.

“Sorry.” She put one palm in the air.

“Karen, look in my pink box. I’m certain I have one.” Minnie pointed to the box with her curling iron.

Karen stuck her tongue out at me. “At least I can count on you, Audrey.”

Another knock sounded on the door. Minnie opened the door one-handed, with the other hand in the air curling some of her hair. Ben ducked under her arm, and Aaron looked puzzled that she had opened the door in such a state. Not very military-like, was my guess.

“Uh, I have the beer,” said the muscle man.

“Dude, in here,” commanded Tom.

Aaron sidled in along the wall, avoiding contact with Minnie and her deadly curling iron.

“Is Jewels coming?” He tried to regain some of his maleness.

“Nope.” Minnie seized another chunk of hair and wrapped it around the device.

Aaron shuddered. Tom and I made eye contact and sniggered behind his back. He mouthed, “Only child.”

Ben looked on, but I’m pretty sure he was stoned out of his mind. I wondered if he would make it through the year without getting kicked out.

* * *

Hours later, I dropped the entourage off in front of the frat house, and went to park my car in the back. Jenna followed me in her own car. I let her take the first available spot while I located another vacant spot at the back of the lot.

When I walked past Jenna’s car, another car drove by, kicking up dirt. I waved the particles away and spat some from my mouth. Jenna had already gone inside. I threw my arms up in the air. I had let her have the parking spot, she could have at least waited for me.

Several groups of people gathered in front of the house. As I made my way to the door, I felt their eyes on me. Frat parties gave me the willies, but it was all part of my cover.

I tripped down onto the dance floor and collided with a huge dude.

“Careful, the first step is killer,” he shouted, and held me up so I could recover my footing.

“Thank you.”

I squinted, trying to adjust to the darkness. Every few seconds, a strobe light eradicated it, but the fleeting light disconcerted me even more. Music pounded my eardrums. All I could make out was a massive, moving herd of dancers, making it nearly impossible to pick out an individual.

“Paige, what the fuck are you doing here?”

I turned to the voice. “Jewels, is that you?”

“Yup.” She didn’t stop dancing to answer. “I didn’t think you did the whole party thing. What are you doing?”

“Drowning in beer.”

She misunderstood, and raised her beer. “Me too.”

I had been referring to all of the beer on the floor.

“Oh, Aaron is looking for you,” I said.

“What?” She looked around nervously. “Is he here? What a bore!”

“Another failed romance?”

“You could say that.” She motioned over her shoulder. “But I got a good feeling about this one.” I couldn’t see her all that well, but I’m sure she winked at me.

I patted her on the shoulder. “Good luck. Do me a favor, if you see my roomies, tell them I’m looking for them.”

“Righty-o.” She waved her beer and vanished into the dancing herd.

Why had I agreed to come to this party? I wasn’t fond of crappy beer. I hated dancing. And silliness—‌not a fan. Yet here I was, meandering from one absurd situation to another.

Working my way through the maze of blackness and stinky bodies, I happened upon a group that was too drunk to dance. They all leaned on each other in a way that gave new meaning to the song,
Lean on Me.

“What do you mean the keg’s dry?” demanded the first drunk.

“That’s ex-exactly what I mean. It’s dry. Gone. N-no more,” hiccupped the next one.

“There’s no more beer!” stated the third.

It has always amazed me that for some reason drunks think the beer is never-ending, especially free beer. It’s always comical to watch their reactions when they find out that’s not true.

“But…‌I’mmmmm nnnnnotttt done!”

“You are if you stay here.”

Knowing this conversation would take hours, I moved on in search of my friends.

“The only pussy my boyfriend gets is mine.” The voice came from someone I faintly recognized, and from what I heard about the boyfriend, he got pussy anytime he wanted.

“Isn’t that right, honey? The only pussy you get is from me,” said the sweet talker.