Sinful Purity (Sinful Series) (6 page)

Naughty Vs. Nice

That summer I turned sixteen. I had filled out more and even started resembling a girl. I looked more mature and shapely, though I hadn’t grown in over two years. I couldn’t believe that after growing up as one the tallest kids at the orphanage, I had topped out at an average five feet, five inches. Even short little Kelly now stood eye to eye with me. I had never cared that much about my height before, since it had always been more a topic of ridicule than anything else. But now that I was just average, I felt more ordinary than ever. There went the supermodel career Kelly was always talking about.

Brett arrived right on schedule. I ran up to him and he gave me a huge hug and twirled me around a couple of times, just like he’d always done to his sister. Brett visited frequently, every two to three weeks. We were very comfortable with each other now. As smooth and suave as he was, I was sure he had probably always been comfortable. I, on the other hand, had spent
the last couple of years hopelessly in love with my best friend’s brother. Somehow I managed to learn to appreciate our friendship while secretly pining away for him in the depths of my soul.

“So who am I this time, Brett?”

“Well, I don’t know. Who do you want to be, Ginger or Mary Ann? Wait, I know. You want to be Mary Ann. She’s the better choice.”

“What if I want to be Ginger?” I inquired.

“Oh, Lizzie, Lizzie, Lizzie. I still have so much to teach you.”

“What do you mean?”

“Guys might want to look at Ginger, but they fall in love with Mary Ann. That’s why, sweetheart, you always choose Mary Ann.”

“Oh, Brett. Who’s going to fall in love with me?” I begged, only half-jokingly.

“Well, how about me?” Brett picked me up in his arms and spun me around, laughing as he kissed me over and over on the cheek.

“Let’s go get Kelly, okay?” I squealed.

“All right,” he conceded.

“You have to put me down first,” I insisted.

“Not until you promise me that you’ll always be Mary Ann.”

“Okay, okay. I’m Mary Ann.” It was kind of fitting. I always felt more like the girl next door than the bombshell anyway.

Kelly was once again up in the infirmary. She had been there so much lately that it wasn’t like having a roommate at all anymore. This last episode was her worst yet. The reaction had been so severe that even her breathing stopped for a few seconds until one of the sisters could administer the epinephrine to halt the swelling. Sister Christine even allowed Kelly to skip weekly Mass to recuperate. Even now, over two weeks later, Kelly’s entire face and neck were so swollen that she was nearly unrecognizable. Her lips were huge and discolored like a deep bruise. Her eyes mere slits looking through a puffy, freckled canvas. It pained me to look at her. I wondered what Brett thought. I didn’t have to wonder long as I looked up at him standing next to me. I could see all color drain from his face. The agony and helplessness was as plain as day.

“What have they done to you, Kell?” Brett questioned frantically, as if hoping that at any moment the perpetrator would be brought to justice.

“What, you don’t like my new kisser? You know, some women pay big bucks for luscious lips like these.” Kelly mocked as she puckered her overly plump lips.

“Seriously, do they know what happened? They have to be looking into it. Don’t they? Someone has to know, right?” Brett prodded desperately.

With every question, Kelly and I both just nodded and shrugged helplessly. I empathized with Brett. I too wanted more than anything to find out who or what had been hurting my friend. But no one knew, and if they did, they weren’t telling.

“I’m so sorry, Kell,” Brett continued, lost in his personal agony. “I really thought you’d be safe here. We all thought you’d be safe here. No one could have known he’d be so relentless.”

“Enough, Brett!” Kelly screamed, looking toward me.

What had Brett meant by “he’d be so relentless”? I knew that whatever it was, he had divulged too much. Kelly was furious about his breach of trust. Her eyes glazed red and stormy, looking like a bull ready to charge. I thought it would be a good time to excuse myself.

“I’ll leave you guys alone to talk,” I said, quietly slipping out the door.

“Wait!” Kelly’s voice echoed.

I turned around to step back into the room. “Did you need something, Kell?” I inquired, hoping that my departure could be quick. I didn’t do well with stressful situations. I couldn’t bear sticking around to watch the two most important people in my life verbally duke it out.

“Liz, tell him it’s not like that. Tell him about the—the ring,” Kelly stuttered.

“Kelly, not now. Not this again,” I pleaded.

“What do you mean ‘not now’?” Kelly shrieked, her voice shrill with anger. “That damned ring, all pious-looking and unassuming. It’s a bacterial playground. Kid after coughing kid kissing it. And what about the old people and the rest of the congregation? What about them? They aren’t germ-ridden, I suppose? I see how you’re looking at me! I am not crazy! Haven’t you ever heard of germ warfare? That’s what they’re doing here—exposing us, infecting us with God only knows what. Tuberculosis, cold sores, flesh-eating viruses, the list is endless.”

“Wait. You think that Father Brennigan is trying to contaminate you by requiring that you kiss his ring as a sign of respect?” Brett laughed.

“I don’t know, Father Brennigan or the whole Roman Catholic Church. Who’s to say exactly how far this goes up the line? Plus, have you ever seen him wash his hands? I have been here for years and I’ve never seen it. What about you, Liz? You’ve been here longer than anyone. Have you ever seen Father Brennigan even touch a bar of soap? Well, have you?” Kelly ranted.

“I am sure he washes his hands, Kell,” I replied, a little more than perturbed at the idiocy.

“You’re gonna tell me that you are lying here all swollen and allergic because the Catholic Church is trying to poison you?” Brett mocked.

“Or Father Brennigan,” I added as an extra jab.

“Right, or Father Brennigan!” Brett exclaimed, practically falling down laughing.

“You can laugh all you want!” Kelly yelled. “But he’s an assassin, I tell you.”

“I’m gonna leave now, okay?” I walked back out the door.

“An ASSASSIN!” I heard Kelly howl.

Downstairs I waited for Brett, wondering what he was enduring at the irate hands of Kelly. I thought about how ludicrous her hypothesis had been. A Roman Catholic conspiracy, all aimed at giving Kelly puffy eyes and the sniffles. Who could be that brainless?

Kelly
, I thought, answering my own question.
Only Kelly
.

As I sat quietly, I noticed Father Brennigan and Sister Christine in the distance in what looked like a heated conversation. Father Brennigan always talked with his hands, so his body language really didn’t seem that out of place until I noticed Sister Christine. She was waving her arms around like a crazy lady. This way and that way her arms swung, gesturing from her mouth as if to give her words more force. Sister Christine was stern to a fault but always refined, controlled. Her demeanor never led anyone to doubt her devotion and faith in her station in life. Only her evil mug gave pause to the vile, cruel thoughts that I was sure lay just beneath the surface. I couldn’t even surmise what she and Father had to argue over. They were on the same team, after all. “Team God ,” I chuckled to myself.

It got later and later. I had spent the better part of the day rereading
Pride and Prejudice
, a hopelessly romantic book that seemed just right somehow. I didn’t even notice the time until the light started to disappear
behind St. Matthew’s lofty steeple and the sky began to darken. I hurriedly stood up, gathering my belongings and my thoughts.

I must be almost late for dinner. What happened to Brett?

I never saw him leave, and Mother Superior always forced him to depart far before now. Disappointed at the thought that I must have missed him leaving as I read, I solemnly walked inside.

I didn’t see Kelly until the next morning. After losing so much time yesterday, I was more than a little behind on my chores. After dinner I tried to make up for my indiscretion by finishing up the better part of my duties for the week. As I opened the infirmary door, I quickly prayed that Kelly wouldn’t still be angry with me for my sardonic behavior yesterday during Brett’s visit.

“Well, it’s about time you showed up. Here to apologize for making me look insane in front of my brother?” Kelly snickered in her own classic Kelly way.

“Yeah, I’m sorry about that.”

“Oh, forget it. So you here to spring me or what? I’m going stir-crazy in here. Believe me, the putrid smell of bandages and alcohol is not doing anything for my sanity, either. Look, they just leave those huge syringes with their phobia-inducing needles lying right out there in the open as if to torment me.”

I looked over at the counter in the corner of the room behind the door. There it was, a stainless steel tray of syringes and needles carefully laid out in a straight line, all orderly on top of the nurse’s station. Behind the tray was the customary row of glass jars, full to the brim with cotton balls, gauze, and tongue depressors. “Well, then, let’s get you out of here,” I suggested.

“I want you to know, Liz, I haven’t had one night of sleep when I didn’t have a nightmare that I was being jabbed, poked, and stabbed to death by giant, walking syringes. Just poke, poke, poke all night long, like they were trying to aerate me or something. If I didn’t have a fear of needles before, I do now!” she proclaimed as we escaped the torture chamber into the uninhabited hallway in our quest for freedom.

“What time did your brother leave?” I asked nonchalantly, hoping the question was harmless enough not to attract scrutiny. I didn’t want Kelly to know I’d sat outside all day in the courtyard firmly positioned near the gates, hoping to stage a fortuitous encounter.

“I don’t know. Not long after you did, I guess. You didn’t see him when he left?”

“No, I had a lot of work to do. I was behind on my chores.” I didn’t completely lie. I
had
been very behind. She didn’t need to know that it was because I had stupidly waited for Brett the entire day.

“Well, he said he’d be back today or tomorrow. He had some things to check on.” Kelly’s voice became uncertain after her cryptic remark.

I hardly noticed her uneasiness. The thought of Brett coming back today or tomorrow captured my mind. My thoughts swelled, overtaking every corner of my brain, pushing out even the most life-supporting commands.

Breathe. Don’t forget to breathe.

Brett didn’t come back that day or the following one. It was two days later that he rode back up to the gates of MIQ. I had been sitting at a small table toward the rear of the courtyard, polishing crucifixes. Taken by surprise, I stopped what I was doing and put my rag down as Brett approached.

“Hi, Brett.” I waved. “Kelly’s in with Sister Christine and Sister Pietra, the nurse. They’re just giving her a quick exam to make sure she’s healing okay.”

“Then I’ll just sit and wait here with you. If that’s okay with you, Liz.”

“Of course, take a seat and pull up a rag,” I instructed breathlessly.

“So is this one of your weekly obligations, or were you naughty this week?” Brett inquired flirtatiously.

“Naughty,” I replied laughingly. “Very naughty. They discovered my plot for global conquest.”

“Well, the conquest part I like.” Brett’s retort was full of innuendo. I gave him a disapproving look, secretly loving every minute. “What?” he proclaimed loudly with his sexy little smirk. Then came the wink.

Yes!
My day was never complete without one of Brett’s disarmingly enticing winks. “What kind of motorcycle is that?” I asked, quickly changing the subject.

“That, sweetheart, is a 1953 Indian Chief. Only six hundred were made. It’s my guilty pleasure.”

I could see how passionate he was about his bike. I quietly wished he were as passionate about me. “Is it fast?” I asked, trying to draw out the conversation so I could sit with him longer.

“Fast? Honey, you have no idea. It’s a beast. The most powerful Indian ever made. It has an eighty-cubic-inch V-twin that will make you cry like a baby,” he said proudly.

“I didn’t know,” I said, stunned and embarrassed by my ignorance.

“After all this time we’ve spent together, Lizzie, there is still so much I have to teach you. I’ll take you for a ride sometime, if you promise not to fall off. You know you’d have to hold onto me pretty tight. I just don’t know if you could handle that.” Brett shook his head, a mischievous glint in his eye.

I had to change the subject again, and quickly. I didn’t know how to respond. I longed to hold Brett, even if it was only on the back of his motorcycle. But I was in uncharted waters. I didn’t know how to proceed. He’d always done all the flirting, not me. Still, I could never be sure if he was serious or not. I was so far out of my element. I didn’t want him to think I was so unaffected by the outside world that I knew nothing. I was sure that would only lead to him having to tell me again how much he had to teach me.

“Kelly said you had to check on some things. Is everything okay?” I blurted, not wanting him to notice the blush that I was sure engulfed my face.

“Oh, yeah. Right.” He became serious. “What has Kelly told you about our family?”

“Nothing, really. Just that your parents died in an auto accident. You were old enough to be accepted at your prep school. There weren’t any girls’ schools around close enough, so she came here.”

“Oh, okay.” Brett’s shoulders sagged in relief as he let out an exhausted sigh.

“Is there more?” I asked with cautious concern.

“Yeah, you could say that,” Brett admitted, running his hands through his perfect brunette hair.

I never had seen him so deep in thought before. He was always so cool and carefree. Except for that one time. I thought back to this reaction in the infirmary a few days ago. He’d been so angry, so worried. No, that wasn’t it. He was scared. That was what I sensed, fear. When he said he didn’t know “he’d be so relentless.”