Talisman (28 page)

Interesting… Very
interesting
, I acknowledged.

I rose from the ground to the sight of
Ms. Sutherland and Mr. Mayfield coming outside.  I hurried over to my car and hopped in for a speedy getaway.  I didn’t want to talk to or even look at Mr. Mayfield, and I certainly didn’t want to start interrogating Ms. Sutherland again.  Not after she’d given me such a generous gift and probably saved my life as well.

Howeve
r, an evening in the ER would’ve gotten me out of going to the dance with Mike
, I mused as I drove off.

As I approached downtown Welch, my mind
kept mulling over the markings on the snake’s neck, as well as its “questionable” demise.  I’d been taught to grab a hoe and chop off its head.  I’d never heard of a snake being “strangled to death”, let alone squeezing it hard enough to leave an impression.  Besides, I still found it extremely odd that the snake’s body hadn’t twitched at all.  It was instantly limp and lifeless.  Unfortunately, something in my subconscious had started to manifest — the strange coincidence of
Mr. Estell
and how the Hell a snake
that size
was hanging from a daggone tree. 
Funny
, I thought,
that a freakishly large rattler and a possible snake-handler were both in the same place around the same time today… Really funny
.  And I didn’t mean the “Ha-Ha” kind either.

I looked down at the steering wheel and gazed at the little golden topaz, feeling ashamed.  My suspicions were mounting against Ms. Sutherland —
again
.  Who I really needed to focus on was Charlotte, but I didn’t know when I should commence with my interrogation. 
Before the dance?  After the Dance?  At my birthday dinner at Twin Falls tomorrow?
  No time seemed appropriate, but I knew the subject would come up…
eventually
.

Downtown Welch
was hopping for a late Saturday afternoon.  I spotted several of my classmates walking in and out of Caroline’s Flower Shoppe while I waited at our town’s only official stoplight.  They were all carrying clear plastic containers that held either corsages or boutonnières. 
I hope Chloe remembered to pick one up for Mike.  That wasn’t a part of the deal!

My stomach began to rumble, forcing me to acknowledge
that all I’d thrown into it today was one blueberry pancake and a few cups of apple cider.  I pulled into Hardee’s, one of our few fast food restaurants (aside from a Pizza Hut and a Subway), to grab a hot ham ’n cheese sandwich, curly fries, and a Diet Coke.  I still had plenty of time, so I just pulled over and ate it in the parking lot.  I was finished and back on Highway 52 within thirty minutes.  I looked at the dash. 
Almost 4 o’clock.  Why can’t tonight be “over” already?

I came to the fork on Highway 52.  No one was behind me, so I slowed to stop.  I could see Daddy’s truck sitting all by itself in the parking lot.  I felt bad
because he had to work when everyone else in town was enjoying their Saturday Night.  But most of all, I hated that he wasn’t going to “see me off” to the dance.  I sighed and turned left up the mountain.  It sounded crazy.  After all, I had an ugly dress and an ass of a date, but a small part of me wanted to share that moment with him.

Well, It looks like we’ll both be miserable tonight
, I thought somberly as I continued up the mountainside.

I sped up as I approached the ridge.  I drove
swift and focused, hugging each curve.  I didn’t want to linger along that stretch of road, and the thought of having any car trouble made me sick to my stomach.

Within a minute, I spotted our
weathered red mailbox up ahead and turned onto our gravel-covered drive.  I poked out of the car and all the way up the steps.  I still wasn’t in any hurry to get this evening started.  The front door flew open as soon as I landed on the porch.

“
WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!?
  I’ve tried calling you all afternoon on your cell!” Chloe yelled, red-faced and furious.

“I forgot to charge it last night.  It’s not even 4 o’clock yet,
Chloe.  Don’t have a conniption.  It doesn’t take me nearly as long as it takes you to get ready. 
Oh
, and by the way…
Thanks for the dress!”
I sneered as I pushed past her.

“Mike will be here
around 7 o’clock…to see
me
, of course.  He feels awful about the whole situation,” Chloe barked as she trotted up the stairs in a huff.

I
seriously doubted that. 
He’ll have plenty of time to sneak around with Kara
.

“FINE!”
I yelled up to her.  “I’ll be ready whenever he wants to leave.”  I grabbed the cordless phone from off the table by the front door.  Katie had probably tried calling as well.  Charlotte heard the commotion and swayed into the foyer, clutching her wine glass.

“It’s about time you showed up!
  Chloe couldn’t get a hold of you earlier.  I figured you were going to break the promise you’d made.”  She took a gulp of her wine and started to stroll into the living room.

A wave of anger shot through me.  “You should know all about
breaking promises
,” I mumbled under my breath as I made a break for the stairs.  She grabbed my arm and jerked me back.

“What did you say?”
Charlotte grumbled.

This was a no-win situation.  Keep my mouth shut and let her get away with it, or let
the shit hit the fan.  I couldn’t be the one to expose her indiscretions.  Daddy would be mortified. 
Then again
…
maybe he knows?  The town isn’t that big
.

“Nothing,
Mother
,” I replied.  “I didn’t
say
a thing.”

“
I DIDN’T
THINK SO!”
Charlotte shouted as she flung her glass around, spilling wine all over the Oriental rug.  She stammered into the living room growling, “Clean that up!” Not only was my mother at her bitchiest tonight, she was well on her way to being
three sheets to the freakin’ wind
.

I clipped the cordless phone to my hip and headed off to the kitchen.  I returned to the foyer with a damp rag and
dabbed the spot of wine from off the rug. 
Thankfully, it wasn’t red
.

With the mess now blotted clean
, I headed for the stairs.  On the way up, my emotions got the best of me.  Out of the blue, I called out to Charlotte in my sweetest and most sarcastic southern accent.

“Oh, by the way…
Coach Hayes wanted me to thank you for all of your
help
with the football boosters.  He said you were a
‘real treat’!”
  My mother came stumbling back into the foyer, but I kept on my present course.

I continued up the steps and added,
“And Mr. Anderson sent you a basket full of veggies yesterday to remind you of what
you’ve been missin’
, too.”  Chloe heard me talking and stepped out of her bedroom, just as I’d reached the second floor landing.

I spun around on my heel. 
“And then just today, Mr. Mayfield wanted me to see if there were any other pipes around here that needed
a good snakin’?
”  I propped my hands on the banister and threw Charlotte a blazing stare. 

“That’s so sweet of them,” my naïve little sister declared.  “Everybody
loves
Mom,” Chloe announced and then pranced back into her room.

My eyes never left Charlotte.  She said nothing. 
My mother simply glared at me as she took another sip of wine and then staggered back into the living room.

I shoved open my lavender bedroom door and thought,
See, now this would be the perfect time to be able to read someone’s mind!

I slammed my door and fell against it.  My back bumped all of its panels as I
slid down to the floor.  All I could think was,
College days can’t get here soon enough
, as I punched in Katie’s number.  She answered on the third ring.

“Shi, where ha
ve you been?  I’ve called and texted you all day!”

I sighed.  “I forgot to charge my cell.”

“Do you need me to drive the getaway car?” Katie giggled.

“
No
.  I’m still going…but why didn’t you get a date, so we could double?”  I’d been so wrapped up in all of my drama over the past few days, it really hadn’t hit me that Katie wouldn’t be there.

Katie h
esitated.  “As a matter of fact…Jason Woolfolk asked me two weeks ago, but I told him, ‘No’.  I figured you wouldn’t be going, and I didn’t want you to be
alone
.  I thought we’d spend Saturday night like we always do, watching movies until dawn at my house.”  Katie let out a subtle sigh.  “I found out yesterday that he’d already asked Cynthia Baldwin,” she added.

I sprang to my feet after hearing I’d absentmindedly abandoned my best friend. 
Ugh!
  I felt horrible!

“I’m
so
sorry, Katie.  Now
you’re
going to be
‘alone’
.”

“
Don’t be
.  He’s cute and all, but he kisses like a Hoover vacuum…I’ll let Cynthia deal with that. 
Yuck!”
Katie gagged.  “
But
…you can make it up to me by letting me come over and help you get ready,” she pleaded.  “It’ll be fun!”

“Don’t you mean
hilarious?
” I rebutted with a grunt.

“Well, that
too
,” Katie laughed.

“I don’t think so.  I’m in such
a pissy mood.  I don’t even want to fix myself up for it, and there aren’t enough accessories in the world that’ll improve that ugly, old rag of a dress.”  I walked over to my closet and listlessly pulled open the door.  I couldn’t even bare the thought of looking at it any longer than I had to, let alone wearing it.

Katie begged some more.
“
Please
, Shi?  Are you sure your bestest, bosom friend in the whole wide world —
who’s going to be all alone tonight
— can’t come over?”

I was amused by her attempt to
play on my feelings.  My “bosom friend” knew just what tactic worked the best on me —
guilt
.

While I listened to her desperate pleas, I laid my cell phone on the dresser and hunted around for its charger.  That’s when I noticed something hanging on the back of the closet door.  I
turned around curiously.  Dangling on the chrome hook was a long, ice blue garment bag stamped with the word, “Lavish”, in a bronze metallic script. 
Lavish
was a fancy boutique in Bluefield that carried extremely chic women’s attire.  There was a note attached to the hanger.  I opened it up and read:

Happy Birthday, Shiloh

I love you too much

to have you go outta the house in

that ‘ole yellow nightmare!

Try to have a good time.

I love you,  Daddy

P.S.-  If it’s not too much trouble,

have Mike drop you by

the mine after the dance.

I’d like to see you all gussied up!

Nervously, I unzipped the delicate bag.  The lower the zipper fell, the more I trembled.  I slipped
out the garment and held it up in front of me.  There, hanging before my eyes, was the most stunning little black dress I’d ever seen.  It had a surplice bodice that cinched in at the waist and flowed down into several shimmery, cascading layers.  It was short, but not slutty short.  The bodice was held by two black beaded straps, which gradually tapered around to the back.  As I looked down in the bottom of the garment bag, a white shoebox caught my eye.  I pulled it out and whipped off its top.  Resting inverted, under several layers of bronze metallic tissue, was a
killer
pair of black stilettos — the most gorgeous ones I’d ever seen!  They were an iridescent black satin and embellished with delicate beads that resembled the ones fashioned to the straps on the dress.  To top it off, they fastened at the ankle with two taffeta ribbons that had been shaped into a crisp black bow.  I gasped at the divine ensemble that —
of all people
— my father had bought me.

“
Shi?
  Are you still there?  What’s going on?” Katie asked repeatedly after hearing my gasp.

Elated, I twirled around as I pr
essed the dress up against me.

“Katie, bring every ounce of makeup you can fit in your bag and get over here —
Like, yesterday!
” I ordered.

“
Really?
” she questioned.