by Lucy Smoke
A large, dark mahogany staircase was encased in lily-white carpeting down the middle. It sat several paces in front of the entryway. To the right was an open doorway leading to a formal looking dining room complete with a twelve-person table. The table was made of wood similar to the staircase, though it had a delicate looking white lace tablecloth covering all but the bottom half of the legs.
"Mom!" Marv called into the large house.
I whipped around on my heels, hell bent on smacking the shit out of him for announcing our presence so callously. Just as I was about to knock some ever-loving sense into him, I heard the tell-tale sign of running feet.
"Marvie!" A flurry of striking blonde hair and pale, ice white skin came barreling down the staircase at breakneck speed. The young girl, obviously excited to see Marv, stopped several steps up and launched herself off of the staircase. My eyes went round in shock as Marv choked and dove for her, nearly missing her flying body.
"Geez, Quinn, you nearly gave me a heart attack!" Marv set the girl down on her feet. She grinned up at him, bouncing around as though she had springs sewn into her shoes.
"I'm so glad you're here," she said quickly. "You can talk to Mom for me."
"Talk to her about what?" Marv asked.
Quinn drew in a deep breath before stepping away and folding her arms across her chest. My lips quirked. She looked so much like her brother when she did that. "She wants to send me to etiquette camp."
"Oh," Marv said, standing up and straightening his tie, even though it hadn't even budged during the entire ordeal. I rolled my eyes. "Well, what would I have to say about that?" Marv asked. "Boys don't go to etiquette classes."
Quinn huffed and stomped her foot. "I'm going to all of her friend's tea parties! I shouldn't have to go away for half the summer for etiquette camp!"
"Will it get you out of the junior debutante ball?" Marv asked.
Quinn puffed out her cheeks and blew a raspberry. "That's just the thing!" she exclaimed. "Mom says I need to go to the camp to prepare for that thing! I don't even want to go!"
"Marvin? Are you here?" A warm voice sounded from somewhere further in the house, just beyond the staircase on the first floor. Quinn's eyes widened and she grabbed ahold of her brother's sleeve.
"Just do what you can," Quinn said quickly. Her eyes skidded over me just as she turned to flee her mother's presence. She blinked once as if surprised before dashing away, glancing back over her shoulder at me curiously. It wasn't until she was out of sight that I realized I should have introduced myself – or at least waved.
I sucked in a breath and stepped closer to Marv, just behind his shoulder, as a woman dressed in an elegant, white pantsuit with hair pulled back into a sophisticated chignon stepped around a doorway several paces beyond the staircase. She strode into the room, her heels clicking on the hardwood floor.
"Did I hear your sister in here?" she asked as she approached.
Marv grinned down at his mother who, even in heels, was just an inch or two shorter than him. "I think your hearing might be going, old woman," he teased.
Her eyes narrowed, and she batted at his arm playfully. "Lord, don't tell me that now or it’s all I will think about for the rest of the day."
He laughed and though I took a step back, wondering if I could escape out to the car before either of them noticed, Marv moved and slipped an arm behind my back, pressing me forward. "Mom, I'd like you to meet my friend, Harlow Hampton."
Marv's mom blinked at me, similar to the way her daughter had, before holding out her hand for me to shake. Slowly I stepped forward and accepted it in greeting. "Friend?" she repeated, curious.
"Yes, Mom, a friend," Marv said. "I do have those, you know."
"Oh, of course you do," she said, frowning at him. "I've met Knixon and Bellamy and your friend Texas, but never..." she trailed off, glancing back to me and realizing she still had my hand in her firm grip. She immediately released it. "Well, it's lovely to meet you, Harlow. My name's Caitlyn Carter."
"It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Carter," I replied.
She smiled brightly, regaining herself. "Oh, dear, do call me Caitlyn. Only my co-workers and employees call me Mrs. Carter. Shall we adjourn to the back patio for afternoon tea? You're just in time." Without giving either of us a chance to respond, she turned and hurried back the way she had come.
I stared after her, stunned for a moment before flicking a glare at Marv.
"I hate you," I hissed.
I wouldn't forget this. I knew exactly what I would do to pay Marv back for this. I was going to soak all his suits in a big, fat vat of jello when we got home. Texas would help. One thing I'd learned was that Texas was the most playful of the bunch. Knix would laugh and tell us to clean up our mess. Bellamy would sometimes partake in the mayhem if it necessitated his artistic skills – like when Texas had him paint Marv's BMW in rain activated paint. It still looked a shiny, dark gray, but as soon as it rained, Marv's perfect BMW would be the sweetest bubblegum pink. I couldn't wait to see his reaction to that.
Chuckling, Marv guided me out to the back patio with his arm still around my waist. Thankfully it wasn't tiled or covered in decorative cobblestones. I strode across the plain rock surface and met his mom at a diamond shaped patio table shaded by a large, white umbrella. She beamed at the two of us for a moment before taking her seat and proceeded to pull a napkin into her lap as a young man with cherry red hair paused by her side, holding a silver tray with champagne flutes. I stared in confusion as Marv put a hand on my lower back and pulled out my seat for me. I looked back at him, but sat properly, and he took the seat next to me.
Mrs. Carter took one of the flutes and the young server moved around to offer one to Marv who shook his head politely to decline. When he approached me, I did the same. Even if I was twenty-one, I'd be terrified of drinking in front of Marv's mom.
"So, dear, tell me, when did you meet my Marvin?" she asked, turning to cross one of her legs over the other. Her pants leg slid up just a few inches revealing her stunning black heels with red undersides.
"I...um...at work," I said lamely.
"Oh, you work for Iris, too, then?"
"I..." I glanced at Marv. I had been inducted into Iris, but hadn't gone through what they considered...orientation. So, while I was technically a probationary member of the guys’ team, I wasn't completely sure where I stood with Iris yet.
"She's a new recruit," Marv answered for me. I released a breath and he slid a hand under the table to squeeze one of mine in reassurance before drawing back. Mrs. Carter watched us as she sipped her champagne. I wanted to ask about tea but didn’t want to be rude, so I kept my mouth shut.
"Hmmm," Mrs. Carter hummed as she sipped her champagne. "And do you work at Iris full time, Harlow?"
"I'm...um...for now, yes. I am," I replied unsteadily.
Marv's mom nodded her head and was diverted as the same server from before returned with a trolley of small sandwiches and mini teacups. At least the promised tea hadn't been an excuse to get me out here. I shot Marv another annoyed look, swearing retribution.
He either didn't see it or completely ignored it because as the red-haired server stopped by the table, Marv leaned over and snatched a finger sandwich from one of the trays. Mrs. Carter reached forward and slapped his hand away, though she didn't manage to retrieve the sandwich before Marv popped it into his mouth with a grin.
"Manners, Marvin," she said with narrowed eyes.
His response was to finish the sandwich in his mouth while the trays were dispersed to the table along with the mini teacups. Mrs. Carter waited until they were all set out and the red-haired boy had disappeared back inside. I stared at the food and tea, stomach rumbling with hunger, but terrified of doing the wrong thing. Mrs. Carter reached for a small plate and a sandwich and placed it in front of herself. I mimicked her actions as Marv simply went in for the kill, piling his plate and pouring tea for both himself and me.
"Mom," he whined, "why do you alway
s insist on using child sized tableware?"
Mrs. Carter chuckled as she nibbled on the edge of her sandwich. I couldn't stop myself. I inhaled two of mine and then reached for a third. Mrs. Carter's gaze tracked me, and with the two sandwiches already in my stomach I consciously slowed down. I added another sandwich to my now empty plate and set it in front of me without touching it.
"So, Harlow," Mrs. Carter said. "Are you from the Charleston area?"
"Yes," I replied. "My mom's from here. I've lived here my entire life."
"Oh?" She smiled. "What's your mother's name, dear, perhaps I've met her?"
I froze. "I...um...no, you probably haven't," I said quickly. "She's been very ill for most of her life." I winced at the white lie. This was Marv's mom and I wanted to make a good impression. I didn't want to lie to her, but as I glanced over my shoulder at the manor and then at the elegant garden and tea set we were using, I didn't see how I could tell her that my mom was a woman from poverty, living off of my new income – or what income I supposed I would be making soon – and disability.
"Oh my, is it serious?" I couldn't tell if Mrs. Carter had perfected the act of caring when she didn't or if she was truly concerned. Her curiosity was mixed with worry that looked neither too obvious nor overstated.
"Cancer," I replied.
"How dreadful," she said with a delicate hand going to her heart. "My condolences."
I stiffened, but nodded my head anyway, accepting them. I always hated when people said that. It felt like they were already condemning my mom.
"So," Marv interrupted the awkward silence by clearing his throat, "I hear that you're trying to send Quinn to etiquette camp."
Mrs. Carter turned toward her son and sipped the rest of her champagne. "Yes," she said after a beat. "I was considering it, but now I'm not sure."
"Finally realized Quinn would rather be out riding horses or following squirrels into woods?" He grinned at her.
Mrs. Carter didn't reply to the teasing. Instead, she furrowed her brow and reached for a tea cup. "I understand that your sister is a bit of a free spirit, but that's not why I've been considering pulling her from the camp."
"Oh?" Marv leaned forward as I stared between the two of them, the confused concern on her features evident.
"There have been certain rumors about the coordinator, Julia Enders. They haven't been flattering. I thought it best to pull Quinn out and set her up with something here, in Charleston."
"What kind of rumors?" I found myself asking.
Mrs. Carter flicked her gaze to me and for a moment, I worried that I had overstepped my boundaries, but she simply smiled and returned her teacup to the table.
"Well, it's just that a few girls that have attended Ms. Enders’ etiquette camp have turned out rather...well..." Mrs. Carter's frown deepened and she sighed. "It just seems that good, decent, girls go to the camp and come back with some sort of issue."
"What kind of issues?" Marv asked. A similar furrow between his brows started to form.
Mrs. Carter shook her head. "It's never right away, of course," she said. "But Carly – Robert's daughter, you know her, Marv – she went last summer and after a few months the girl was disappearing at all hours of the night. She and a few other girls were caught doing all manner of things young girls shouldn't. Underage drinking. Breaking curfew. I've even heard that a few of the older ones were..." Mrs. Carter paused, casting a glance in my direction.
"It's okay, Mom," Marv assured her. "Harlow won't repeat anything she hears today. She's with Iris," he reminded her, as if that would give her significant reassurance.
She nodded as though it did and proceeded, "A few of them were arrested," she confessed. "Drug possession and even some rumors of prostitution."
"Are you sure this has anything to do with Ms. Enders’ etiquette camp?" Marv asked, sitting back.
"All I know it that all of the girls that this has happened to have gone to the same camp before their problems began. Lovely girls going bad, it's preposterous!"
"Maybe they're just being teenagers," Marv said, though he, himself, didn't seem to be convinced of that.
"We can always go talk to them," I offered lamely.
Mrs. Carter looked at me, eyes analyzing, and nodded. "I think it would be a good idea, but for now, I think I'll enroll Quinn in dancing lessons or something else that's closer."
Marv nodded also, accepting her decision. We spent the rest of the tea time making small talk. Mrs. Carter and Marv discussed old family friends and she asked me questions that I didn't mind answering. We discussed how I had moved out of the house I had shared with my mom several weeks earlier, and had been living with the guys, helping them move into the house Knix had built. It was certainly bigger, and he had even added extra bedroom space off of the living room. I told her about my cat that lived with me at the guys’ house. Perhaps she wasn't as fascinated as she appeared to be and was merely being polite, but when she inquired about Cleo's breed, I quickly whipped out my phone and presented pictures to which she smiled and cooed at.
We stayed until the sky darkened for the first time in several days and rain threatened overhead.
As Marv and I reentered the house and moved towards the front door, Mrs. Carter followed, her heels clicking on the floor. At the front door, she turned Marv around and planted a sweet kiss on his cheek, as I had seen her do the one time before when I caught a glimpse of her. Marv groaned and attempted to pull away, but she only smiled and patted his cheek before wishing both of us well on our way.
Marv opened the front door and dashed out first, unlocking the car. He held my passenger door open for me and I quickly got in. Just as the door closed behind me, rain began to pour. I watched as he hurried around the front of his car, stopping as a confused expression overtook his features. He leaned over the hood of his car and wiped at something. It took me a moment to realize what he was doing, but once I did, his confused face became awash in horror and I began to laugh.
His eyes bulged as he stared, horror struck, at the dark gray paint of his beloved BMW melting away to a bright bubblegum pink. I laughed so hard that I began to wheeze. His eyes snapped to mine over the hood and he narrowed his gaze. Stomping to the driver's side door, Marv yanked it open, not bothering to care that his suit was getting wet or that he was getting water inside the car.
"You. Are. So. Dead," he warned.
I laughed even harder.
The second the now bubblegum pink BMW came to a stop in front of the house, I was unbuckled and out of the car. A steaming mad Marv was close behind me. I burst into the house through the garage, screaming for Texas and Bellamy. The rain had stopped halfway back to the house, but the BMW was already wet, the bright, sickly pink just a few shades lighter than the horrified flush that had stolen across Marv's cheeks.
I laughed wildly as Marv growled my way.
"Oh shit!" Texas said from the stairwell.
Bellamy rounded the corner from the kitchen and froze. In that moment, he knew. His eyes flashed to me and Texas. Texas waved the keys to the SUV at me and we took off. Behind us, I heard Marv growling at Bellamy. "Outside," he snapped, "my car. Now."
Texas looked over his shoulder at me and laughed. "We're in so much trouble." He said it so gleefully, I knew it was a state of being he enjoyed very much.
I rolled down the window as we sped out of the driveway, glancing back as Marv dragged Bellamy out into the garage. I could hear him yelling as we made our getaway. "Maybe we should go back," I said as Texas turned out of the driveway. "It wasn't fair to leave that all on Bellamy."
Texas laughed. "He'll get us back, don't you worry. Besides, that jackass deserves it. Did I ever tell you the time he left me in the middle of the woods on a camping trip?"
I shook my head. "He came back for you, didn't he?" I pointed out.
He shook his head, his cheeks flushing, but continued anyway. "That jerk left me naked."
My eyes widened at the mental image and when he turned to look a
t me, I quickly glanced away, my own cheeks burning. I chuckled, trying to alleviate the tension. "Okay, so this is your payback."
"You're damn right, it is," he snapped, relaxing back in his seat and slowing as we came to a stop sign. His phone buzzed in his back pocket, and kept buzzing until he groaned and reached back for it.
I slapped his hand as he swiped at the screen. "No phones while you're driving," I reminded him.
He laughed and shook his head. "It's probably Bell anyway."
I looked down at the screen and sure enough, there were several text messages from someone named Jackass. I laughed and kept laughing as I set the phone in the console, and Texas drove on. I didn't know where we were going but it felt so good to just be out in the summertime with a friend. The wind whipped through the window and my hair rose and fluttered across my shoulders.
"Where are we going?" I asked.
Texas shrugged. After several minutes of silence, however, and aimless driving, he peeked over at me. "Wanna go visit mama bear?" Texas suggested.
I smiled brightly. "Can we pick up flowers?"
Texas' eyes softened, and he directed the SUV towards the grocery store. "Sure, Princess. Flowers it is."
Chapter 2
Summerville Cancer Care Center – though not the number one cancer care center in the country, or even the state – was one of the best in the local area. I had tried to convince my mom that a center up north might be better, but she had refused to be moved. The argument had been so normal, but I could tell that it wore on her because every time she snapped, I would flinch. I never meant to, but it reminded her of how she had acted before, when her medications had been mixed up. She blamed herself and I blamed me. Like mother, like daughter, I supposed.
In the end, this had been a decent compromise. I wanted to move her to a cancer center and she hadn't seen the need to move from the hospital at all. At least at the center, she was looked after 24/7. She got to meet people who had some of the same problems, a support group of sorts, and I could visit because it was less than a thirty-minute drive.