Bittersweet Sixteen (A Dodie Jenks Novel)

by Lexi Witcher

I washed my hands and hurried to the dining room. The pizza smelled yummy and I was glad Grandma had ordered two large. That meant leftovers for later.

  Monday morning came with a whole new set of observations. Leopold claimed that with the new developments he needed to rethink a few conclusions he’d come to so nothing was left to chance. After all, my life did depend upon it.

  So, I silently groaned when he sat a covered dish before me at breakfast, bracing myself for more bugs and crawly creatures. However, there was a lovely veggie omelet with all my favorites. The surprise came when I went to butter my toast and put some freezer jam on it. When I removed the lid to the jar it wasn’t Grandma’s jam at all, but a slimy looking gunk, with beady little eyes staring back at me. I screamed and dropped the jar which hit the side of the plate and shattered all over my omelet. It bubbled and consumed the uneaten portion within seconds. Then burped.

  “What the—”

  “Dodie!” Grandma admonished. “Leopold knows what he’s doing.”

  “But does he always have to do it to my breakfast?”

  Within seconds he came out of the kitchen, removed the ruined plate and sat a fresh one before me.

  I pushed away from the table and stood. “Sorry, but I lost my appetite. Once again.”

  “You need to eat this one. All of it.”

  I shook my head and pointed to the mess on the plate that he held. “You honestly think I can put a bit of it in my mouth after that?”

  “You need to. I cannot continue today’s observation if you do not. Otherwise we’ll have to go through this all again tomorrow.”

  “I don’t understand. Why do all of these observations take place during breakfast?”

  “Because that is when the body is renewed. The impurities of the day before have been washed away with sleep. It’s the best time to get an accurate reading.”

  “Eat up, Dodie, before it gets cold.” Grandma sat her coffee cup down and smiled.

  I reluctantly did, but it took a few tries before I was able to pick up my fork and a few more tries before I was able to cut into the omelet and get a bite into my mouth. I closed my eyes, savoring the cinnamon taste as I chewed, and willed myself not to think about what had happened and it worked. I finished every morsel on my plate and drank my orange juice.

  “Excellent,” Leopold praised when he returned from the kitchen with a plate containing several big cinnamon rolls. He placed one on my plate and one on Grandma’s. “I made these fresh this morning. I hope you enjoy them.”

  “Oh my g—” I try to say with my mouth full of the most amazing roll I think I’d ever eaten. It was heavenly. And the cinnamon and sugar mixed with butter, not to mention the drizzled cream cheese and powder sugar icing.

  “These are delicious, Leopold. I’m going to miss your cooking. In fact, I’m going to miss you and Dodie being here when this is all over.” Grandma’s eyes filled with unshed tears. She reached for her napkin and blotted her eyes. “I don’t think I can be happy living here alone.”

  “Oh Grandma,” I cried, leaving my seat and going to hug her. “I don’t want to leave either. I love mom and dad, and Brody, but I feel like I’ve really found myself since I came here.”

  We continued to boo hoo until no more tears would come, then we dried our faces on our cloth napkins and we laughed because Leopold was no longer in the room with us. In fact, he’d cleared the table and had replaced the centerpiece.

  Grandma and I walked arm in arm to the living room and sat down on the loveseat. “I’m so glad we’ve had this time together. It doesn’t make up for the past twelve years that I wasn’t allowed to see you, but it has given us a good footing on building a relationship for the years ahead. Don’t you agree?”

  I nodded.

  “You know. I think we should cancel classes today. I promised you that I’d teach you how to drive and we haven’t done that yet. The weather is perfect and we can drive down to the church. The parking lot will be empty today and it is big enough that you can get a hang of driving the car before we attempt to pull out on the road. What do you say?”

  I was all for a holiday, but the doorbell rang, meaning Ms. Pritz had arrived.

  Grandma frowned. “Run upstairs and get your books while I have a little chat with your tutor.”

  When I returned, Ms. Pritz ran through my lessons for the day within an hour. I had passages of history and literature to read for the next day, but no math homework.

  “Have fun,” Ms. Pritz called, putting on her coat and leaving.

  “Wow, how’d you get her to agree so easily?” I asked, stacking my books up.

  “Why shouldn’t she agree to getting paid for a full day of tutoring when she only had to do an hours’ worth?”

  Leopold came out of the kitchen. “Ready for your chemistry lesson for the day?”

  “Sure.”

  “Good. Your assignment is to answer these questions after you have your driving lesson. Pay close attention to how everything has a chain reaction and you should be able to complete the assignment without a problem. I’ll go change into something more appropriate for an outing.”

  “You’re going too?” I asked.

  “Of course. I’m an excellent driver if Cherie should need my assistance, otherwise I’m there mainly to observe and protect. You never know who might be watching.”

  I could have so done without him bringing up me being watched. But I guess it was better for me to keep my guard up than to go into town relaxed.

  We all piled into Grandma’s car and headed to the church parking lot. She had me sit behind the wheel first to get a feel for it. I adjusted the seat so that I could reach the gas and brake pedals easily. And once I was comfortable I pulled the gear shift out of park and let the car begin to roll forward, slowly pressing my foot on the gas pedal to pick up a little speed.

  “You’re doing fine, Dodie,” Granma said. “Now turn and head back down the parking lot and try to park between the lines of the last spot.”

  We did this a few more times since I did not actually pull into the spot perfect the first few times. So I drove around the parking lot again and again, practicing parking before she felt I was comfortable enough to head out onto the road. But before we did, Leopold, who’d remained silent in the back seat this whole time, leaned over the seat and gave me a pointer.

  “See the hood ornament?”

  “Yeah.”

  “You can use it as a guide until you get the hang of staying between the lines. Just make sure it looks like it is in line with the edge of the road.”

  “But won’t I run into the ditch if I do that?” I asked.

  “No. It is only an illusion. It appears like you are going toward the ditch, but you are actually in the center of the road.”

  “Okay.”

  I looked both ways before I turned onto Main Street and we drove toward the center of town. Since there wasn’t a ditch I used the sidewalk as the edge of the road. It worked. I made it two whole blocks before we came to a red light and I slowed down.

  “I think you’ve got the hang of it,” Grandma said. “Do you think you want to try parallel parking along the street today?”

  “No. I don’t think I’m ready for that yet. I still need to park between two cars first.”

  “Okay. Let’s go to the Soda Fountain and park in the lot. It’s the middle of their lunch rush so I know the lot will have plenty of cars for you to maneuver around.”

  I swallowed, nodding as the light turned green. I wasn’t sure I was ready for this either, but I had to try. I pressed my foot on the gas a little too hard and we sped forward.

  “Watch it, you don’t want to get a speeding ticket before you even get your license,” Grandma warned.

  “Before?” Leopold quipped. “She does at least have a learner’s permit?”

  “Yes.” I informed him without taking my eyes off the road. The Soda Fountain was half a block up ahead and I didn’t want to pass up the entrance to the parking lot. I signa
led, slowed and turned into the lot. A spot was vacant on the front row between two cars and it was an easy pull straight forward. I applied the break and put the car in park, turning off the engine.

  “We made it.”

  I frowned. Grandma didn’t have to sound so relieved. I was the one who was sweating profusely behind the steering wheel. I just hoped I didn’t reek with body odor.

  “I need to go to the ladies room.” I gave Grandma the keys and hurried on ahead of them. Luckily no one was using the facility so I had it to myself to check to see if I had perspired to the point I needed to go straight home. Thankfully my deodorant had kicked in and I was fine.

  When I came back out I ran into Anson which surprised me because it’s the middle of the day. He should be in school.

  “Hello, Dodie.”

  “Anson, why aren’t you in school?” I asked, getting right to the point.

  “I had an eye appointment so mom and I stopped by here for lunch before I go back.”

  “Oh. Well I need to go find Grandma and Leopold.”

  Anson pressed his lips together into a thin line. “So he’s here with you?”

  “Sure. I had my first driving lesson today. He came along for moral support.” Okay, maybe that was stretching it a little. He’s stayed quiet in the back seat for the most part and I didn’t even know he was there.

  “Well, I guess I should be going. I do need to get back to school.”

  “Okay.” I tried to sound cheerful, but I was glad he was going. “See you around.”

  “Yeah,” Anson said, pivoting on his heels in a circular motion and leaving me standing in the small hallway to the restrooms.

  I hurried through the rows of shelves to the turnstile that separated the novelty store with the restaurant. Grandma and Leopold were seated at a table for four.

  “Are you okay, Dodie? You look pale,” Grandma said when I took a seat.

  “I ran into Anson. He said he was here having lunch with his mom. Did you see her?”

  “No I didn’t, but I could have missed her.”

  “What did he have to say?” Leopold asked.

  “Not much, though it seemed to upset him that you were here with us.”

  “I wouldn’t worry over it.” Grandma continued looking at her menu. “After lunch we need to go by the store and get supplies for Thursday. Your parents are coming out for Thanksgiving dinner. You will eat with us, won’t you Leopold?”

  “I’d love to share in the holiday with your family. It’ll give me a chance to meet Dodie’s father.”

  The thought of that had me leaping for joy.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Thursday morning I was up early helping Leopold and Grandma in the kitchen prepare for Thanksgiving dinner. Mom, Dad, and Brody would be arriving in a few hours and we wanted to have as much of the meal cooked as we could before they got here.

  I took care of setting the table, putting on Grandma’s antique lace tablecloth and then the imported satin table runner and matching placemats. She brought out her good china that reminded me of a place setting I’d seen in a Town & Country magazine I’d flipped through at the dentist office. Her crystal was Waterford, and her silverware looked like real silver. When I finished, the table looked as if she was having the president and first lady to dinner, not my family.

  When I returned to the kitchen, Leopold had brought up two bottles of wine from the cellar that Grandma requested and had them chilling in silver ice buckets. Grandma was pulling the turkey out of the oven to baste it again before sliding it back in to allow it to finish baking.

  “Dodie, run through my list again. Let’s make sure we haven’t forgotten anything.”

  I read it off, but stopped when I got to desserts where she had several question marks by. “Um…dessert?”

  “I’ve got that covered.” Leopold grinned. He walked over to the refrigerator and took out a tray of what looked to be individual cheesecakes, but they had caramelized sugar on top. “I’ve also got a fruitcake soaking in the cellar that I’ll bring up shortly.”

  “Fruitcake? Do people really eat those?”

  “Yes they do,” Grandma said. “I happen to enjoy a good fruitcake. But if you don’t like either of these, your mom is bringing a pumpkin pie.”

  “Which reminds me. I need to make whipped crème,” Leopold said.

  I felt out of place in the kitchen for a few seconds, but then the doorbell rang. I went to answer it, careful to check out the side window to make sure it was someone I wanted to enter the house before opening the door.

  “Dodie!” my mom called. “Look at you. I swear you have changed so much since I saw you last Saturday.”

  “It’s good to see you too, Mom,” I said, hugging her. I really didn’t think I’d changed at all.

  “Glynis, don’t hog her. Let me see my little girl too.” Dad held the pumpkin pie but put it on the circular marble top entry table before he gave me a hug. “I’ve regretted saying yes to this crazy arrangement every day since you left. The house seems so empty without you there.”

  I smiled, glad to know I was missed.

  “It’s almost over. I’ll be home again soon,” I assured him even though I was hoping to find a way to stay with Grandma, but we could deal with that later. “Where’s Brody?”

  “He’s driving down because Sasha is coming with him,” Mom explained, taking off her coat and hanging it in the closet.

  “She is?”

  “Is that a problem?”

  “No. I just didn’t know. That’s great. I like her.” I smiled.

  Mom turned toward the dining room. “The table looks absolutely breathtaking.”

  “Thanks. I thought so too. Grandma has beautiful tableware.” I carry the pie into the dining room and put it on the sideboard. “Oh no.”

  “What?” Mom asked.

  “I just realized we don’t have enough place settings if Sasha is coming.”

  Dad stood in the doorway still wearing his coat. “There’s six of us, right?”

  “No. With Sasha it makes seven.”

  He frowned. “The four of us, Grandma and Sasha, that makes six.”

  “You’re forgetting Leopold.”

  As if on cue he came out of the kitchen. He didn’t act surprised to see my parents had arrived. “Would anyone like coffee? Cherie put a pot on to brew. I’ll be happy to bring you one.”

  “Thank you, I’d love a cup,” Mom said, turning to look at Dad. “Robert?”

  “Yeah. That will be great.” He nodded and stepped forward offering his hand. “We haven’t met yet. I’m Dodie’s father, Robert.”

  “Nice to meet you, Mr. Jenks. I’m Leopold. I’ve been tutoring Dodie in chemistry as well as trying to break the curse.”

  I held my breath, watching as they exchanged handshakes. Dad looked uncomfortable, but he got through the polite gesture just fine even though there was an awkward pause at the end.

  “Well, I’ll be back with the coffee as soon as it’s ready.” Leopold did a quick about face and left.

  Dad blew out a breath and shoved his hands in his coat pockets. “I’m going to go get our overnight bag and take it upstairs.”

  “All right, dear.” When he was gone Mom smiled at me. “That went better than I expected. He’s been so worked up over meeting Leopold. I told him there was nothing to worry about because he was a perfectly nice young man, even if he is a warlock.”

  “Exactly.”

  “So what are we going to do about the table?”

  “Good question.”

  Grandma came through the door in a rush. “Hi. Don’t have long to chat, but I wanted to let you know I’m aware you have arrived.”

  “I’ll be in to help as soon as Dodie and I figure out how to solve the seating dilemma. We need one more place setting.”

  Grandma looked at the table for a moment. “Oh, that’s simple. I should have had Leopold put this in already to give us more room at the table anyway.” She went over to what looked to b
e a small closet that I’d never noticed before and pulled out a wooden leaf to extend the table. “I’ll send him out to help you.”

  Mom and I immediately went to work removing the dishes and the table cloth, placing it all carefully on the sideboard so we could pull the table apart and add the extension.

  Leopold appeared not a moment too soon, placed the piece and we pushed the table back together. He even helped us reset the table with two extra place settings.

  “But we only need one,” I protested.

  “Symmetry, Dodie. You need balance, plus no one wants to feel like the odd wheel. This way if an unexpected guest should arrive we are prepared for them.”

  “Nicely put, Leopold.” Mom patted him on the shoulder as she headed into the kitchen.

  The front door opened and voices filled the foyer. I heard my brother’s booming voice with my father’s.

  I grabbed Leopold’s hand and pulled him along with me. “Brody and Sasha are here.”

  “I don’t think your brother is exactly dying to see me again.”

  “Yeah, but I want to see Sasha’s reaction when she sees you.”

  He frowned and shook his head.

  “Dodie, look at you!” Sasha’s peppy squeal had me smiling. “Brody said you’d changed, but I didn’t expect this much. Wow, girl. You did a one eighty. What brought this on?”

  I shrugged and watched as her facial expression changed as she laid eyes on Leopold standing behind me.

  “I think I understand.” She winked at me and extended her hand. “Hi, I’m Sasha York.”

  “Leopold.”

  “Just Leopold?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Is that like a stage name or something? You know, like Cher…Pink?”

  “No.”

  “Give it a rest, Sasha.” Brody stepped forward, putting his arm around her waist. “I told you he’s weird.”

  “I don’t think so. I think Dodie’s one smart little cookie.”

  Brody rolled his eyes. “Come on, I’ll show you to Dodie’s room. You’ll bunk with her tonight.”

  “What?” I squeaked.

  “Mom did tell you that Sasha is staying tonight, didn’t she?” Brody sounded annoyed.