by Lily Silver
Silence answered her.
“Okay. Nice talking to you.” Jessie spat with sarcasm and pressed the off button. She slammed down the phone, missing the cradle and swore when it hit the floor.
“Told you.” Jack stumbled into the kitchen, shuffling the contents of the table in search of his lighter. “Don’t invite the relatives. Spare yourself the pain.”
“She thinks Lex is holding satanic rituals. She read somewhere that he drinks blood on stage or something.”
“Scary, ain’t it.” Jack chuckled, lighting up. “We’re related to that twit”
“Stupid is more like it.”
“No, Jess, it’s damned frightening to believe that we’re related to those people. Thank whatever gods are out there that we escaped when we did.”
“You’d think I told them I have HIV? Why can’t they just say, ‘Oh, Jessie, that’s wonderful, congratulations?” She waved her hands out expansively. “Is that so much to ask? Really, for once to pretend we’re a happy family?”
“You’re looking for something that was never there, Jess. Forget them.” Jack insisted and left her standing alone in the black and white Euro style kitchen.
Jessie swallowed the tears. Jack had been right all along. Still, she couldn’t get past the hurt. It felt like there was hole in her chest, right there above her ribcage in the vicinity of where her heart should be.
Michelle called again and again in the days that followed, pleading as Jessie refused to take the calls and Jack was forced to hang up on their religious sister time and again.
“Satan has the power to change himself into an angel of light, and deceive if possible, even the elect.” Michelle cautioned her brother one morning.
“Cool.” Jack responded. “You wouldn’t happen to have his cell number, would you?” Jack grinned as the response provided even more shock value than he’d anticipated. He held the phone away from his ear to share with the rest of the band the heated scriptural rebuke from his sister and then said, “No, sorry, Jessie’s not here. I’ll tell her you called, though.” With that, he pushed the off button and set the receiver down on the counter between the kitchen and living area.
“You aren’t helping any.” Jessie remarked, in spite of her amusement.
“Yeah, but it is fun to get her going.”
“If you aren’t careful, she’ll be flying out here with a team of church people to lead an exorcism on you.”
Jack’s turquoise eyes took on a preternatural gleam. “Hey, now that’d be a hoot. Probably make our CD sales skyrocket, too.”
“Spare me.” Jessie waved her arms in the air dismissively as she went to the fridge for a cold Frappuccino to soothe away the disturbing call.
Michelle’s calls were not the worst. They were a source of amusement, when compared to the ones from Mrs. Kelly. The voicemail messages from Jack and Jessie’s mom grew more desperate and downright chilling when Jessie didn’t return her calls.
Jessie was ready to take up smoking just to relieve the stress.
When Jessie and Jack returned to the house after the Fender photo shoot, the phone rang again. Jack pressed the button to listen to a message, hoping for more fun with their sister. Instead, it was their father’s stern baritone echoing in the kitchen, all the way from Wisconsin. Jessie picked up before the message finished, hoping their sane parent could be dealt with in a reasonable fashion.
“Hi Dad. We just got in from a photo shoot in L.A.”
“Have you done something to be ashamed of?”
“What . . . Dad?” Jessie sputtered, shocked by his cool, accusing tone.
“You haven’t returned any of your mother’s calls. She’s upset, trying to find out about this wedding business, her friends are asking her about the details and she doesn’t know. How does that make us look?”
“Dad--listen--” She pleaded as she walked into the living room and stood at the windows overlooking the ocean.
“I’ve been doing a bit research on this fiancé,” Her father paused dramatically, “And you should be ashamed. I know I am.”
“Dad, he’s not like that in real life. What he does on stage is called acting--”
“I read in the Celebrity Reporter that your boyfriend was arrested in 2002 for raping a fourteen year old girl.”
“That was not Lex, Dad. It was a roadie, a person hired to set up and take down his stage equipment. And the guy was fired, prosecuted and he went to prison.”
She gave Jack an exasperated look. He swore aloud and stuck his tight fists into his leather bomber jacket. “Let me talk to him.” Jack said, his lips tight and his voice raw.
Jessie shook her head. The last thing she needed was Jack flying off the handle and telling their father to go to hell. They’d all regret it later, and that was exactly what Jack would do if she handed him the phone. His tolerance for this kind of drama was nil.
“And the bartender down at the Legion Hall told me he masturbates on stage.” Her father continued. “His songs are nothing but filth. This is the man who will father my grandchildren?”
“Of course, your bartender knows Lex better than I do, living in Altoona, Wisconsin, sure Dad. I only live next door to Lex, but what do I know? And Dad, you might want to consider that the Reporter makes weekly claims of women giving birth to alien children.”
Jack nodded his approval of her calm rebuttal and gave her the thumbs up sign.
“We’re not coming to the wedding.” Their father said in a cold, rational tone. “I’m not walking you down the aisle and giving you away to a pervert and a child molester.”
“Daddy, it’s not true. Lex is wonderful, those newspapers print lies to create scandal. The headlines sell the magazines, it’s a racket. You don’t understand--”
Jack stepped forward and took the phone from her. He pressed the button and threw the phone at the sofa across the room. “Time to change the house number. This is getting old.”
“They aren’t coming.” Jessie whispered in a defeated tone. She told Jack about her father’s refusal to give her away.
“So what am I, chopped tofu?” He swept her up in fierce hug.
“What do I tell Lex? He wants to meet them. I can’t tell him they think he’s the devil incarnate, he’d be hurt.”
“So, don’t tell him. Just say they can’t come.”
“Jack?” Jessie shook her head. It wasn’t that easy.
He sauntered over to the counter to check the answering machine. “I hope Lilly called.” He pressed the button, releasing a string of messages to assault them both.
“Your father and I are washing our hands of this wedding. How can you do this to us? We’re ashamed of you, too ashamed to tell our friends who you’re marrying. I wish I’d never had any god-damned kids.” Bleep.
The next message began: “As far as I’m concerned, I have only one child, Michelle. She’s shown me what a disgusting pervert you intend to marry. It’s bad enough that you had to go and get knocked up, but to marry such a lewd, disgusting pervert, why don’t you just take care of it.” The frenzied voice emphasized, her mother’s insinuation clear. “. . . save us all the humiliation of a public wedding. Abortion is legal in California, it should be, it is everywhere else.”
“Oh, Christ.” Steve came down the stairs with a grimace. “That woman is evil.”
“Nuts.” Jack clarified. “Freakin’ Crazy on steroids.”
A knock sounded at the glass patio door. The horrified trio turned to find Lex standing on the patio waiting to be let inside. Jessie was gripping her heart, trying to shove down the rush of pain instilled by both her parent’s verbal assault. Jack, too, was stunned, unable to function as their mother’s haunting tones echoed in his head.
It was Steve who moved to unlock the glass portal and allow Lex entrance into their living room.
“Hi . . . ?” Lex peered at the twins curiously, “Is everything all right?”
“Fine, never better.” Jack quipped with mock cheerfulness as he ascended the
winding iron stairs to his room. Jessie watched him with terror seizing her. She knew what he was going to do. He was going to console himself in the arms of his favorite mistress: cocaine.
“Didn’t you want to call Lilly?” She shouted after him, praying that dangling his latest fascination before him would take the edge off his pain and prevent him from succumbing to the powerful substance to hide from the old pain. He didn’t answer. He just continued walking slowly up the stairs, like a zombie toward its master.
“Bad day?” Lex queried in a sympathetic tone. “The shoot didn’t go well?”
Jessie swallowed hard as agony flooded her soul. “No, no, everything’s fine.” She found herself saying in a staccato voice.
Lex stepped toward her with concern. His lips brushed her forehead as he pulled her to him, lifting her face to meet his. “You look so . . . scared. Honey, what’s wrong?”
“She’s fine, just a family brawl, you know.” Steve gestured to the stairwell where Jack had disappeared moments before.
“Really?” Lex studied Jessie’s face as she kept her eyes averted. “I thought twins were different.”
“Not those two.” Steve rallied to Jessie’s defense. “Fire and gasoline. Stand too close to either and you get torched, at least when they’re fighting.” He smirked, leaning against the granite island separating the kitchen from the living room as he nursed his coffee. Jessie gave him a grateful look. “Malibu Grooming Company called.” He continued. “Duncan’s all pretty again.”
“Oh--Duncan.” Jessie blustered, thanking the heavens for the distraction. “I forgot. I have to pick him up. Want to ride along?” She chanced a look at her concerned lover at last, safe in the knowledge that Steve had spared her explaining her shaken demeanor.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Lex probed as they drove down Civic Center Way, back to the beach house with the black Scottie sitting in the back seat catching a breeze in his neatly trimmed bearded face.
“I’m fine.” Jessie assured him in an impatient breath.
“Have you talked to your parents about coming out for the ceremony?”
It was the wrong thing to say, the worst thing. Jessie braked as she came up to the Pacific Coast Highway. She gripped the wheel in both hands, feeling as if the breath had been knocked out of her a second time in one afternoon. “Yeah . . . I did.”
“And?”
Jessie remained silent, holding the brake down, grinding it to the floor.
“You can go now.” Lex prodded in the tradition of masculine superiority as she sat pensively before the stop sign at the intersection joining the PCH.
“How about a coffee?” Jessie changed the subject as she drove down the highway, past the turn off for the exclusive Malibu Colony and made the turn onto Cross Creek Road. She was backtracking several blocks to nearly where they’d started when they picked up her dog from the groomer.
“Are you upset with me?”
“No.” Jessie parked her corvette in front of Starbucks. “Just a little edgy today. A white mocha latte for me, if you don’t mind. I’ll stay here with Duncan.”
Lex raised a brow at her command. “Edgy, huh?” He gave her a reproving frown. “Is it PMS. Would you like some chocolate with that?”
“Sure.” Jessie nodded. Lex put on his baseball cap and sunglasses. He gazed about them before exiting the car and then disappeared into the coffee shop. Jessie patted her lap. Duncan squeezed between the front seats and came to sit between the wheel and his mistress, his tongue sagging in the sea breeze. “Yeah, I guess that’s a good enough excuse, hey buddy? Blame it on the hormones, anything but having to explain my family.”
With his shades hiding his eyes, Lex returned with a cardboard tray with two cups of coffee, several chocolate brownies and a pleased smile. “They say chocolate is supposed to be the best antidote for ladies day.” He offered Jessie a chocolate drizzled cookie.
“Whatever.” Jessie mumbled, taking a bite as he held it to her lips and then yanking her coffee from the tray he balanced across his lap. “I’ll drop Duncan home and then I’d like to drive up the coast road.”
“I’ll drive.” Lex amended, only to receive a steely glare. “Seriously, I’ll drive and you can relax.”
Jessie felt anger roiling up within her. He was being so patronizing, and he had no idea what was wrong. If only it were simply overactive hormones, she’d feel truly blessed. “Don’t--okay--just don’t start with me.”
“What?” His hand squeezed her knee. “You didn’t argue with Jack, something else is bothering you. When I walked in, you looked really hurt, as if something terrible had happened. Hey---Pull over, you’re all over the road.”
Jessie eased the car to the side of the road, leaned over the steering wheel and closed her eyes. She willed herself not to cry. She choked back tears as sharp pain cut through her abdomen. Yep, menstrual cramps would be nice about now. At least with them she wouldn’t feel like her heart was breaking. With a stifled gasp, she grasped her stomach with both hands, as if the added pressure would push back the torment she felt at her family’s blatant rejection.
Lex watched her with concern, not speaking, just observing her movements and the determined look on her face. “Cramps?” He asked after a long moment.
Shocked by his comment, she gave him a dirty look. Seeing Lex was being solicitous and not cocky like the guys she lived with, Jessie shook her head in denial of his question. She couldn’t speak for fear her steely facade would crumble and she’d burst into tears at any moment.
A heavy truck passed, rocking the car as the earth vibrated beneath it. Lex opened the passenger door, got out of the car and walked around to the driver’s side. He didn’t say anything, he just gestured with his finger for Jessie to get out from behind the wheel. She hesitated, glaring up at him, but her shades were in place as well as his, so it was a lost cause trying to communicate via eye expression.
A car zipped past them. Fearing for his safety as he stood there waiting for her to get out and relinquish the wheel, she slipped across the seat so he’d get in. Once he was at the wheel Lex moved back on to the highway in a U turn, moving south until they reached the entrance to the Surfer Beach State Park. He took out his wallet and paid for a day pass. The attendant at the booth politely reminded them that dogs had to be leashed at all times in the park, even on the beach. Lex nodded.
He parked overlooking a lonely stretch of beach and drew Jessie close.
“Tell me. Whatever it is, we’ll face it together.” Lex rubbed his hand up and down her spine.
His arms were like a fortress about her. Strong, resolute, unbreakable. Jessie leaned into him, closed her eyes and soaked in the comfort he so freely offered. She let out a shaking breath and plunged ahead. “My sister keeps calling me every day, and now my mother is doing it and so is my father.”
“And that’s upsetting?” Lex stroked her hair, gently, steadily, as her dog propped his stocky forepaws on the armrest and hung his head out of the window from her lap.
“My family is not like yours.” Jessie began. “My sister is very religious. The types who are always claiming that certain cartoon characters are Satanic.”
“And she doesn’t approve of me?”
“She’s convinced you’re a Satanist.”
Lex pulled back from Jessie, resting his arm on the back of the leather seat behind her. “What do you think, Jessica? All that matters in this is what you believe.”
“I know you aren’t, but she’s been calling me every day since I told her I was marrying you. She’s trying to talk me into postponing the wedding, and preaching at me, trying to convert me to her way of thinking,” Jessie sighed. She lifted her head from his shoulder to offer him a sad smile. “You see, the world is coming to an end tomorrow; the President is a member of the Trilateralist Commission, and Amy Grant is a Satanist, along with Alice Cooper, Ozzie Osbourne . . .”
“And Lex.” He finished with a bitter edge to his voice. “I’ve heard it before.”
He hit the steering wheel with his fist. “So, they don’t want you to marry me.”
“Pretty much.” Jessie let out a long, tortured sigh, as her heart rose somewhere in the vicinity of her tonsils. “They’re threatening to disown me if I do.”
Lex looked her in the eyes, and said in a quiet, steady tone, “What do you want, Jess? Do you want to create a life together with me or do you just want your parents to approve of your choice in a mate?”
“I don’t want their approval.” Jessie replied with venom, angry that he should even ask such a thing. “I want everyone to get off my case, step back and let me decide what I want. I don’t want to be bullied into a decision, by my mom, my sister, or even you. You want me to marry you, not in six months or next year, but right now.”
Jessie knew she was losing it. She was yelling at him, accusing Lex, and worst of all, she felt as if her heart was being ripped out of her chest. “What’s the big hurry? Are you afraid if I think about it too much and make a serious assessment of your offer? Are you afraid I’ll notice something I shouldn’t? Is there an expiration date out there on the nice Lex and if I don’t marry you by the next full moon you’ll be damned forever to roam the night and eat human flesh?”
“You’re over-reacting.” Lex was holding her by the shoulders, talking in a calm, serene tone that irked Jessie to the point of wanting to scratch his handsome face.
“Oh God.” Jessie gasped. The freaking rug had been literally yanked out from under her as the truth came rushing over her with startling clarity. “Oh-God--why are they doing this to me? Why can’t they be happy? Why do they have to make it out to be something dark and shameful? It’s not fair.”
A dam broke somewhere deep in her soul. Before she could stop it, Jessie was sobbing, nearly choking on her desperate cries as she clung to Lex. They made her life hell, all three of them in one way or another. Jack was the only one who wanted her to be happy. Michelle and her parents just wanted to make her feel guilty and ashamed. They didn’t want her to be happy. They wanted her to be miserable and afraid, just like them.