by Joy Elbel
But eggs and underwear would have to go on the back burner for now, so to speak. What I really needed to do was sell Shelly on the best idea ever. If I could convince her to go along with it, my dad wouldn’t be able to tell us both no. He would be outnumbered and therefore his opinion would be invalid. Oh yes, I would be ranked with Einstein upon completion of this plan.
“Shelly,” I said sweetly as though I were addressing the Queen, “Those cinnamon rolls smell delicious! Can I have one, please?”
“Please?” she replied as she lovingly drizzled icing over each one. “You’re either running a fever or you want something—which is it?”
Okay, so I was a transparent genius. But I was still a genius. A genius dominatrix. No more beating around the bush—time to go in for the kill. “I have an idea that I hope you’ll go along with. If you agree with me, you know Dad will have no choice but to let me do what I want to do. Are you on board?”
“Well, it would help if I knew what your plan was. It sounds like something major, though—something we should discuss over a cinnamon roll and a cup of coffee, maybe?”
Coffee? I’d never been invited to coffee and a discussion before. It made me seriously feel like her equal— like an adult. Hell yeah, I wanted coffee! I nodded my head and smiled before snatching two mugs from the cupboard. Shelly dished out cinnamon rolls for us both as I poured our drinks. My confidence was soaring and it was damn near intoxicating.
“So,” I said as I pulled off a bite and popped it into my mouth, “I haven’t spent any of the money Giuseppe gave me but I have a rather large purchase I would like to make and I need your approval.”
Shelly cocked one eyebrow at me and took a drink before replying. “This better not have anything to do with shoes.”
I was momentarily offended by her remark until I remembered how I spent my entire first paycheck from my job at Something Wick-ed. Boots—need I say more? It was fall and I needed to make sure my feet stayed warm for the entire winter. Winter seemed to be lasting forever here—much longer than when we lived in Trinity. My shopping spree proved to be a stellar move on my part. Nope, not the least bit impractical.
“It has absolutely nothing to do with shoes,” I said as I began to contemplate the hundreds of new sandals that would be hitting shelves any day now. “As a matter of fact, it isn’t even about wanting to buy something for myself. I want to use some of the money to help out someone who really needs it.”
Shelly nearly choked on a mouthful of cinnamon roll. “Really?” she asked once she was done hacking up a lung. “Yes,” I said, ignoring the sheer surprise she showed regarding my magnanimous announcement. “I would like to buy a new car—for Zach. He’s done so much for me and I know how bad he needs one. He’s been fighting with his dad a lot lately because of money and I want to help him out. Can I do it?”
“The decision is entirely up to you, Ruby. That money is yours and when it runs out, it runs out. Simple as that. You need to pay attention to how much you spend and what you spend it on. As long as you aren’t planning to drain your entire account on some flashy sports car, another vehicle is definitely a more sound investment than the infamous shoe shopping spree you went on in September. It would be a very nice way to thank him for everything but do you think he will accept your offer?”
Hmm. I hadn’t thought about that. Zach was very touchy when it came to financial issues. He visibly squirmed every time I mentioned spending money on him. But we were going to need two vehicles once we were out on our own—my broken down Neon alone just wasn’t going to cut it. Zach and I needed to have an adult discussion. He needed to realize that if we were going to make things work, he would need to stop letting his pride of idiocy get in the way. He had to start looking at me not just as his girlfriend, but as his partner. Great. More grown up issues to have to deal with.
“I’ll find a way to make him accept it,” I said as I licked the last drop of icing from the tip of my finger. “And I was thinking more along the lines of a slightly used SUV— something practical, something that will be good for hauling all of our stuff out to Ohio.” OMG. Did I just use the word practical? It was like I opened my mouth but my dad’s words spilled out. Suddenly, I was feeling way too responsible. Maybe just one ridiculously expensive shoe purchase would make me feel more like a kid again.
“Wow. You really do have a fever, don’t you?” Shelly asked with a laugh. “You went from an irresponsible teenager with a shoe fetish to a soccer mom practically overnight!”
Not funny. Okay, so maybe it was just a little bit. There was one last frivolous purchase that I needed to make to prove that I wasn’t completely middle aged already. “Oh, but soccer moms don’t go shopping for prom gowns, though, do they?”
“No, they don’t! When is prom anyway?”
“Late May I think—not sure of the date. But I need to start looking for a dress ASAP before all of the good ones are taken. It’s not like I have a thousand stores to look in around here, you know.”
“No you don’t which is why I suggest we take a road trip instead! What do you say—you, me, Rachel, and Diane? We can go shopping in Pittsburgh and find you girls the best prom dresses Charlotte’s Grove has ever seen.”
Who could say no to that offer? Certainly not me! “Deal!” I squealed exuberantly. “I’m going to text Rachel right now and let her know the plan.” As quickly as my thumbs could go, I tapped out the message. Almost instantly, I got a reply.
“Sweet! Needed good news—Dad & Zach fighting again. ” Again? Sure, Zach had made some pretty stupid decisions here and there since I’d met him, but he really was a good person and tried to make up for his mistakes. Buying him that car was the only way I could think of to try to ease the situation for him. Without telling Rachel exactly what I was going to do for him, I let her know that I had a plan to help. She begged for even one small hint but I refused to give her any information and asked if she would please not let Zach know any of what little I did tell her. Once she replied affirmatively, my mind was back where it needed to be—onto the subject of shopping.
“I’m going to go get my laptop so I can start looking at dresses until dinnertime. Speaking of which, what is for dinner?” The only thing I could smell was the cinnamon rolls and while I could probably make a meal out of those alone, it wasn’t exactly the wisest decision. I felt like I needed my first insulin shot just from contemplating it.
Shelly poured another cup of coffee for us both and dove into another cinnamon roll. “Your dad is bringing home takeout from Chow Ming tonight. He should be home in about two hours so we have plenty of time to cyber-shop for the perfect gown. Go get that laptop and I’ll get you another cinnamon roll!”
Prom was all I could think about as I ran upstairs for my computer. I had so much fun buying a dress and getting ready for the fundraiser last summer but this was going to be even better. This time Rachel would be helping me pick out a dress and would actually be at the dance, too. And of course we would have to come up with some epic after prom activities that our parents would approve of. Suddenly, there seemed to be so many things that I needed to do in a very short time. Track was getting ready to start. Prom, of course. Then…graduation. Wow. Where did the last few months go? It seemed like only yesterday that I was dreading the first day of school. Oddly enough, I was now dreading the last day, too. I wanted to graduate but it was kind of a scary thought. So instead, I chose not to think about it for now and focused instead on the real important issue—prom shopping.
Shelly and I checked out website after website to get an idea of what styles were in this year. I decided that I definitely wanted a full length gown. She liked the shorter ones because they were cute and flirty but I wanted to go with elegant and sophisticated. I could put on a short skirt and be cute and flirty any old day of the week but you don’t often get the chance to strap on floor length satin and chiffon. When she gasped and pointed to a dress exclaiming that it was “the one”, I knew that fashion was one thing we
might never totally agree on.
“ That one?” I said, pointing to a green sequined number that I wouldn’t have been caught dead wearing. “This is prom—not an audition for The Little Mermaid Part Two. And besides, you have to know that I am looking for something red. Zach likes me best in red.”
“Zach would like you in any color and you know that. I really think that you would look good in green—it would bring out the color of your eyes. You’ll have to try on a green one when we go shopping. You may change your mind about red.”
Me? Change my mind about red? Never. “I’ll think about it. When are we going to Pittsburgh? Zach and I need to plan a trip to Pendleton soon, too.”
“So you’ve decided then? You’re taking the fall semester off so you can be with Zach in Ohio?” “Yep,” I announced proudly. “I know what you’re thinking—that once I take time off, I won’t want to go back to school at all. But you’re wrong. College is important to me but it can wait a few months because in the end, being with Zach is what really matters to me the most.” There. I stood up for myself like an adult. I made the decision that was best for me— not the decision they thought was best for me.
“You still have to break that news to your dad. Soon.” “Break what news to me?” Somehow, Dad had snuck up on us and was standing in the doorway with his hands full of bags from Chow Ming.
Perfect timing, Shelly. Or shall I say imperfect. I had a sudden intense urge to grab a set of chopsticks and poke my own eyeballs out as a diversion. I knew I needed to just suck it up and confront my dad about my college decision but I had hoped to take a little time to prepare beforehand. He was going to have a thousand rebuttals for everything I said and I wanted to be ready for them all. A conversation like this one wasn’t one you just went into all willy nilly. I needed to stall it for now. Without the gory use of wooden utensils, preferably.
“Ruby decided to go to Pendleton with Zach and just take the fall semester off,” Shelly announced nonchalantly. Really? While Shelly was acting innocent and clueless, I had the distinct feeling that she did it on purpose. It was one of those moments where she decided to take the opportunity to force me to do something I dreaded doing. She was right, of course. I just needed to get it over with. But I was a first class procrastinator especially when it came to conversations with Dad. My brain formed a new image of where I would like to shove those chopsticks.
Before he had a chance to launch into the usual sermon about what he thought I should do with my life, I confidently announced my plan.
“That’s right. I am moving to Ohio with Zach and signing up for the spring semester at Pendleton. As an English major.” Without missing a beat, I followed up that major bomb with an even more important question. “Which bag has the cheese wontons in it?”
The look on his face was priceless. It was how I imagined a cop would look at you if you found some way to talk your way out of a ticket and then calmly asked for directions to the nearest doughnut shop. My new role as dominatrix was suiting me just fine. The whip fit so I was going to continue to crack it.
“I think you’re making a very big mistake, Ruby. I hope you come to your senses before it’s too late. Don’t get me wrong—I like Zach, too, but there’s no reason why you couldn’t at least give Trinity College a try. If your relationship is meant to be, distance won’t matter to either of you,” Dad said as he set the bags down on the table. He pushed one toward me and mumbled, “Here—I think they’re in this one.”
So he wasn’t exactly arguing with me, but he wasn’t exactly agreeing with me either. I decided to just say everything I needed to say and be done with it. “I know what you’re thinking, Dad. You’re thinking that we are way too young to be this serious. You’re thinking that I’m just being an overdramatic teenage girl throwing my life away over the flavor of the week. But you’re wrong. I don’t know how to explain it, but he and I are more than that. We have a bond that I can’t even begin to describe. The thought of leaving him behind is truly unthinkable. My decision is final.”
The first of many warm cheese wontons made its way into my mouth before I remembered that I had one more thing to say to him. I slid all three sets of chopsticks my direction just in case he would consider using them as a weapon, too, before saying, “Oh and I am buying him a car.”
“What?” His jaw dropped and so did the egg roll he was about to devour. “He needs a car and I have the money to buy him one. I understand that the money Giuseppe gave me won’t last forever and I’m going to use it carefully. Every single cent of it is still in my bank account and I plan to get a job as soon as we get to Ohio. I’m not as irresponsible as you think I am, Dad.” But I still wasn’t totally responsible yet, either. I did spend more than I should have on some new spring clothes at The Village but my bank account still reflected a six digit balance by sixteen whole cents. Aside from buying that car, I just wouldn’t spend any more until I got paid.
Shelly had remained silent after initially setting me up for this dreaded conversation but finally decided to chime in. “Ruby will be eighteen in less than three months, Jason. After that, you won’t have the authority to stop her no matter what she decides to do. I think it’s time for you to accept the fact that she isn’t a little girl anymore. You have to let her learn from her own mistakes now.”
Conversation over. Not another single word from Dad on the subject. Wow. Looks like I could take some dominatrix lessons from dear old Shelly. We all ate dinner together like nothing was wrong, discussing plans to go prom dress shopping and where Zach and I should go to find the best deals on a good used vehicle.
With a stomach full of Chow Ming and a head full of fun plans, I headed upstairs to take care of the last loose thread in my life, my poor murdered friend Clay. Everything else in my life was going perfectly smooth. Now that I had more information about his death, sending him into the great beyond should be a piece of cake. Stale, hard cake like Shelly used to bake—the kind that even a starving rat would only take one nibble of and then go curl up in a corner to die of hunger with dignity. Yes, there was still a trace of pessimism underneath my new optimistic façade.
9. Ghost Busted
As soon as I started upstairs, I realized two things. One—I had eaten entirely too much and wished that my room was on the ground floor so that I didn’t have to lug my bloated behind up two flights of steps. And two—it was a good thing I wasn’t in the middle of doing something embarrassing because as soon as I thought his name, Clay appeared at my side.
“Geez, Ruby—even my grandma moves faster than that! You’re usually so full of energy. What’s wrong with you today?”
“Chow Ming and homemade cinnamon rolls,” I groaned as I clutched my stomach. “I ate too much for dinner.”
“Slugging around like that isn’t going to make you feel any better. Come on—I’ll race you up the stairs!” There was something different about him. He seemed happier. Maybe knowing that he didn’t kill himself was enough to change his outlook on the afterlife. Maybe it was enough to convince him that moving on was going to be a good thing. Spurred by his positive attitude, I decided to take him up on that challenge.
“Go!” I shouted and took off up the stairs. A full three steps ahead of him, imagine my surprise to get to the attic door and find him standing there laughing at me.
“You run like a girl!” he teased as I stood there gasping for air.
“And you don’t play fair! If you were alive, I would have beaten you and you know it.” “I don’t know about that, Ruby. Back in elementary school, I was the second fastest runner in our class. The only kid who could beat me every time was Rachel. She doesn’t run like a girl.”
I opened the door to the attic and we both flopped down on the futon. “That’s pretty funny considering that I can beat Rachel. She and Coach Hunter practically begged me to join the track team this year. Apparently, running like a girl took on a whole new meaning after I moved to town. I even earned a cool new nickname out of it—Red Light
ning!”
“Red Lightning—I like the sound of that. I really was just joking with you. You’re fast—you should do good. And maybe we can run together since I seem to bring out your competitive spirit even when you don’t feel like competing.”
He was right. He would make the perfect running partner because he could push me harder than anyone else possibly could. “I’ll definitely take you up on that offer later but right now, let’s talk about murder.”
“Yeah, what makes you think someone offed me?” I recounted the details Zach gave me about Clay’s disappearance and the damage inflicted to his car. He didn’t seem all that upset to hear that his body lay in the depths of Silver Lake for two weeks. But the very second I mentioned the Mustang, I thought he was going to explode.
“My car? They trashed my car? No, Grandma was right—there’s no freakin’ way I would have smashed up my own car. Never in a million years! There aren’t enough drugs in the world to make me do something like that. I put so much time and money into restoring that thing. It was my baby! I think I solved my own murder, though. I found someone taking a crowbar to it and went completely bat shit on them. They probably killed me in self-defense!”
“You really think so? Did you have any enemies who would have wanted to get back at you like that?” Solving his murder couldn’t be that easy, could it? But was it really even necessary to solve it if just knowing that he didn’t commit suicide was enough to get him to move on? Who was I kidding? Not even myself, that’s who. I would never be happy if I didn’t know the whole story behind his mysterious death. Curiosity, meet risk taking cat.