After Midnight

by Lacy Hart

  After spending some time catching up on the latest happenings in the world of online news, I heard loud footsteps thundering up the stairs near my room. The footsteps were followed by a rapid knock on my bedroom door. It was a clear sign that my niece Elizabeth was home from school.

  “Come in, Lizzie,” I yelled. The door pushed open, and Lizzie came in. She leaped on the bed next to me, bouncing the mattress up. She had a big smile on her face like she couldn’t wait to tell me how her day at high school had gone.

  “Sarah,” Lizzie said anxiously, “guess what happened today?” Lizzie never bothered with the “Aunt Sarah” thing unless her parents were around. Since I was twenty-six and Lizzie was fifteen, there never seemed like there was much of a difference between us in age. We always acted more like sisters than aunt and niece, and I was okay with that.

  “I’m thinking it was something good for you the way you are bouncing around in here,” I said to her with a smile. “Did you get a high grade on that math test?”

  “I did well on the test, but that’s not it,” she said, looking at me, giddy with excitement.

  “Okay, so what is it?”

  “Becky and Terri told me they heard that Aaron told Victor that he liked me.” Lizzie rolled on the bed back and forth, kicking her feet in the air.

  “Well that is big news,” I told her as I got up out of bed. I remembered the days when hearing something like that third or fourth-hand was a big deal to me too.

  “When we were walking to the buses, I saw Aaron looking over at me as I got on the bus, and then he turned away real fast, so I wouldn’t notice. Oh, he’s so cute!” Lizzie reached over and grabbed one of my pillows and hugged it.

  “I’m happy for you Lizzie,” I told her as I started to get my uniform clothes out for work tonight. I always liked to have everything laid out ahead of time, so I didn’t have to rush around and try to find my work clothes, though the work clothes for me weren’t much more than a black pair of pants and a white blouse.

  “Do you think he’s going to ask you out?” I asked Lizzie as I organized everything.

  Lizzie sat up on the bed. “I hadn’t thought about that,” she said to me. “What if he does ask me out? Mom and Dad will never let me go out on a date with him, or any boy,” she said with a pout. “They want to keep me locked up until I got to college.”

  “I don’t think that’s quite true,” I told her, sitting down on the bed next to her. “They are just careful is all. They want to make sure you make good decisions. My parents were the same way with me.”

  Thinking back on it, my parents were much stricter than what James and Denise are like with Lizzie. I was raised in a rigid Catholic household with very little flexibility anywhere. I never had much interest in boys back in high school, but the few that I did like and showed interest in me were quickly discouraged once they found out my parents didn’t want me to date anyone or even do much socializing. Lizzie didn’t know how well she had it.

  “Do you think they would let me go on a group date?” she asked me. “A group is getting together after the basketball game on Friday, and I know Aaron is going to be one of them. If we just happened to be in the same place at the same time…” she said with a grin.

  “They might go for it if you told them it was a group. You know your Mom and Dad, though. They are going to want details.”

  “I know, that’s the problem,” she said with a huff. “I’m going to bring it up at dinner tonight. Will you back me up?”

  “Lizzie, I don’t know. You know I don’t get in between what goes on with you and your parents.”

  “Oh, please Sarah,” she begged. “I just need a little support here. If you say you think it’s okay they might be more likely to let me go.” Lizzie looked at me with her pleading face and eyes.

  “How could I say no to that face,” I said, grabbing her cheeks in my hand. “I’ll support you, but I am not guaranteeing anything, okay?”

  Lizzie threw her arms around me and gave me a hug. “Thanks, Sarah!” She sprang up off the bed with even more bounce in her step now. “I have some homework to do, and I have to talk to Becky and Terri!”

  Lizzie darted out of the room, closing the door behind her. I laughed and shook my head, wondering how I was going to help her out with James and Denise. My brother James could be a little more reasonable and flexible, but Denise was inflexible when it came to Lizzie, and she really didn’t like it when she thought I was butting in on family matters between the three of them.

  Denise and I have always had a tense relationship at best. I was just a teenager when they first got together and then got married quickly after. They used me as a babysitter occasionally when they wanted to go out, but even then, she never really trusted me that much and always seemed wary of when I was around. Things got even worse once I asked James if I could come and live with them in Swanson, and no matter how I have tried I have never been able to thaw that relationship at all.

  James, on the other hand, has turned into the big brother that anyone would be proud to have. James is almost twelve years older than me, and we never had much of a relationship when we were growing up. We didn’t spend much time together, and then he was off to college, met Denise, had a child and moved to Swanson all within a few years. He had established his own life and business and was doing well while I was working my way through high school and then starting college. It wasn’t until I ran into some trouble in my early college days that James stepped in and was there for me. He took me in, gave me a place to live, and gave me the structure and support I needed most and still treasure.

  I put on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, my usual wear before I had to start getting ready for work, and then sat down at my desk and turned on my laptop. Once it was all booted up, I made sure to send my paper off to my professor and to check in on the two other classes I was taking to see if there was anything new that I had to pay attention to. There were no new lectures or assignments, and my analytics class was online tomorrow so I could listen to the lecture for that one. I did my reading online for my classes, so I could stay ahead of everything and keep myself organized.

  By the time I was done with everything it was nearly five, so I went down to the kitchen to start dinner. Part of my responsibility in the household was to take care of dinner most nights since I was the one who was home. Denise worked in the Development and fundraising department at Swanson College and typically didn’t get home until after six, and James had his own plumbing business and very often got home at six or later, depending on how things were going that day. I worked the graveyard shift at the Moonlight Diner, the local diner in Swanson, so I had a lot more flexibility when it came to dinner since my workday didn’t start until 10 PM. It made things easier for everyone if I could get dinner on the table for when they were home so at the very least Lizzie had her meal before it was too late at night.

  I put together a simple dish for dinner tonight, making baked pork chops that were marinated with some cumin, brown sugar and cayenne pepper, along with some Brussels sprouts and roasted potatoes. Even though I worked as a waitress, I had picked up some good cooking tips and skills from Justin, the cook at the diner on the nights I worked. When things were slow, he would take time to show me how to prep things, so I knew just what went into the dishes we were serving. It gave me a pretty good appreciation for the work he did and made me a better waitress.

  I was just getting dinner out of the oven, and Lizzie had finished setting the table, when Denise walked through the door. She had a harried look on her face, something that she had most nights when she came home. She dropped her bag just inside the door and hung her coat on the coat pegs and immediately walked over to the fridge and grabbed the bottle of white wine that was in there and opened from last night. She plucked a glass from the overhead glass rack above the kitchen island, poured some wine, took a gulp, sighed, and took the bottle and her glass over to the table, all without even saying hello to Lizzie or me.

 
“What’s for dinner tonight?” she asked without even turning around to face me.

  “Pork chops and roasted potatoes,” I said to her, trying to sound cheerful. I brought the plates of pork chops and potatoes over to the table and set them down. Lizzie came around with the Brussels sprouts and sat in her seat to the left of her mother. I returned with some iced tea and poured a glass for Lizzie and then myself, and then sat down to the right of Denise. She took another sip of her wine and then looked over at Lizzie.

  “What are those?” she asked Lizzie, staring at the plate of roasted Brussels sprouts.

  “Brussels sprouts,” Lizzie told her, holding the plate up to Denise to take.

  “Ugh, no thanks,” Denise said, scrunching her face. “They smell awful.”

  I had learned long ago not to take everything Denise said personally. Even if she meant that she didn’t think my cooking was good, I chose not to take it that way. I passed her the plate of pork chops, and she placed one on her plate and handed the plate to Lizzie. Denise then piled potatoes onto her plate as well and began to cut into the pork chop as Lizzie and I served ourselves.

  “Where’s Dad?” Lizzie asked, looking around hoping that he might be there soon so she could put her plan in motion.

  “I haven’t heard from him since this morning,” Denise said as she put a piece of pork in her mouth and started chewing. “What is on this?” she asked, turning to me as she made a face and swallowed.

  “Just some cumin, and brown sugar and cayenne pepper,” I told her. “It’s a recipe Justin taught me at the diner.”

  “Too spicy,” she said to me. She grabbed her plate off the table, walked into the kitchen, and dumped it into the trash. Denise then proceeded to grab a frozen lasagna dinner out of the freezer and placed it in the microwave, pressing the buttons with aggravation to get the microwave going.

  I looked over at Lizzie and saw the look on her face. She knew that today was probably not the best one to ask about going on a group date. Just then, James came rushing through the door. He tossed his leather case onto the floor and raced over towards his seat at the far head of the table, giving Lizzie a kiss on the top of her head as he went by her.

  “Sorry I’m late,” James said as he reached for the plate of pork chops. “Crazy day today. The phone rang non-stop, we had trouble with one of the vans, getting deliveries, you name it – everything seemed to go wrong at once.”

  After James finished filling his plate with food, he held it up to his nose and took a whiff.

  “Wow, smells great,” he said with a smile as he looked at me. He then looked down to the other end of the table as he saw Denise sit down with her plate of lasagna, the cheese oozing and sauce bubbling over the side of the paper container it was in. He knew better than to ask anything and set about eating his dinner.

  Everyone ate quietly for a few minutes, with Lizzie glancing over at me now and then. I mouthed a “no” to her when it looked like she was going to make her move, but she didn’t heed my warning.

  “So, Dad,” she started, turning to the one she thought might be her best shot at an ally, “a bunch of kids are getting together Friday night after the basketball game to hang out. Would it be okay if I went?”

  James looked up as he swallowed a bit of pork chop, licking his lips from the bit of heat in the bite.

  “Who’s going? And where?” He popped a piece of potato onto his fork and looked at Lizzie, waiting for an answer.

  “Well, Becky and Terri will be there, and I think Tori is coming too… and there might be a couple of other people there. We aren’t sure where we want to go just yet.”

  “Who are a couple of other people?” Denise chimed in as she took the last sip of her glass of wine.

  “Uhm… probably Victor, Peter, and Aaron,” she said hurriedly, looking back down at her plate to eat some food. I tried to look like I was not paying close attention, casually eating but more pushing my food around my plate, feeling nervous for Lizzie.

  “No,” Denise said without a second thought.

  “Come on, Mom,” Lizzie spoke, trying not to whine. “It’s just friends hanging out. We’re not going to do anything.”

  “The fact that you felt like you had to say that to me means you thought about doing something,” Denise replied. “The answer is no.” Denise looked across the table to James and saw he was just eating his dinner, letting Denise have her say.

  Lizzie looked down at her father, seeing that he wasn’t ready to do anything just yet. She then shot a pleading look to me for some help.

  “How about if they came to the diner after the game?” I said, not really looking up at anyone while I made my statement. After I said it, I looked up to see all eyes on me. “They could come and hang out, and I could keep an eye on them, and then Lizzie can walk home from there, or James could come down and meet her.”

  I looked over at Lizzie, letting her know that was the best I could do. Lizzie looked at her mother and saw that she was not going to budge, so she looked at her Dad. James put down his fork, looked at Lizzie, and then looked over to Denise.

  “I think that would be okay, honey,” James said to Denise, pushing his empty plate forward. “Sarah will make sure they are alright, and then I can walk down and meet her at say, 11?”

  Denise rolled her eyes at James. “Really, James?” Denise pointed at me. “She’s going to be working. She can’t watch them the whole time, and Friday will be busy in there. Who’s to say she doesn’t just let Lizzie do whatever she wants anyway?”

  “I… I wouldn’t do that Denise, honestly,” I said to her, trying not to sound confrontational.

  “Hmmph,” Denise grunted, paying little attention to what I was saying. “I know how Lizzie is with you,” she said directing her statement to me.

  “Denise, I think you’re blowing this way out of proportion,” James said, trying to get control of the situation. “Lizzie will be fine. We’re only a few blocks away from the diner anyway.”

  Denise looked quite angry, as she often does, and glared at me and then down at James. “Well I was planning a night out with the girls Friday, James, so this is all on you.” Denise grabbed her plate of half-eaten lasagna and tossed it into the trash, storming off towards her bedroom. The three of us just sat at the table, not sure what to do next.

  Lizzie finally broke the silence. “So, does that mean I can go?” she asked timidly.

  “Yes,” James replied. “But I am telling you, Lizzie, you’ve got a pretty short amount of rope here. Don’t make me regret saying yes.”

  Lizzie leaped up from her seat and wrapped her arms around James’ neck, giving him a hug. “Thanks, Dad!” she exclaimed. “I’m going to call Becky and let her know. “

  Lizzie came around to me at the table and gave me a hug as well.

  “Thank you,” she whispered into my ear.

  James and I sat at the table quietly for a moment.

  “Did you have anything to do with that?” James asked quietly.

  “James,” I said to him. “Lizzie asked me if I would help her out and I said yes. She’s fifteen; she has to be able to go out with her friends occasionally, and there are going to be boys around. I’ll be there the whole time. I doubt there will be a problem.”

  “I hope you’re right, for all our sakes,” James said. He piled a few more potatoes on his plate and ate them quickly before he put his fork down. He then looked over at me again.

  “What?” I asked.

  “Mom called yesterday,” he said to me.

  “Oh?” I replied casually. “How’s she doing?”

  “Mom and Dad are doing fine, nothing exciting,” James said as he picked up his plate and mine and walked towards the kitchen. “She asked how you were doing.”

  “And what did you tell her?”

  “That you were fine, busy with school and work.” James placed the dishes in the dishwasher. “It wouldn’t hurt if you gave her a call you know.”

  “Do you think she and Dad a
re ready to apologize to me?” I answered curtly. “If they’re not, I really have nothing to say to them.”

  James closed the door to the dishwasher and looked at me as I walked into the kitchen.

  “Sarah, it’s been years now. Maybe it’s time to…”

  I cut him off right there. “Don’t tell me it’s time to forget about it, James. They threw me out of the house. If you and Denise hadn’t taken me in who knows what would have happened. They gave up on me, not the other way around. I’m not just sweeping it under the rug.”

  I began washing the few dishes that were left, trying not to get too wound up over what James wanted to talk about. James came over and shut the faucet off and turned me to face him.