Drop of Doubt

by C. L. Stone

  I made a sound that was half a whimper and half a laugh. I smacked a hand down on his arm. “Hey!”

  “Don’t mess up, Sang,” Luke said.

  “I will if you’re tickling.”

  “Tickling is cheating,” Nathan said.

  “Oy,” Gabriel said. “Let me see her hand. I want to try some of this.”

  “She’s painting my nail,” Luke said.

  “Hurry it up, Trouble.”

  I aimed the brush at Luke’s finger again, but this time he tickled more. I laughed and wriggled, but plopped the brush down on his nail, half covering his skin with baby blue color.

  “See, you messed up,” Luke said, chuckling.

  “You messed up.” I dipped the brush back into the bottle, and painted a zig-zag on his arm. “Now I messed up.”

  Luke laughed, holding up his arm. “At least I match, sugar plum. You’re like three different colors, now.”

  “Want me to do the others?” I asked.

  “I think I like it with just the pinkies.”

  “Honey?” I called.

  “What, Peanut?”

  “Can I do your nails?”

  “Hang on, Trouble. I want to do your nails.”

  “I want to play, too,” I said.

  Nathan made a guttural sound and picked himself up off the couch. He slid down onto the floor, sitting with his knees up. “Come here, Sang. You can do a fingernail or two.”

  Gabriel grumbled. “When’s my turn?”

  “Do her toenails,” Nathan said. He patted the ground in front of him. “Move the coffee table out of the way. I don’t really give a fuck if we mess up this carpet.”

  Gabriel shoved the table off to the side. Nathan planted me until I was sitting on the ground between his legs, my back against his stomach. “Put a knee up,” he told me.

  I bent my knee and he wrapped an arm around me to plant his hand on it. He moved his hand so his pinkie was extended.

  “What color?” I asked.

  “You pick,” he said.

  “If you let her pick, you’ll end up with pink nails,” Luke said. He sat with his back against the couch, admiring the blue on his arm and his nails.

  “Give me your foot, Trouble,” Gabriel said. He scooted forward, sitting cross-legged in front of me. With my other foot extended out, he lifted it to put in his lap. He fingered a couple of bottles on the coffee table.

  “Meanie, can I have the red one?” I asked, pointing.

  Gabriel smirked and handed me a deep red, not the one I’d picked. “Use this one. It looks better for his skin.”

  “I’m not keeping it,” Nathan said. “I’m just letting her have fun and I’m going to wash it off.”

  “This doesn’t just wash off. You have to soak it in this shit that smells like gasoline,” Gabriel said.

  I took the color from Gabriel, and undid the packaging. This one happened to be in a box.

  A pamphlet fell out. Gabriel picked it up, turned it over and flipped through it. “Oh hey, they’ve got pictures.” His eyebrows scrunched together as he studied.

  “Can we blow out her candles yet?” Luke asked. “I’m smelling sugar.”

  “We should wait in case the others show up,” Nathan said.

  “They might not show up. We should just light them up and do it all right now,” Luke said.

  “Light one,” Gabriel said. “Whichever one you want to eat. Have her blow out that one early.”

  “That’s not going to count,” Nathan said.

  “Sure it does,” Luke said. “She’s just got to blow out a candle. It’ll be like in those movies where they do the small cake with one candle. She’ll just do them all individually. Not like it matters. It’s just the doing it part.” Luke knee-walked around us, heading toward the cake box.

  I opened the jar of red polish. I aimed the brush at Nathan’s fingers. I felt Nathan’s breath on the back of my neck, and it was making me nervous. I started to giggle.

  “Peanut,” Nathan cooed. “You can’t paint it if you’re giggling and shaking.”

  “All right,” Gabriel said. He patted my calf. He picked up a neon green bottle and started shaking it. “Now I know what I want to do.” He opened the bottle. He drew my foot closer.

  “You should do a pink,” Nathan said.

  “Yeah, yeah, this is just a base color. I’m going to do some different things.” Gabriel studied my toes, squinting. “God damn, Trouble. You’ve got the tiniest toenails on the planet. I don’t know if the brush is small enough.” He started dotting the polish onto my smallest toenails first.

  I sucked in a breath, trying to focus on Nathan’s nail when it felt like Gabriel was tickling my toes with cool polish. With a slow wipe, I got most of Nathan’s, but his nail was wide and I had to give it several more splashes before the color was even.

  “How’s that?” I asked Nathan.

  Nathan held up his hand. “You’re turning me into a girl.”

  “Just be glad we did this and we’re not doing some makeup thing,” Gabriel said, not looking up from what he was doing.

  “Okay, Sang,” Luke held up one of the cupcakes that had pink frosting and slices of strawberry on top. He lit the candle sitting on top. “Make a wish.”

  “Hang on,” Gabriel said, looking up, but the brush was poised over my toenail. “We’ve got to sing and stuff.”

  “If you’re going to sing, hurry up,” Nathan said. “There’s candle wax getting on the strawberries.”

  Luke broke out into a round of Happy Birthday, followed up by Gabriel. Nathan joined in loud on the second line. Gabriel puffed out his chest and started singing louder.

  Soon the room was booming with song. I wanted to cover my ears since Nathan was singing close, but I didn’t have the heart to. He wasn’t bad. He was just breaking my ear drums. I couldn’t stop giggling.

  When they finished, Luke shoved the cupcake toward me. “Go ahead,” he said. “Make the wish a good one.”

  I hesitated, blinking back the threat of a tear forming in my eye. I couldn’t remember the last birthday I’d had, and I certainly couldn’t remember a cake unless I’d made it, and I usually didn’t. Before, among all the other things I had to worry about, a birthday was just another day. Birthdays were for little kids, like Santa Claus and tooth fairies. This was different. This meant something to them and they’d worked together to make it special for me. Maybe it wasn’t what Gabriel planned, but I couldn’t imagine wanting to do anything else.

  Luke pushed the cupcake closer. “Don’t wait too long.”

  I sucked in a breath, ready to blow it out, when Nathan pushed his face next to mine and blew first, taking out the flame.

  “Aw,” Gabriel said. “You big dummy.”

  “I just wanted the cupcake,” Nathan said. “Let me have that one.”

  I laughed, shaking my head. Nathan took the cupcake from Luke, held the edge, and started pulling the paper away.

  “Good thing we’ve got more cupcakes,” Gabriel said. He bent over my foot again. “Just save me one, will you?”

  I started painting Nathan’s other pinkie nail red since I’d already started. I was about halfway through when a booming shout startled me so badly, I slipped and caught half his finger.

  “I really don’t believe what I’m seeing right now,” North’s voice thundered through to my bones. He stood in the short hallway that lead from the kitchen. There were the sounds of shuffling feet and other noises behind him, so I could only guess a couple of the others were with him. His face looked stern, but his eyes, while still intense, held a glint that betrayed his shouting. He was highly amused. “Sang Baby, what’s all this shit?”

  My cheeks heated. I slowly turned my head to share quizzical looks as Gabriel glanced up and Luke, holding another lit cupcake, stood by with an eyebrow arched.

  “Birthday,” I said in a quiet voice.

  North chuffed, shaking his head. “Nathan, don’t let her watch that movie. She’s got enough nightm
ares as it is. And what the fuck are you doing to her feet, Gabe?”

  “I’m painting them,” Gabriel said in a flat tone.

  North started to chuckle.

  Kota popped in beside North. He glanced around, a finger touching the bridge of his glasses. “Were we not invited to the ... zombie-nail-painting-cupcake party?”

  I cracked a smile, and suddenly I was in a giggle fit. I realized right then how silly it probably looked. “Do you want to have your nails painted, Kota?”

  “Would love to,” he said. He walked around the couch, plopping down onto the seat. “Just let me catch my breath a minute. Been running around all day.”

  “Literally,” North said.

  “Did something happen?” I asked. I started to turn, but Gabriel clutched at my foot and shot me a look that told me not to move.

  “Dead trails,” Kota said. He waved a hand. “It’s not important.”

  “Sang,” Luke said, holding up the cupcake that still had the candle burning. “Get this one.”

  “Why is she doing this one at a time?” North said. He moved to sit on the couch next to Kota. “Where’d you get all the cupcakes?”

  “Hey!” Silas appeared in the doorway, his arms spread out and a smile on his face. Then he hesitated, his eyebrows arched in confusion. “Okay wait, what are we doing? Is this an American thing?”

  “Cupcake zombie nail painting,” North said.

  “Oh,” Silas put his hands on his hips. “Is Nathan playing the zombie who gets his nails painted?”

  Nathan and the others started chuckling. I did, too.

  “Wait,” I said. “You’re not with Victor, Silas?”

  Silas shook his head. “Haven’t seen him all day.”

  This struck me as odd. With all the distractions, I couldn’t put my finger on it. “Do you want your nails painted, Silas?” I asked, looking for something to do so I could think.

  “Yes,” he said without hesitating.

  Nathan leaned away from me, and he blew out the second candle. “You’re going to get wax on all of these,” Nathan said.

  “She’s got to blow out at least one,” Luke said.

  “Light them all,” Gabriel said. “Let her get it done now.”

  “Should we wait for Victor?” I asked. “Is he coming?”

  Gazes were exchanged over my head. I got the feeling they were checking with each other to see who knew where Victor was.

  Kota sucked in a deep breath, hauling himself off the couch. “I’ll go call his house. This lack of cell phones is really getting to be a hassle.”

  I finished up Nathan’s other pinkie with the red polish.

  “Scoot over,” Silas told Nathan.

  Nathan grunted but picked himself up, crumbling the cupcake wrapper in his hand. Luke was just lighting another candle on top of a cupcake when Nathan bent over and blew it out the moment it was lit.

  “This cupcake is going up your nose,” Luke said.

  Nathan laughed and moved around the couch. “I’ll go get napkins and a bin to throw away these wrappers.”

  Silas sat down on the floor. He scooted close like Nathan had done. He bent his knees as he put his legs on either side of me, and it was almost like I had disappeared in Silas as he surrounded me.

  I was twisting slightly to accommodate Silas, when Gabriel smacked my calf. “Oy! Don’t move.” But he lifted my foot up so he could look at it more closely, and started blowing across my toes. “This has to dry before I add the next color.”

  “I get more colors?” I asked, checking out the neon green.

  “You’ll see.”

  “Aggele mou.” Silas held up a hand, fingers spread. “What are we doing?”

  “I need a new color,” I said, twisting the top on the red polish until it was closed tight.

  Gabriel went through the collection of bottles and found a dark blue one. He tossed it over to me.

  “Si,” North said, “I can’t believe you’re letting her do that to you.”

  “Sang can do whatever she wants to me,” Silas said, and he wriggled his fingers on his knee.

  “Do you want the pinkies done, too?”

  “Do them all. I don’t care.”

  North tilted his head back on the couch and laughed. “I never thought I’d see Silas excited to be prettied up.”

  “I wouldn’t be talking, if I were you,” Silas said.

  I blushed, trying to twist the top of the polish from the bottle, but it was pretty stuck. Silas took it from my hands, opened the bottle and passed me the brush.

  “Like hell if you think I’m getting my nails done,” North said.

  “Sang wants you to,” Silas said. “Don’t you?”

  I concentrated on hitting Silas’s pinkie nail with the dark blue polish. “Maybe.”

  “Baby, tell Silas you wouldn’t dream of it.”

  “Don’t listen to him,” Silas said. “He wants his nails done, and he wants them in pink.”

  “Silas.”

  “Trust me,” he said. “Look him in the eyes. He totally wants pink.”

  I lifted the brush, twisting myself around a little and gazing back at the couch. North was smirking, but the vibe I got was you better not dare.

  Silas leaned in to whisper by my ear. “Do that lip pout and ask.”

  “I can hear you,” North said. “And pouting doesn’t work on me.”

  “Oy, oy!” Gabriel dropped a hand smack on my calf. “Don’t you fucking dare start that shit. North, you’re getting your nails done.”

  “I’m not getting shit.”

  “You’re getting it because it’s for Trouble’s birthday and she gets to do what she wants and what she wants right now is to paint nails and I’ll kick your fucking ass if she even thinks of starting to pout that lip.”

  Silas chuckled behind me, his body shaking. It made it hard to focus on painting his nails. The other fingers were easier to paint when the fingernails were broader. I was going to stop with just the pinkies, but Silas encouraged me to paint all of them. So he ended up with all dark blue fingernails.

  “Your turn, North,” Silas said when his had dried enough that he could get up.

  North was replacing Silas on the floor when Kota and Nathan came back. The look on Kota’s face was grim.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked.

  He tried to perk up. “Nothing. Was trying to get a hold of Victor. He’s at home but the maid kept insisting he wasn’t available and she wouldn’t interrupt him. She said she’d inform him of the call.”

  “Did they get a new maid?” Luke asked. “She doesn’t know?”

  Kota shook his head.

  “Know what?” I asked.

  “Our calls take priority,” Kota said. His eyes focused on mine, and for once I got a dash of that silent communication. There was an Academy regulation in there somewhere, I might not be able to get any more answers.

  The thought that had been hovering in my brain earlier finally settled in. “When Victor left me at the hospital, he promised he was going to find one of you and get you to go with him to look for security tapes near the spa and to check out stuff at home.”

  Kota lifted an eyebrow. “He could have done it himself. We’ve all been running around.”

  I rolled the bottle of nail polish in my hands. This didn’t feel right. Was it just because Victor wasn’t there and the others were? Was it because I missed him? No, it was more than that. I was worried. “So no one’s heard from him since I saw him last?”

  “He’s fine,” Kota said. “He’s at home. The maid said he was there.”

  That still didn’t seem right. He went home and he’s staying there? He didn’t call? He didn’t tell anyone what happened? “Is he okay?”

  “Baby,” North said, and he popped me on the thigh with his palm. “Stop it. You’re worrying too much.”

  “But ...”

  “Victor’s a big boy. The maid said he was home. He can take care of himself. If he’s at home and he’s locked
himself up, there’s a reason.” He wrapped an arm around my stomach, his palm met my side, his fingers spread out. He held up one knee and with the opposite hand, positioned it to be steady. “Now are you going to make me do this or not?”

  I didn’t understand why he wasn’t more worried. It’s not like Victor had his regular cell phone on him. He had three on him now, and the one I had was manipulated by the masked man guy. Did Victor know about that?

  Gabriel passed a bottle of black polish to me. I drew quiet as the others ate cupcakes and talked around me about things going on in the movie.

  I finished up North’s pinkies with black, and held up one of his hands, putting my lips close and blowing at the polish to dry it.

  North pressed his nose to my hair. “Sang Baby,” he said softly. “What did you really want for your birthday?”

  “I wanted to go do things you wanted to do,” I said quietly. “Can we go do something together?”

  I sensed North’s mouth against my head, his lips curled up. “Is that what you really want?”

  I realized the way I said it came out probably sounding very personal and forward. “I ... well, I mean, when we can ...”

  “I’ve been promising you the beach, and now it’s almost too late in the season to go.”

  “I don’t mind,” I said, unsure what I was suggesting. It was almost like he felt bad he hadn’t taken me yet. I knew more than anyone how busy and crazy things had gotten. “I’ll go when you want me to.”

  He dipped his head, inhaling sharply at my neck. “Tell me to go now, and we’ll walk out of here.”

  “Trouble,” Gabriel finished with a pink polish. He picked my foot up, blowing on it. He passed the hot pink color to me. “Here. Put this on his nails, too.”

  “Don’t give me any pink,” North said. He had one hand on my side, and smoothed out the shirt I was wearing against my body in a comforting motion.

  “Let her if she wants,” Gabriel said. He picked my foot up closer, hovering his lips over and blowing at the toenails. He held up my foot a little. “Look, Sang.”

  Gabriel managed to draw tiny pink cherry blossom flowers in a pattern across my toes on top of the green.

  “You want this on the other foot?” he asked.