Silt, Denver Cereal Volume 8

by Claudia Hall Christian

  “But he . . .” Honey said.

  “He’s your husband,” Jill said. “He’s loved you all of his life.”

  “And I suppose this is your child?” Grace’s voice was angry and hard.

  “But what if . . . he loved her more and . . . just forgot,” Honey said. “I hadn’t seen him in . . . years and . . .”

  “Tough,” Jill said. “He’s married to you now. You have to fight for him.”

  Honey shook her head and started to turn away.

  “Come on, sweet Honeybee,” Jill said using MJ’s high school nickname for her.

  Honey’s sad eyes looked up at her.

  “You do it, or I will,” Jill said. “And you know that’s not going to go well.”

  “What’s going on?” Sandy’s voice came from the front. “Who are you, and why is Maggie crying? Ivy, the kids are downstairs. Why don’t you go . . .?”

  “But . . .” Ivy started.

  “Or Sandy will.” Jill raised her eyebrows to challenge Honey.

  “Go,” Sandy said.

  They heard Ivy stomp off and Gracie’s low and angry voice.

  “I don’t care,” Sandy said. “This baby is hungry. That kind of takes precedence over your little drama. You’re adults. Get over yourselves.”

  “Go. Fight for your man,” Jill said. “Would you put up with this at work?”

  “But . . .”

  Jill gave Honey’s wheelchair a push and she rolled toward the front of the house. Jill followed close behind.

  “There’s Honey,” Sandy said. “Why is Maggie out here with MJ?”

  “Honey!?” Gracie’s voice rose a notch. “You’ve got to be shitting me. You had a baby with the Honeybee? What the . . .”

  “Enough,” Honey said. “That’s enough. I know you’re upset. This man can make anyone crazy. But this is not the time or the place.”

  MJ turned to look at her. His eyes reflected his panic and despair. Hearing her mother’s voice, Maggie’s screams increased. She flailed against MJ.

  “Sandy, can you get Maggie?” Honey asked. “We forgot to defrost some milk.”

  “But he . . .” Grace pointed to MJ.

  Sandy pushed past Grace, took the baby from MJ, and carried her to the kitchen.

  “He has a traumatic brain injury,” Honey said. “It affects his speech.”

  “But . . .” Grace said.

  “He can’t talk to you or me or anyone,” Honey said. “Look at him.”

  MJ’s panicked blue eyes looked from Grace to Honey, and back at Grace.

  “Go for a run,” Honey said. “We’ll be here when you get back.”

  MJ shook his head and pointed to the ground. Honey shook her head.

  “Go.” Honey pointed at the door. “Do you have your phone?”

  MJ nodded.

  “Call me when you can,” Honey said. “Go.”

  “I was just heading out with the boys.” Jacob pushed Charlie out of the basement. Nash and Teddy came up behind him. “The boys are feeling a little . . .wound up. Want to come with us, MJ?”

  Jacob gestured to the boys, who were punching each other.

  “We have to go now, or miss Val’s big moment,” Jacob said.

  MJ nodded and followed Jacob out of the house. Grace went to follow them.

  “Where are you going?” Honey asked.

  Grace turned in place.

  “There’s nothing out there that’s going to answer your questions,” Honey said. “You want to know? You’ve got to stay.”

  Grace stared at Honey for a moment.

  “But I . . . you . . .” Grace pointed at Honey.

  “I’m staying here,” Honey said. “My baby is hungry and I need to feed her.”

  Honey turned in place and wheeled back to the kitchen. She winked at Jill as she passed. Grace stared after Honey. She glanced at the door and then squared her shoulders. She stomped past Jill to the kitchen. Jill raised her eyebrows and followed Grace to the battleground.

  ~~~~~~~~

  Friday evening—6:45 p.m.

  “There she is!” Jill pointed to Valerie stepping out of the limousine on the big white screen in the front of the room. The cameraman moved closer to get a picture of Jill, Sandy and Heather.

  “Look at Jackie!” Sandy said.

  Jackie turned her head so her blue-hazel eyes could take in all of the activity and people on the red carpet.

  “Go Jackie!” Heather yelled.

  “Ready to take over.” Honey laughed.

  “That’s my girl,” Tanesha said.

  The women laughed. On the screen, Mike stepped out of the limousine. He took Valerie’s hand and they started the red carpet walk.

  Everyone was sitting in the living room watching the screen. The cameraman and sound crew had arrived at the same time as Jeraine and Tanesha. Because Jeraine had more experience with video production, he helped everyone get ready. Because Jeraine was Charlie’s pal, he stuck Charlie and Tink in the back.

  Charlie put his arm around Tink. She looked up at him and gave him a nice, warm kiss.

  “Awww,” the adults said when the son of another star ran up to give Valerie a yellow daisy for Jackie.

  “Can you believe that whole Gracie and MJ thing?” Tink whispered. “MJ totally dumped Gracie when he got injured. She thought he died! Now he’s married to Honey and . . . Well, Honey told Gracie that they would talk about it later, that now is not the time, but . . . It’s a big mess!” Tink shook her head.

  “How’s Ivy?” Charlie whispered.

  “Hysterical,” Tink said. “Heather stayed with her, but Ivy says she can’t deal. She’s heading out tonight.”

  Charlie shook his head.

  “We won’t let her go,” Charlie said.

  Tink nodded. She looked up at him and he grinned. He was about to kiss her again when Noelle hit his shoulder.

  “We’re on,” Noelle said in a terse voice.

  “Go,” the video director said.

  “Hi Val!” everyone yelled.

  Valerie beamed at them and waved. Jackie giggled. An announcer asked Jacob a question and they had to be super quiet. Jacob was handsome, charming, and funny. Charlie felt a wave of jealousy toward Jacob. Then he remembered how goofy Jacob had been when they were out running. He had done this girlie voice and gushed about how MJ was so hot. Charlie had joined in and got Teddy and Nash to do it too. When Jake kneeled down and begged the hotness of MJ for some loving, MJ finally laughed and was able to talk. Charlie chuckled at the memory. Aden turned around and shushed him.

  “When the movie starts, you wanna . . .” Charlie gestured away from the room.

  Tink gave an emphatic nod and Charlie smiled. They waited through more interviews and more pictures. The movie stars were so perfect they looked weird. Even Valerie looked strange in her get up.

  “That’s it, folks,” the video crew chief said and they were able to move around. “We need you back here in a half hour for the movie.”

  Charlie bided his time. He knew that as soon as the movie started he would have Tink to himself. He and Tink found Ivy to see if she was all right. Ivy was very upset by everything. Mostly he thought she wanted Honey to adopt her, and not Gracie, but Ivy was like that. She always wanted impossible things. If it was impossible, Ivy was sure to want it. But, Ivy promised Tink she wouldn’t leave. Heather walked in as she said this, and they stopped talking like it was a secret.

  There was a loud noise and they went back to the room. When Charlie went to sit down, he noticed Nash was trying to sit next to Ivy. Since Jeraine had helped Charlie out, he thought he’d extend the favor. He called Ivy over and had her sit next to Nash. Completely oblivious to anything but her own inner turmoil, Ivy acted like she was just meeting Nash. By the time the movie started, their heads were pressed together. Charlie smiled, happy he’d helped Nash out.

  After the opening credits, Tink pulled on his hand and he followed her out of the room. They slipped downstairs to the corner they’d staked
out in the basement. She kissed him.

  “You want to . . .” Tink’s eyes held a glazed look he didn’t recognize.

  “We could if we want to,” Charlie said. “But I thought we could also talk and stuff first.”

  “Oh,” Tink said. “Talking is okay?”

  “Sure,” Charlie said. “A lot has changed, and I . . .”

  He scowled and tried to remember what Aden had told him to say. He shrugged. She kissed him and they kissed for a while. Tink was a really good kisser.

  “I got something for you,” Charlie said.

  “You did?” Tink looked really surprised, which made him happy.

  “Aden said we could go on a date tonight,” Charlie said. “Since we’re here, I asked him if we could get something for you instead.”

  “Oh!” Tink beamed. “That was really nice.”

  Charlie nodded. He reached into his jeans pocket. The kissing had made his pants super tight, so he had to squirm to take the small jewelry box out of his pocket.

  “It’s not rich, but . . .”

  Charlie held the box out to her. She set the box on her hand and looked down at it. She was looking at the box when Charlie remembered what he wanted to say.

  “I wanted you to know that I care about you,” Charlie said. “Whatever happens, wherever you go, I care. There’s a lot of hard stuff we have to do, but this way, you’ll have something to help you remember that at least one person really cares just about you.”

  Tink opened the box to find a small gold heart on a chain. She flushed bright red and her eyes filled with tears.

  “Plus you can take off your Saint Jude,” Charlie said. “He didn’t really care about you.”

  Tink hugged him tight. He lost focus and felt some wetness in his underwear. He cleared his throat and she smiled. He could never pull anything over on Tink. He grinned.

  “Will you help?” Tink asked.

  “Sure,” he said.

  He helped her take off the old Saint Jude pendant and put on the new shiny gold heart.

  “How does it look?” Tink asked.

  The heart sat in the hollow of her neck. Between the smile on her face and the heart, Tink looked very pretty. When Charlie told her so, she got teary again. She hugged him.

  “There you are!” Sissy said. “You have to come up.”

  Charlie sneered at her.

  “Ivy’s in trouble,” Sissy said. “She got super upset and argued with her aunt and . . . You just have to come.”

  Charlie looked at Tink and she nodded. He let Tink go first so he could adjust himself.

  “Did you see what I got?” He heard Tink ask Sissy as they went up the stairs.

  Sissy squealed and clapped the way she did when she was happy.

  Charlie smiled. He hadn’t remembered quite the right thing to say, but Tink was happy anyway.

  That felt really good.

  Chapter Two Hundred and Forty-Three

  Honest Life

  Saturday morning—9:12 a.m.

  “The property ends just over here.” Jacob pointed to a dirt road on the rise ahead of them.

  Jacob, Aden, and Sam were walking Jacob’s farmland to get a feel for whether moving the large construction project made sense. Sam and Delphie had returned on an early plane so that Sam could participate in this review. Jacob glanced at his father. He was glad Sam had made it.

  Sissy, Tink, Wanda, Ivy, Charlie, Nash, and Teddy were flying kites in the middle of the autumn-bare field in front of the house. From where men stood, the children looked like an oil painting against the bright fall sky.

  “We can see the whole expanse from right here,” Jacob said.

  He turned around and gestured to the fields and houses behind him.

  “The farms on either side are for sale,” Aden said.

  “I’m sure everything went up for sale the moment we started the other project,” Sam said. “Most small farmers have one foot out the door.”

  “If they can get top dollar, why not sell?” Jacob shrugged.

  “Would you buy?” Aden asked.

  “I wouldn’t be able to swing it,” Jacob said. “With everything—and the babies coming—we’re pretty tapped out right now.”

  “We could probably put our resources together,” Sam said. “Get Val and . . .”

  “Just more to do,” Jacob said. “Don’t you think we have enough to do?”

  Sam and Aden turned to look at him. Jacob shrugged. They turned their backs to the open fields and looked at the homes. The oldest son of the Amish family on the nearest farm came out of the barn with a pail of milk. They watched the young man carry the milk to the house. Jill opened the door. From where they stood, they could tell Jill made a fuss. The boy turned to go back, but Sissy yelled to him. He nodded and went back to the barn. A few minutes later, the older boy came out with two kites and four younger siblings. The kids joined the teenagers.

  “I always wanted this life,” Aden said.

  Jacob turned to look at him.

  “A quiet, safe place to raise my kids,” Aden said. “No gang rape or whatever. Just land, a farm, someone to love . . .”

  “Open air and sunshine,” Sam said.

  “Wake up, deal with what’s right in front of you, work all day, back to bed at sundown,” Jacob said. “Sounds like bliss.”

  The men watched the kids play. The oldest Amish boy laughed at something Sissy said. He responded and Sissy laughed.

  “It’s a way of life,” Jacob said. “Maybe that’s what gets me.”

  Aden and Sam turned to look at him. Jacob collected his thoughts.

  “This way of life seems so much better than what we do—get up at the crack of dawn, work until your brain is oozing out of your ears only to have people tell you what a spoiled and lazy son of a bitch you are.”

  “Honest,” Sam said. “It seems like a more honest way to live.”

  Jacob nodded.

  “Would you move out here?” Aden asked.

  “Jill says she’d move,” Jacob nodded. “But, honestly, I can’t imagine it.” He shrugged.

  “I am what I am,” Jacob said. “I’m the guy who works until my brain oozes out of my head. If it’s not Lipson, it would just be something else.”

  “I was going to say that we could join you,” Aden said. “It would be really good for our boys to spend their summers on a farm like this, and . . .”

  Aden scowled and turned back to watch the kids.

  “And?” Sam asked.

  “Charlie’s going to have to get out of town,” Aden said. “No one’s said it yet but . . . After talking to Bumpy, we decided to let Sissy take a ballet contract and Charlie . . .”

  Aden shook his head.

  “The kid only tried to help,” Aden said. “He saw those girls and . . .”

  Aden shook his head.

  “It’s like he’s doomed,” Aden said. “Doomed to live on the streets; doomed to live in the shadows . . .”

  Sam put his hand on Aden’s shoulder.

  “You weren’t doomed,” Sam said. “Why should Charlie be?”

  Aden scowled.

  “What’s that?” Jacob pointed to a battered, orange work truck as it pulled off the road and stopped. A burly man wearing overalls got out.

  “Wade?” the man yelled.

  “We should go,” Jacob said.

  Jacob ran down the hill with Aden and Sam behind him. He saw Sissy push Wanda behind her and Charlie come between the man and Sissy. The Amish kids edged back toward their house.

  “What’s going on here?” Jacob asked.

  “I just want to talk to my son,” the man said. “And this kid won’t . . .”

  “It’s okay, Charlie,” Aden said. “We’ve got this.”

  “But he . . .” Charlie started.

  “Why don’t we head back into the house?” Sam asked. “Sandy was baking when we left. I bet she has something wonderful waiting for us.”

  Jacob’s eyes fell on Wanda. Her face was blot
chy and her eyes fixed on the ground. She clasped her hands in front of her. Jacob could see that if she could erase her existence, she most certainly would. She looked at him and then ran to catch up with Tink.

  “I don’t get to see my kid,” the man was telling Aden . “I haven’t seen him in three years. I was driving to work and I saw him and . . .”

  The man tried to get around Aden.

  “Wade?” The man’s voice was almost as desperate as Wanda looked. The man turned to Jacob. “You’re that rich kid, that Jake Lipson, right?”

  “I’m Jacob,” he said. “What can I do for you?”

  “You’re running that job down the road, aren’t you?” the man said. “I’m on the plumbing crew.”

  “We run the job,” Jacob said. “This is Aden Norsen and my father, Sam Lipson.”

  Jacob gestured to Sam, who was walking back from dropping the kids at the house.

  “I don’t want any trouble,” the man said. “I just want to see my kid. He’s had a lot of problems and I didn’t handle it really well. I mean, when I was a kid we didn’t talk about problems. I thought if I was tough with him, he’d toughen up—like my Dad was tough with me. But his mom . . . I . . . I just want to see my kid.”

  Wanda made it to the house before turning in place. She ran across the field toward the men. Sissy and Tink took off after her, but Wanda was too fast. Her dad barely had a moment before Wanda hugged him tight.

  “I . . .” the man said. “Oh.”

  Wanda let go. She met Sissy and Tink in the field and the girls ran to the house. The dumbfounded men could only watch.

  “He’s always been the sweetest kid,” the man gave an exaggerated sniff.

  “He’s a she now,” Jacob said.

  “I read that in the report the ex has to send me.” The man nodded. “You think he’ll get over that?”

  “No,” Sam said.

  The man nodded.

  “Is that a problem?” Sam asked.

  “Who cares?” the man asked. “That’s what I said the first time his mom talked to me about it. I don’t care if he wants to be a girl or a boy or a Martian. But . . . That was definitely not the right thing to say.”

  Jacob and Aden smiled.

  “Listen,” the man said. “You should know, there’s something going down on that project.”