Twist of Fate

by Sheri L. Brown

  “Awww,” Felicia said, as she read the note attached to the bottle, “to the happy couple.”

  Skylar downed her second glass of Champagne before the driver had pulled into traffic. She couldn’t believe she was with her live-in girlfriend, in New York, drinking an amazing bottle of Champagne.

  Felicia tapped on the driver’s window, “Hey, can you take us down to Christopher Street? I’ll let you know when you can open the door for us to get out.”

  She tapped the window again for the driver to put it back up and poured Skylar a glass of Champagne. Skylar was so ready for Felicia in the moment, forgetting about being irritated back at Evan and Robin’s apartment. She felt her head spin and relaxed into the cool leather. She was certain life didn’t get better than this. An older woman was showing her the ropes and she was sure she would explode in her excitement.

  Felicia’s regular hang-out was predictably packed. She grabbed Skylar by the hand and dragged her around the line of people waiting to get in.

  “I know the owner,” She turned around and smiled at Skylar.

  They went upstairs to the bar and ordered drinks. Skylar leaned her back into the bar and held up each of their drinks before handing one to Felicia.

  “To clowning and drinking!” Felicia exclaimed.

  “And limos!’ Skylar exclaimed.

  Skylar wasn’t embarrassed by the clown make-up, but she couldn’t wrap her mind around making out with a clown. So she gently asked Felicia to wash her face in the bathroom once they found a table. They drank, danced and kissed into the night. Skylar didn’t want to tell Felicia, but she had never been to a bar in the city before. She was glad that the guys were more interested in other guys, so they could spend time partying without getting hit on. Although, she thought, maybe they were being ignored because Felicia was still in most of her costume. Skylar loved that she didn’t care. She never met anyone who was so cool and sure of herself.

  Felicia leaned into Skylar, “You look really hot tonight, Skye. Some of the ladies have been checking you out… and you’re all mine. I swear I could fall in love with you.”

  Skylar thought she looked hot, too, but it was really nice to hear it from someone else. No one had ever talked to her like this before and she was really excited about it. She had developed a reputation in high school for being outspoken and she had always thought of herself as comfortable in her own skin, but Felicia took it to a new level. Skylar realized she was a superstar from a little po-dunk town in upstate New York and Felicia was a really fucking cool chick from lower Manhattan. Skylar was too wasted to think about the consequences of what Felicia just said and really didn’t think about what she should say.

  “I think I could fall in love with you, too, Felicia.”

  “Let’s go home, I want to make love to you.”

  Felicia threw cash on the table to cover the drinks and grabbed Skylar by the hand. Skylar couldn’t believe no one looked at them for being gay or for Felicia being a clown. Adrenaline pumped through her veins as they climbed back into the limo and headed home. Skylar felt free.

  ~~~~

  Claire hung out with Candy late into the night waiting for Skylar to show up. She finally called Rachel and explained that she had found Felicia’s apartment and was waiting for her and Skylar to come home. It didn’t make sense for Claire to leave when Skylar would have to return eventually. Rachel was surprisingly laid back about Claire hanging out in the village alone. Claire explained she was staying with a neighbor, a single woman with cats across the hall, and that seemed to satisfy her grandmother.

  “That’s fine,” she had said, “just don’t let her give you any drugs or take advantage of you, you know, sexually.”

  Claire chuckled and told Rachel not to worry, the eccentric woman with the cats was harmless. In some weird way, Claire was happy to be there, despite the circumstances. Candy talked about things in a way that Claire had always wanted to do, but didn’t feel comfortable. Talk of past lives, spiritual guides and tarot cards filled the conversation.

  “Candy, can I ask you something?”

  “Sure, honey, ask away. I’m not what you might call ‘a private person’.”

  Claire laughed when Candy raised her fingers to denote the single quotes around her words.

  “Well,” Candy said, “I’m not. Why be private and have pretenses about things? What did you want to ask me, Claire?”

  “Well, I was wondering what you did for a living?”

  Claire looked around Candy’s apartment. It was small, but clean. There was fresh paint on the walls and the appliances were new. The apartment building certainly wasn’t the slum she had conjured up in her mind on the way over. Candy must have been doing all right in order to live here, Claire thought.

  “Well, I’m a Jane of all trades, I guess you could say. I’m a little bit of an entrepreneur, you know. I give readings to people, I paint and draw and actually sell some of my work and I teach yoga. When I’m not doing all of that I make calendars for people, but I use only animals.”

  “You use only animals?” Claire asked, “What do you mean?”

  “Well, I photograph people’s pets and make regular calendars, but I also photoshop their pets and make them do things, like housework or yoga or different kinds of sports… it makes a great gift!”

  Candy laughed and moved her head up and down, indicating that everything she had said totally jived. Claire thought Candy was really cool.

  “Hey, Candy, since I’m sitting here waiting, I’ll puff on that joint now, if you don’t mind.”

  “I don’t mind at all, honey.”

  Claire flicked the lighter and held its flame up to the end of the already-burned joint. She pulled the smoke into her lungs until she couldn’t hold it in any longer. She coughed a little before handing it back to Candy.

  “Nice,” Candy said, “you should feel little something from that… so, Claire Sinclair, you have the name of someone famous, do you know that?”

  Claire laughed, “Oh, now I get it… when you said you did readings, you meant psychic readings. Are you really psychic?”

  “Are you not psychic?” Candy laughed.

  “Well, actually, I’m a little psychic I think sometimes, but I don’t think I could do what you do.”

  “I knew you had it in you… anyway, I really do think you’re going to be famous someday. That’s what my guides are telling me. But they’re not saying what that means. And they keep talking about baseball. Do you play baseball, Claire?”

  “No, but I know someone who does. That’s soooo weird.”

  Claire could tell by how she was talking that the pot had kicked in. It was enough to make her feel happy and really thoughtful about things. She felt incredibly content being exactly where she was in the moment. Candy’s apartment suddenly lit up with its random mix of collectibles sitting on small tables and disparate pieces of art hanging from the walls. Claire had noticed the room when she first arrived, but everything had become particularly fascinating in the last few minutes. She wondered if Candy had painted most of the pictures.

  “Well, then the person you know is going to be recognized for playing baseball. I’m glad it’s not you, you don’t look like a baseball girl… if there are any, anyhow.”

  “Wow, Candy, I’ve never talked to a psychic before. This is really cool,” Claire said.

  “You don’t need me for this, Claire, you have your own tendencies and I know you know that already.”

  “Well, I do, I just have never talked so openly about any of this before. I mean, people just don’t talk like this, you know? I’m really glad I met you, Candy. I feel like I have so many things I want to ask you… not things necessarily about my life in a psychic sort of way, but about your life, too. I feel like we could be friends.”

  Candy smiled, “I feel the same way. And my guides told me about you as soon as Skylar showed up across the hall. So, we’re supposed to know each other.”

  “Right on,” Claire could hea
r herself say. She liked the new part of herself she uncovered in Candy’s apartment.

  Claire talked to Candy while periodically checking through the peephole for a sign of life across the hallway. They ordered Chinese take-out and opened a couple of bottles of beer. Claire found out the bruises on Candy’s arm were from helping a friend move the other day and the smudges of dirt patches on her body were, in fact, paint. Claire was relieved. She really liked Candy and could be open-minded about a lot of things in a new friendship, but track marks were most likely a deal-breaker for her. She didn’t think she was better than a druggie, she just didn’t think she’d have that much in common with someone who needed heroin on a regular basis.

  Claire told Candy about Zia Regina and their connection with Italy and all things Catholic. And Claire confessed that despite her connection to Regina and all the ways in which she loved the Catholic Church, that it was time to move on and discover other spiritual things in the world.

  “Well, I get that,” Candy said as she sipped her beer, “I mean, I wasn’t really raised with any religion. It felt weird to not have any identity in a religious sense growing up, like most of my friends, but my parents were really cool about letting me read and learn whatever I felt like… in all ways, but definitely from a spiritual perspective. And they were cool when they realized I was psychic.”

  Claire’s thought process was interrupted by commotion from across the hallway. She had so many more questions for Candy and she also wanted to find out more about alternative ways of thinking and being in the world. In some strange way, Claire was grateful to Skylar for running away to New York with Felicia, otherwise she wouldn’t be exactly where she was.

  “Hey, Candy, I hear someone across the hall.”

  Claire got up and peered through the peephole. She didn’t think twice about opening up the locks on the door and bursting out to see Skylar.

  “Skye!” Claire exclaimed.

  Skylar turned around in disarray, “Clairebear? What the hell are you doing here?”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Felicia looked irritated. Candy stood in the door of her apartment and watched everything go down. She and Felicia were acquaintances at best. There was something about her that Candy was unsure about, but she didn’t get any strong psychic vibe about her either way, yet the feeling remained. Felicia may have come across as being certain of who she was, but Candy couldn’t help but notice Felicia never made eye contact with her. And for Candy, this was a problem. It was actually more like a red flag—she either had low self-esteem or she was hiding something.

  “Oh, look, Claire’s been hanging with the psychic cat lady,” Felicia said.

  “She’s a cat psychic?” Skylar asked, “That’s totally crazy.”

  The effect of the marijuana had made its way out of Claire’s system at this point and she couldn’t help but notice that Skylar seemed to be a million miles away aside from her obvious level of intoxication. It was more like Felicia had drugged her or brainwashed her something.

  Claire spoke first, “Well, isn’t it obvious why I’m here? You left home without saying a word to anyone. I’ve been trying to call and text you and you haven’t responded.”

  “I somehow left my phone at Felicia’s parents’ house and I didn’t realize it until tonight.”

  A forlorn look briefly passed over Skylar’s face and Claire didn’t miss it. She took a step forward to gently approach her sister.

  “Look, Claire, this is where she wants to be, so maybe you need to back off,” Felicia said as she moved her body in between Skylar and Claire, “maybe deep down she left her phone so no one could find her.”

  Claire reassessed the situation. Her first reaction was to shove Felicia out of her space. She turned around and looked at Candy, not for guidance or necessarily for support, but more like a momentary breather to gain perspective or wisdom or something. Surely their conversation about all things esoteric could offer her… she promptly turned back around to face Felicia. She tried not to laugh at the absurdity of Felicia acting tough in her disheveled clown costume. It was all Claire could do not to say anything. Maybe Felicia was being a smug asshole because she was equally as wasted.

  “Look, Felicia, I’m not going to play games with you and I’m certainly not going to fight with you. This really has nothing to do with you, actually, so maybe you need to back off. Skylar needs to come home with me.”

  “Why are you talking about me like I’m not here, Claire?” Skylar asked in a combined tone of both angst and tipsiness.

  “Skye, I’m sorry about everything, okay? But I can’t believe this is the way you want things to be. You were already given permission by Mom and Dad to move to the city to finish high school, to live with Rachel and see Felicia… whenever. And you just left? Think of Mom and Dad, for Christ’s sake.”

  “Look at you getting into Manhattan and taking the Lord’s name in vain, Claire, aren’t you so hip,” Skylar seethed in response.

  Claire couldn’t believe she was going to have to be the grown-up in the situation, which was bullshit. She wanted to be footloose and fancy free, too. Skylar always got what she wanted and Claire always sorted everything out. Claire didn’t even mention the crap Skylar pulled enrolling herself in a public high school behind Sarah’s and Rachel’s backs.

  Claire looked at Skylar and tried to connect with her. They were sisters, best friends and inseparable Irish twins. Claire wondered how Felicia could have changed everything for them so quickly. It didn’t make sense. None of this made sense. Claire took a deep breath and tried to get a grip on the bigger picture. Her heart hurt.

  “Look, Skye, I don’t know why you’re so angry, but I didn’t come down here to steal you away or tell you what to do. I came to tell you Zia died in her sleep over the weekend and the services are in a couple of days. Maybe once you sober up you can call me. I’ll be at Rachel’s until Tuesday morning.”

  Claire became silent. Candy reached out and gently placed her hand on her shoulder. It was a much needed gesture for Claire in the moment. She thought she was going to fall apart. Claire couldn’t recall Felicia being so entirely indignant and hateful in the few times she was around back home. Yes, she was cavalier and inappropriate. She had to chalk it up to them being drunk. None of it made sense.

  Claire turned and smiled before walking back into Candy’s apartment and grabbing her things.

  “Thank you for everything, Candy, it was nice meeting you and I’d like to catch up with you again... maybe under better circumstances.”

  Candy pulled Claire in and gave her a hug, “You be good to yourself, Claire. And yes, we’ll see each other again, I’m certain of that.”

  Claire turned to Skylar, who was falling over in the doorway of Felicia’s apartment, “I love you, Skye. I’ll see you around? Maybe we can get together when you’re up to it.”

  As soon as Claire got out onto the street, she began sobbing uncontrollably. She texted Rachel and let her know she was on her way home. It had to be at least two o’clock in the morning. There was no way Claire was going to find a cab at this hour. Within seconds Rachel texted to let her know her driver would be coming.

  Ben was there in less than ten minutes and Claire was relieved. She wanted to act cool and walk home alone late at night, but her common sense got the best of her.

  The ten minute window gave Claire time to get herself together and stop hyperventilating. She couldn’t help but wonder what Felicia’s fucking deal was with Skylar and that she could be so enamored. She normally didn’t get that way about anyone. She wondered if it was their age difference. Skylar had been mentioning how tiresome it got to be around people her own age. Or maybe Felicia had convinced her in one way or another that she was so spectacular that she should be put on a pedestal. It was difficult for Claire to wrap her mind around because Skylar had only been with boys pre-Felicia. But looking back on it now, Claire understood why Skylar wouldn’t have put any boy on a pedestal. She didn’t have that tendency
.

  Felicia was older and wiser, supposedly, lived in the City and was so hip it was either cool or tacky, depending on who was doing the looking. Felicia had hit on Skylar at exactly the right time in her life.

  One thing was certain, the clown outfit alone would have made the old Skylar run in the opposite direction from someone like Felicia. Claire wondered if the transition of her coming out put her in enough of a funk that she wanted to rebel against her old life in every way possible, even it if meant compromising who she was for someone like Felicia— an over-opinionated blowhard. Skylar was exceptionally smart and equally as kind hearted. Her behavior wasn’t making any sense. But Claire knew if she wanted to have a relationship with her, she’d have to deal with Felicia. She hoped she could pull it off. She’d have to.

  “Hi, Ben, sorry to make you come out so late. It won’t happen again.”

  “Hey, it’s all right, Claire, it’s what I’m here for.”

  “Late night tonight, Ms. Sinclair?” the doorman said as he let Claire through the doors.

  “Yeah, a little” Claire smiled.

  Claire was shocked to see Rachel up and around when she got off the elevator. She looked around the apartment and was awestruck by the view of the city at night. She felt her shoulders relax.

  “Okay, so what the hell happened?” Rachel asked while puffing from her starlet cigarette holder. She had a deep purple velvet eye mask on the top of her head and a matching nightgown and robe.

  “Ugh, Rachel, I don’t know. It’s a total blur.”

  “Just start from the beginning, sweetie.”

  “Well, I can tell you what went down, but it doesn’t change the fact that she didn’t come home with me.”

  Claire told Rachel the whole story without leaving out any of the details as Rachel puffed away on one cigarette after another.