Strangely Normal

by Oliver, Tess

  I squinted up. “You weren’t kidding about the sun shining on it.”

  “This whole pool heats up like a bathtub in August. It actually gets too hot to swim. That’s when my dad likes to go in.” Her phone buzzed and she pulled it from her pocket. “Speaking of Dad.” Her long row of earrings pinged against the phone as she pressed it to her ear. “Hey, Daddy, what’s up?” She paused. “Yes, she’s here.” Finley smiled at me. “I think it’ll be great. Auntie made a good choice.”

  Her words helped bolster some of the confidence I’d lost after meeting her brother. Even though I’d definitely suffered some feelings of homesickness throughout the morning, I needed this adventure. I needed to be on my own and away from my highly dependent family for awhile. My college and my future had been put on hold, but I was sure this would prove to be a learning experience. And the money would at least help pay for city college this fall. Without any mode of transportation, my summer job prospects were going to be limited to the mini mart or fast food restaurants. I looked around at the park-like surroundings and the resort style pool. No matter what twists and turns this job took, it would definitely be better than standing over a counter folding burritos.

  “Don’t stay up too late, Dad, and take the vitamins I sent with you. Love you, bye.” She grunted as she hung up the phone. “Sometimes I feel like the parent.”

  I laughed. “I know exactly what you mean. Hey, do you think I could use your phone to call my parents? I just want to let them know everything is great. Is there a number I could give them to reach me at if they need me for something?”

  She handed me her phone. “Of course. They can use my number. I’ve always got my phone on me—” she smiled. “In case my dad needs me for something.”

  “We really have to get our dads together,” I said. “Something tells me they’d get along perfectly.” As I made the call, a statuesque woman with auburn hair and high cheekbones strutted behind us out toward the pool house. Finley glanced back at her and the woman looked our way, but there was no greeting or acknowledgement exchanged. Like Jude, she disappeared into the pool house.

  “Hey, Mom, it’s me.”

  “Eden, I miss you already.”

  I could hear Janie crying in the background. “Is Janie all right?”

  “Yes, she and Sophie were fighting over a toy. Sophie has been a total grump since you left. How is it?”

  “Great. I’m having fun.” With Finley sitting right next to me, I couldn’t go into much detail. Mom would have loved to hear about it too. “I wanted to leave a number in case you need me.”

  “You call us if you need to come home,” Mom said with a wishful hitch in her voice. “Dad’s out looking for a job, but I’ll tell him you called.”

  “Kiss the girls for me. Bye, Mom.” I hung up. “My poor Mom. She sounds like someone who just lost her best friend. I guess in a way it’s true. My sisters are cute, but their conversation topics are rather limited.”

  Finley smiled. “How old are they?”

  “Sophie is six and Janie is four. I love them, but I confess, it’ll be nice to hang with people my age for a change.”

  “Good.” Finley relaxed her head back against the chair and turned her face to the sun. “Then this should work out well.”

  I looked back at the pool house. There was no sign of Jude or the woman who went inside. There was no way a guy like him would stick around once he was off house arrest. “Yeah, it should be great.”

  Chapter 6

  Finley and I had spent the rest of the afternoon deep in girl talk. Cole had returned from the hospital dazed and sleepy on pain medication. He’d gone straight up to his room, and Jude hadn’t emerged from the pool house again. I could only assume that the woman was his girlfriend, but Finley never said anything and it was none of my business to ask. Aside from the tension with Jude the day had gone well.

  I reached across the counter for the bottle of red pepper flakes and sprinkled some more on my slice of pizza. “You’re right; these flakes do add a certain touch of diner-like elegance to a frozen pizza.”

  Finley wiped the side of her mouth with her pinky. “Told you so. Of course, if it weren’t for Jude and his inability to turn off the charms and magnetism,” she quipped, “we’d be eating some awesome quiche or cheese soufflé right now. Tanya was a talented chef.”

  I lifted my brow at her. “Seriously?”

  “Well, except for that whole spit thing.”

  I laughed. “I can just imagine your brother’s face when he walked in on that. Lucky for him his timing was good.”

  We both fell silent and simultaneously put our pizza slices down. “Lost my appetite, how about you?” Finley asked.

  “Yeah, I think I’m done too.”

  Tiny hooves clattered across the kitchen floor, and Some Pig trotted from around the counter where Finley had poured some food into a dish. He stared up at us and wiggled his snout a couple of times.

  “All done with dinner?” Finely leaned down and kissed the tip of his head. “Sleep tight.”

  Then Some Pig turned and trotted out of the kitchen, curly tail raised high in the air.

  “Dinner always makes him sleepy,” Finley explained.

  “Was his earring inspired by a pirate movie?” I asked.

  “No, but at the farm they’d tagged his ear, and he had an ugly hole there to remind him of the awful place he came from. So I put an earring in one day just for fun. Man, did he squeal like a pig when I tried to take it back out.”

  “I think it suits him.

  “Apparently, he thinks so too.” She picked up the plates and put them in the sink. “Hey, I know,” she said enthusiastically, “let’s go down to the theater and watch a horror flick. Ooh, let’s watch the original Halloween.”

  “Is that the creep in the hockey mask?”

  “Wrong psycho. But I think the Michael Myer’s mask is even creepier.”

  “Sounds fun. I don’t see many movies, and when I do, there are talking starfish and singing mermaids. But I’ve got to ask— are all of your pets feeling content with their names right now?”

  Finley smiled and took my arm to lead me down to the theater. “I think they’re all satisfied at the moment, but I don’t blame you for asking. I once had a parrot and after one night in the theater, he insisted we call him Hannibal.”

  We stopped in front of a shiny silver door. “You have an elevator. There’s a friggin’ elevator in your house.”

  Finley tapped the down button three times and the doors opened. “Kind of eccentric, I agree.” We stepped inside and the door slid shut. “And now for your listening pleasure— elevator music.” She hummed loudly and I joined her until my laughter prevented it. After an extremely short journey down, the door slid open. I followed her down a dimly lit hallway to a set of ornately carved wooden doors. She pushed a switch and the door opened.

  “Holy shit.” I looked around in awe. “I thought it would be a nice couch in front of one of those really big television sets. This is a theater. Actually, this is way nicer than any theater I’ve ever been in. And I’ll bet I won’t be leaving here with a piece of spitty licorice stuck to my butt or a candy wrapper on my shoe.”

  Finley started down the richly carpet aisle and pointed to a pair of seats in the front. “These have the best view.”

  I sat down in the plush chair. “And there won’t be any kids running between the rows or annoying people kicking my seat or rattling loud wrappers or crunching popcorn loudly.”

  Finley laughed. “Wow, you’ve really had some traumatic movie experiences.” She walked up to a control panel and pressed some buttons. The monitor in front of her lit up. “So is Halloween all right?”

  “Sure. I haven’t seen too many movies, so anything is good.”

  The movie started up and the surround sound shook the room. Finley sat next to me
and reached over to the arm of my chair. She hit a button and the chair reclined back as the legs lifted up. “There’s a popcorn machine if you want any snacks.”

  “I’m still full from pizza. This chair is so comfy, I could easily sleep in it.”

  “I fall asleep in here all the time.” She laughed. “One day, I came down here to watch a movie and halfway through I heard this weird snoring sound. I looked back over the seat. Cole was fast asleep in the chair behind me with a bowl of popcorn spilled across his chest. He’d slept in here all night, and I hadn’t even noticed him sitting there.” Her phone buzzed and she glanced at it and answered it. “What?” She rolled her eyes. “I’m in Paris standing on the Eifel Tower, where do you think I am, Sir Nosy? We’re in the theater.” She paused. “As I mentioned this morning, the lack of prepared food is your fault. It would figure the one time you decide to be virtuous had to be with the chef. Find your own dinner. We’re busy watching people get slashed.” She put down the phone. “Man, that boy is needy today. He needs to get that thing off his ankle before he drives me crazy.”

  “I guess he’s probably itching to get out of here, huh?” I had to make a concerted effort to dampen the hopefulness in my tone.

  “Yeah, Jude doesn’t like to stick around in one place too long. This house arrest has been killing him. The worst part is, he didn’t really do anything wrong. He took the fall for a friend.” She pointed at the screen. “This prologue, where they show Michael as a little boy, always creeps me out.”

  While it seemed there was a noble cause behind the ankle monitor, it seemed that I was not going to hear the whole story anytime soon. We rested back to enjoy the movie and were both poised to jump in fright as the theater door opened.

  Jude dropped into the seat next to me and instantly every muscle in my body tensed. “Damn, I forgot my hockey mask.”

  “Wrong psycho,” Finley and I said simultaneously.

  “Sorry, my mistake.”

  Finley leaned forward and shushed him loudly.

  “Yeah, you don’t want to miss any of the riveting dialogue in this flick,” Jude said. “Where’s the popcorn?”

  “Could you be any more annoying?” Finley asked.

  “I’m sure I could if I put some effort into it.”

  “Shhh.” I said to both of them. “This is a pivotal scene.”

  Finley’s phone rang. “Hey, Daddy.” She walked out of the theater leaving me completely alone with a serial killer and her brother. At the moment, I was opting for the guy in the mask.

  “You know, this isn’t going to be as easy as you imagined,” Jude said suddenly.

  I turned to face him. He stared at the screen for a moment. His profile couldn’t have been more perfect if it had been chiseled by Michelangelo. He turned to face me.

  “She’s in a good mood right now, but that can change in an instant. My sister doesn’t need a pal, she needs a doctor. But my dad is in denial. You might have thought that you landed a nice, cushy summer job, but it won’t be easy. Just hope you can handle it, Valley.”

  Quiet rage filled me with each of his words of warning. I decided we needed to get things out in the open now or I would be suffering his attacks constantly. “You don’t know anything about me or what I imagined.” I said quietly. “I’ve lived in squalid, flea-infested apartments, the backroom of a dry cleaner, and even the backseat of a van. I wake up every day and wonder if there will be any food in the cupboard. In school, I was the new kid more times than I can count on my fingers, and yet, I still managed to get into a university. But that dream was smashed by my parent’s lack of money.” I hated the waver in my voice, but I was angry enough to continue and he didn’t seem inclined to stop me. “I’ve slept on a mattress that had more fucking holes than the moon, and a day with hot water in my life is a day of wondrous luxury. Easy? I wouldn’t know easy if it slapped me in the face. I can handle it.”

  He stared at me without responding, but his expression was not contrite or empathetic. And I was glad of it. The last thing I’d wanted in spilling my embarrassing life story to him was his pity. My only motive was to let him know I wasn’t some spoiled, naïve twit from the valley, looking for easy cash. And from the intensity in his green eyes as he looked at me, it seemed I’d made my point.

  The door opened signaling Finley’s return. Jude didn’t pull his gaze from my face until his sister flopped into her chair. She seemed uncharacteristically quiet.

  “Is Dad all right?” Jude asked.

  One thing I’d discovered in my short time on the job, Nicky King’s kids adored him. It was something you didn’t always expect with movie stars and rock stars, but the man had obviously done something right during his wild years of fame.

  “He’s fine,” Finley answered. As I’d witnessed several times throughout our first day together, her demeanor had changed dramatically. I was certain she hadn’t heard the conversation I’d had with Jude, so it must have been something her dad had said. Maybe he’d decided against this whole thing. Even though I truly liked Finley, and while I never liked to fail at anything, after the charming exchange I’d just had with Jude, I wouldn’t be all that disappointed to leave.

  We leaned back and watched the movie without commentary for a stretch of tense silence and then my shoulders relaxed in relief when Jude stood and walked out of the theater without another word. Finley relaxed too, eventually, but it was obvious her tension had had more to do with the phone conversation than with Jude’s presence.

  We’d finished the movie and evening peacefully, or as peacefully as a horror movie could provide. We went upstairs to bed. Finley never divulged what had her upset, and I certainly never mentioned my tense chat with Jude. I decided not to fret about any of it and get a good night’s sleep to see what the next day would bring. I’d grown up living day to day, never quite knowing what was coming next, and that life skill was definitely going to come in handy on this adventure.

  Chapter 7

  After years of sleeping on a lumpy, sunken-in sofa mattress, the lush bed felt like floating on a cloud of cream. The entire house slept late, another luxury I had not been afforded while living with two little sisters. Early on Saturday mornings, as if they had tiny, perfectly synchronized alarm clocks in their heads, Janie and Sophie had made it a ritual to climb into bed with me to watch their favorite cartoons. Although I had to admit, I rather missed not waking up to Janie’s little foot sticking in my face.

  Finley’s mood had returned to bright and energetic, which was a relief. Even more relieving was that with the exception of the two dogs and Some Pig, we had the kitchen to ourselves. The pet trio had staked out spots on the kitchen floor, waiting patiently for a piece of scrambled egg to fly their way. Some Pig was especially adept at begging. He’d mastered the look of helpless, hungry beggar.

  Apparently, one day of rinsing plates had been enough for Finley. She dropped the skillet and dishes in to the sink and turned to me. “Let’s take a swim. I could use some color on my legs. Did you bring a suit?”

  I thought about the faded, one piece suit Mom had bought me from Goodwill for tenth grade swim class. I’d tucked it into my duffle bag, but I’d hoped I wouldn’t have to drag it out. “I brought one,” I said hesitantly.

  “Cool. Let’s go up and change.”

  I trudged behind her. Cole’s room was quiet, and my hopes were that both brothers would sleep through the afternoon. I dreaded being seen in my second-hand swimsuit.

  Finley had lent me a large, luxurious beach towel, and I wrapped myself up good before stepping into the hallway. One of the cats I’d seen swirling around Finley’s leg when I’d arrived was now sitting outside her bedroom door. I glanced in the direction of Cole’s room. Still no sound. The pain medication had most likely knocked him out for the day.

  Finley’s door opened and the cat shot inside. Some Pig trotted into the hallway with a snort. He was
wearing a Hawaiian print t-shirt. Even the pig was dressed better than me. Finley had no reason to hide under a towel. She had a perfect figure and her bright blue bikini fit her as if a tailor had custom sewn it for her. Now that I thought of it, that was more than likely the case.

  She looked at me and laughed. “Nice beach cover-up. I heard rumor that the towel look was coming back in Vogue.” She obviously sensed my embarrassment and stopped her teasing. “It can’t be that bad, Eden. Let me see.”

  Reluctantly, I opened the towel to reveal my wretched suit.

  Her mouth dropped. “I was wrong. It’s truly ugly.” I went to cover up again, but she grabbed my hand. “But no one would notice the suit because you have a drop dead figure to go under it. God, I would kill for those curves.”

  I pulled the top of the suit up to keep my breasts from spilling out. “I didn’t have quite so much boobage when I was in tenth grade. That’s when my mom bought this. So, not only is it hideous, but it’s out of date too.”

  We’d made the long journey through the maze of hallways without running into anyone only to meet Jude coming up the pathway from the pool house. His gaze drifted from my face down to my feet. “Nice towel.”

  “Thanks,” I said. “It’s the latest thing in swimwear.”

  A strong chemical odor clung to his ragged t-shirt, and I briefly worried that he might have been concocting illegal drugs in the pool house. I pushed the thought from my mind. He would, after all, be gone soon.

  Finley grabbed my hand and yanked me past him. We got to the lounges and Finley dropped her towel and lotion onto the cushion. “I just realized I haven’t been in yet this year.” Some Pig crawled beneath her lounge and curled up. Finley glanced at me and sighed. “You’re going to have to lose the towel some time.”

  “I know, I know.” I unwrapped myself and dropped the towel over the back of the lounge. I followed Finley to the pool entrance but then remembered I hadn’t removed my sandals. I hurried back to the lounge. Jude was still standing on the path. As if he’d been frozen to the spot, he stood stock still and stared at me openly. I quickly pushed off my sandals and scurried back to the water. I sank down below the surface and then peeked back over my shoulder. Jude was gone, and I released the breath I’d been holding.