by Destiny Webb
He was in Charles’s face at this point and everyone in the room was still around them. Charles didn’t break Brian’s glare as he took a step, pushing him back. “You better watch who you’re talking to.” He smirked slightly at Brian’s step back, before disturbingly addressing him pompously. “Well, since she is so…talented…she can do it all on her own, and she can say goodbye to her college fund.”
“What?!” I gasped, almost losing my balance. I looked over to my mom for some kind of reassurance, some kind of back up, only to find her staring at him with a confused, angry look. Brian was shocked, obviously feeling as if it was his fault.
“Since you’re so smart, you can figure it out, right?”
“So, what? You’re gonna take my money and run back home to Becky for an ‘emergency meeting’?”
“Samantha. That’s enough!”
I turned to my mother, stunned at her scolding. She had on her lawyer, poker face. Unsure of what to do next and filled with anger and fear, I looked around at the people in the room. Sean took a step forward and put his hands on my shoulders, steadying my shaking arms. Charles looked from me, back to my brother.
“And for the record, I’m not going anywhere, because ‘Big Family Oriented Hot Shots’ don’t leave their family for work. Especially their children.”
Knowing the sarcasm in his voice, the emphasis on children made the hair on my arms stand on end. I glared defiantly at him, worried about my near future and its own financial status.
“Samantha,” my mother cut in, her eyes not leaving my stepfather. “Go change please…you’re dripping all over the hardwood floors.”
***
The night honestly should have ended there. I rather wished it would have. This was exactly why Brian and I ignored our birthday. Something bad like this always happened.
The time until dinner passed ridiculously slowly. Quiet and withdrawn from the conversation, I sat in the family room with Brian, Alisha, Cara, and Sarah. Sean was sitting next to me, his arms wrapped around me protectively.
No one dared to mention the incident, but I could tell that Brian was mad about it and that he was worried about me. Every few minutes, his eyes would flash to me and his legs never stopped bouncing, the way they always did whenever he was angry. I knew he felt responsible for my college fund, but he was just being protective and I wasn’t about to blame him for that.
If we were being honest, I was worried as well. Knowing that I wouldn’t be financially strapped, I hadn’t applied for any scholarships or any kind of aid because I didn’t want to take it from people who were less fortunate. Always focusing on school, I didn’t have a job. Any form of work I did was volunteer work. I sighed and Sean rubbed my back soothingly, kissing the top of my head.
“It’ll be okay Sammy,” he whispered. “I promise.”
I smiled half-heartedly when Mr. W walked in and announced that dinner was ready. We all got up and made our way out to the porch. The table was set and different trays of food were set up on the table. Air thick with tension, we all sat down. Mr. W brought in a tray of hot dogs and hamburgers and served them. Mrs. W carried in a big bowl of mac n’ cheese, and I almost laughed in spite of myself at the ridiculous scene laid in front of me. It was such an all American meal for such a screwed up family. We fixed our plates in stony silence.
“Dad, would you pass the ketchup please?” I asked, breaking the silence. Ignoring me, he continued to finish his plate as if I hadn’t spoken at all.
“Charles, would you please pass me the ketchup?” I said, a little sharper.
“Cassie,” he requested lightly, continuing to ignore me. “Would you pass Samantha the ketchup?”
“No, I will not.”
“Cassandra,” Mrs. W warned.
“Don’t ‘Cassandra’ me. I don’t even know why I’m here.”
I blushed crimson, freezing in my seat.
“It’s not as if I like either of them. She’s a little home wrecking skank, and he’s a nosy know it all, and neither of them can mind their own damn business.”
“Cassandra Eileen. What is wrong with you?! I am appalled at your behavior. You apologize this instant.”
“Not even,” she replied, standing up from her seat and throwing her napkin on her plate. “I’m out of here.”
And with that, she was gone.
The rest of dinner was completely silent. Presents and cake were falsely cheery. I sat through each of them wishing that they would end so I could go be by myself somewhere and cry. Finally, after the piles of presents, the clothes and jewelry, and the things for my dorm room—that I didn’t know if I would even have—were gone, I was free to escape.
I hid out on the front porch, and told Sean that I just wanted to be by myself; begrudgingly, he let me go.
I sat down on the front steps, bringing my knees to my chin; resting my head down, the tears flowed down my cheeks. Listening to the jovial summer sounds, I watched the sun fall behind the mountains and the first summer stars start to glisten. Behind closed doors, the sounds of my parents fighting broke through the peace that the summer night was bringing me. I couldn’t understand what they were saying, but it wasn’t good. A short while later, the sound of an engine disturbed the quiet, and I watched as Mr. W and my father drove out towards the highway.
Soon after, my mom opened the creaky screen door. I glanced up at her behind me. Half smiling, she walked over to me.
“Mind if I sit?”
“No, go ahead Mom.”
She sat next to me and wrapped her arm around me, leaning my head on her shoulder. It was the closest mother-daughter moment we had had in years. Stroking my hair, she kissed the top of my head.
“I’m sorry your birthday wasn’t spectacular, honey. I wanted it to be special for good reasons. Not this…this wasn’t supposed to happen.”
“I don’t get it though, Mom. Why didn’t you say something?” I sat up and looked at her, a new batch of tears rolling down my cheeks. “I mean, he’s taking away my college fund, and you just…you just stood there.”
“Sweetheart.” She wiped the tears off of my cheek. “There is a time and a place for every fight, and that wasn’t the time or the place. Your college fund is fine, baby. It’s not going anywhere.”
“What do you mean?” I sniffed.
“Charles has never deposited a single penny to the college fund. The checks were joint checks, but I deposited them into accounts for the three of you that were only accounts in your names for the three of you; my name is the only other name on them, and now that you are all of age, they will be solely in your names. Charles believed that simply because he wrote the checks, that it was only his money to give.”
I sat there in silence, soaking up this new information, joy spreading through me.
“Charles and I are splitting up, Samantha.”
“What?” I choked out disbelievingly. I wasn’t exactly opposed to it, but I never imagined they would split up.
“He’s not coming back up. Mr. W is dropping him off and then returning. We’re going to take this time away from each other to think about what we really want.”
“Wow. Why?”
“I won’t let anyone talk to my children that way. You guys are my babies. If he thinks he can treat you like that, then he’s got another think coming to him.”
“Do you think a week will really be enough time to tell?” I asked gently.
“I don’t know honey. I think he already has his mind made up.”
Not knowing how to reply, I simply put my arms around my mom. I had never known this mama bear defensive side of her. It was a new thing to me and took me off guard. It showed her in a new light. I felt like there was going to be a new beginning, a reparation of burnt bridges coming. And as I sat there in my mother’s arms, the summer night settling back into its peace, I felt safe, and I knew that I had someone in my corner.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
My mother’s strength about the separation slowly willowed
away. Over the next few days she spent a lot of time in her room, or doing what Mrs. W called “therapy baking.” There were cakes, cookies, brownies, and cupcakes all over the kitchen and dining room. It seemed as if we were eating pastries for meals.
Now, sitting at the table in the family room spreading cookie and brownie crumbs all over the Monopoly board, Cara, Alisha, Sarah, Brian, and I were preparing for an epic, raging war, all thanks to Brian’s wonderful idea: staying inside for the day since it looked like a storm was brewing outside.
“Hey guys. What’s going on?” Sean asked, walking up behind me and rubbing my shoulders, kissing the top of my head. I smiled to myself.
“Well, I am getting ready to beat the pants off of them. Care to join?”
“Thanks, but I think I’ll sit out on this particular blood bath. I’m going out with my dad. But beat ‘em good for me, baby.” He leaned down and kissed me. When he pulled back, I smiled up at him, a smile that I knew had to be some goofy one, a smile which he easily returned before standing up.
“No. Way. I can’t believe I didn’t see this,” Brian said slowly.
“See what?” I asked, looking around.
“Oh my God. You’re right. And she didn’t tell me!” Cara agreed.
“Right about what?”
“Mhm,” Alisha added.
“That’s why they’ve been so giddy around each other lately,” Brian concluded.
Sean chuckled under his breath.
“I don’t get it. Right about what? What are you guys talking about?”
Sarah gave me one of those “you-know-what-I’m-talking-about” looks.
“Everyone seems to be under the impression Sam, that….” She paused. “That you and Sean, for lack of better terms, have done the ‘hokey pokey.’”
My jaw dropped and I felt my face turn crimson.
“So?” Brian pressed on.
“Uhh….”
Sean laughed and I looked up at him. He was giving Brian some look that I missed out on. Missing the full exchange, I was confused.
“I’ll…leave this to you, Sammy.” He chuckled again, kissing my cheek and walking away.
“Hey!” I protested. He turned and beamed at me one last time before heading off to join his dad. I turned back around in my chair and everyone was staring at me.
“What?” I hesitated.
“So…how was it?” Cara pushed.
“Uh…I don’t really want to talk about this.” I shifted uncomfortably in my chair. I felt like I was being ganged up on.
“Was it really that bad?” she teased.
“No,” I defended. “It was amazing. I just don’t feel right talking to all of you about it like this.”
Cara was about to say something else when Sarah interjected.
“C’mon guys. Leave her alone. Let’s play.”
“Yeah,” Brian agreed, joining in on Sarah’s rescue mission. “Someone needs to finally beat her.”
“Oh, that won’t happen,” I told them, grateful for a topic other than my night with Sean.
Moving on, we played the game. Why no one ever caught on to my strategy was beyond me. The only one who knew was Brian, and since he didn’t care about winning, he was usually my number one ally. I never went for the big properties. Boardwalk and Park Place were too much money and too much trouble. What good was a monopoly or even a property if you couldn’t put houses or hotels on them?
Before long, I owned the most properties, had a monopoly, and was in the process of buying houses.
“I would like to buy six houses,” I informed my brother, the banker.
“How is she doing this!?” Alisha asked no one in particular.
“We used to play all the time,” Sarah told her.
And we did. We used to spend hours, days even, playing Monopoly. On rainy days or when it was too hot to go outside, Sean, Brian, Sarah, and I would break out the board and play for hours on end until we were forced away from the game. When that happened, we would store the board underneath someone’s bed and pull it out the next time we had free time.
All of it started one rainy morning while we were searching for some kind of entertainment in the cabin, and stuffed in the back of one of the closets was Monopoly.
Today wasn’t much different. The sky was an ominous grey and it was extremely muggy. Rain threatened with each roaring clap of thunder. I had no idea why Mr. W, or even Sean for that matter, would ever want to go out in this weather.
“I will give you two railroads for Virginia Avenue,” Brian proposed to me. I considered it.
“Yeah,” I shrugged, popping a piece of a cookie in my mouth. “Why not?”
“Brian, baby, do you not see that she already owns half of the board, and that she has hotels and houses on almost all of it?”
“Yeah, I do, but it’s just a game Alisha. And I’m getting something to help me.”
He picked up the dice and went on with his turn, buying the last railroad.
Sarah rolled her eyes; she was such a good sport. Cara picked up the dice and rolled them, landing right on my highest light blue property, which had a hotel on it. She had the least amount of money, and no way would she be able to pay it off.
“You have got to be kidding me,” she groaned as she counted up all of her assets, which only equaled two-hundred thirty seven dollars. “Come on Sam.”
“It’s just a game Car.” I took another bite of my cookie.
“Ugh!” She tossed her stuff towards me and crossed her arms. I pulled the dice towards me and looked at Brian.
“What do you want for your other railroad?” I asked him.
“You don’t have anything I want.”
I picked up the last bite of my cookie and popped it in my mouth.
“Nothing at all?”
He looked down at the other two cookies sitting on my napkin.
“You could give me the rest of your cookies.”
“You want the rest of my cookies?” I laughed.
“You guys are really gonna make a deal about cookies?” Sarah cracked up.
I seriously considered his proposition. They were amazing cookies, and I didn’t want to get up and get more.
“Yeah, that is my intention. They were awesome cookies. I don’t want to get up to get some more,” Brian explained.
I laughed at the fact that my brother and I were on such similar wavelengths and handed the cookies over to him.
“Fine. Give me the railroad.”
He handed me the card and Alisha threw down her stuff.
“This is ridiculous. You guys aren’t even playing Monopoly anymore. You can’t trade cookies for property!”
“Aw, c’mon babe. Don’t be like that.”
“No. This isn’t fun anymore. I don’t want to play.”
With that, she got up and stormed out of the room. Brian looked at me with a whole cookie in his mouth.
“Shwood I go aftwer her?”
“Yes Brian, you should go after her. But beware of the cookie in your mouth. It will probably bring you misfortune and problems,” I snickered. He looked at the mess that was left on the table.
“Don’t worry. I’ll get it cleaned up.”
“Hey, I got to go meet up with Chad; do you mind?”
“No, don’t worry about it. I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“For sure.”
Sarah and I picked up and organized all of the money, properties and game pieces, putting them into their proper places…it didn’t take that long. By the time we were finished, there was no sign of all the cookie crumbs and the soda cans that were left behind.
“Man, I can’t believe Alisha got that upset,” I said, opening the cabinet that the game went into and sliding it into place.
“Seriously,” Sarah agreed, “But it sure was funny.”
“It really was.”
“I think I’m gonna go watch a movie or something. Care to join?”
“Yeah, sure. I’m gonna go see if my phone is done charging fi
rst, and then I’ll be down. I don’t care what we watch.”
“Alrighty.”
I jogged upstairs and made my way into my room. I headed over to my bedside table where I left my phone and checked it to see if Sean had sent me anything. I frowned at the blank screen. Nothing. I sat it back down on the table and was almost out the door.
“Hey Sam!” Cassie called out to me. I jumped about a foot when she called my name, startling me.
“Man Cassie. You scared me.”
She laughed. “Sorry.”
“Yeah. What’s up?”
“I’m sorry for the way I’ve been acting.”
My jaw dropped.
“I’ve been really rude to you. And I’m really sorry.”
“…Thanks.” She seemed sincere enough.
“You’re welcome.”
I turned and started to walk out to the hall, shaking my head, still perplexed that she had just apologized to me.
“Oh and Sam?”
“Yeah?”
“Sean wanted me to tell you to meet him at the dock.”
“Oh. Okay? Now?”
“Yeah,” she smiled.
I headed downstairs and told Sarah that I would meet up with her in a little while and made my way to the trail that lead down to the dock, wondering why he wanted to meet at sunset when there was no visible sun. Maybe it would start raining and we would have some wonderfully romantic kiss on the dock, like in The Notebook. Feeling giddy to be seeing him, I smiled. Today had felt so long without him.
“She?” I heard Sean say as I got close. There were still some trees in my line of vision. I wondered who he was talking to. “What ‘she’ are you talking about?”
“Sean?” I called out, rounding the last bit of trees into the open area around the dock. I stopped in my tracks to see that someone else was getting my award-winning kiss.