by T M Linville
“Yeah, I remember reading about that in my history books,” Shay said. “That was a very sad day. All those people in the towers and all the people who knew someone that were in the towers. It was the worst terrorist attack on US soil.”
Lily nodded, and thought back to the long drive from Atlanta to New York City after the attack. Vincent and Alexa had known past feeders that worked there and were going to comfort their families and offer any help that was needed. Everyone that went ended up helping the search effort at ground zero.
“I remember,” Lily said.
“You remember reading? Right,” Shay asked jokingly.
“Uh, yes,” Lily smiled. “I remember reading about it.”
“So why did your family move to New York after so long in the south?” Shay asked.
That’s a very good question, Lily thought. Ask Eric.
“Well,” Lily began. “There’s a number of reasons but I guess the best one would be that we outgrew our old home.”
She lied. They had to leave the south because Eric had had a violent confrontation with an Atlanta police officer and Vincent did not want another lynch mob like the one Eric had ultimately caused in New Orleans in the late 1800’s. Eric had killed the local New Orleans police chief and when the officer was asked who shot him as he lay dying, it was misunderstood as “Dogoes”, a slur for Italians, instead of “Dagas” which was the name Eric used there. It resulted in the worst lynch mob in American history and Vincent did not want it repeated.
“So you and your family have only been here less than a year?” Shay asked.
“Yes.”
“Which do you like better? The North or the South?”
“Humm…” Lily mumbled. “They each have their pros and cons,” Lily smiled and looked directly into Shay’s eyes.
“Like,” Shay prodded.
“Like the country has horses and fresh air, but the city has entertainment and activities on every corner.”
“Horses?” Shay said as her eyes lit up.
“Horses. Have you ever ridden one?” Lily asked.
“Ridden one?” Shay balked. “I’ve never even seen one up close!”
“Not even the ones in the park that pull the sleds in the winter?”
“Not even those,” Shay admitted.
“We’re going to have to change that.”
“What are your parents like?” Shay asked. “My dad is opinionated, overbearing and a general pain in the ass.”
“Well, I guess my adopted mom would be Erica. Which makes my dad, Steven. My grandmother would be Alexa and my grandfather would be Vincent,” Lily answered, with a slight giggle. “Then there’s Erica’s twin brother, Eric. He and I hate each other. Literally. We fight all the time.”
It just felt weird calling Vincent and Alexa her grandparents, although that’s technically what they would be in a normal family. But they looked so young, she thought. Lily didn’t elaborate at all on Eric but she told Shay about Erica and how close the two are.
“You’re going to love Erica,” Lily told her. “And she’s going to love you.”
They talked for a little while longer before Lily looked at her cell and then at Shay. It was late. It was almost midnight when Lily finally told Shay goodnight. She didn't want to leave, but it was Sunday and Shay had to be at work early the next day.
They gave each other a hug and for the first time, LaShay kissed Lily on the cheek.
Hand written letters on woven parchment paper, Lily thought as she walked home. It had been probably twenty years since Lily had even picked up a pen, much less put pen to paper. She had legible handwriting, but no one would call it pretty. While she was telling Lily how much she loved letters, Lily was turning over in her head whether or not there was a calligraphy book in the library at home. Then she remembered the little wooden jewelry boxes she used to make out of craft sticks. It was over 75 years ago and she had given one to Alexa and one to Erica. She wondered if they still had them. Surely not, it was just some silly box.
Lily was grinning from ear to ear when Eric surprised her outside the main entrance to the Crown Building.
"Where have you been? We missed you at the finals tonight," Eric said then he noticed Lily’s mood. "What's gotten into you? You've been gone an awful lot lately and you've been really quiet, too."
"Just busy doing other things, that's all," she answered shortly and tried to push her way past him. She wasn’t in the mood for fighting with Eric. She had completely forgotten about Underground Fight Finals that week. Of course she wasn’t fighting Eric, but they were both in the top rank finals.
"No!" Eric said, pushing her away from the door. "Where have you been the past month and a half? It's like you have some new life or something."
Lily pushed him back. "Maybe I do, why do you care?" She snapped.
"I don't," he said curtly.
"Then get the fuck out of my way!"
He pushed her into the door, hard. "Fuck you! Go on and play off by yourself then, see if I care."
She didn't say anything else because she was trying so hard not to fight Eric. They hadn’t fought in a long time and now was just not the time for him to start something. Then he pushed her into the door again.
Lily dropped her bag just as she landed a solid punch to Eric’s nose. She heard the bones break in his face and he dropped to his knees. Lily gave him a hard kick to the chest and he fell backwards holding is hand over his face. The nose wouldn’t stay broken and misshaped for long, but it sure as hell hurt when it happened. She quickly scanned her hand on the palm reader by the door, opened the door and walked inside. Why was he talking to me, anyway? She wondered. Then she remembered the little wooden boxes and ran upstairs to find Erica.
It took about two minutes for Eric’s face to stop throbbing and heal.
“Dammit!” He said and punched the door.
Lily found Erica in her apartment, reading. Erica still had the book opened when she answered the door.
"Hi Erica, whatcha reading?" Lily asked, trying to be polite, but not really caring.
"Boring stuff you wouldn't like," she answered probably quite honestly.
“Yeah, I figured,” Lily chuckled.
Steven poked his head out from the bedroom and smiled.
"Hello, Lily," he said.
"Hi Steve. Whatcha doin'?" Lily asked.
"Nothin' much, just going through some old junk."
"Well, have fun!" she told him then turned her attention back to Erica as he disappeared back into the room. "Do you remember the little wooden jewelry box I gave you? The one I made out of craft sticks a long, long time ago?" she asked.
"Yeah, I remember. Why?"
"Well..." Lily began but then realized that she hadn’t even told Erica about what happened over the past weeks with Shay. She had been so caught up, she hadn't even talked to her again about Shay and she usually shared everything with Erica.
"Remember that I met someone?"
"I do? Same girl as before?" she asked.
"Yes,” Lily said, remembering the short conversation she had had with Erica about Shay. “She's so beautiful and smart and she has a great sense of humor and..." Lily began rambling.
"Whoa! Slow down. Take a breath," she said laughing as she closed her book. "Do you know her name yet?"
"LaShay Black."
"Black? As in Martin Black? As in Midnight Entertainment?"
"Yeah, that’s her dad. He owns it."
"So she's human, huh. Why do you want to know about the box?" She asked. "I still have it."
"What?! You still have it? Why?"
"Because you made it with your own two hands and that makes it very special to me."
"Wow, I can't believe you still have it. I want to make Shay one. Do you think she'll like it?"
"I wouldn't see why not. Especially if she knows you made it yourself. No one does much woodworking anymore."
Erica walked into her bedroom and returned with the box Lily had made. It was just like she rem
embered it. An oval box with decorative ends sticking up through grooves on each side of the carved lid. The handle had a smooth wavy design on each side of a wooden ball shape. There was a small, decoratively carved peg protruding from the side that went through the upright on the side. That was the piece that held the lid on.
Erica handed her the box and she pulled out the peg that was still attached to the lid with a braided piece of thread. Inside, the bottom of the lid and the bottom of the box were a checkerboard pattern and the sides were made from matchsticks. Lily remembered making it like it was just yesterday. It took a week to glue, sand and carve the whole thing. It was over 75 years old but the stain and polyurethane coatings had kept it perfectly preserved. Erica even had an old matching necklace and earrings in it.
"Do you know if any of my craft stuff was saved?" Lily asked, still turning the box over in her hands.
"It was probably saved, but where it's stored is another question. I would start in the storage rooms downstairs. There should be a few trunks down there with your name on them. If you packed them, they should still be down there."
The thing was, she couldn't remember if they got packed or not. She knew she kept her stuff in crates and trunks in Tennessee, but did it get brought to the new coven or was it left to collect dust at the old coven? There was only one way to find out.
"Thanks Erica," Lily said as she handed her back the box. "I guess I'll be downstairs."
"Hold on young lady! You have to tell me about this LaShay person."
"She's incredible," Lily began, wide eyed.
Lily ended up talking about Shay until after 3 AM. She told Erica everything she knew about her. Where she lived, what she liked, what she didn't like. She told her about her job and how she worked all the time. She even told her about Shane and how much he was really getting on her nerves.
"I can understand that he's protective of her, but it's like he doesn't want me around," Lily told Erica. "It's almost like he's trying to keep me away."
"It sounds like he's just jealous. That's been his closest friend for years," Erica said. "And now that Shay is interested in someone else, he doesn't have her all to himself anymore. She is interested, right?”
"He's just going to have to get over it," Lily said.
"Yeah, just keep an eye out, love. And don't piss him off. Remember that she trusts him and his opinion does matter."
"Thanks, I'll definitely keep that in mind."
“Lily? She is interested isn’t she?” Erica asked again.
“I’m not sure. I think so.”
“Does she like women?”
Lily took a deep breath. “No. I don’t think so, but we’re getting along sooo well.”
Erica decided that now was probably not a good time to try talking Lily out of falling any harder for Shay. So she just smiled and agreed.
“I hope it works out,” Erica sighed.
She gave Lily a hug and she kissed her on the cheek.
"It's about time," she said.
"About time for what?" Lily asked.
"It's about time you fell in love." She smiled.
"I finally know what it feels like to live for someone else."
"Amazing, isn't it?" She said as she glanced over her shoulder toward the bedroom where Steve was still rummaging through closets and drawers.
"I just hope she feels the same way. I don't want to rush things. I want her to know how crazy I am about her."
"Does she know?"
"I'm still waiting for the right moment. It just hasn't been the right time, yet. I want her to know me a little first."
"Yeah, I can understand that. I have faith," she said smiling. "You're pretty amazing and there's no doubt she'll see that."
"Thank you," she told her and gave her a peck on the lips. "But you are biased."
"Yeah. Maybe a little," she said as she touched Lily’s cheek.
It took two hours to find the trunk with Lily’s old craft supplies in it. She dug through the contents and found an armload of supplies to make the box. She would have to go buy more wood and was hoping she could find craft sticks at some craft store but for now, it was time for bed.
She sent Shay a 'good morning' text, since it was already after 6AM, as she walked to her apartment. Ten minutes later Shay sent a message back and then Lily went to bed.
She was wide awake in four hours. Ever since she had met Shay, sleeping was a problem so she decided to start on the jewelry box.
That afternoon, Shay was sitting at her desk at work when her father walked in. He had a concerned look on his face and a stack of envelopes in his hands. The envelopes were large with dates printed in big black type on the front.
“What’s going on with you?” Martin asked his daughter. “You’ve been late twice this week and you’ve even left early. Is everything OK?”
Shay wasn’t expecting to have this conversation with her father so soon. Never, would have been preferred, but he was bound to find out at some point.
“I’ve met someone,” she answered trying not to smile.
“Oh really,” her father beamed. “So is it serious?”
“Maybe.”
Shay wasn’t sure how to answer. She really didn’t want to tell him about Lily because she knew he would take it badly. He was very old fashioned and unlike most of the world’s population, wasn’t so keen on gays, especially if one happened to be his daughter. She had heard the way he would talk about his gay employees and knew that he would not be very accepting of her. It wasn’t that he disliked gays, he just had made a lot of false assumptions and no one had ever corrected him.
“Can we talk about this later?” Shay asked.
“Hell no!” He said, taking a seat in one of the two chairs in front of her desk. “Tell me about this mystery man.”
Shay swallowed hard and barely got out the words. “Her name is Lily.”
Her father just stared at her for a moment.
“Her? It’s a she?” He finally said. “Since when do you like women?”
“Dad, can we talk about this later?” Shay pleaded.
“My daughter is NOT gay,” he said, raising his voice louder with every word.
“Dad,” Shay said calmly. “Can we not get into this here?”
Lily dumped the box of wood and craft supplies on her dining room table. She sorted through what she had and decided on what she would need then headed to the craft store across town.
Once at the store, she went up and down every woodworking isle just to see what was available. She tossed a few things in her basket and then a few more. As she was looking at the tiny tiled inserts that were available, she noticed a row of music box inserts. They were bronze colored little machines that had a wheel with spikes sticking out and metal plate cut into slices that would flick and resonate sound when the spike on the wheel passed it. Lily searched for one that played Fir Elise. In the very back of the last hook, she found the only one they had. She grinned a big toothy grin at her find and headed for the door. Checkout was instant and her account was automatically charged as she left the store. The attendant at the door tore a small piece of paper from a small box in her hand.
“Receipt, ma’am,” she said as she handed it to Lily.
“Thank you,” Lily replied.
Lily worked on the box until it was time to meet Shay after work. As usual, Lily couldn't wait to see her. She had decided that this was the night that she would tell her how she felt.
She sprayed on a fair amount of sunscreen and headed to Shay’s apartment.
LaShay’s cheeks were already wet with tears before she even pressed the send button. She had to end the relationship with Lily before she fell any harder for her. But Shay was so crazy about her and Shane knew that.
"It's for the best sweetheart," Shane tried to soothe her. “You really don’t want to piss off your father.”
“Screw my father!” Shay cried.
Shane had met Shay at home after work and Shay told him about the conv
ersation she had had with her dad. Shane convinced her that she should end things with Lily. If for no other reason than to appease her father.
“My dad doesn’t even know her,” Shay sobbed.
"She’s just not right for you, hon. If she was gay, I would be able to tell. If she liked you, like that, wouldn’t she have at least said something? She won't even take you to where she lives! And what about her parents," he said.
"She did tell me her mother died during her delivery," she sniffled.
"How old is she?" he asked.
"I don't know! Why does it matter?" She cried louder.
"Because she's hiding something," he said. "And if you ask me, it's something big. She knows too much about certain things, like the exact location of the extranet cameras and how to get around them and why doesn't she ever go out in the daytime without a hat or a hoodie? I'm telling you Shay, she's hiding something and I just don't want to see you get hurt. I know you really like her, but she's just not the one for you."
Lily was almost to LaShay’s building when her phone buzzed. She was grinning when she began reading the message from Shay. But her pace slowed to a stop as she continued reading. The message said "Thank you for the time we've spent together, but I believe that it would be best if we didn't see each other anymore."
Lily’s heart broke in two. What is this happening? Surely there has to be some misunderstanding. There just had to be. What did I do wrong?
Lily started walking again toward the apartment. She almost bumped into a man walking his dog because she was reading the text over and over. What had she done? She had to talk to her. She had to clear up the misunderstanding. There had to be one. There had to be a logical explanation. But what if there wasn't? What if she didn't like me after all? What if she was just being polite and she was just waiting for the right moment to break it off? Please don't let that be the case, she thought. She couldn't handle that. What would she do if Shay simply did not want to see her anymore?
Lily placed her hand on the palm scanner at the front door and the door opened with a clicking sound. She pressed the elevator button constantly until it finally opened. She pressed twelve and held her breath. When the door finally opened, she exhaled slowly and stepped out. She walked down the hall slowly and stopped at Shay’s door. She stared for a moment and listened. She could hear Shane talking inside. She listened to him tell her that Lily wasn't interested in her. What? Who the hell is he to... She caught herself before she ripped the door off the hinges. She had to stay calm. Killing Shay’s best friend would not be a good way of proving her feelings for her. Although it would directly reflect her feelings for him.