"Quality" Time with the Infamous Justus?

Chapter 8

After I secure my door and bound down the stairs, my dress billowing as I descend. I reach the bottom and all the Gunnar men are seated around the kitchen table which is covered in a smorgasbord of deliciousness. Soren calls out, “Babe!”

I smile at him and glance at the table, then up to see Henley standing behind the counter; I pass the table to ask Henley about his granddaughter “Is everything okay?”

“Oh yes, Miss Babe; don’t you worry. They’re fine, baby and mother are both healthy.” He says proudly.

“That’s wonderful, I’m glad.” I give Henley a little side hug.

“Get you some breakfast Miss Babe, big day ahead of you I hear.” He looks at me like I’m crazy to agree to spend the day alone with Justus. I simply wink at him, letting him know, “I got this.”

This spread before me is unimaginable, fresh croissants and nearly every fruit you can think of, strawberries, blueberries, cantaloupe, honeydew, and grapes of both varieties, green and red. Henley has lovingly prepared bacon, sausage, and pancakes with a plethora of syrups. Which Soren is enjoying at the moment. I listen silently as the eldest Gunnar and his older son speak back and forth in Swedish, occasionally looking at me, but I don’t let on that I see them. I select a croissant and strawberries; Henley is already bringing me a cup of coffee the way I like it, “Thank you Henley.” I say smiling. I take a seat and I engage Mr. Gunnar, “Lars, who is Soren staying with today?”

Lars finishes the bite of food in his mouth, “Soren and I will be spending the day together.” He smiles at his youngest son.

Soren mimics him with a mouthful of pancake, “Fader.”

Justus finishes his meal and retreats upstairs, before he turns to leave he looks at me, “I’ll be right down.”

I nod biting into a strawberry, I know he’s watching. Lars finishes his breakfast before takes Soren upstairs to prepare for their day together and I take back the thoughts I had about Lars attentiveness to his children. It’s just Henley and I in the kitchen while I finish my croissant. He comes to sit beside me once it is safe to speak freely.

“Miss Babe, what are you getting yourself into?” His tone is concerned and if I didn’t hear it, it’s written all over his face.

“No worries, Henley, I got this.” I say before tipping the remaining coffee into my mouth.

“Well, you look lovely today.” He says; hints of disappointment in his voice.

I kiss his cheek before popping up from the table, “Thank you Henley.” Justus is at the bottom of the stairs when I come into the foyer, “Ready?” I ask.

“Ready.” He says and he looks handsome, his hair is combed to the side and I think, in this beach atmosphere that won’t last. I almost welcome it; he is much more attractive with it messy. I reach for the door and head toward the Jeep; however Justus is heading toward the Audi TT.

He tilts his head to me, “Let’s ride in style.”

I duck into my car before I meet him at the tiny two door vehicle; I grab an already rolled joint from my visor and safely tuck the bag from Teacup in the center console. I reach the Audi and slip into the bucket leather seat; the inside of the car is immaculate and smells brand new. Justus puts the soft top down before looking over to smile at me; I can see myself in his aviator sunglasses. I look like a fun house image in his specs. I reach into my bag and put mine on as well. It’s a beautiful North Carolina day, not a cloud in the sky.

We pull onto Lumina Avenue when Justus says, “Where to first, Babe.” He is smiling and his tone is one of entitlement.

“Babet.” I say over rushing wind.

“Sorry?”

“My name is Babet.” I explain; my tone harsh.

“I just assumed…” I cut him off nicely.

“You assumed wrong. I let your brother call me Babe because it’s easier for him to say. I allow Henley to call me Babe, because we are in the same position; employees. You and your father are employers. I consider you an employer.” I try to be as cordial as possible.

Justus isn’t letting me get away that easy, “My father is your employer, not me. If it were up to me I would have that woman care for her son like my mother did my siblings and me.” I seem to have hit a nerve, because he isn’t finished. His body tenses and his grip on the steering wheel tightens as I feel him jump on a soapbox, “My mother is a well respected Lawyer in Sweden, a lawyer that raised five children, with no outside help.” He takes a deep breath and begins to relax after his little outburst. “Besides, last night you didn’t look like an employee.” He says under his breath.

I roll my eyes under my glasses, “I know, I apologize. That was unprofessional.”

“I wasn’t complaining, just making an observation.”

I smile away from him out toward the passing houses and slits of blue ocean and golden sand between them, “You must, really hate her.” I reference Soren’s mother as I turn back to face his profile.

“I have no respect for her is all; I apologize for my overzealous outburst.” He places a sarcastic palm to his chest. I can’t help but laugh.

He joins me until re-submitting his previous question, “So, where to…Babet.” I smile again, he learns quickly.

“Let’s go Downtown. We can take some shots of you there, have lunch and I can stop at Arrow Fine for some canvas. How does that sound for starters?” I rest myself back into the comfortable seat and allow Justus to take me where I need to go.

“As you wish.” He says keeping his attention on the road. I could get used to this and I get the feeling so could he. I’m sure he’s carted around on the regular to this and that, I wouldn’t know but I imagine it’s frustrating to be told what to do and where to go. Not being able to drive your own car because it’s more convenient to throw you in a limousine. I realize I haven’t checked my phone this morning and since I actually SLEPT I have no clue what I missed, if anything.

I pull out the device and turn in on, no luck; it’s dead. Oh well, I throw it back into my purse.

“Everything okay?” Justus asks as we are circling the fountain.

“Yeah, my phone is dead.”

He reaches into his shirt pocket, “Here, you can use mine.”

“Oh, no worries. I just didn’t know what I missed while I was sleeping last night.”

“You say that like you don’t sleep.”

“Oh…um,” FUCK, you moron! “Sometimes I have trouble.” I say as a nervous rush floods me.

We park and I take a ton of pictures of Justus around Downtown. We opt for lunch at Trolley Stop Hot Dog; we each have two hotdogs and share an order of onion rings. After we finish I ask if Justus is ready to go to Arrow Fine.

“Sure, you lead, I follow.” He smiles brightly.

I buy four more canvases, all the same fabric and I’m intrigued by Justus’s attentiveness. He is carrying all four canvases back to the TT. They barely fit and because of the awkwardness we head home to drop them off before heading back out. I suggest we go out to one of the many public access areas of the beach and possibly the pier. When we get back in the car Justus turns on the radio and of course it has to be playing one of my favorite songs, “3 Libras” by A Perfect Circle. Justus seems to agree and turns the radio up, coolly he pulls out of the driveway and we head the opposite direction. The song ends and Justus reveals after turning the volume down, “That is one of my favorite songs.”

I nod, “Mine too; I’m a Libra.”

He snaps the sunglasses off his face, “So am I!” He says smiling, “When is your birthday?”

“October 6th. When’s yours?”

“September 30th!” He sucks his teeth and a smirk crosses his lips, “I knew there was something about you.”

“So your birthday is coming up, what will you all be doing?”

“Celebrating on the beach with you…if I’m lucky.” He returns the glasses to his face. Another delicious little smile crosses his lips.

“That may be difficult; I will be out of town by then. Labor Day weekend is my last before I go on my mini vacation. I don’t return until the second week of October…wait… that means, you will be alone on your birthday!” I say sadly.

“I’m used to it, besides I’m going to be thirty six, who wants to party with a thirty-six year old?” His tone turned is sad.

It’s not right, I ‘m a huge Birthday person, each year you make it is a year worth celebrating, “Listen; I promise,” I say with my hand over my heart, “I will return to take you out for your birthday, okay?”

A smile appears at the side of his mouth before saying, “It’s a date.”

“It’s not a date. I‘m taking you out for your birthday; as friends.”

He nods, “Deal.”

We park at the public access not far from the Chrystal pier, its early afternoon and I’m in the mood to smoke but after my speech about employers versus employees I spat at Justus, I’m wary of proposing anything to him. Fuck it.

We’re walking out to the water when I reach into my bag, “Justus?”

“Hmm.” He says turning around to walk backwards.

I hold up the white twisted apparatus. He removes his sunglasses and rushes toward me. I begin to get the feeling that I may be in trouble or worse, fired. To my surprise he picks me up and hugs me to him, twirling me around so hard my legs are flailing, “Okay, okay!” I laugh.

“Oh, you have no idea Babet; of course!” He puts me down and pulls my hand toward a mass of reed grass, “Here; I’ve smoked back here in the past.” He sits and pats the sand beside him. His movements are childlike and fun.

“Wow, you would have thought I just asked you to marry me.” I say laughing. I smooth my dress so not to get sand on my butt before I have a seat. I put the joint to my lips and fire it up. We smoke and I can tell Justus is not a habitual smoker; his eyes are glazed over after three hits. I decide to drive from here on out, unless he sobers. He is giggling like a teenager while he talks about his other siblings and the fun they used to have sneaking out to smoke.

“How many siblings do you have?”

“I have three younger brothers and a sister, then there is Soren; he’s our half brother.”

“What are their names?”

“The twins are Isak and Axel, my other brother is Noak. My sister’s name is Lena.”

“I’m an only child, I always wanted a brother or sister.” I say, “Someone older to rely on, ya know?”

“I wouldn’t know, I’m the oldest. They all came to me or father. I guess for me, father was like an older brother. Don’t get me wrong he’s a wonderful father, but he and I connected on a different level, which pissed my other brothers off.” He hands me the joint.

I take a hit and divulge a little more about me, “Frankie and Molly were like sisters to me, I couldn’t have asked for better sisters if I had had any.”

“Three musketeers, huh?”

“Well, lots of girls came and went but the three of us just stuck together. God, the things we got into…” I trail off nostalgically.

“Explain.” He says handing it back to me.

“The three of us did it all, short of certain things we knew to stay far away from, but yeah,” I laugh before I hit the joint again. “We had games we invented, like “25 shots” and the standard drinking games like, “Threeman” with “rhyme time”.”

“Rhyme time?” he asks speculatively.

I laugh, “Yeah.”

“Oh, that was just the alcohol. There were mushrooms and acid, ecstasy and cocaine. Molly did something called “candy-flipping” and had a bad experience with the spirit of a frat boy in a house off fraternity row at Baylor. Frankie got pretty deep in cocaine while she was in hair school. I had some pretty epic birthdays with those girls. One birthday was spent out on the Pontchartrain River with a bag of high test mushrooms, naked swimming and moon gazing.”

“High-test?” He asks. I forget my slang falls on ignorant ears.

“Good quality or potent.” I explain.

“Ah.” He says, schooled.

I tell him about apple bowls and watching countless sunrises after all night concerts. And even though our activities as youths were illegal and immoral I still feel our communion with nature during these experiences helped to mold me, Molly and Frankie as artists in our adulthood. Of course there were indoor activities including substances that spawned something besides seriousness. The hilarity of those times we still recall and laugh about. Not to mention the photographic evidence, thanks to Molly.

“Tell me about one.” Justus commands.

I laugh because his tone of voice and the words don’t mix, under the influence he has less presence, “Okay…Frankie bought some really good shit…stuff, sorry…and we were down to the last, we were good and high sitting on either side of her coffee table. I reach up and take the spongy bud between my two fingers, in all seriousness I looked her dead in her face and said, “You know when you should save this for?” She looked at me like something very real was about to happen and asked, “When?” I held it up again and said, justifiably, “Later.”” I laugh out so loud I don’t notice if Justus gets it, or if for him it’s a “you had to be there” moment. For me it’s classic stoned silliness and still makes me laugh so hard I could cry, which I end up doing when my eyes open and I can finally breath again. Thankfully it isn’t lost on Justus; he’s also in stitches.

“That is funny.” He says slowly calming his own breathing. As he does I can see the wheels turning, his mouth turns down to blow the smoke. He hands it back to me and begins to take a breath of speech, “You know I find the history hard to believe; you seem too subtle, or subdued if you will. Someone with that track record would be certifiably insane.”

“Well, besides the photographic proof, Thank you Molly, I like to think my father’s resilient genetics helped keep me from a straight jacket.” I laugh as I can see Justus is confused, “He’s military, a war dog. A survivor, ya know?” I smile, but internally I’m laughing. Vampire genetic intervention.

“I wouldn’t mind seeing some of those photos.” Justus jokes.

“Well they were taken way before the digital revolution. All those pictures are printed and in a shoe box in Molly’s loft. Frankie and I have asked her to go through them and dispose of or lock away the incriminating ones, considering…” I trail off, I am divulging a little too much.

“Considering?” Damn, I’m caught. Justus is peering at me from the side of his glasses.

I have to move away from talking about me as soon as possible, “Molly is a well known photographer back home, Frankie is a successful business owner and my family is…my family. It would be very bad for some of those photos to get, in the wrong hands. That’s all.”

“Yes, I can understand wanting to keep certain things from your family, or the public for that matter. My siblings and I went through a lot during our parent’s highly publicized divorce.”

Luckily he attaches to the family thing and away from the prior, “How old were you when your parents divorced?” I ask.

“Late twenties or so, not a big deal.” He takes another hit from the joint before passing it to me.

“Do you like Vilma, Soren’s mom?”

“Not particularly and she isn’t fond of me either.”

“Why?”

“I don’t kiss her ass. Honestly none of us do, but I am the only one who doesn’t care and shows up to spite her.” He takes the joint from me and hits it, holding it in his lungs. He attempts to hand it back to me but I hit his hand so it falls in the sand, I cover it. I hop up and hold my hand out to him.

“Let’s go,” I say and he follows me to the shoreline. “Turn around.” I hold up my camera and shoot, shoot, shoot. He is overly photogenic and I can see why he’s an actor. The light hits him perfectly causing the scruff on his face glows with a red hue. I tell him to pay no attention to me and I shoot him unawares. I prefer these photos, people aren’t posing they are just themselves. Realistic beauty. The sun is perfect, right above us. I keep shooting Justus, occasionally just taking a picture of the water. He calls out to me as I’m doing just that.

“You hungry?” He asks and I know he just has the munchies.

“I could eat. Where you thinking?”

“The Oceanic?” He suggests.

“Sure.” I tuck my camera in my bag and walk back to the car; I hear quick steps in the sand behind me. Before I know it Justus is carrying me running across the beach. I embrace it because at this point we’ve smoked, we’ve talked; I consider us friends. But he can’t call me Babe. I kick my leg out and hold my arm against my eyes as if I am a damsel in distress. I hear him laughing while he runs. He places me on the asphalt by my car door, “Thank you good sir.” He opens my door and I slide in, the leather is on fire and the back of my thighs are getting a serious heat treatment. I embrace that as well, another sick obsession; pain. Justus open his car door and clambers inside, he is too damn tall for this car, but it is entertaining to watch. As soon as his rear hits the seat he jumps; bracing his frame on the door and console. Luckily the top is still down.

“Oh my God! That’s hot; I’m sorry.” He says looking at my bare legs against the leather.

“No worries.” I say taking a deep breath.

“You sure?”

“I’m sure; we can go anytime you’re ready.” I wave my hand around.

“Okay.” He pulls out of the parking spot and we are down Lumina Avenue yet again. He takes his cell phone from his pocket and dials, “Henley; Justus…Yes, I’m taking Babet to dinner; please tell my father…Thank you Henley; I’m sorry…what? Hold on.” He hands me the phone. I shake my head and roll my eyes behind mirrored aviators.

“Hello Henley!” I say overly exuberant.

“Miss Babe? He ain’t tried nothing has he?”

“No Henley, everything is fine; how’s Soren?”

“Oh he’s fine; you worry about that other one for now.”

“I will. Thank you, Henley.” I hang up on Henley’s worrisome tone.

I hand it to Justus; he places the phone in his lap. He begins to turn off onto Iula St., stopping the car. We are close to the Oceanic but I’m becoming wary of why we are stopped. He unbuckles his seatbelt and turns to face me, full on, but says nothing.

“What?” I ask.

“What has Henley told you about me?” His is serious and his tone has deepened, it’s scary but alluring at the same time.

I feel a nervous rush go through me and instead of shying away like the good little girl I should be, I respect Justus enough at this point to keep it real, “He says you have a reputation.” I mirror his stance in the car.

“What else?” He is fuming.

“That your father had to hire me all the way from Louisiana because the nanny services around here won’t work with him; because of you and your philandering ways.” I say the last bit in jest and he smiles. Whew. But he isn’t asking any more questions and readjusts himself in the driver’s seat, but he’s not getting away that easy, “Hey,” I grab his arm to halt him, “I respected you enough to tell you the truth, I have a question or two myself.”

He relaxes, “By all means.”

“Why did your father hire me; it’s not the nanny thing is it?”

He takes a deep breath, “No. My father hired you because your father suggested you as a reliable, trustworthy employee. You see, we have had major issues in the past with locals getting grandiose ideas about my father and our family. I have been harassed; my father has been sued…”

“Wait…WHAT!?” I say.

“These girls come in to work for my father, their main priority; my siblings? Correct?”

I answer him, “Well, yes.”

“They end up snooping through personal things and selling stories to the tabloids. I had a girl accuse me of rape; it’s been pretty bad. When our fathers last met in Iceland, they talked about you and…here you are.”

“The nanny service and the portraits.” I state.

“Yes.”

“So why do you have an interest in me; after all you’ve been through?”

“Because I know I can trust you.”

“And how do you know that?”

“Because my father has been watching you since you arrived; nothing in your bedroom or the bathroom, but in the kitchen, great room, and there is a small camera watching the beachfont.”

My face flushes and I swear I’m going to throw up; I smoked out there.

“Your father assured mine that it would be no problem, he said we can trust you. You have proven that we can. It’s a welcome change, for my father and for me. Don’t worry about smoking either, he doesn’t care.”

I feel like a tiny mouse that is being loomed over by two, no three giant elephants. One of them, my own father. I readjust myself in the car and I don’t feel like eating, “Can we just go please?”

“Of course.” He starts to take the right toward the Oceanic and I’m over it completely.

“Please drop me off at home.” I say looking off into the distance.

“What?!” He pulls off onto another side street. “NO!” He is angry and staring at me through sunglasses. I can’t keep my face on his and I turn away. “Please Babet; forget the conversation, let’s start over.”

I remove my glasses, a single tear floats down my face, “We can’t start over, please take me back to your father’s beach house.” I’m so ill at all this; I don’t even want to call it “home”; temporary or not.

“No.” He says again and cuts the engine.

I take a deep breath. Oh boy; this is so not my first time at the rodeo with this bull shit. “Fine.” I get out of the car and begin to walk down Lumina Avenue. I sling my bag over my head and trudge on. My mind is racing, at first I want to go back to the house, pack my shit and leave but I realize the commitment I’ve made to Soren; sweet little Soren. I roll my eyes at myself when further realization rears it’s ugly head and the only freedom I have is to hole up in my room and paint or listen to music and drive, anything but face that family again. But I certainly can’t leave. I don’t get the luxury of avoiding the Gunnar’s, Justus catches up to me in the car and swerves so I can’t pass, “What the fuck do you think you are doing!” I try to pass and he inches the car forward to stop me, “JUSTUS!” I shriek.

He throws the car in park and gets out, he lurches at me and grabs my arm; I jerk it away. His face is stunned, like no one would dare, he grabs me again and arches me backward, kissing me passionately. I’ll admit I’m stunned but I’m weak in my state of Cian-less-ness, I relent and kiss him back. Traffic is small but its gathering and car horns begin to honk. He stops, releases me and angrily looks down at me, “Get in the car.”

I take another deep breath and oblige, I would hate to be blocking traffic. I shake my head, I asked for this. I played with him not knowing what all the specifics were and if I don’t talk to my damn Daddy tonight I am going to scream. I hate being left in the goddamn dark. My father may have been on a twenty two year hiatus, but I ‘m going to show him what he’s missed as far as my tolerance for this shit is going to go.

In the car I’m silent until we are seated at an outdoor table, I’m silent. I do eventually open my mouth again, out on the Chrystal pier at the Oceanic when Justus asks me what I want to eat, “I don’t want anything to eat.” I say.

He places his menu down, “Please, Babet. I truly am sorry…and…” He trails off but begins to get irritated, “You know, your father said you would understand.”

I don’t want to defend myself, I don’t want to talk to this prick at all anymore but suddenly I want to drink heavily so until I order a drink, or two, he gets nothing out of me. Our waiter, thank god, shows up to take our drink orders. I ask him if they have Jagermiester chilled on tap.

“Yes Ma’am.”

“Bring me two and keep them coming.” I look past Justus at the ocean and I can’t wait until I’m safe in Emerald Isle.

“Jager, huh?” Justus says when the waiter arrives with my shot glasses.

Thick and cold in my hand I shoot one glass of black liquid and then the other. “Glass of water please?” I look at his nametag, “Josh.” I say sweetly to our waiter. I keep smiling at Josh but when I turn to face Justus my smile slowly fades. Josh returns with a Heineken for Justus and a sweating glass of ice water for me. I decide to talk after all, “Well now that I have had a drink, yes I can understand your precautions, however; I don’t appreciate the fact that not only you and your father, but my own father keeping it all from me. How old were the girls who gave you so much trouble?”

He doesn’t miss a beat. “Early twenties.”

I lean forward in my seat, “I’m thirty two years old; I don’t care about you or your family. I don’t even know who you are or anything about your show! It’s meaningless to me. I came here to care for your brother because I felt bad for the little guy.” I quickly sit up straight. Josh has come back to our table with two more shots for me, “Thank you Josh.”

The confused boy retreats. I direct my attention back to Justus, my speech a little slurred, “Not to mention being able to paint this beautiful landscape. You see, what you don’t know about me is that; seven months ago my house, my business and my studio burned to the ground. Well not to the ground, but a burned out shell like husk. Anyway…” The alcohol is really kicking in, “I had to go through a good bit of my own shit to get back on track.”

“So?”

“So, what?”

“I am waiting for my apology.” He smiles.

“You will be waiting for an eternity.” I take another shot.

“Fair enough, will you at least eat something? It’s not fair to me to drag your drunken carcass into the house and have Henley think even less of me.”

“Is that all you ever think about? Yourself. Besides by the time we get back Henley will be long gone.”

“I like the sound of that.” He smiles and resumes looking at the menu.

Justus orders a seared tuna and vegetable medley; I reluctantly agree to eat a small salad and bread. Josh returns and I order a coffee. The sun is going down and I pull out my camera to shoot Justus one last time.

“Hey.” He says. I smile, giving in to the evening. I don’t have to be a hard ass and I smile again when Justus asks, “Do you have any more of that…” He doesn’t want to say it out loud.

“Yeah, in my car at the house.”

“Well, let’s go then.”

“Stop and get me coffee and you’ve got a deal.” I reply just as Josh returns with the teacup and saucer.

We both look up at him, “Cancel it please sir and put the bill on my father’s tab.”

“Yes, sir Mr. Gunnar. Have a nice evening, Ma’am.” He nods to me. I smile at him before Justus ushers me toward the beach ramp.

“Do you mind if we walk this way back to the car?” He asks.

I shake my head, my brow raised, “No.”

We walk and just as we are about to reach the parking lot, Justus stops causing me to clumsily halt my stride. He says nothing but takes my shoulders in his hands, turning me to face the water and the front of The Oceananic, “Beautiful, isn’t it?”

I sigh or gasp, I can’t figure which but my breath is taken away. The massive restaurant looks like a gigantic beach house not a business. The sun blocks my vision just enough so I don’t see the sign just the wrap around deck reeds lapping the walkway. I shake Justus’s grasp and dig in my bag for my camera. I hear him chuckle as I snap and click over and over. I finish, close the lens and look up at Justus, “Thank you.”

We are back in the car and I suggest stopping at a gas station. I go in and buy a conglomerate coffee brand drink and a mango wrap paper. The cover of the wrap is a woman’s red lips encasing a piece of juicy mango. I hand Justus the paper bag. He peeks inside, “Oh, big plans!” I smile as I slide back into the car.

It’s after 8:00 and the house is quiet. Soren is most likely in bed and Lars as well, if he spent the day with his two year old son. Justus begins to ascend the stairs but looks back at me, “You coming?”

“I have to go out to the car, I’ll be right back.” I reach into my bag, “Plug my phone up for me?”

He takes it from me, “Sure, I’m going to change my clothes.” He continues up.

I dip outside to retrieve the bag from the center console of my car. Back inside the house I quietly go upstairs and into my room. Justus is already there lying on my bed with his feet up watching TV in a pair of long gym shorts and t-shirt. I decide to play since he has already started the game. I walk over to where my duffle is and pull out a pair of cloud print boxer shorts, sliding them on under the skirt of my dress. I don’t wear a bra with my sundresses so I turn away from him and remove my dress. My bare back to him I bend over to retrieve my blue fitted shirt. I peek in my peripheral at him, he is watching like a hawk. I pull the shirt over my head and begin to turn around while I bring it down over my breasts; my midriff exposed momentarily.

I reach into my linen sack and throw the bulging plastic bag and wrap at Justus, “Make yourself useful.”

He doesn’t miss a beat, grabbing my tablet to break it up on. He rips the foil package open on the wrap and rolls the blunt like a champ. I grab the remote to the TV off the bed beside Justus and he clamps his hand onto mine. I smile and snatch it. I change the station to music television and I’m overjoyed when one of my favorite videos is on, I stare at the TV before I remember I wanted, no needed, to talk to my Daddy.

I locate my phone and remove the charger plug from the wall, “Excuse me.” I say while retreating to the bathroom.

I dial my Daddy’s personal line in the billiards room; no answer. I call the house phone; no answer. I call Scarlet’s phone; straight to voicemail. I know it’s silly, but I’m beginning to feel like I’m being avoided. I text Scarlet; “Call me as soon as you get this.”

I go back into my room and tell Justus, “Light it up.” As I return my phone and sit on the bed.



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