Chapter 11 An Empty Home #2
I noticed someone new walking in and nearly cursed.
I couldn’t take playing the hostess any longer.
But this wasn’t some stranger who had known my grandmother or someone who remembered me from when I was a kid, someone who had popped in to be seen so everyone would say they had done their duty.
No, it was someone I knew well, someone who’d had to catch an airplane to get there.
I jumped up, and Jack looked over at me.
He had deep bags under his eyes and messy hair, and his skin was much paler than usual.
At any other moment, I would have been worried about him, but just then, I could only worry about myself. I ran over and hugged him.
“I can’t believe you came,” I said. I hoped it didn’t sound like a reprimand, because I couldn’t have been more grateful. I didn’t see his expression, but I think he understood that.
“Yeah,” he said, “I don’t know. I just had this image in my head of you running around making everyone else feel better, and I told myself someone needed to make sure you were OK, too.”
“What if I told you the only thing that would make me feel better was punching out every single person in this room?”
“I’d go outside and start the car first, so I could be your getaway driver once you’d done it.”
Looking worried, he continued, “I’m sorry I wasn’t there yesterday.
I needed to clear the air with Vivian, so I went to her party.
I didn’t do anything wrong, though, I swear.
I’m trying to be better. I listened to your message, too.
I got in before midnight! But you had already left.
They told me you packed your bags and caught a car like ten minutes after you got off the phone… ”
“The important thing is we’re here,” Naya interrupted him, popping up behind him like a ghost. Will was with her.
I don’t know how I hadn’t seen them. Jack was one thing.
I wouldn’t say I expected him to be there, but it was the kind of thing he’d do.
He loved a grand gesture, but the other two…
they had really gone the extra mile, and it was all I could do not to break down in tears.
Will noticed, and he pulled me in for a hug, and Naya joined in, too. I opened my eyes halfway through it and saw how many people were looking at us. I couldn’t have cared less. But then my mother ran off into the kitchen. Jack noticed too, but he kept his thoughts to himself.
Will asked how I was. Finally, someone was asking me how I was for once.
I admitted I didn’t know. Everything had happened so fast. Naya nodded, a bit uncomfortable.
Sorrow and mourning weren’t really her thing.
And she added, to lighten the mood, “We had to leave the apartment in Sue and Mike’s hands, if you believe that. ”
“It’s fine,” Jack joked. “We don’t need to worry about it because they’ll have probably burned it to the ground before we get back.”
“Two presumed terrorists are responsible for the explosion of a building…” Naya spoke in a newscaster’s voice, and Jack laughed and said, “Exactly.”
“I doubt it,” Will said. “More likely, Mike will piss her off and she’ll throw him out on the street. She’s not the type to put up with anyone’s bullshit.”
That I had to agree with.
Thanks to them being there, things were more comfortable than before.
Shannon and Spencer came over and talked.
Even the twins tried to be sociable. Mom was a different story.
She’d retreated to her room, and Dad made it clear that she was not to be bothered.
Not that I was planning on it. I could imagine a fight happening, and today wasn’t the day.
Once everyone had left, Jack, Will, and Naya helped clean up. My good mood didn’t last long, because soon Dad came over and awkwardly said, “Jenny.” He cleared his throat and tried not to look at anyone else. “I’m not sure how to say this, but…it would be better if you didn’t spend the night here.”
Was he serious? Had Mom put him up to this? Could they not even bury the hatchet for one day?
Will and Naya stared at each other. Jack looked directly at my father with an expression that was hard to grasp.
“Are you kicking her out?” Shannon asked, indignant.
“I’m not kicking anyone out. I just think your mother needs some peace and quiet today.”
“Did she say that?” Spencer asked.
Looking exhausted, Dad went on, “It’s not about what she says. And it’s not about you. If you want to stay here, Jenny, that’s fine. But all these people…”
“I’m not kicking out my friends,” I made clear. My tone was cutting. Dad sighed.
“It’s just so we can have a little peace,” he said.
I could have exploded, but I felt Jack grab my arm. His expression was surprisingly calm. “We’re going back tonight anyway,” he told me. “And you can join us if you want.”
I can’t even begin to describe how much those words relieved me.
We finished cleaning up, said goodbye to Shannon and Owen, and got in Spencer’s car.
He refused to let us get an Uber—he said a drive to the airport would help him clear his head.
Jack sat up front with him, and the rest of us piled in the back.
I was happy to leave, I admit it. I couldn’t wait to get back, shower, and rest. I felt as if I hadn’t slept in years.
On the way, though, something occurred to me.
“Spencer, could you stop for a second?”
He knew why I was asking, and he had his doubts about it, I think. He gave me a long stare before parking in front of my grandmother’s place.
Will remarked that he didn’t want to be rude, but we were cutting things short for our flight. I assured him I wouldn’t be long.
Going back in there was a shock. I hadn’t ever been in there without her, and it was weird to find all the lights turned off.
It felt so big, so empty. I crossed the vestibule into the living room, and for the first time I realized that there were dozens of photos of her sister and her grandkids, but not a single one of her.
How could that have escaped my attention?
In the kitchen, I found a bowl of dough in the fridge.
Grandma had been getting ready to make a cake.
I cleaned it out and washed it and left it in the sink.
Then I went upstairs to the bathroom, where I had left a hairbrush she’d lent me.
It’s not that I needed it, but it felt important to me.
I walked downstairs and sat on the couch.
At some point, I started crying. I guess I wasn’t there that long, but it felt like ages that I clutched that hairbrush in the darkness.
Finally, I walked out to the car, and no one said anything as we headed to the airport.