Chapter 15 #2
Phoenix’s vacant gaze met mine, telling me he’d taken something while I cleaned up in the bathroom. He said, “It’s obviously our parents. No one else would be here at this hour without getting announced by the doorman. Anyone else would have to wait downstairs until we permitted them upstairs.”
Barrett reentered the bedroom, considering us all before admitting, “It’s all of our parents. They want to see you, too, Alatheia. Are you up for it?”
I swallowed, because my cramps had started. Still, it wasn’t like I usually catered to what I needed. I nodded. “Sure.”
Jer stopped me, his hand on my arm. “You’re in pain. If they start any bullshit, I’m throwing them out.”
I sighed and stepped around him, since I didn’t want him to kick his own family out of the apartment.
All five waited in the living room, and I considered them quietly from behind Phoenix.
It was my first time seeing Rosalind since she threw me out of the Hamptons.
With her hair pulled back in a high ponytail, she wore a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt, and for a second, I was struck by how young she looked.
I never thought of the adults as young before.
She smiled at all five of us, while her husbands alternated between watching her and watching us.
Rosalind held a wrapped gift, and I stared at the elegant wrapping paper with awe. Someone must’ve told her it was my birthday or she’s very early for the twins.
Her kind eyes regarded me. “Alatheia, I hear it is your birthday.” She paused before she added, “Dina told me. I guess one of you probably told her.”
Barrett raised his hand. “I thought she would want to know.”
“She likely will have something planned for tomorrow. My mother-in-law won’t be rushed when it comes to gifts. Anyway, this is for you. If I had known earlier, I would’ve done better, but I hope you like it. I won’t forget it in the future. I’m actually good with dates.”
I accepted the gift, thinking the entire interaction felt awkward with a capital A. “Thank you.”
With everyone staring at me, I managed to unwrap her present.
My fingers became uncomfortably huge and unwieldy because of all the eyes, and it felt like it took an hour to get past the bow, but I found a stencil of my profile inside the box.
She must have made it herself. “Did you do this? It’s so beautiful. ”
“Yes, I made it today. Again, I wish I could’ve done better, if I’d known sooner. I honestly think you’re lovely, so I wanted to capture you as you are now, at seventeen. You girls may take a lot of selfies, but I’m not sure you really see your actual beauty. I hope you like it.”
The handmade gift touched me, and I swallowed hard, trying to find the right words.
I felt her gift also gave me a statement of apology, and I would gladly take hers.
“I’m not used to birthdays. I haven’t had one in six years, but your sons spoiled me today, and this is beautiful.
I don’t take selfies, actually. I normally hate taking photos, but this is gorgeous. I’ll treasure it.”
She nodded then gestured at the couch. “You’re welcome. May I sit?”
I startled when I realized she asked for my permission. Really? Since when do I get to decide who is allowed in their apartment? But I collected myself quickly and said, “Sure. Of course. Can I get you anything?”
I fumbled, not sure of the proper social niceties for the situation.
“No, thank you. We just ate.” She glanced at her sons, her smile warm. “I’m glad to hear you celebrated her, but I can’t believe you haven’t taken photos with her. Always take photos, record your lives. It will preserve time.”
The twins met each other’s gazes before Jeremy confessed, “We’ve all taken candid photos of her.”
They did? Heat blossomed on my cheeks again, my face an open book. “Really?”
“Yeah,” Phoenix sat on the edge of my chair, playing with a lock of my hair idly. “I have some great ones. We got the vibe you wouldn’t be into posing.”
I never thought about it before, honestly. “If you want to take pictures, I don’t have a problem with it, but I’d love to see the ones you took.”
“We’re already a little off track,” Barrett said then sighed. “This was very nice, Mom, but how can we help you tonight?”
Her smile turned sad. “I thought we were having a nice little visit.” She held up her hand.
“I know, everything is my fault. Our fault. I came back a week early because Stephen said we should talk because Dina wanted to tell the story of the lake. Which, of course, includes my own story. He put her off, but he said we were out of time and should tell you now.”
Phoenix sighed. “Although I’m personally invested in those answers, maybe Kit should tell Alatheia what the fuck was in that folder first? We can call it another birthday present, if you want.”
“Language.” Eric frowned as he stared him down. “Are you okay?”
He gave a quick thumbs up. “Sure.”
“Many things,” Kit admitted with a sigh. “I need a few more days before I’ll have the answers for you, if you would trust me for that long? I get why you don’t trust Stephen to tell you the truth, and it’s fair if that goes for all of us. I don’t want to lie, but I need a few days.”
Barrett rocked back in his chair. “Next time you ask us to commit pseudo crimes, maybe you’ll let us see what we steal before you disappear the information? Better yet, don’t ever send them out to do your dirty work when I’m not home. That shit doesn’t fly.”
Rosalind furrowed her brow at her husband. “What did you do, Kit?”
He lifted his hands defensively. “It wasn’t just me. Danny, too, not that it matters right now. We’ll know more soon. In the meantime, share our story, my love.”
I sighed, irritated despite myself. Why couldn’t I see the papers if my name was on them? But I felt arguing wasn’t going to get me any more information anyway, so why bother?
Rosalind began, “Over the years, you believed I was the oldest child in my family, but I wasn’t.
I had an older sister, but she was murdered when she was twelve.
We never found out who did it, but her throat was slit.
” She stared at the floor, her gaze vacant.
“After Annette died, they put me in charge of the whole brood. You boys only met my mother about six times in your lives, but she worked around the clock. Birth control wasn’t the same then, or who knows why, but she had so many babies.
Then she would turn them over to her other children to raise and head back to work, so it landed on me.
” Her gaze traveled between Barrett and Jeremy.
“Not an easy life by any means, especially since my fathers spent most of their time drunk. Wrong side of the lake, but darker than that, really. I accidentally met your fathers during a boat ride, and suddenly. . .it occurred to me that maybe I could leave there.”
She said she didn’t want anything to drink, but I rose to fetch her a water anyway. She appeared so brave to me in that moment, willing to tell her life story to her sons, the people most consistently angry and disappointed in her. It seemed the least I could do.
When I handed it to her, I could see the tremble of her fingers. She touched my wrist, and I saw the gratitude in her expression as she took a long sip.
Jules squeezed my knee as I passed him on my way back to my seat.
After she drank half the glass, she handed it to Daniel, who kissed her cheek. “How would you have known people left the lake when they used your disinformation to keep you there?”
She gave a small inelegant snort. “I should’ve.
Everyone talked about those horrible Lents.
I heard them saying how, if they ever came back, they would get it.
” She winced, as if guilty by association.
“I figured it only meant you moved to the other side of the lake, never imagining anything further away. I didn’t go to school, so I never had a formal education.
Instead, we got homeschooled.” Rosalind stood then paced to the window.
“Except they never actually taught us anything, leaving us to mostly teach ourselves. Sometimes, I am so proud of where we can send you to school. Barrett attending an Ivy League University? It blows my mind. I am so very proud. But that’s not important right now.
” She faced the room again, her shoulders stiff, as if readied for battle.
She’d survived worse than telling her story, so she would get through it.
“Go ahead, Mom.” Barrett said, offering her a small smile of encouragement.
She sighed, some of the starch leaving her shoulders as she said, “They were so handsome. I sat in some shitty boat, probably not seaworthy, and spotted four exceptionally hot guys in a sailboat. The Lents everyone talked about, but they looked like creatures from another dimension. So handsome, so crisp and clean. Older than me, but only by just a bit. They of course didn’t notice me at all. ”
Kit laughed. “You were fourteen. Wouldn’t it have been creepy if we did?”
“There was that. Eventually I met them, and they were funny, too. They mostly talked to the guys I hung out with, discussing fishing before they all went off together. Over the next few years, I would ask about them whenever I got the chance. Where did they live? I heard about their department stores, so I called their office and ordered a catalogue just to see what they offered. By the time I turned eighteen, things got dangerously bad for our family. We didn’t have any money, so some nights we didn’t eat. Then…my father lost me in a bet.”
I sat forward, startled by her confession. “What?”