Chapter 4 #2
“Well, about a month ago, I got some news.” Lyza’s lips trembled and she sighed. “We hadn’t figured out what we were going to do, but we were talking the other day and Elvis pointed out that you and I are about the same size …”
Chicot furrowed her brow, about to ask what news Lyza had gotten, when her mouth went dry. Lyza was absently resting her palm on her navel. “Oh my god.” Chicot shook her head quickly. “I can’t take money from you. I’ll do it, but I—”
“No, no.” Lyza waved at Chicot quickly and pressed a finger to her lips. “Listen, okay? Elvis will be able to make enough, and we’ll figure it out. This was just … unexpected.”
Chicot rubbed her head and then stopped so she didn’t mess up her hood, instead moving to grip one of the points, toying with the bell at the end.
“No, Lyza, I’m willing to help you. I mean, I have to talk to Elijah, but …
” Chicot didn’t know what to do, so she took Lyza’s free hand in hers, trying to offer some comfort to her.
Lyza pressed her lips together as she looked at Chicot again, her chin low and her eyes filling with tears.
Chicot felt a knot in her stomach. She didn’t know what she would do if Lyza started crying.
“Okay, I wouldn’t feel comfortable with you doing it for free, and I want you to know what the money’s going to look like when you talk to Elijah.
” Lyza squeezed Chicot’s hand and then let it go, wiping at her eyes briefly.
“What if I keep the money the faire pays us, and you keep what would be my share of the tips?”
Chicot shuffled her feet. She wanted to go back to being excited about her first day at the faire instead of thinking about the kid that Lyza and Elvis were going to have to support.
There wasn’t a good answer and as she looked up at Lyza’s set jaw and stiff back, she knew there was no arguing.
At least she could use the money to justify her choice to Elijah.
Though, knowing him, he also probably would have tried to refuse.
“Yeah, okay. One sec.” Chicot turned, looking around for Elijah in the crowd again. This time she spotted him, his eyes catching Chicot’s, and he immediately started toward them without Chicot even waving for him.
“Thank you for this.” Lyza said it before Elijah was within earshot, reaching out to squeeze Chicot’s shoulder. Chicot smiled at her.
“What’s going on?” Elijah shifted his lute to his back as he approached them.
“Sorry for borrowing her suddenly. I was asking Chicot a favor on behalf of my group,” Lyza explained.
Elijah started telling her it was okay, but he stopped the moment he looked at Chicot.
Apparently, the look on her face was too grave, so she tried to force herself to smile.
She just didn’t want him to be mad when he realized she’d basically agreed to this already without consulting him.
Elijah’s jaw wiggled at the corners as he gritted his teeth. “Chicot.”
“I’ll give you both a minute.” Lyza quickly walked around the side of the gazebo to give them some privacy.
“Lyza asked me to be an understudy for her in their show, and I sort of already agreed to it. I mean, we haven’t told the directors or anything, so I could still back out.
” Chicot dipped her chin, trying not to make direct eye contact with Elijah as she made nonsensical gestures with her hands, as if it would help explain her line of thinking.
“But I don’t think I should. I mean, I only did it because—”
She cut herself off, looking at Lyza on the other side of the gazebo. Was it really her place to tell Elijah that Lyza was pregnant? She didn’t know what she was allowed to say.
“Because?” Elijah pushed his head forward, crossing his arms. Chicot groaned.
“I’m sorry. I should have asked you.” Chicot rubbed her knuckles together. “It’s Lyza. Well, you see, she needs help.”
Elijah’s eyes darted back to Lyza, his arms uncrossing. He sighed and waved to get Lyza’s attention, and she quickly joined them.
“What’s going on exactly?” Elijah asked. “Chicot seems afraid to tell me.”
“Oh, I should have said you could, sorry.” Lyza rubbed her arm awkwardly. “I’m pregnant.”
“That’s why.” Chicot’s nerves were fraying as she tried to stand still. She wanted to do something for Lyza, take action—but there wasn’t much to take action about. Not an hour before the faire gates opened at least.
“You’re pregnant?” Elijah’s jaw fell open. Lyza now had his rapt attention. She nodded, a grimace washing over her face.
“Miracle of life over here!” Lyza pointed at herself as her face settled into something muted and scared. Elijah collected himself.
“Well, guess it can’t be helped.” Elijah shrugged. Chicot whipped her head up from where she’d been looking at her feet, bells jingling as her eyes brightened.
“It’s really a beneficial situation for us all,” Chicot blurted. “She keeps her pay from the faire, and I get a third of the tips, so we’ll have a little more money to play with if we get an audition. Maybe I can even get a new phone.”
“With our luck,” Elijah teased, “we’ll do a bunch more shows and still not get to replace your damn phone.”
Honestly, he was right. They didn’t have much luck when it came to her stupid phone.
Lyza looked like a stiff breeze might knock her over. Chicot couldn’t fault her for being terrified by an unplanned pregnancy. She wanted to make sure that Lyza was taken care of.
“Hey.” Elijah stepped closer to them, lowering his voice. “Lyza, it’s okay. C’mon, we’ll find Elvis.”
Lyza shook her head. “No, we still have to talk to the directors.”
Elijah looked at Chicot over Lyza’s head as he gave her a side hug. “Okay, we’ll all go together, then we’ll find Elvis.”
“Thank you.” Lyza leaned into Elijah’s chest, letting him squeeze her.
She turned to Chicot, about to hug her too, but stopped when she realized she’d crush Chicot’s collar.
Instead, she took Chicot’s hand. “I still have to confirm the timeline with a doctor, but let’s give the director a heads-up. ”
Lyza led her and Elijah into the main office. Chicot glanced back at her partner, who was holding the door, and gave him a nod. They were probably thinking the same thing: Elijah’s parents hadn’t planned for him either. But Elijah had turned out great.
The three went to the Castlerock Stage together after a short discussion with the directors, and there was Elvis, Monty helping him with stilts.
Chicot’s eyes swam over Monty, her heart suddenly pounding in her chest. She hadn’t even thought of it when they’d talked, but being Lyza’s understudy meant working with Monty for the rest of the summer.
In fact, it meant an entire summer of Monty lifting Chicot, catching her, juggling blades with her, and even sword fighting with her. Chicot swallowed.
Lyza immediately folded into Elvis’s arms. Monty frowned as she watched her sister for a moment, then her eyes slowly dragged over to Elijah and finally to Chicot.
Chicot waved politely, trying to smile like everything was normal, but it wasn’t.
Chicot had clearly just agreed to a summer of being in Monty’s strong arms without giving it a second thought.
It seemed to confuse Monty more than anything, as she looked askance at Chicot before she turned back at Lyza.
“You okay?” Monty asked, stopping her adjustment of the stilts. Lyza turned without leaving Elvis’s arms, nodding at her sister.
“I’m good,” Lyza said, giving her a thumbs-up. Nodding, Monty walked past Chicot to reach the backstage door, meeting Chicot’s eyes.
“We can talk later then.” Monty only pulled her eyes away from Chicot to look at Lyza. “You probably shouldn’t get on stilts today.” Lyza sighed, agreeing with her as Monty stepped into the small green room they all shared.
Chicot’s shoulders relaxed as Monty disappeared behind the door.
At least this would help them get auditions.
Something Chicot would be telling herself daily for the rest of the season.
She followed Monty. For now, she needed to get her promotional flag and put her mask on.
Once she did that, she could focus on their primary task, which was getting people to watch her and Elijah’s show.
That was where her priorities needed to be for the rest of the day; she could panic about working with Monty after the faire closed.