4. Pearl #2
Aurora gave everyone a serene look. "You know, bumblebees are pretty amazing, right?” She continued as if she were speaking in a David Attenborough documentary.
“By all accounts, they shouldn’t even be able to fly.
Aerodynamically, their bodies are too big, their wings too small, but they do it anyway.
They defy the odds just by being themselves. "
Luna grinned, catching on. "Yeah, Pearl. Maybe you’ve been looking at it all wrong. Bumblebees don’t give a damn what anyone thinks; they just buzz around, making the world a little sweeter."
Aurora nodded. "Exactly. Bumblebees are resilient. They’re badass. And honestly? The world would fall apart without them."
“Badass Bumblebee." Luna smiled and then turned to sign the credit card receipt the bartender had left with our bill. “Now, that’s a nickname that I can get behind.”
"That's not why she was called that," Dixie May, who was dumber than a rock, murmured. "But anywhoo, I saw you here and just had to come by." She turned and waved, and since hell was a real thing, Sage, Josie, and Rhett joined us.
Hellos and how do you dos were dropped.
"Pearl, Rhett and I are so glad that you're coming to our engagement party." Josie all but slithered all over her fiancé. "You know, your mother was worried that you wouldn't show up because of that…unpleasant business in high school."
Rhett’s jaw clenched.
My mother was Josie's Godmother because her mother and mine were friends—yeah, welcome to the incestuous ways of Savannah society.
Birdie Beaumont, my mama, was the mean girl of her time and a sidekick of the main mean girl, Suellen Vance, Josie's mama. Rhett's mother, Dolores Vanderbilt, completed the evil axis of Savannah Society, who never failed to tell me how I was less than their children.
"Tess is so fit. She does Pilates every day. You should go to the gym with her, Pearl." Dolores would show off about her daughter when she met my mother and me at a clothing store, where I was trying on size 12-14 dresses.
"Are you going to eat the whole slice of pie? Bless your heart, Pearl. My Josie keeps her figure by being careful about what she puts inside her mouth," Suellen once told me in public at a party. There had been a lot of snickering.
"I wish you were more like Josie," my mother, Birdie, said over and over.
In fact, she still said it. Now, I could ignore it. Then, it had been devastating.
"We have to go," Luna muttered loud enough for everyone and God to hear her. "Christ on a crutch, sometimes I feel like half this city's floozy population hasn't left high school."
I held back a laugh. I loved Luna. She said things people thought but didn’t have the guts to say. But Luna’s attitude was, “I’m outta fucks, ladies. I’m so the wrong person to fuck with.”
Aurora chuckled.
And then, to my surprise, Sage smiled at me. "Truer words haven't been said."
"Excuse me?" Josie was incensed and looked up at Rhett.
"You are excused," I said, smiling widely.
Luna was right—we weren’t in high school anymore. I was thirty-one, an independent and intelligent professional, and emotionally healthy…well, most of the time. At least, I was when I wasn’t living in Savannah.
"How dare you?" Josie's eyes lit up with anger, but she kept her voice down. It wouldn’t do for nice Josie Vance to let her temper show in public.
It'd be in the gossip airwaves how she lost her temper when talking to Pearl Beaumont at The Olde Pink House while Governor Abernathy was dining five tables away. Ah, the scandal!
"Just because you managed to lose some weight doesn't change the fact that you are?—"
"Stop." The single word from Rhett was sharp enough to cut through the din of the restaurant and silence Josie, who looked up at him in confusion.
I was confused, too. I thought Rhett would be on her side.
“Give it a rest, will you, Josie,” Sage mocked flatly. “It’s not cute anymore, not that it ever was. And you, too, Dixie May. You came here to see if you could get a rise out of Pearl, and all you got is an ass-kicking."
Luna, Aurora, and I couldn't help but smile, and I saw that Rhett's lips had curved up as well. Gary, who should be defending his wife, had his hands tucked in his pockets, amused and drunk.
Dixie May’s mouth snapped shut, her eyes widening in surprise. “I beg your pardon?”
“You heard me.” Sage didn't bother keeping her voice low. “We’re not sixteen anymore, and you're not the head mean girl; what you are is a Karen."
The room felt like it had tilted slightly.
Sage, the girl who had been part of the gang that made my life hell, along with Josie and Dixie May, was defending me?
She wasn’t smiling, wasn’t trying to soften the blow.
She simply looked at Dixie May like she was tired of the entire act and wasn’t afraid to show it.
Before Dixie May could recover, Rhett moved closer to his fiancée. He glanced at Dixie May, then at me, he was clearly not pleased.
"Josie, let's go." He put his hand on her arm and began to steer her away from us.
“But—” Josie protested.
“Now,” he clipped.
It wasn’t loud, but it was enough. Josie straightened, her eyes flashing indignation. Dixie May looked cowed and, without another word, grabbed Gary’s arm and stalked to the exit.
For a moment, I was frozen, my heart hammering in my chest as I watched them leave the restaurant. I didn’t know whether to cry or laugh or just run out of the restaurant.
“You okay?” Aurora put a tentative hand on my shoulder.
I nodded, swallowing hard. “Yeah, I think so.”
But I wasn’t merely okay. For the first time since I’d come back to Savannah, I felt supported. By Aurora and Luna, who had stood their ground without hesitation. By Sage, who had surprised me more than anyone. Even by Rhett, who, despite everything, had told his fiancée to shut up.
It wasn't enough to make me want to eat a three-course meal—but it was enough that I managed to have some pieces of smoked gouda before I went to bed that night.