22. Eleanora
eleanora
. . .
B y the time I get back to the apartment, it’s well after dinner. Kellie’s sitting on the couch, fast forwarding through some show she recorded. She doesn’t turn as I walk in or say hi, and for some reason, this upsets me. I know we’re only roommates and have lived together for a while now, and this is definitely something neither of us did in school, but today I need her to acknowledge me, to give me pity.
I plop down next to her with the heaviest sigh I can manage, and make sure to emit a loud groan.
“He still hasn’t called?”
“Nope.” The p is popped as if I’m a middle schooler smarting off to her parents.
“Well, at least you didn’t give him what he was after.”
“I know.”
Kellie leans forward and pushes the white take-out cartons toward me. “It’s still warm. If I had known you were coming back, I would’ve ordered double.”
“I should’ve called.” Reaching for the food, I grab the unused chopsticks, break them apart and dig into the noodles.
Kellie pauses the show she’s watching and turns to me. “You don’t have to call when you’re not here, Eleanora. We’re roommates. That doesn’t mean we have to check in with each other. I’m sorry if I made you feel that way with my earlier comment.”
The tears are instant. I hate them. I drop the carton into my lap and cover my face. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I was having so much fun and it’s like the air is leaking out of my balloon and I can’t…” I hiccup and sob harder.
Kellie’s laughing. “Are you seriously saying your life’s a balloon? You’re a piece of latex rubber that can pop, deflate, be full of hot hair, and look like a… well I’m not even naming that body part.”
I half choke, laugh, gag. I don’t know what I’m doing. “No. Maybe? I don’t know. It seemed like the smartest thing to say. Like my sail has no wind or whatever. I’m frustrated.”
“Girl, you have a crush and have been let down. It happens. It’s why I won’t date until that one guy comes along.”
“Rhett,” I blurt out. She blushes and turns away from me. Kellie reaches for the remote, but my hand comes down on top of hers.
“I went to the park today. It was beautiful, peaceful and hectic. There were so many people there I couldn’t think. I dropped my phone and completely shattered the screen so even if I wanted to call you, I couldn’t. It took two hours for the guy in one of the strip malls to replace the glass. He kept stopping to talk on his phone, and I could tell they weren’t customers.” I take a deep breath. “Anyway, what I’m saying is, I spoke to Rhett today, and well I think he likes you too, but he won’t act on any feelings because of me.”
I slide my hand over hers and squeeze. “I think that if you like Rhett and he likes you, well you both should explore a relationship. I’ll still love you no matter what. Definitely you more than him, but you know what I mean.”
Kellie laughs, sort of. She looks everywhere but at me, until she finally launches herself into me, pushing me onto the couch in a massive hug.
“Can’t breathe,” I whisper-groan. She releases her hold and helps me sit up.
“You are the best person I have ever known, Eleanora. I’m madly in love with your brother.”
“Good. He’ll be here in a couple of days to help me drive home.”
Her eyes go wide. “You’re leaving?”
I nod and fight back the next wave of tears. “It’s time. I realized today that I’m homesick. I haven’t been back there in a few years and I miss the trees, the cooking and believe it or not the humidity.”
The back of her hand presses to my forehead as if she’s my mother checking for a fever. “Are you feeling okay? No one misses humidity.”
I finally crack a smile. “I know. It’s hard to explain. I just miss being there.”
“And Roy. Do you miss him?”
“Oh hell no. That’s over. I told him as such. He can believe me if he wants, or not. We’re done.”
“Good, girl. I’m going to miss you though.”
I pull her into my arms. “I have a feeling we’ll see a lot of each other. Before you know it, you’ll be living in my mama’s house.”
“I’m not leaving Cali.”
Oh, well this will be an issue because Rhett won’t leave South Carolina. I don’t tell her this though. If they’re going to date, they’ll have to figure it out for themselves.
“Are you busy the next couple of days?” I ask her.
“Besides work, not really.”
“Do you think your parents will give you a couple of days off? I’d like to drive over and see Sofia before I go.”
“It’s what, like six hours from here?” Kellie asks, even though she’s looking it up on her phone. “Yeah, I’ll go. Let me text my mom. When do you want to leave?”
“Now. She has to work, but I figure we can sightsee and meet up with her for drinks.”
“Go pack. We’re taking your car.”
It’s always risky, traveling hours to another person’s house without them knowing it, but I didn’t want to risk Sofia telling me not to come because that’s exactly what she’d do.
Kellie and I made excellent time getting to Phoenix. We found a hotel not far from Sofia’s house, and when I called her this morning, she told me she was off at noon and would call me, so I could tell her all about my date.
In hindsight, Kellie and I should’ve waited until today to drive over because now we’re aimlessly wasting time.
“I say we just go over there and surprise her. It’s hotter than Hades out here and the AC in our room is on the fritz.”
True, we went on the cheap side when it came to finding a room, but showing up unannounced, more so than we already are, will upset my friend. But I give in.
“Okay, but I’m telling Sofia this was your idea.”
Kellie brushes me off. “She’ll be fine once we get some tequila into her.”
As sad as it is to say, I’m really looking forward to a night of drinking. Sofia has a pool and I can easily picture the three of us sitting by it with a drink in our hand, gossiping like we used to back in college. Okay, college wasn’t that long ago, but still.
Kellie and I enter the subdivision where Sofia lives. My GPS is telling me to turn right, left, drive straight and turn again. When we finally pull into the driveway, I inhale deeply, trying to calm my nerves. Now that I’m here, I’m second-guessing myself. I’m a horrible friend.
“Someone’s looking out the window.” Kellie points, but by the time I look, the blinds are closed.
“Well, we can’t sit here. Let’s go say hi to her mom.”
We make our way to the front door. The landscape here is cacti and other native to the desert plants, and the yard is concrete. No grass.
Kellie rings the doorbell while my heart has jumped out of my chest and is currently running back to my car and speeding down the road. “I think we’re making?—”
The opening of the door cuts off my words. Sofia’s mother stands there, keeping the wooden structure close to her body.
“May I help you?”
“Ms. Tucker, do you remember us? We met in Idaho when you came to visit Sofia? I’m Eleanora and this is Kellie.”
The woman, with her blonde ponytail and dark makeup apprises us while we stand there. I smile every few seconds, waiting for her to say something. I’m trying not to stare, but her blue eyes, they’re vibrant like Quinn’s and I find myself missing him.
“Is there something you need?”
“We came to surprise Sofia,” Kellie tells her. “I live in Los Angeles and Eleanora is about to head back to South Carolina, but she wanted to say goodbye to Sofia first.”
Ms. Tucker’s eyes go from Kellie to mine. “You’re the one lying to your parents?”
Busted. “Um… yeah.” Thanks, Sof, for keeping my secret. “We’ll just go.”
“You can come in and wait if you want.” She pushes the door open and for some reason, before I step in, I look around the room. Creepy, thriller type music should be playing right now because something is telling me to run. Yet, I don’t. I step in and Kellie follows.
Everything about their living room is odd. The walls are bare. There isn’t a single picture, decoration or book on the mantel or bookcase. Plastic covers their floral couch, making it seem like we stepped back into the sixty’s. Even as I look around, I can feel Ms. Tucker’s eyes on me. She’s watching my every move and it’s starting to freak me out.
“Would you like something to drink?” she asks, stepping in front of me. I jump back slightly and refrain from putting my hand over my heart to calm it down.
“Sure, Ms. Tucker, that’d be great.” My throat’s dry, parched. However, I’m far from thirsty.
“Call me Alicia. Follow me, but please don’t touch anything.”
“What are we supposed to touch?” I mouth to Kellie as soon as Alicia turns her back on us. All Kellie and I can do is look at each other. Alicia Tucker is odd and wasn’t like this when she visited Sofia. When we met her last time, she was funny and the life of the party. Today, she’s acting like she’s a distant relative of Hannibal Lector.
Kellie and I find our footing and walk into the kitchen. Alicia is flittering around, looking through cabinets, opening and closing the refrigerator, and I’m standing here wondering what she did in the few seconds we weren’t right behind her. Did she pull a knife out of the holder and hide it? I look for one on the counter but don’t see one.
“Do you know what time Sofia will be home?” Kellie asks.
Alicia stills, and looks out the kitchen window. “Twelve thirty-seven.”
Not twelve forty or one o’clock . Right now, I have never wished so hard for my phone to ring, for Rhett to call and bug me or for Williemae to call and tell me something adorable that’s happened to my niece. Nope, nothing but pure silence.
Alicia sets two plastic cups on the counter. “I just… you should go outside,” she says, brushing past us to open the sliding glass door. Kellie and I don’t hesitate. We grab our cups and step out onto the patio. I expect Alicia to follow us, but she doesn’t. The door slides shut and the pit in my stomach grows.
“What the hell did we just walk into?”
“I don’t know, but I have a feeling that door is locked,” I say, refusing to look behind me.
I don’t know about Kellie, but I’m scanning the yard for an escape route. The fence surrounding the backyard is at least eight feet high with cacti plants everywhere, making it near impossible to climb over.
Kellie’s the first one to move. She takes a seat on one of the chairs near the pool.
“I’m not going in there,” I tell her. “It’s probably filled with acid or something to kill us.”
“And I’m not drinking this either, but I don’t see a place to dump it and it wouldn’t surprise me if she has video cameras set up everywhere. Seriously, what the hell did we walk into?”
“I don’t know, but I’m texting Rhett.” I pull my phone out of my back pocket and type out my message. “No service.”
“How is that possible?” Kellie asks. She takes her phone out and finds the same issue. “Do you think she has a block on her house?”
I shake my head. “How is Sofia so normal with a mother like that?”
“I don’t know, but she needs to hurry up and get home because every worst-case scenario is going through my mind right now.”
“Mine too,” I mutter back. Despite Sofia posting a picture of her brother the other day, this confirms everything. There is no way the Quinn I know is related to this woman, and he definitely doesn’t come here to visit. Sofia on the other hand, I really don’t understand how my best friend is so normal compared to her mother.
The both of us watch the time on our phones tick by. Second by second, we count down the minutes until Sofia is due home while keeping our minds open to our surroundings. Alicia doesn’t grace us with her odd presence or ask if we need anything else to drink or if we might have to use the bathroom. If she’s planning on killing us, she’s waiting until her daughter is home, so she can help hide our bodies.
A car pulls up and seconds later a door slams. I can hear Sofia’s voice, but Alicia must be whispering. I’m watching the sliding glass door, waiting for my friend to appear. The door opens hastily. Kellie and I stand, my legs shake causing my knees to knock together.
Sofia marches toward us, her face distorted from anger and vengeance. I open my mouth to tell her we’re sorry for showing up unannounced, but something tells me my apology will fall on deaf ears.
“What are you doing here? I don’t remember inviting you to my house. Since when is it okay to show up to someone’s house without their knowledge. You both need to leave and never come back.”
“Sofia, we’re?—”
She holds her hand up, stopping me. “Get out. Don’t ever come back. If I wanted you here, I would’ve asked you. You’re not welcome.”
“Let’s go, Eleanora,” Kellie says, reaching for my hand. “If you could show us a way out that wouldn’t require us to go by your mother, we’d appreciate it.”
Sofia walks away. I’m not sure if we’re supposed to follow her or not, but Kellie does and she’s pulling me right along with her. Sofia stops at the section of fencing that’s attached to their garage. She lifts a gray box, pushes some numbers and the gate opens. The realization that we were trapped starts to set in.
“I don’t understand, Sofia.”
“Leave,” she says. “Don’t ever call me again.”
Kellie doesn’t think twice about it. We have to step through two cacti plants, scraping the skin on our arms and legs as we pass, and we all but run to my car, where Alicia is standing. I try to smile, but I know for a fact it’s nothing more than a grimace.
We get in. I start the car and don’t even worry about putting on my seat belt. One last look ahead, I find Alicia standing there, waving.