10. Alice
10
Alice
W ill parks in a space half a block from all the other vehicles, but then, he probably doesn’t want any other car doors near his Baby Blue. I have never driven in such a fancy car. Dad’s old minivan does not hold a candle to this baby.
Will doesn’t make a motion to open his door though. He’s waiting for me to answer his question about my lack of soccer knowledge, about my uncles. I don’t know why someone not loving soccer is so shocking to him.
“My uncles all played football. American football. Honestly, I don’t know much about it either. But on the other hand, all four of my uncles are very well-versed in Disney princesses.”
Will laughs, and it’s a nice sound. I haven’t heard him laugh much—he’s always so serious, so focused on our work. “Wow.”
“It’s true,” I say. “When I was five, Dad threw me this huge princess-themed birthday party. When the princess he hired backed out, my uncle Owen came dressed as Prince Charming. He was a huge hit.”
Will laughs again, and I feel like I’ve just succeeded at something great and difficult.
“And,” he says, “your uncles are part of your dad’s world… which is different than your mom’s world.”
“Very.”
“So, living with your mom versus living with your dad qualifies you as having lived in two different worlds?”
“Yes.”
“I’m getting an education today.” He shakes his head, his left arm draping over the steering wheel while he stares at me, a goofy grin on his face. “Crazy, I thought we all lived in the same world.”
“I’m pretty sure the extremely wealthy always think that,” I say and reach for the door handle. I step out into the sunshine and lift my eyes to the sky. It’s a windless, cloudless day, and I am here for it. I swish my long bangs from blocking my view and peer out at the pretty landscape around us.
“And you figure I’m extremely wealthy? How? Just by one car?” he asks, suddenly beside me. Will starts walking, and I follow suit. His tone is playful enough. At least I don’t seem to have offended him.
“You’re kidding, right?” I glance back at his car. “Is that not proof enough?”
Will swallows. “Fine. I’m doing all right.”
Our feet pad along the asphalt. The road ahead of us is blocked off. Vendors are set up down the center of the street with brick-and-mortar shops on either side of the street.
“What is this?” I ask, looking down both sides of the street.
“Truckee Thursdays. They do it all summer long. Street vendors come and sell all kinds of things. It’s pretty great.”
I grin. “Fun.”
“Yeah. So,” he says, “tell me about these different worlds. I guess they didn’t cover that at my school.” Will walks beside me, his arm so close that his shoulder brushes mine.
“Were you a rich kid?”
Another swallow. I’m pretty sure that means yes.
“Will, my stepmom is a veterinarian and my dad’s a pilot. That part of my family has done well for themselves. I wanted for nothing. I wasn’t driving a BMW to school, but I did get a car at sixteen. Believe me when I say I’m not judging you. I’m asking, I’m curious, and I’m trying to answer your question.”
He grins and runs a hand over the back of his neck. “Yes, my family had money.”
“Okay—now we’re getting somewhere. Most likely you were not aware that there were different worlds happening all around you. The money makes you unaware.” I wink at him. Wink . Who does that? I send my eyes into a small fit of blinking—to distract from the whack-a-do wink.
“Is something in your eye?”
I pull in a breath. “Nope.” Peering ahead, I get back to my point. Let’s both just forget all about that wink. “Here’s the deal: there are four basic financial worlds,” I say, keeping my tone light.
“Good to know.” He nods, encouraging my made-up knowledge.
“There’s the bat-crazy wealthy, like Billy. This means the person has never once cleaned a toilet in their life. They aren’t even sure who cleans the toilets. It could be the magic toilet fairy.”
“Got it. Magic toilet fairy rich.” He holds up one finger. “Then what?”
I smirk, reining in my desire to laugh out loud—or wink. “Then there’s just the oober rich—this is probably your category. You know how to clean a toilet, you’ve seen the tools to do so, but you don’t do it yourself.”
“Uh… are all these worlds explained in terms of toilets?”
“Absolutely. It’s universally understood. Shall I continue?”
“By all means, keep going. My eyes are opening with each word you speak.”
“Then there’s the average, normal, every day, financially stable people. They clean their own toilets. They go on vacation. They live in nice homes. You get the picture.”
“This is you?”
“Um, sort of.” I furrow my brows. “Two worlds, remember? But that’s another story.”
“I’m here for that story too,” he says.
“Last category: The people who clean other people’s toilets. They’re trying. They’re making it. But life is hard.”
“Your mom’s category?” he asks, his tone at once gentle.
“Yes. Only while she should be cleaning toilets to pay her bills, she has refused. That’s where I come in. In Mom’s world, I clean all the toilets. For her. For me. For whoever I happen to be working for at the moment.” I shrug. “This is why I live in two worlds—and why my story is confusing. With Dad and Coco, I was always taken care of. But I grew up. And it was time to take care of myself, as well as my mom. Sandra.” My arms swing at my side. “Sure, I have a great big family, but she’s got me. Only me. While my father would love to help, I have thrown myself into the toilet cleaning category.”
Will’s eyes crinkle at the corner as he smiles at me. Clearing his throat, he keeps his tone light. “I’m going to have to ponder this. It’s deep.”
I’m glad. I hadn’t meant to take such a serious turn. “So deep. The insights of Alice Taylor and toilets. It’s going to be a TED talk one day.”
He chuckles again, his arm brushing mine—the edge of that tattoo, the one I didn’t get a good look at, worms into my thoughts once more. I want to see it.
“Didn’t you ever want to tell your mother to clean her own toilet?” he asks.
I purse my lips. “Yes. At times. But she struggles. She’s lonely. She needs support.”
“So, you stayed with her.”
“It’s not as noble as it sounds. I’m very close to my dad’s side of my family. I needed them. I couldn’t have done it without them.”
“Well, sure. Uncle best friends and all.”
Nodding, I nibble on my bottom lip. “In fact, this is the first thing I have ever done without my family.”
“Ever?” Will’s gray-blue eyes widen and he peers at me, all the silliness gone from his voice. “That surprises me.”
“What can I say? I’m Alice Taylor?—”
“Princess—”
“More than a princess,” I interject. “I am a mystery.”
“Okay, mysterious Alice Taylor, how do you feel about Indian food?” Will stares ahead at a truck parked in the middle of the street along with a dozen or more other vendors.
“I like it. I think. I’ve only had it once.”
“Are you up for a Tesoro Truckee adventure, then?”
We walk over to the Curry on Wheels truck. I pick the one vegetarian dish and let Will order it for me—and since I haven’t gotten a paycheck yet, I don’t argue when he pays as well.
“I’ll pay you back,” I say, taking my cup of curry and paper cone of folded naan.
“No big deal. Consider it your welcome to Tesoro.” Will smiles, and a small ballerina leaps inside of my gut.
We walk the entire length of the Truckee event, talking and eating our curry. I stop along the way and pick a spring columbine from a cluster of flowers. I twirl the purple flower between my thumb and forefinger. This is going in the middle of chapter one—Christmas dinner for the March family.
We start back toward the parking lot with Will’s Baby Blue.
“Next time, we’ll have to go to Commons Beach.”
“Next time?” I press my lips together and peer over at him.
“Sure.” Will’s brow raises. “I mean, we’re friends now. Aren’t we, Alice?”
“I guess we are.” I tilt my head and rein in my smile. It’s nice to have a friend. “Are we still getting groceries tonight?” We’ve spent more time at the Truckee event than either of us planned.
“Maybe a quick stop? What do you think?”
“Yeah, I’ve got homework to do.”
“We’ll stop at South Shore Market. It’s on the way.”
Back in Will’s Baby Blue, I roll down the window and let the breeze rustle through my bangs and over my cheeks. He pulls into the small market, and I know immediately that the forty-one dollars in my bank account is not going to cut it.
Is there such a thing as a fancy grocery store? If so, this touristy town has it.
We walk through the chic little market and Will fills up his basket. I add Cheerios, a gallon of six-dollar milk, and two individual cups of luxurious mac ‘n’ cheese to my small basket. Because Kraft isn’t an option.
“That’s all you’re getting?” he asks.
“Will, remember the world I’m currently living in. Um, this place is beautiful and organic, and a little like a grocery store museum. But I haven’t gotten a paycheck yet. I cannot do any major shopping here.” I shopped for myself, for Mom, and for whichever boyfriend she had at the time regularly for the last seven years. I learned to budget on our limited funds. I told my father he had to stop sneaking money into my account. How would Mom or I learn? I did well with what we had. But never did I ever spend four bucks on an individual serving of mac ‘n’ cheese.
Will clears his throat and peers at the box of macaroni in my hands. “Yeah, I guess the cost of living is pretty steep here.”
“That’s okay,” I say, because it is. And while I’m about to pay out the nose for processed cheese and noodles, I’m loving this adventure. I’m loving my new job. Even with hard tile and stupid Theo seething across from me, I want to be here. I smile at the thought. “There’s a Safeway—it’s got to be more cost-effective. I just haven’t made it there yet. And Amazon. Amazon will deliver mac ‘n’ cheese to my door. I just need a minute to think ahead.”
Will grins at me. “That first paycheck will help out too. You’ll be fine.”
“It will.” I nod, certain he’s right.
“Are you sure you aren’t the positive-thinking princess? You could get your own movie.”
“There already is one. It’s Cinderella .” I tilt my head, thinking while Will watches me. “She did clean a lot of toilets. Maybe we do have a lot in common. I might be okay with her fairytale ending as long as she gets to go to work the next day and help save herself.”