Chapter 51 Taylor
Taylor
As quickly as the members appeared at the Knox, they are gone again. When Taylor arrives to work on Tuesday, the place is empty.
She trudges into the parlor, where Rose has instructed her to go unpack some shipping boxes that have arrived. Taylor’s annoyed she spent time curling her hair this morning and adding a black flower embellishment to her black skirt when no one’s there to see it. No one meaning Peter.
Liam is already in the parlor, bent over a box and pulling out long black silks. Other boxes are pushed against the wall, some opened, some still secured with shipping tape.
“Morning,” she offers.
He glances up, wipes the sweat from his forehead. “Hey, New Girl.”
“What’s going on here?”
“Initiation is coming up.”
“I’m aware.”
“No, like really coming up. Saturday night.” Liam juts his chin toward the boxes. “These are things for it. Today’s all about preparing. All week will be about preparing.”
“Oh.” Ooh. “Okay, what do I do?”
“Can ya move?” Jerry suddenly barks from behind, as he carries in a cardboard box. She jumps out of the way, and he sets it down next to the others.
Eduardo trails in after him, holding a utility knife. “Good morning, Taylor,” he says.
“Good morning. And good morning, Jerry,” she adds pointedly. He gives somewhat of a grunt in return. He takes the knife from Eduardo and begins slicing open the remaining sealed boxes.
“You can start unpacking some of these boxes,” Liam says to her. “They’re items for the initiation. Just put them into piles and then we’ll sort them out.”
Taylor starts on one of the boxes, pulling out black phoenix masks that are individually sealed in bags and separated by copious layers of tissue paper.
It feels very Eyes Wide Shut, making her wonder what the initiation will consist of.
She can tell that the masks are expensive; when she unzips one to feel inside, the feathers, so soft and thick, are clearly real.
China pads over to sniff the feathers, and Taylor shoos her away. She’s quiet as she works, thinking.
How strange it is that she was a registered nurse in a hospital, not so long ago. Mass General Hospital and the Knox feel like two totally different worlds, like they don’t even exist on the same plane—each giving shape to an alternate version of her.
“Are you okay, Taylor?” Eduardo asks, at one point.
“Yeah.”
He nods. “It’s a lot here. It’s not for everyone, but you’re doing a good job. And I like what you’ve done with your skirt, adding that flower. It looks good.”
“Thanks and thanks.”
Eduardo squints at it. “It almost looks like a poppy flower.”
“Fitting,” Liam says, with a chuckle.
“Why is that fitting?”
“You know, poppy? Opium?” Liam says.
She blinks, not understanding.
“Opium comes from poppy?” Liam tries.
“Okay…but how is that relevant?”
“Oh, New Girl, there’s so much you don’t understand.” There’s something akin to pity in Liam’s voice, and it irritates her.
“Well, if no one tells me, then how am I supposed to know?”
“Touché.” Liam shakes out one of the black silks—it’s a robe. “Professor, do you want to tell her, or should I?”
Eduardo glances around—is he looking for Rose?—and then says, “The three nights of preparation begin tomorrow night.”
“The three nights of what?”
“It’s the three nights leading up to the initiation night. The Knox members—the current ones—they gather in the evenings each night, a little before midnight. Certain ceremonies are performed.”
“Like what?”
“We don’t really know,” Liam cuts in. “There’s some elaborate meal…” His voice trails off as Eduardo shakes his head. “Yeah, we don’t really know,” he says again.
“How come no one told me that this was scheduled for this week? The ‘three nights’ thing, and the initiation?” she asks.
“We didn’t know,” Jerry says.
“They use geomancy divination readings to determine the best timing, and this was what was decided,” Eduardo explains.
There’s that geo thing again.
“Geomancy’s like earth astrology,” Liam says, when he sees her confused look.
“Well, not exactly,” Eduardo interjects.
“Close enough. And they use opium during it.”
“Opium? Why would they use opium?” Her thoughts race backward, snagging on “bad Aunt Emma,” and then Liam’s comment yesterday: Oliver wants to bring the Knox back a few decades, centuries maybe, to how it once was.
“They believe opium can unlock their minds, make them more open for the divination readings,” says Eduardo, with a wave of his hand, as if conjuring some magic.
Liam adds, “It might seem random, but it’s not. William Knox made his fortune in the opium trade, after all.”
Taylor tries to remember what opium even is. Is it smoked? Ingested? Injected?
“This is why we have the Knox symbol, with the top hat and opium pipe,” Eduardo says.
“You mean the top hat and flower?”
“People think it’s a flower. But it’s a curved opium pipe with a decorative opium bowl.”
“Oh.” Oh. The symbols tacked up on her fridge feel like they’ve taken on a whole new meaning. A sinister one. This at least answers her question: Opium is smoked, or can be.
“So, we’ll be working odd hours over the next few days,” says Liam. “Asked to do some strange errands—”
“Not her,” Jerry cuts in. “Just us.”
“True,” Eduardo says. “She’s still so new.”
Taylor resists rolling her eyes.
“What I was going to say, before O’Doyle interrupted me, is that you will likely not be asked to do these things,” Liam says. “The Knox scales down to essential personnel only. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if you take a paid staycation and return next week.”
“Lucky you,” Jerry says.
“It is like our most ‘religious time’ here,” Eduardo explains.
“Hey, what do you think?” Liam asks. He slips into one of the hooded robes and swirls around, the cape billowing with air like a parachute.
“Oh, wait,” he says, and dips his head into an open box. When he reemerges, he’s wearing the black phoenix mask. He looks eerie, with just a pair of dark oval eyes and the small of his chin showing.
Eduardo shakes his head. “Not a good idea, Liam. If Rose catches you…”
As if on cue, they hear the familiar clap of her feet against the wooden foyer, and Liam barely manages to slip out of the attire before Rose enters the room.
She is dressed up, for Rose: black pants and a white button-down shirt.
Hair pinned back on one side with a thin silver barrette. Is that a dash of lipstick?
Rose pauses, as if sensing there has been mischief, but when she scans the room, she can’t find the evidence. Liam pushes his back firmly against the couch, the robe and mask stuffed into its crease. Taylor winces, thinking about the delicate feathers getting squashed.
“Let’s hurry up here,” she says briskly.
“Liam, the butcher will be landing at four forty at Logan’s private Signature Aviation terminal.
You will meet him there. Eduardo, I need you to oversee the table settings in the dining room.
Jerry, I need you to take out all the garbage to the curb, these boxes as well as the trash from the kitchen—they will be coming to remove it shortly—and then you’ll be driving to New York to pick up the wine.
” She pauses. “Taylor, you may excuse yourself by two o’clock. ”
They all nod, and Rose’s mouth briefly twists into a smile, long enough for everyone to notice.
“Rose is in a good mood,” Jerry remarks, once she leaves.
“She loves this time of year,” Liam says.
“It’s her favorite. Some people like Christmas, some like July Fourth, but give Rose a Knox initiation, and she’s a pig in shit.
” He looks over to Taylor. “Do you want to grab a bottle of champagne from upstairs, in Canton’s?
I feel like we all deserve a quick drink to mark another year of initiation starting.
What do you say, Professor, O’Doyle, New Girl? ”
Eduardo nods, while Jerry looks less certain.
“Sure,” Taylor replies. “Is there one you have in mind?”
“Behind the bar, there should be a bottle of Veuve already open in the fridge. And plastic cups in the cabinet next to the sink.”
“Okay.”
“I could use some help carrying out the garbage first,” Jerry says. He’s looking rather pointedly at Taylor.
“Well, why doesn’t Taylor help with that, and then she can grab the champagne?” Liam suggests.
Why does she have to help with the garbage? Jerry can and does clearly manage it by himself, so this must be some sort of power play. Taylor opens her mouth to protest, but Jerry jumps in with “Good,” and starts picking up the broken-down boxes.