Chapter Six Elsie
Chapter Six
Elsie
Elsie knew she couldn’t hide out in her bedroom forever, clutching her guitar but afraid to do more than go through the chords without strumming for fear of her mom overhearing.
She’d only bolted here to call Willow back for advice on how to handle her mom and Grammie.
And yes, maybe buy some time for them to talk things out between each other.
Then she wouldn’t have to explain and be interrogated.
Why hadn’t she thought through her escape plan? Devised a PowerPoint slide deck like her mom would have done, to prove why this was a great idea. Instead, she’d just reacted in a way that probably made her train wreck of a life worse.
Now, without Willow’s help, Elsie was on her own to figure out next steps since her friend hadn’t answered. Willow had just texted about sweating out her body weight while hauling around sandbags.
A knock sounded on her door. “Elsie?”
Her mom.
Ugh.
Elsie shoved her guitar case back under the bed. The bungee cord snagged on the carpet, stopping her progress halfway. The case’s neck still stuck out, sporting a faded bumper sticker for Charleston’s Spoleto arts festival alongside a decal from the Silver Maple Campground.
She ground her teeth and kicked some laundry over the instrument before sitting on the edge of the bed. Fast. “It’s open.”
The door swung wide and her mother rolled inside, stopping short by the pile of clothes. “Elsie, I saw your suitcase by the door. What’s this I hear about you sending out an SOS to your grandmother? Emancipation, Elsie? Really?”
Elsie’s fists bunched the comforter. Betrayal stung, which was silly since she’d left Grammie out there with her mom anyway. Willow had been right about the parent code. “She was supposed to explain, but now you’re both ganging up against me.”
“Nobody’s ganging up on anyone. She only told me what you should have. Don’t you think I would have noticed when you didn’t show up for supper?”
“That’s not funny.” She shot to her feet. “I don’t want to talk about it right now. We need to board up the house. Where’s Grammie?”
“She’s taking a shower.” Her mother backed away from the door, clearing the way. “If you’re asking to haul around plywood, that tells me you’re really trying to avoid talking to me. No such luck, kiddo. I’ve already reached out to a company to take care of it for us.”
“That’s good, I guess.”
“I could use your help in the kitchen, though. I need to check the generator, make an inventory of the refrigerator, and sort through the laundry. We’ll have time to talk while your grandmother changes her clothes.”
Might as well surrender. Besides, in the kitchen she would have more avenues to bolt. “I could fill up bags of water for the freezer.”
Freezing bags of water would give extra protection to the frozen goods in the event of a power outage. And with luck, this would be the last time she would have to mess with stupid stuff like that for a maybe-hurricane.
Her mother called Dusty to follow along, and together they tackled the clean clothes. The dog tugged at a cord to open the dryer door and on cue dropped towels onto Rosalynn’s lap for her to fold. The smart goofball even climbed halfway in to retrieve a sock stuck to the back.
Elsie had never known a time when her mom didn’t have a service animal.
The one before Dusty had been a golden retriever named Scout.
He’d been a stoic sort, not as goofy as Dusty.
Even though she’d known not to interfere with Scout when he was working, Elsie used to sneak and toss toys for him to pick up.
It had seemed like such a game then. Or maybe she’d been jealous of Scout, which felt silly now.
He’d been so completely fixated on her mom, even when he wasn’t working. Dusty had a bit more spunk in him when he was on “free time.”
Elsie glanced sideways at her mother, avoiding eye contact while gauging her expression. “Is Dad evacuating or staying?”
“He’s heading out for Biloxi.” She tugged a T-shirt right side out with extra focus. Her mom was rarely still, like being in motion helped quiet her mind.
Was she plotting her plan of attack for their conversation?
“I didn’t realize he knows somebody there.” Did he have a girlfriend? He’d sworn there wasn’t anyone else, but still. Her confidence in the honesty of guys was currently underwater.
Her mom didn’t answer. She never bad-mouthed Elsie’s dad in front of her.
Most folks would have shouted to the rooftops that he wasn’t over here helping secure the house where his kid lived.
Even if he wasn’t cheating, he was bailing on them when they needed help.
He only showed up to be the life of the party or if she was getting some kind of award that made him look good.
This one time, she’d been driving her mom somewhere and backed into another car.
Elsie had been freaking out, worried that she’d somehow reinjured her mother.
Her father was “too busy” to come help when the police arrived.
He’d mumbled some BS about it sounding like Elsie had it well in hand and how proud he was of her.
While her parents weren’t the cause of her need to leave Sullivan’s Island, escaping her dad’s sphere sure was an added bonus. Like getting a large order of fries in the drive-through when you’d ordered a regular-size meal.
Her mom cued Dusty to nose the dryer door closed, then pivoted to face her. “Elsie, it seems we need to talk about why you want to move out.”
Dodging her mom’s laser gaze, Elsie grabbed the box of gallon-size Ziploc bags and began filling one after another. “Since Grammie’s already told you, there’s nothing more to discuss.”
She realized she sounded snippy, and none of this was her mother’s fault. But she just couldn’t keep from snapping at her mom.
“We could start with why you want to leave.” Rosalynn inched closer. Dusty rested his head on her knee, a sure sign she was stressed.
The dog picked up on that stuff. Elsie wondered what it would be like to have somebody interpret her moods that way, where she wouldn’t have to cough up the painful words.
She shrugged. “It’s time to go. I’m ready to live on my own. Plenty of people graduate from high school when they’re seventeen.”
“That’s not much of an answer. Don’t you want to enjoy all the perks of your senior year?”
Perks? Elsie’s grip slipped on a bag and water squirted out of the seal.
She pinched the threads tighter together.
“I’m bored at school, and I want to start college.
” Far, far away from South Carolina. “When you and Dad decided to get divorced, you both said I could choose who to live with. Well, I choose to live with Grammie.”
Elsie stomped her way across the kitchen and yanked open the freezer.
A sigh hissed from Rosalynn. “Your grandmother wasn’t on the list of options and you know it.”
Like she really ever had a choice. Elsie stacked the water bags on top of three cartons of ice cream. Rocky road and mint chocolate chip for herself, and toffee pecan for her mother. She let the cold blast hit her face while she willed away tears.
Her mom wheeled closer. “You know you can talk to me about anything.”
“If that was true, you wouldn’t be flipping out right now.” Elsie slammed the freezer closed.
“I’m only ‘flipping out’ because I don’t understand why you want to leave.”
Did her mom have to sound so reasonable? “Even if you won’t let me graduate early, plenty of people live with their grandparents during their last year of school. A girl in the class ahead of me did that last year.”
“Her dad was military and got transferred. She stayed to finish out the school year and graduate with her class.”
Elsie fished out a box of mint cookies from the back of the fridge. “Still . . .”
Her mother quirked an eyebrow. “Well, you know what? We’ll have plenty of time to talk in the car.”
“What do you mean?”
“We’re evacuating to Grammie’s place.” Her mom plucked the box of cookies from her hands. “These will make excellent snacks for the journey.”
Say what? Was she actually letting her go to Alexandria with Grammie? Even if her mother didn’t intend to let her stay, this was a step in the right direction. Good luck prying her out of there once she unpacked her bags.
Her grandmother applauded as she leaned against the archway between the kitchen and dining room.
She’d changed into jeans and a short-sleeved turtleneck.
Even with wet hair, smoothed into a perfect kind of bob, Grammie had a way of making casual seem put together.
Kinda like the girls who made Elsie feel a mess.
Except around Grammie, she felt special. A thought to untangle another time.
Rosalynn opened the refrigerator. “I’ll pack up the perishables to take with us on our road trip.”
“Lovely,” Lillian answered. “All three of us together. Four if you count Dusty—”
Elsie interrupted. “Five if you count Sheldon.”
Grammie’s eyes went wide. “Sheldon? Is that a friend?”
“He’s my hermit crab.”
Rosalynn let loose another hiss-sigh. “When did you buy a hermit crab?”
“This morning. I haven’t picked him up from Willow yet, though.”
Grammie patted her hand. “Possession is nine-tenths of the law, so for now, Sheldon needs to stay with Willow. I have to get back, and I’m not leaving you here with a hurricane bearing down.”
Elsie chewed her bottom lip. “I definitely want to go, but Mom said we would only leave if it upgraded from a tropical storm . . .”
She’d wanted an ally in Grammie, but right now, her mom and grandmother looked more like a unified front against her.
“Check your weather app, my dear.” Lillian shot her a side-eye. “And if you’ll straighten up that attitude of yours a bit, I’ll tell you all about a road trip I took to DC with your grandfather thirty-six years ago.”
Elsie grappled for her phone in her back pocket and swiped her finger along the screen until she reached the weather app. She tapped the icon . . . and groaned. The storm had picked up speed and intensity since the last update, bearing down toward the South Carolina coastline.
She’d wanted to leave Sullivan’s Island, but not like this. It was one thing to travel on a plane, and quite another to spend hours in the van with two of the toughest interrogators on the planet.
Two interrogators whom she loved and respected more than anybody. Even thinking about the looks on their faces if they discovered her secret made her sick to her stomach.
When this road trip began, she intended to fake-nap in the back seat, avoid conversation, and let them assume she was only leaving because of her parents’ divorce.