Then we went back up in the air as if God had heard our prayers. The engine roared. The gash in the ceiling quadrupled. It was a flipping convertible. Debris flew everywhere. I could barely see but noticed items being sucked out.
First a roller bag flew out the hole. Smacking the edges, it tore the gap wider.
Then a few extra life vests followed.
Suddenly the aircraft started to make a sharp turn.
“What’s the pilot doing?” I asked Blake, trying to see out the window.
“Landing on the water near the island.”
We climbed higher in the air. People shouted at each other to stay seated.
“Je vous aime, les gars,” Fabian professed his feelings for his buds as if it was the end.
The sun which had been on our left now shined on the right.
Without warning, Vive removed her mask. Leaning down, she kissed Hedda behind the ears and gave the dog her oxygen. In Vive’s eyes, I didn’t see fear as I expected. She unbuckled her seatbelt and handed Hedda to Lex.
Did Vive want to die?
Lex threw her arms over Vive, trying to get her to buckle up as Vive screamed she wanted to go.
Go where exactly?
“Taddy!” Blake shouted as the wing next to his seat caught fire. The window melted. We were going to burn.
My detached seat gave. The jet continued to climb. “Lex!” Like a vacuum I was sucked out that damn hole.
Someone grabbed my ankle.
That was the last thing I remembered.
Did I die? I must’ve.
Next thing I knew I was back on West 74th St. and Central Park West. I was home with my parents at the San Remo apartment building. Maybe five years old or so. This was a happier time for my family and me. No fighting. No DNA test. Dad didn’t have doubts as to who I was other than his daughter.
Sitting on the floor in the den, I wore a crimson dress, one of my favorites. Mom had made it for me.
Dad and Mom sat across from Lex and me.
Lex and her parents had lived in the apartment building too. So did Donna Karan and Steven Spielberg.
Lex chewed on a piece of gum and studied the board game. She’d been staying with me while her parents filmed a rocker movie in Los Angeles for the last month.
We played a second round of Candy Land.
“Daddy it’s your turn to go.” Pointing to the deck of cards, I realized my speech was childlike but, in my head, I thought as an adult.
Glancing around the oak-paneled room in awe, I’d forgotten how much Mom had decorated the place back then. She’d cared how the place looked. How we’d lived as a family.
We’d often had people over. They’d entertained, celebrated life and living here. My parents had truly loved each other back then. Till all the lies floated to the surface and shattered everything I once knew, including who I was and where I’d come from.
“Alright, Tabitha,” Dad smiled at me warmly. He drew an orange card and moved his gingerbread piece to the corresponding spot.
“My turn,” I said, noticing I was close to the Candy Castle. I pulled a card. “Pink!”
Lex popped her bubblegum and said, “You move to the lollipop forest.” She clapped her hands with excitement.
I pushed my gingerbread figure past the chocolate mountains. The game was all based on chance. There were no puzzles to solve. No player was better than the other. The deck of cards dictated every move.
Looking back on it now, in a way, Candy Land played the players. All we had to do was show up and follow along. If only adult life were this simple.
“Looks like you may win the second round, Tabitha,” my mother encouraged. With a petite nose and high cheekbones, her facial features were striking. That was before Mom’s ugliness showed, before her mental illness and booze took over.
“Anyone can win, Mommy. You’re up next.”
She paused for a minute. “How about for Halloween we make you a Princess Lolly costume?” Mom reached across for a card. “I’ll sew it myself.”
Lex glared at me as if she was being left out. Her mother, a music icon, never had time to play dress-up with us unless it was on stage or for one of her music videos.
“Will you make Lex a Queen Frostine costume? Then we can go together.” I looked out for my bestie even when we were kids.
“I don’t see why not.” Mom glanced over at Lex and asked, “Is that what you want, Alexandra?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Good, then it’s all settled. Tabitha will go as Princess Lolly in red. Alexandra can be Queen Frostine. Oh…I have just the icy blue fabric for it too. We’re going to have one sweet Halloween, girls.”
“Yay!” Lex and I got to our feet and jumped around, cheering to the idea of our new costumes.
The crystal chandelier above us shook.
Any second now I expected Mrs. Yves Bucheron to come up the penthouse elevator in a snit yapping for us to stop making noise. Lex and I were always getting in trouble. This building wasn’t made for kids or any type of excitement.
“I’ll start on the dress patterns tomorrow.” Mom admired us for a minute then moved her piece.
“A queen and a princess,” Dad said. “I love you girls.”
“I love you too, Daddy.”
“Taddy,” a stranger, called out to me from another room, another place. Whoever it was addressed me by my adult name. They clearly weren’t in this study. I didn’t go by Taddy till after I was emancipated.
Not wanting this moment to end, I ignored the voice and hoped to stay a few minutes longer. I felt as if I floated on a sea of Cotton Candy. “I love Candy Land. Anyone can win. All you have to do is play.” I repeated.
“Taddy, wake up,” the strange voice spoke again.
“Just follow the rules—” Wait. I squinted. The sun, it was burning my skin.
Sitting up, I realized I wasn’t at the San Remo. My parents weren’t in my life. Lex didn’t sit at my side. However, I floated. Just not on a spun-pink web of cotton candy. Nope. More like in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
In horror, I grabbed at my hemline and caught site of the airline’s logo. I sat on a piece of the plane. My flip-flops were long gone.
“Lex!” I shouted. Tears saltier than the water surrounding me swelled from within.
“Blake.” I wiped my eyes. Coughing up sea, I tried to get control of my emotions. Otherwise I’d choke. I shouted my best friend’s names again and again. Inhaling through my nose, I screamed so loud I thought my tonsils would fly out of my throat, “Viveca Farnworth!!!”