“True. The only person at fault is Birdie. Not you or me. And I hope you’re not implying this is all on Lex because it ain’t. Not exactly, Vive this could’ve happened to us too. How many times have you burned your clothing in the tub?”
“Don’t be a twat. I’ve never lit anything other than candle.”
Around and around, Taddy paced in a circle fast enough to resemble an orange sherbet flurry.
We’d officially gone stir crazy.
Staring at these prison uniforms gave me a headache. The room shrunk another few inches. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.” I gave them each a pleading look. Already I had apologized about two hundred times. So make it two hundred and one.
“One good thing did come out of today, that’s for sure.” Taddy smirked.
“Huh? What the fudge are you talkin’ about?”
“Kelle Sterling Dolley got himself arrested too.”
Hearing Kelle’s demise for the second time sounded better than the first. Unable to control myself, I smiled as rightfully so. Hello, he banged Mom.
Kelle wasn’t in the penthouse during the explosion. No siree. Apparently he’d taken off in his Ferrari shortly after we’d left. High and wasted, he got pulled over for DUI on Perry Street. Now he was in jail somewhere around here, probably sitting next to Vive’s driver. That was the tidbit of slammer gossip we’d overheard while in booking.
“That’s not funny Taddy.” Vive bit her fingernail.
“Vive, please stop worrying. Once Daddy gets here he’ll talk to Birdie and fix everything.” That was the biggest crock of monkey dung to come out of my mouth. But my family needed to take care of this, not the Farnworth’s.
“Uh-huh.” Vive’s right eyebrow jerked up, perhaps suspicious of Dad stepping in to help.
Over the years, he’d been MIA off and on, for as long as the girls had known him. Daddy wasn’t a bad father. He just wasn’t around. Like ever.
“He’ll be here tomorrow, Vive. You’ll see.”
“Isn’t that what you said about our graduation?” Vive sneered.
Along with Taddy’s parents, Daddy didn’t make it to my graduation back in June.
Don’t wanna talk about it.
“Hey, at least Birdie attended.” Taddy defended.
“And sober!” I added.
The only peace of mind was Birdie hadn’t drank a drop our entire graduation week. She’d treated Vive, Taddy, Blake, and I to a nice dinner and had given us each gifts. The girls and I received Cartier jewelry. Blake had gotten a Rolex.
An evening with sober Birdie was worth more than any baubles her money and fame could afford. I’d called her Mom out in public the entire week and not once did she snap at me.
She’d shared her enthusiasm with a Manhattanite Times reporter and said, “I’m proud and honored to call Alexandra Easton my daughter. Today’s Avon Porter graduation is a hallmark of her youth. Her father and I are excited to see where her journey takes us all.”
Pretty nice, huh? Her publicist may have written it on her behalf but I didn’t care. I’d taken her words to heart. Mom had never bragged about me before to anyone. It risked taking the spotlight off her, but for whatever reason, that day she did.
My eyes stung just thinking about it. Maybe that’s why I wanted to go on to college so badly. Four years of studying for a degree I’d probably never use was worth Mom’s compliments, at least to me.
“And where’s Eddie now?” Vive asked.
“Tokyo. His Asia manager said he got the news, cancelled his shows for the week and immediately boarded a flight coming back to JFK.”
“I’ll believe Eddie when I see him.” Vive’s bloodshot blue eyes narrowed and she muttered uneasily, “Looks as though you’ll be spending the night at Riker’s.”
In horror, Taddy gasped. “No, Lex won’t. She’s leaving with us. And Vive if Dick doesn’t spring her bail, I’ll forever hate you.”
“Me?” Vive slouched back down on the bench. Crossing her skinny legs she asked, “Why?”
Taddy’s lips thinned with irritation. “Ohhh…I don’t know. Perhaps it’s because you’re being a frickin’ hypocrite.”
“No, I’m not.” Vive turned away from us and faced the wall.
“We spent six months in juvie cause you killed your boyfriend—”
“Don’t you dare throw that in my face!” Vive shouted over her shoulder. “Sanderloo was gay bashing Blake to the point of unconsciousness. I didn’t see you two stepping in to fend him off.”
With a pang, I fired back, “That’s not fair.” I had tried to help. Or at least I thought I did at the time. One thing was for certain, I’d near peed myself when the fight started. Not because I was shocked. No. Sanderloo was a major a-hole and had always stirred up fights, but because I was terrified for Blake. Sanderloo must’ve been on steroids. His type of rage toward another human being wasn’t natural.
“If I hadn’t stepped in, Blake would’ve died.” Vive turned back around to face us and fingered a clump of mascara from her eyes.
“We know, Vive.” Taddy’s voice went up an octave.
“Christ. It was an accident.” The color drained from Vive’s face.
That’s what we’d always called it—the accident.
“I still get the chills thinking about that night in the woods.” I thought back to how our nightmare had started.
Sanderloo had accused Blake of coming on to him for sex, which wasn’t true, btw. He’d started beating on Blake. He wouldn’t let up. After a blow to the face, Blake had fallen. Ignoring Vive’s screams, Sanderloo had started kicking Blake as if he were a soccer ball. Vive had tried to get in between them but Sanderloo pushed her off.
Hoping he’d stop, Vive had grabbed a shovel and struck Sanderloo on the head. Oh, he’d quit alright. The boy had died instantly. At the time, Vive was five months pregnant with Sanderloo’s baby. We were like sixteen.
“Every nuance about Sanderloo’s death is fresh in my mind.” Blinking off a tear, Taddy shut her eyes tight.
We couldn’t put his murder past us. It had bonded all of us together forever.
“Ya know it’s like last year, when we’d watched on the news as the airplane flew into the World Trade Center, or like today seeing Birdie soar off the balcony. One can’t forget things like this.” I hoped my words brought Vive some comfort.