I picked Sudsy up at her house on Coral Cove Circle at seven-thirty the next night. Too guilty to walk to the door and face her family, I honked instead. In a minute she appeared, staggering to the car with a small cardboard box with enough stuff for a seven-day Caribbean Carnival Cruise.
“My God, Sudsy, how much did you bring?”
“Well, my mother made dolmades and I know how much you love them. And then Aunt Sophie came by with baklava.”
I opened the car door. “Well, hurry and get in. Was she suspicious?”
“Who? My mother or Aunt Sophie?”
“Your mother.”
“No, she knows how much you love Greek food. And we’ve been sleeping over at each other’s houses since we’ve been seven. How about yours?”
I shook my head. “Not a hint of suspicion. All I took was my overnight bag, my DVD player and three DVDs—Pride and Prejudice, Summer Place and Twilight.”
“Well, I’m glad you brought something besides Twilight, because I’ve seen it like ten times.”
“Me, too, but you have to admit Edward is majorly hot and worth seeing a couple zillion more.”
“Yeah, he’s hot, but I can’t expend my emotional energy drooling over someone who doesn’t even know I’m alive. I’d be satisfied with a guy from Coral Cove who doesn’t know I’m alive.”
And I’d be satisfied with Nick, I thought, but didn’t dare say so. Not after all the horrible things I’d said about him.
I pulled into Miss de France’s driveway and drove to the back of the house and parked. “I’ll get the key and be right up.”
I gamboled up the red brick walkway to Miss D’s back door. James appeared on the third rap, a striped dish towel over his shoulder.
“Hi, James,” I said. “Cooking dinner?”
“All day. Beef Bourguignon. Would you like some?” He was actually smiling.
“Oh, how sweet, but Sudsy brought dolmades. She’s spending the night, and—”
“You need the key to the Emerald City.” He laughed. I guess cooking put him in a good mood. “Be sure to return it when you leave because—”
“Because it’s the only one in the entire universe.”
He nodded. “Oh, by the way, Madame bought something for you. I’ll get it.”
Something for me? My mind scanned my mental wish list for possibilities.
In a matter of seconds, James had returned with a Publix grocery bag he handed to me. Disappointed, I peeked in. There in a pretty yellow foil wrapper was a big bag of dried plums.
“I hope you like prunes. Madame believes in them wholeheartedly. Insists I eat four a day.”
“Then why does it say plums?”
“Marketing, I guess.”
“Hmm. Well, please tell her thank you. I would myself, but Sudsy’s waiting with the food.”
“I understand,” he said, handing me the key.
“Do you want to eat the dolmades now or a later?” Sudsy asked when we were in my apartment and she’d plunked the box on the tiny kitchen table.
“Are there alligators in Lake Tarpon? Yeah, I want to eat them now.” I took the pan of dolmades out of the box. “Get a couple of plates out of the cupboard. The silverware’s in the drawer. I’ll heat a couple of them in the microwave.”
“This little Pullman kitchen is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. Reminds me of the playhouse kitchen we had in kindergarten.”
“I wouldn’t know. Paige Barton and Tamara were always hogging the hell out of it, and I never could get my unassertive little ass inside.”
“Well, you have your own playhouse now.” Sudsy looked wistful. “You’re so lucky.”
I am lucky, but if I’m so lucky, why do I feel so totally alone and sad?
Lying, the little voice in my head answered. It’s because you’re lying to your parents.
Stop it, I told the voice. You’re giving me a headache.
The sound of Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream” on my cell interrupted the throbbing in my head. Sudsy looked at me. Terror was written all over her face.
“Omigod, Brooke, don’t answer it.”
“I have to. It could be my mother.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of.”
I dug my cell out of my purse and looked at the number. Tyler. Thank God!
“Hi Tyler. What’s going on?”
“That’s what I want to know. “Your mom said you were at Sudsy’s, and her mom said she was at your house.”
His words tightened like a monkey wrench around my heart. “You didn’t tell Sudsy’s mother anything, did you?”
“I never tell parents anything. Where are you, anyway?”
“Listen, meet me at Spring Bayou in ten minutes and I’ll tell you everything.”
I waited for Tyler on a park bench. The bayou was deserted except for a man walking a cute, little black Cockapoo.
How nice to be a dog. To have nothing to worry about except eating and peeing and wondering when they were going to take you for a walk. Of course, dogs don’t live very long, but if my parents find out I’ve been lying to them about my apartment, I might not live very long either.
I was debating how much I should actually tell Tyler when he pulled up on his bike. It looked more beat up than ever. I waved. He looked disappointed.
“Where’s the Green Lady?”
“I decided to walk, why?”
“Because I just wanted a little privacy, that’s all.”
“Let me guess, you don’t have a girlfriend anymore and you want to make out.”
“Well, you’re kinda right.”
I laughed.
“But it’s more than that. I miss you, Brooke.”
I gulped, and my heartfelt all soft and squishy. “Oh, Tyler, I sort of miss you too.”
“Then why don’t we get back together?”
No, I thought. No, no, no. I love Nick. But how could I tell Tyler that?
“Hey, you’re the one who broke up with me, remember?” I began, trying to sound reasonable. “Grandma Donnie was really mad. She called you a little asshole.”
It was Tyler’s turn to laugh. “I guess I was sort of an asshole. I was just frustrated about us not having sex. But, I don’t care anymore.”
“I find that hard to believe.”
“Well, I like sex, but it’s really no big deal.”
Ching-ching-ching sounded in my head, like when someone wins at the slot machine in Las Vegas and all the little cherries line up in a row. But in this case, the cherry had to do with Tyler.
“Don’t tell me you actually did it!”
“Sshh, not so loud.”
“Then you did find somebody! Who was it? Not Paige Barton. That little tramp. I knew she was having sex.”
“It was not Paige, and I’m not going to tell you who. It wouldn’t be cool.”
“Right.”
“Listen, it doesn’t matter, because it didn’t mean anything.”
“That’s what they all say.”
I stood up and so did Tyler, who grabbed me by the arm, turning me so we were looking into each other’s eyes.
“Brooke, I still love you. I’m totally miserable without you.”
“Tyler, I still care about you too, but like a friend. Besides, it’s too late. Too much has happened the last couple of weeks. I’ve grown.”
He let go of my arm. “Grown? What you really mean is you’ve got a new boyfriend. Let’s see, who could it be? That old guy who gives you acting lessons? Or is it his brother who teaches you to dance?”
“Anthony is Nick’s cousin and I’m not remotely interested in him. He’s my dance instructor, that’s it.”
He walked to his bike and hopped on. “Well, something’s up, because your parents don’t even know where you are.”
Suddenly I knew I had to tell him everything. If I didn’t, he’d tell my parents I wasn’t at Sudsy’s and tell Sudsy’s parents that she wasn’t at my house. It was too terrible to think about.
“Okay, Tyler, I’ll level with you.”
It was another of those time-stood-still moments, me spilling my guts about the carriage house and my new black Patent Leather Room and Tyler devouring every word.
“So that’s where you were?”
I nodded.
“Then I’m coming over.”
“You can’t,” I said, panic in my voice. “Sudsy’s spending the night.”
“Okay, then tell me when I can come.”
“I don’t know,” I said, stalling. “I don’t really think it’s a good idea. Miss de France has rules.”
“Then break them. I don’t think your parents would like it if they knew you lied to them, do you?”
He smiled. Not his usual grin, but a smile that reminded me of a Tyler I didn’t know.
He pedaled off, his red bike blending in with the cherry sunset. If we’d been in a soap opera, it would be time for a commercial, but this wasn’t TV. It was my life.
I couldn’t believe he was blackmailing me! But he’d had sex, and I guess that once a guy had it, he’d do anything for more.
I crossed the park toward Miss de France’s, the scratchy St. Augustine tickling my bare feet, the Technicolor sunset reflecting in the tall, narrow window panes of the Victorian. Looking up, I saw Miss de France at her bedroom window. I waved and she waved back. A shiver ran through me in spite of the humid evening air. My life was no longer my own.
I thought of her list of rules for the carriage house. Let her know when I come and go; no more than three guests at a time; no drugs or alcohol. But she’d never said no boys, so I wouldn’t be breaking any rules if I let Tyler in, would I? Had Miss de France really forgotten about boys or had she planned it that way?