Jezebel (21 page)

Chapter 25

Annabelle

“I was taught to love, But I learned to hate. Bisect me. I will regenerate”

~ Earthworm, Grief

Mark waited for Annabelle at his truck looking delectable. For the first time in her life, she was completely breathless in the presence of a guy, and she didn’t want the feeling to end.

“Sorry I’m late!” she called as she quickly made her way across the parking lot. He reached out and snagged her bag from her shoulder, setting it in the truck for her.

“No worries,” he said reaching for her hand. Annabelle gave it to him. “Hi,” he said in a hoarse voice. He tugged her to him and hugged her. A feeling of euphoria rushed through her. She burst out laughing. It was so ridiculous to be so affected by such a simple gesture, yet she was. It was a warm, sincere, affectionate hug. “Is this amusing?” Mark asked releasing her.

“Not at all,” she giggled, willing herself to stop. “Sometimes, I laugh at inappropriate situations.”

“That was inappropriate?” Mark scratched his neck, a bewildered expression on his face.

“Not at all, that’s why it was inappropriate to laugh.” Mark shook his head at her still not understanding. “You hugged me. I liked it. It was nice. I’ll stop laughing now if you do it again.”

He gave her a wry look before tugging her to his chest and squeezing her. This time, she squeezed back and found the sound of his heart beat calming and reassuring. Mark helped her into his behemoth of a truck and bowed to her before closing her door and climbing into the driver’s seat.

“Will we get to chat tonight?” he asked.

“I’ll have a little time,” she smiled.

Mark had embedded himself into her life over the last week. He made it a point to message her daily and she found by the end of the day the anticipation of reading his thoughts and having a few minutes to message back and forth with him left her breathless and excited.

“Only seventy-seven days you know.”

“Until what?” Annabelle’s forehead wrinkled in confusion.

“Until I can take you on a date, inmate.” Annabelle smiled and swatted his thigh. He caught her hand, pinning it to his leg and said, “I’m really happy we met.”

Annabelle let her hand relax as she blushed. He removed his hand from hers but she left her hand where it was. Mark looked down quickly before focusing on the road ahead and grinned. And Annabelle wished the trip home were longer.

~
***
~

With one hand and one eye on the steering wheel, Annabelle’s mother started digging through her bottomless purse. The Coach bag was busting at the seams full of
‘essential’
items, as her mother liked to call them. Annabelle cringed to think of how much she would pack on an actual trip somewhere. Her mother had the car swerving all over the road when she finally pulled her hand out of the bag, looking victorious and producing a perfume bottle. Annabelle scrunched her nose. Her mother popped the cap off and spritzed herself and then took aim at Annabelle.

“Mom! No,” she protested, leaning right until she was pressed firmly into her door. Her mother smirked and spritzed anyway. Annabelle groaned and tried to waft the air around her away. She wasn’t a big perfume fan. Pulling out a tube of lipstick next, her mother smoothed a generous amount on her lips, using the rearview mirror as her guide.
At least there wasn’t any traffic on the road right now,
Annabelle thought. Still, she tightened the strap of her seat belt more. Her mother smacked and rubbed her now coral-colored lips together, then reached over to Annabelle. “Here.”

“I’m okay, coral isn’t really my color,” she stated dryly, and pushed her mother’s extended hand away.

“Oh, come on,” her mother said with a pout.

“Fine,” Annabelle groaned and carefully dabbed on the tiniest bit using the mirror in her visor to guide her. She pressed her lips together and dropped the lipstick back into her mother’s bag.

“So what’s this surprise?” she asked.

Her mother grinned at her and shook her head. “Not telling, you’ll find out soon enough.”

Annabelle stared out the window; it was a sunny Saturday and although she was happy to have something do outside of the house, her mother’s surprises usually weren’t her idea of fun. On that thought, Annabelle’s head bumped her window as her mother veered right into a parking lot. She pulled upright and rubbed the spot gently. Looking around she spotted the surprise—apparently it was spa day. Annabelle half-smiled. Maybe a little pampering would do her good.

~
***
~

She sat beside her mother as estheticians poked and prodded at her, willing to take whatever moments with her mother she could get. All the while she kept trying to think of something to discuss, a light topic that would keep their conversation upbeat and flowing. Despite her best efforts, nothing came to mind. She never used to have such a hard time talking to her mother, but that was long before.

“Did you know your father and I met at work?” Her mother smoothed her shirt.

“No, you’ve told me about your first date but not where you actually met,” Annabelle answered. She wanted to know, but mostly she just wanted to keep her mother talking. It was a rare and pleasant surprise.

“Oh Annabelle, he was so determined and driven and handsome,” her mother gushed, a soft smile playing on her lips. “There was never anyone who caught my eye like he did. I was a goner from day one.” Watching her mother lean back into the pedicure massage chair Annabelle thought about how when she was a child and sad, that woman held her. Her mother who sacrificed so much for her
before.
There she was sitting right there, the same but so different. She listened to her mom chatter on about her father and wondered how a person was able to change so vastly in the span of a lifetime, how, the highs and lows of life could change the fiber of your soul, creating a different person altogether.

Five hours later, Annabelle was relaxed and ready for a nap. They’d each had a pedicure, manicure, massage and facial. It was a decadent treat that should have left Annabelle on a high. Five hours alone with her mother was unheard of. Instead of the high she craved, her stomach twisted into knots on their drive home. She had noticed the sorrow-filled gazes her mother had cast her way at the spa. They talked about superficial things to pass the time they were seated next to each other. There was a longing in her mother’s voice that she couldn’t place. When her mother had stroked her hair and murmured, “Always be a good girl,” Annabelle hadn’t responded. She had been too in shock. Her mother’s words hit her as a goodbye rather than a simple reminder.

The sun was sitting on the edge of the earth as they drove home. They spilled through the door together and the weight of the silence in the house visibly hit them both. Annabelle noticed her mother’s face fall as she looked around. Her mother sighed, dropped her bag on the table in the foyer, kicked off her shoes and moved quietly into the depths of the house without a word. Annabelle closed her eyes and shook her head, warding off all the negative energy floating around her.

Brant,

What’s up? How’s life in the afterworld? Here’s not so great. Well, just here, as in, the house. School is fine. I’m pretty excited to graduate and be out of here. And Glenview is great. Mark. He makes me smile and forget that there are shitty circumstances in life. Jezebel, dude, you’d adore her. I know—I’ve written that before but she’s like Mom from before. She’s firm, but gentle and caring. It’s hard to explain I guess. Do you remember when we used to go with Dad and get fresh honey? How it melted on your tongue as soon as it hit? It was so sweet. It went down so easily and we always begged for more. Jezebel’s like that feeling. Mark is a warm summer breeze that makes you think of windy days and salt and sand and Jezebel is like honey.

Does that make any sense?

-Annabelle

~
***
~

The sun woke Annabelle as it rose over the horizon and the muted glow began to light her bedroom. A tranquil breeze blew the curtains. She yawned and stretched wishing she never needed to get out of her bed as she basked in the soft down against her skin. For the first time in years she woke feeling content and grateful; she had Mark, Jezebel and Madison in her life. The silence of her home didn’t seem so profoundly deafening any more. With a content heart she hopped out of bed to prepare for her big day.

With big bright eyes and rosy cheeks Annabelle headed downstairs. Graduation Day. She could barely contain her excitement as she gathered her things and headed for the bus stop. A car horn honked as she rounded the corner of her street. She lifted her head.

“Get in! No bus for you today!” Madison called from her open driver’s side window. Annabelle grinned, loving her best friend, and jogged to the car.

“Can you believe it?” Madison said excitedly.

“Hardly. I don’t think it will seem real until we’re at the ceremony,” she said.

“In two hours we will be officially free,” Madison sighed with delight.

“Thank God.”

~
***
~

“Annabelle Fortin.” Her name rang out in the auditorium and echoed. Annabelle stood, mumbling ‘excuse me’s’ to her peers as she shuffled to the end of her row. She walked up onto the stage and approached the faculty. Her principal extended her diploma with his left hand and shook her hand with his right. She scanned the crowd quickly and smiled as flash bulbs went off. Mark stood near the back of the auditorium and waved. She grinned and lifted her hand low next to her hip back at him. She scanned the crowd again. Her parents were nowhere to be found. Disappointment flooded her. Surely they hadn’t forgotten.

~
***
~

Brant,

I’m on the bus. I graduated today. It’s a feeling I can’t quite describe. It’s also one you will never know. There’s so much you won’t know. So much you missed out on. It’s bittersweet. I know you would have been there today. Standing next to Mark. You would have hollered the loudest when I took my diploma in my hand. You would have made Mom and Dad be there. The whole family would have been there.

I’m off to see Jez today. I should have invited her. She would have, if I’d thought to make the arrangements.

-Belle

Annabelle entered suite 208 and startled as Mark, Jezebel and Madison boomed “Congratulations!” in unison. She clutched her chest, squeaked and then laughed.

Madison lunged forward, embraced Annabelle then stuffed a small gift in her hands.

“I can’t stay, you know—party at my house. But I wanted to be here for the surprise.”

“Who planned this?” she asked.

“Jez and Mark.”

“How’d they get you in on it?”

“Jez told Mark to let me know, he messaged me on Facebook a week ago. I’m on your friends list you know, it’s not like I’m hard to find.” Madison winked. “Speaking of, message me later okay.” Annabelle stifled a laugh as her best friend darted around the room collecting her belongings. “I’d stay if I could you know. I mean, I wanted you to know that I wanted to celebrate with you,” Madison said and shot out the door to head home.

Mark kissed the top of her head as he wrapped one arm around her and squeezed. “I’ll be right back,” he said. Annabelle nodded, then approached Jezebel.

“Thanks for this,” she said sincerely. Jezebel opened her arms and pulled her into a bear hug. Annabelle let a single tear leak from her eye. That was all she would allow herself to shed over her parents gaff. Pulling away she moved to her spot and sat.

“What is it?” Jezebel asked.

“My parents didn’t come,” she answered. Her voice shook as she tried to compose herself.

“Fuck them!” Jezebel crowed.

Annabelle snapped her gaze to Jezebel, mouth agape. She snorted followed by a shy smile before she lost it. She laughed so hard that she clutched at her stomach and fought to catch her breath, the sound of it maniacal in the quiet space between them.

“What’d I miss?” Mark asked as he sauntered back in looking between them.

“Nothing,” Jezebel said with a mischievous look to Annabelle. Gratitude washed through her at having someone who really understood her. Who saw her, every side of her. Someone who could even reveal her own self to her. Jezebel’s words weaved with her words into a blanket that held them both. And she was safe. Even in turmoil, she felt safe. The connection was so deep, she almost couldn’t see the sliver of space that existed between them. She shook her head and looked to Mark and plastered a smile on her face. “Yup. Nothing.”

“I come bearing champagne!” he replied holding up the bottle. Jezebel clapped her hands together and snatched the bottle from him.

“Did you forget my second request?” Jezebel asked.

“Nope.” From behind his back he produced a plate with a single cupcake on it, an unlit candle in its center. Jezebel uncorked the champagne bottle with a grin. The cork shot out and bounced off a wall. She caught the overflowing liquid in her mouth. Annabelle giggled at the sight.

Jezebel lit the candle and set the cupcake and a champagne glass on a tray and set it on Annabelle’s lap. Jezebel looked at her. “Make a wish, kid, and make it count.” The candle’s small flame flickered and danced. Annabelle closed her eyes and blew the candle out. Her wish would never come true but she sent it off into the universe just the same. Jezebel raised her glass up for a toast and Annabelle and Mark clasped theirs and followed suit.