Newton Neighbors (New England Trilogy) (31 page)

This is bad, Jessie thought in a panic. She had never seen one man with such power. So this was what a true Alpha looked like—scary.

Then Bull began to laugh. It started as a small snort, and then another. Jessie now knew how he got his name. He opened his broad mouth into a great big laugh, and he clapped his hands together. Jessie saw Margaret was smiling as well. How odd.
 

Everybody took Bull’s lead and laughed—except of course John Jr. who had already approved. That’s when Jessie realized she was smiling along with them. She was mirroring everybody else’s behavior. This was textbook group dynamics. It was amazing.

“So you approve?” Ely was still standing in the middle of the floor with the two bottles of homemade Down Under.

“Do I approve?” He laughed some more. “I think it’s brilliant, baby, but it has no chance of ever getting off the ground. There’s no network in the world that’d take an ad like that. Supermarkets wouldn’t stock it, but I love your balls, Ely.”

If this was meant to make his little girl happy, it didn’t. Jessie saw her friend’s face fall when she understood her father was rejecting her.
 

Bull clapped the table and all the plates jumped. He shook his head. “Delicate curls—I love it.” He laughed again.

Ely’s mother rose to clear some plates, and so did every other woman at the table. It was time for a change of scenery. The teenage cousins were still tittering as they helped. The aunties were shocked and silent. Uncle John excused himself, but John Jr. came over to hug his sister.

“I would back you if I had the money, sis,” he said. Ely looked grateful.

Jessie fled the room with a load of dirty plates behind Margaret. She missed what Bull said to his daughter, but she reckoned it wouldn’t be good. Ely had said that her parents were conservative people—traditionalists and active in the church. They didn’t seem like the kind of people to hit the world with the first ever pubic hair product! She worried about her friend. Ely was a maverick, and college didn’t suit her. There was very little chance she would even do her exams in June. Her parents were going to have to face up to it sooner or later.

While Mona and Marybeth loaded the two dishwashers and the cousins started to wash pots, Ely’s mom broke away and began to surf the web on her laptop at the kitchen side counter.
 

“I wonder if such a product already exists,” Margaret said when Jessie walked by. It surprised her. Maybe the older woman wasn’t as compliant or submissive as she seemed.
 

“Good thinking,” Jessie said and offloaded her dirty plates on the counter. She hovered for a while beside Margaret. “Find anything?”
 

“Doesn’t seem to be any such product available,” she said, her eyes glued to the monitor. “This might be worth investigating. It’s an unorthodox product, I’ll give her that, but do you have any idea how long it’s been since we’ve had an exciting new product in the hair care business?”
 

Jessie shrugged. “I thought the height of sophistication was using separate shampoos and conditioners instead of the all-in-one bottles,” she said with a laugh, but Margaret blanched.

Jessie made a mental note not to joke about shampoos. It was a serious business in this house. Margaret’s computer pinged, demanding her attention again.

She headed back into the dining room to see if she could help clear away anything else. Ely and Bull were sitting now and deep in conversation. Her roommate seemed sad and beaten down, and Bull looked like he was lecturing her. It didn’t take a genius to figure he was telling her she had to stay in college and forget about Down Under.

Margaret marched into the room behind Jessie, carrying her laptop. “What’s this about a party?” She sounded furious and had gone a bit pale.
 

It was enough to make Jessie sit back down.
Here it comes
, she thought.

“We had one last Tuesday night.” Ely sounded meek.
 

John Jr. poured himself another glass of red wine. “This sounds good.”

“I know you had a party. You just got an e-mail saying you’ve been kicked out.”

Jessie’s head snapped up. “What? That’s impossible.”

“Of college?” Ely asked, looking just as surprised.

“I can’t be kicked out,” Jessie said, feeling her panic rising.
 

“What in the hell is going on?” Bull raised his voice and stood up, a thunderous look on his face. “You got an e-mail just now, Margaret?”

“Well, it must have been sent yesterday, but I was a little preoccupied with Thanksgiving. I’m assuming it was meant for Ely, but you gave them my e-mail for all your residential correspondence. Remember?” She looked at her daughter.

“Oh, I guess that was a mistake.” Ely studied the floor.

“Does it mention me?” Jessie asked.

For a moment Margaret’s eyes softened. “No, honey. You’ll have to check your own e-mails for that.” She turned back to Bull. “I didn’t have any time to check my mail last night. It’s a letter from the housing department and it’s addressed to Ely. It basically says—oh, I don’t know, some rule or college ethics—Ely, you’ve lost your accommodation privileges.”

“So we haven’t been kicked out of our actual classes, just our rooms? Is that right?” Jessie clutched the back of the dining chair she was sitting on.

“Maybe you’re not in trouble, Jessie.” Margaret gave her a weak smile.

“You knew you’d been kicked out and didn’t tell me? When did you find out?” Jessie stood up angrily and balled her fists into her sides. “Jesus, Ely, my entire future is riding on this.” Her eyes were huge with worry.

John Jr. stood. “Actually, I think I’ll retire to the kitchen,” he said and left them.

Ely persevered. “I was gonna tell you, but I thought it could wait till after Thanksgiving or maybe I could deal with it all myself.”

“I don’t believe it. You? Handle it? The same way you handled the party? Or your last three attempts at college? You’re a walking disaster, Ely! You’re sabotaging your own life, and now you’re taking me down with you. Fuck this!” She ran her hands through her hair. “I have to find out if I’ve lost my digs. Margaret, can I log in to my e-mails on your computer? My cell phone is dead, and I didn’t get the chance to recharge it today. I haven’t seen an e-mail since the party.”

Margaret handed the laptop to her guest, and it only took Jessie a moment to log in.
 

“Jesus Christ, I’ve lost my digs, too. And to add insult to injury you knew and didn’t tell me? Will this affect my grant? Or my scholarship? Ever think about that? Does this mean I have to go home? Oh, Ely, what have you done?”

“I didn’t know about you—well, not for sure. I did have my doubts, but I thought I might figure something out before you found out. It’ll be okay.” Ely took a step toward her friend.

“No, it won’t be okay. What else are you not telling me? I don’t have the support of a rich family to back me up. This was my big chance, my one shot to make something of myself, and you threw it away for a stupid party.” She shook her head in disbelief. “This isn’t happening. Tell me it’s just a nightmare and I’ll wake up in a minute. God, what will I do now?” She looked around the room like maybe the answer was there somewhere.

Bull Briskin was standing, silent and still watching his guest, but Margaret’s expression softened as she spoke. “Oh, Jessie, I’m so sorry, honey. We’ll sort this out. Bull and I will help. Go back to the laptop and read your e-mails. Call if you want, but I doubt you’ll get anybody today. As I read it, Ely’s lost her room, but I don’t think she’s out of school. You’ll be the same.”

She snapped back around to her daughter. “You, on the other hand, missy, are in more trouble than ever. Come to the study right now with your father and me.”

Ely glanced at Jessie with an expression of poor misery in her eyes, but Jessie was in no mood to feel sorry for her.
 

“Don’t you dare look at me like that. You made this mess. It’s your mess. I’m sorry I ever met you.” Jessie ran from the room close to tears.

Ely came looking for her a while later. Jessie had been too furious to make conversation with anyone, so she took refuge in her guest room. She knew Ely was nervous, because she knocked before entering—very out of character. She usually barged through doors, life, friends.

“Can I come in?” Ely asked from the other side of the closed door.

“It’s your house. Do what you bloody well want.” Jessie was sitting on her bed, attempting to study but failing miserably. She had her back propped up by some incredibly luxuriant feather pillows.

Ely opened the door slowly and stuck her head around. “So, I guess you hate me?” she said in a small voice.

“Yes.” Jessie didn’t look up from the psych journal she was reading.

“I’m sorry.”

“That’s not good enough.”

“I drafted a letter with my parents before I came to find you. My dad is gonna e-mail it to the housing department first thing in the morning. I take full responsibility and liability for the party. I said you were in no way involved. They might move you to a different room, and if they don’t, Dad says he’ll pay for other accommodation for you while you finish out your year in the US.”

“What about you?” Jessie looked up. Her friend’s eyes were red-rimmed and her cheeks were tear-stained. She’d never seen Ely cry before. Good.

Ely slumped into one of two large yellow armchairs, keeping her distance from Jessie. She shrugged. “I’m grounded for life. They tell me I have to finish my degree or they’ll cut me off. I have no choice. He who holds the wallet, holds the power.”

“Listen to yourself. Do you have any idea how spoilt you sound? Christ, Ely, you’ve had everything in life handed to you on a silver platter, and yet you manage to sound like you’re getting the raw deal. I never realized before just how overindulged you are!” Jessie got off the bed and began to pace the floor. “You tell your daddy I don’t need his money. Clearing my name would be nice, but I’m pretty sure Mrs. Palmer was serious when she offered me a place to stay. I guess I can pay her with the money I make minding the Sanchez kids. It’ll be tight, but if you think I’m taking your charity after you landed me in this mess, you can . . . you can . . . oh God, can you just leave me alone?”
 

Ely looked stunned. Jessie had never been so angry with her before.

“I’m sorry. I never meant to bring all this shit on you.” Ely studied the floor.

“You sure?” Jessie stopped and looked at the girl she’d thought was her one friend in the US.

Ely snapped her head up. “What does that mean? You know you’re my best friend and I’d never intentionally set out to hurt you.”

“Hurt me? Ha!” Jessie threw her head back in a fake laugh. “You haven’t just hurt me. You’ve utterly sabotaged my entire life. Jesus, Ely. You have no idea what havoc you’ve wreaked.”

Ely wrung her hands. “I can fix this.”

“Stop! You say we’re good friends, but I don’t think you know what true friendship even is. You just take while I do all the giving with us. I do your homework, I leave as soon as you want a quickie with Josh, and God help me, I let you walk all over me.”

“Now, just one damn minute,” Ely seemed to have found some fight still in her. “I disappeared pretty damn fast when you wanted space with Dan. I think you’re being unfair here.”

“Oh puh-lease. I said no to this party, but did you even listen? Not a chance!” Jessie knew she was shouting, but she didn’t care who else in the house heard. “Wake up and smell the horse shit, Ely. You do what you like, and the only reason we’re friends is because I go along with your harebrained ideas. Well, not any more. We are done.” She stopped, a little out of breath.

Ely looked beaten back into submission. “J, you’re my best friend. Really, you are. I love you. Please give me another chance,” she said. “I’ll leave you alone if that’s what you want, but you gotta believe me. I’ll do whatever you want if you’ll forgive me.”

“Get out. Just get out, Ely!”
 

Chapter Twenty-Two

Feelings Change

“Come in, come in,” Leticia Garcia said when she opened the door.

Maria had just finished loading the dishwasher when she glanced at her watch. It was ten p.m. and still people were arriving. She smiled. How different Puerto Rican life was to her New England one. At home, her little family would have been well tucked up in bed by now. When Alice had finally started to yawn, Maria had put her down, but it was still warm enough for Cody to be night-swimming with his cousins and several neighborhood kids who had joined up with the Garcia Thanksgiving celebrations. Now more guests were arriving at this late hour. She walked into the hall to greet the new guests.