Chapter 2.11- All the Lovely Things

          Midafternoon on the first day of summer found Layla in her kitchen contemplating an unexpected sprinkle of rain through her window. The recent heat had taken to withering her plants if she didn’t water them both in the morning and in the afternoon. The question now was whether this little bit of water would sufficiently quench the thirst of her plants or not.

          Finally deciding that she’d better go and tend her garden herself she turned and her kitchen door opened. (Aaaaaand the villagers Rejoice!)

          “Um,” Layla was at a loss. “Hi???”

          Phedra, however, ignored the wave offered by her extremely confused sister. She’d found something else you just didn’t see every day.

          “There’s a radio on your fridge,” she said without expression.

          “Yeeeeeeaaaaaah?”

          “Why is there a radio on your fridge?”

          “So I could dance in the nude without the neighbors seeing?”

          “But your door and gate are unlocked. Your neighbors could just walk right in and see you just as easily. And aren’t you afraid you’re going to make it fall one day?”

          “No.” Why was everyone always questioning her decisions?

          “Oh. Okay then. Hi!”

          “No!” Layla finally bounced back out of radio land angry. “No hi! I haven’t heard from you in months! It’s almost been a year! Cyrus gets your calls! Mom and Dad get your calls! I get No calls! I send you letters! There are no answers! And then you walk in my backdoor? What the hell Phedra?”

          “I can explain?”

          “Really?”

          “Can I at least be invited to sit? Or have some coffee? Cyrus says you make some mean Joe, and I am dead on my feet.”

          Glaring a little, Layla hissed between her teeth while turning to the coffee maker. Phedra would always be able to disarm Layla. And really there was no way she’d turn her sister out of her house without first hearing what had been going on.

          “Aw! I knew I could count on you to keep me alive a little longer!”

          “Depends on what kind of excuse I get for not hearing from you for so long.”

          “Uh, it’s a good one? At least it was right up until I walked in that door. Yikes. You’ve gotten crabby.”

          “At least I didn’t disappear.”

          “Aw! You knew through Mom and Dad and Cy that I was alive and okay! Don’t be like that.”

          “You call Cyrus all the damn time. You call mom all the damn time. You talk to dad all the PlumbBob.damned.time. Can’t spare 5 minutes on the phone for me? Even Galen gets to hear from you since he lives in the house with mom and dad. Run out of paper so you can’t answer the letters even?” Spinning on her heel she left the coffee urn in the sink overflowing with water.

          “Cyrus was right. You learned some language.”

          “Yeah,” Layla nodded, pouring the full urn into the coffee maker and turning the tap off. “Yeah, I’ve learned a lot in the time since you disappeared.”

          “PlumbBob, sorry,” Phedra pouted. “If I’d known you didn’t want to see me I wouldn’t have come.”

          Spinning back to Phedra, eyes hard, Layla leveled Phedra with her stare.

          “I don’t want to see anyone who doesn’t want to see me. Or hear from me. Or talk to me. Or let me know on their own that they’re okay.”

          “Look I didn’t talk to you because a lot of stuff happened and I figured you’d be disappointed in me.”

          “Wrong. That just means you’re disappointed in yourself. You didn’t give me a chance.”   

          “Yeah,” Sighing heavily Phedra lowered her gaze. “Wait, what happened to the top of your shirt? When did you get boobs?”

          “You missed a lot. And you sound like Aunt Estella.”

          “Who?”

          “Yeah, I guess Cyrus wouldn’t have told you about her. They haven’t met.”

          Grabbing a couple of mugs out of a cabinet, she poured each of them a mug. Handing one to Phedra she headed into her dining room with Phedra tiptoeing behind her.

          The silence stretched between the two much as it had when Cyrus had shown up at Layla’s door. Layla wasn’t going to break this one though. If Phedra had an explanation she wouldn’t force it out of her.

          “Your house looks pretty nice,” Phedra finally squeaked out.

          “Yup,” nodded Layla.

          “Though I never would have pegged you as a ‘plaid’ person.”

          “Nope.”

          “I like your hair like that,” Phedra pressed on. “It’s nice to see it down.”

          Layla didn’t even bother to respond, taking a long drink instead.

          “I quit teaching in the bush because I was pregnant.”

         

          “Oh, please,” Layla spat. “Like I believe that.”

          “His name is Henry. I married his dad, George. We’ve been living with his folks on the east coast.”

          This time, Layla only spared a withering glance for her sister before returning to her mug. A sniff from Phedra made Layla’s shoulders slump.

          “Oh my PlumbBob.” For a long moment Layla sat in stunned silence trying to digest her sister’s words.

          “It wasn’t going well in my village. I was constantly battling with the chieftain. And I was homesick. George was teaching in the village with the phone. He was one of the few people that could speak to me. And we got close. We fell in love. When we found out Henry was on the way we both quit. The moment we touched back down in Sim Nation we got married.”

          Letting all her breath out, Layla finally stared hard at Phedra, trying to see if she was telling the truth.

          “I know how much I hurt you when I left. I figured you’d be so much more hurt, and disappointed, when you found out I’d just given up like that. I didn’t tell mom and dad until after Henry arrived. Even then I had to beg her not to tell you until I could. And it’s taken me a while to finally gather enough courage to tell you. And there’s still more.”

          Feeling just a little dizzy, Layla let her eyes trace the pattern on the table. That didn't help.

          “Look,” said Phedra. “Look, the plaid is cute and all but it is killing my back. Is there somewhere more comfortable where we can sit?”

          And so the sisters ended up sitting on a couch in Layla’s cluttered living room.

          Once again, Layla wasn’t going to break the silence. Not out of anger, but because she was still struggling to come to grips with what Phedra had just told her.

          “So,” Phedra said slowly. “So that sparkly one by the lamp is kinda cool.”

          Layla nodded, totally forgetting that Phedra couldn’t hear her when she didn’t use words.

          “With all your doors unlocked aren’t you worried about burglars?”

          Again, Layla didn’t speak. Shaking her head soundlessly the only response she could manage.

          “Okay. So I’m just going to lay it all on the line ‘cause I’m pretty sure it’s impossible for this to get any more awkward.”

          Finally, Layla turned to Phedra, her face passive.

          “George and I have an opportunity to go with a research team that’s going to be doing work on islands that haven’t been properly documented by anthropologists. I’m the pilot for the expedition. George is on the science team. We’re leaving Henry with Cyrus and Olivia. We’re only here for a few more days before we leave. We don’t know how long it will be before we’ll be back. But we can’t take care of Henry when we’ll be so busy. He’ll be better off here, where his life can be stable.”

          Another bomb. Layla was starting to think her ears might go numb.

          They were leaving their child to go and fulfill Phedra’s lifelong goal of island discovery. They would only be here briefly. Was she only telling her this so that Layla wouldn’t ask Olivia where the baby had sprung up from?

          How could Phedra just leave her son like that?

          How could she marry a man she barely knew?

          Why didn’t she tell her earlier?

          “I’m sorry, Laydee,” Phedra whispered. “I’ve really let you down I know. And I’m trying to make it up by going back out to chase my dream again. Just- just don’t hate me.”

          “I don’t hate you,” Layla answered. “I’m just wondering why you didn’t tell me at first. I would have understood.”

          Smiling, Phedra turned to Layla. “No, no you wouldn’t have.”

          Layla raised her eyebrows, narrowing her eyes in challenge.

          “The girl I left behind would not have understood that I gave it all up for love. But the you you are now, the you who finally found someone you could let your guard down with; this you does understand." Phedra paused, peering closely at Layla. "And right now you’re trying to figure out how to refute that.”

          Grinning broadly, finally, Layla rolled her eyes. “Yeah, whatever. You always tried to say you knew me better than I knew myself. But you still should have told me.”

          “I know. But now tell me about Joel, and island hopping, and living in this tiny backwater town, and the guy Cyrus says you’re dating.”

          Laughing a little, Layla launched into her own tale. All about her own island adventures, moving here and finding the town’s memories of Buck.

          She told her about Sally and Uncle Trigger and Aunt Estella and Silas and Rosemary and Skeet.

          She talked about her garden, and attempting to can fresh produce.

          Layla told her of all the lovely things she had seen as she explored the town.

          And she told her about her steady business collecting things other people overlooked on the ground.

          Phedra finally started asking questions then; asking about why she hadn’t expanded her collection to water collectibles, and if Layla had ever learned how to fish like she had wanted. This led Layla to tell more about her time on Ouroboros than she’d put in her letters.

          Then Layla told Fay the story of how she’d met Ned. How awful it was at first. How awkward and boyish he could be. How sweet he was on their date.

          “Ned?” Phedra asked.

          Layla nodded, thinking her question was simply about his name.

          “Okay then.”

          “He’s nice. Be nice.”

          “Whatever you say,” however, Phedra looked confused for a moment. Shaking her head to clear it finally. “Look, we’re staying with Olivia and Cyrus while we’re in town. Come have dinner with us tomorrow night. Meet George and Henry.”

          “Yeah.”

          “Yeah.”

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          I almost threw in author commentary on the first shot- Who will walk in the door now? I decided to leave it out and not leave readers waiting. lol

          This was not the role I had originally intended Phedra to have. But she surprised me by getting married almost immediately after moving out. So I was just going to slightly revise her part when she got pregnant. Wammo-Blammo she goes missing ‘cause there is no way Layla would have understood how that could have happened. And honestly, Layla still doesn’t actually get it. She just finally gave in.

          So! I’m not going to leave you hanging to see her husband. There are a few shots on the bloopers page of George Dean. He was originally a pudding from Riverview and I couldn’t let her be married to that. I did leave his personality alone though.

Chapter 2.10-The Entire Town's Enjoyment

          Several days later, and still flying high after her date with Ned, Layla had added to her dance routine. She now wore eye-wateringly bright pajamas! Actually, she had bought the pajamas after Cyrus had walked in on her. Sally had helped her pick them out the same shopping trip when she got a dress to wear for her date with Ned. Might as well be a little more decent in case it happened again, right?

          And now, she danced before bed too. What better way to work out and get herself all tired (and sweaty) than by dancing.

          Also, she could roll her shoulders now and totally thought she was one crunk dancer.

          The firefly’s lit themselves in a rainbow of hues at night while she was able to star gaze from her living room too. The music may have been upbeat, but Layla’s thoughts were mellow and calm.

          Trying to get a better view, (they were cruising through an asteroid field and the shooting stars tonight were amazing,) she slowly inched her way forward. No one could see her anyway.

          Oh, now this song was a new favorite. Sally had fiddled with the dials of the rented car and had introduced a lot of newer music to Layla. Really, the trip with her cousin had been far more fun than she had anticipated. Sally hadn’t rattled every single second and had respected Layla’s privacy in their shared hotel room even. When it came to Sally, you couldn’t expect a whole lot more than that.

          When her front door flew open, Layla was pleasantly surprised to see Aunt Estella come in. She’d had some questions about her garden. Spring was almost over, and she’d planted her garden almost a week ago. Shouldn’t she be getting food off of the plants by now? Why, the apple tree was still little more than a twig!

          “Hey, Aunt Estella!” Layla greeted her cheerfully. “It’s kind of late, but I’m glad you dropped by I’ve got a few-”

          “-Just what do you think you are doing?” Estella interrupted her niece, slamming the door behind her.

          “Dancing?” She answered tentatively. Judging by Aunt Estella’s face this was not the correct answer. Dammit, she quit taking quizzes when she graduated!

          “Dancing? With the lights inside blazing with no curtains on the windows and in yer underwear in front of those windows at night?”

          “Oh, this isn’t my underwear. These are my new pajamas!”

          “It looks close enough to underwear when half the town is watching you through the windows!”

          “Wha-”

          “Yes,” Estella’s eyes were thunderous though she hadn’t raised her voice a decibel. “There is a group of citizens of this town gathered on a barn roof ta watch the shooting stars who can see yer every move.”

          Suddenly feeling very violated, Layla raised her arms to cover herself, glancing at the windows.

          “I will turn all the lights off, and will meet you in yer bedroom when I’ve finished.”

          True to her word, Estella went around turning off all the lights that had previously been on throughout the home. Locking the front and back doors as a finishing touch she finally went to find Layla’s bedroom.

          “How that girl ever expects to find a man to marry her when she can’t remember to get curtains fer her own home,” Estella muttered as she walked. She had a bone or two to pick with her niece, and a well-earned warning to deliver for Layla's own good.

          “Silas had sidled up to Shad and the two were giggling like mad, passing their binoculars back and forth. Shad’s father took the binoculars and wouldn’t give ‘em back to ‘is own boy. This started to cause a ruckus. So then most of the folk up there turned their own lenses in the same direction and what do we all see? We see my niece, whom we’ve been trying to treat as one of our own, traipsin’ and bouncin’ around, boobs a-jigglin’, head bobbin’ like you were plum outta yer mind. I’ll manage to smooth it over w’the ladies somehow, but yer Uncle Trigger is hard put to wash the minds of all the menfolk who witnessed it.”

          “I’d moved too close to the windows on accident. I’d forgotten that when I get too close-”

          Sighing in frustration Estella cut Layla off. “Honey Girl! There was no ‘too close to the windows’ about it! With the lights ablaze and as bright as yer underwear is with all of us on a barn roof with binoculars to do some star gazin’… Ya can’t behave like this!”

          “I’m an adult and can behave however I want to in my own home!”

          Estella shook her head, lips pursed. “This isn’t about you feelin’ like you’re an adult! If you don’t care a fig about everyone seein’ you in your underthings that’s on yer own head. But half the town saw Ned Hale kissin’ you t’other day. Then Sally tells us how Ignacio Guerra is on after you as well! Your reputation is on the line with that kind of behavior!”

          “What Ned and I do is nobody else’s business. And I have nothing to do with Ignacio Guerra.”

          “ ‘Nothing to do with Ignacio Guerra’ she says!” Estella threw her hands in the air. “You are aware that his family is your next door neighbors? Step stools exist that make a man tall enough to see over a fence Honey Girl. And he’s not above using whatever means he can to get a girl in bed. Yer just temptin’ -”

          “I cannot stand Ignacio. And no matter what he does-”

          “-Oh, so Ned won’t care that yer putting yourself on display? His girlfriend dancing near nude fer the entire town’s enjoyment on the eve of his campaign fer Mayor? Don’t think he’ll care about that? Especially when he's runnin' against-”

          “-Ned is a friend,” Layla was seeing where Estella might be headed and was now hurt that what she as saying was true. “He is nothing more than a friend. We’ve never discussed being in an exclusive relationship and if I’m a detriment to his campaign I’ll step aside. It’s that easy.”    

          “But half the town has already witnessed the two of you in the park being very cozy! The only thing these people will think is that you’re easy! And as Ignacio’s name has already been bandied about along with yours-”

          “I’ve already told you, there is nothing between Ignacio and myself. There will never be anything between the two-“

          “Half the women in town have said that! Look at Melly Pelly who I'm sure said the same and now she’s got-”

          “I’m not going to talk about Ignacio. Or Ned either for that matter.”

          Estella pursed her lips, and stood for a moment.

          “The problem, Layla, is that stepping aside is no longer easy. Being an actual adult? Is not easy. Being an adult up is about being responsible, fer yerself, fer yer neighbors, fer yer home. It’s about caring, and taking good care, of yerself, yer neighbors, and yer home. Right now? Yer not taking care of yourself or your neighbors or your home. You’re play actin’ like you’re a grown up. It’s time you took responsibility for yer actions before ya hurt yerself, or worse: hurt someone else. You’ve got a cousin who thinks the sun rises and the moon sets with you. Sally looks up to you like she’s never looked up to anyone before. And she’s going to emulate you. You want to have a good time dancin’ around and bein’ happy? Then you do that. But do it in a way that you don’t hurt yerself nor others when you do it. And do it fer someone else, do it fer Sally. Think of someone else fer a change.”

          Ducking her chin further, Layla refused to look up or say another word. It was like listening to Anthony all over again. Another speech about how selfish she was. Then why did this one feel so different?

          “I’ll leave ya now,” Aunt Estella turned, pausing in the doorway. “Goodnight, Laydee.”

          And she went out of the house, closing the front door softly behind her as she went. Once she heard the click of the door latch, Layla got up and turned off the light. Laying back on top of her bed clothes she stared at the ceiling in the dark. When the sun came up the next morning, she was still there.

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         I hated writing this one. I really did. I've even put off posting it though it's been written for over a week. And I didn't like writing it because everything Estella said was both incredibly blunt and completely true. But it's still not a lot of fun to give a character a rebuke.
         
          I based Estella's ideals off of those that half the aging population of the tiny farming community my grandparents live in, with a tiny bit of that which goes on in the small town my parents live in. And I realize that the combination is a bit extreme in how old fashioned it is. It also really doesn't reflect my own views, so take it as simply what Estella believes.

         There are also a ton of hints as to what is going on in the background in all of that, and also a hint as to a 'habit' of the town. And I'm not talking 'peeping toms' either. lol If you guess it this early on I'll give you cookies. =D And I have a wicked personal recipe for chocolate chip cookies, too.