Part 22 (1/2)
”But...”
”And if you won't go back, I will. By myself.”
”That's not fair,” I argued. ”You know I won't let you go in there alone.”
”Never said it was fair.”
I glared at her for a couple of minutes, trying to break her resolve. She refused to break. Finally, I threw up my hands. ”All right. Five minutes. In and out. Deal?”
”Deal. Thank you. You can win the next one.”
”The next two,” I countered. ”And you buy dinner tonight.”
Uncle Edgar's big black Caddy was parked half on the lawn and half in the street this time. The sight of it did nothing to improve my mood.
”Aunt Kitty's here,” I told Ca.s.sie.
She patted my shoulder. ”She can't live forever.”
”I'm not up to taking the long view right now. I just want to get through the next few minutes without tearing someone's face off.”
”Why would you want to do that?” she asked, in an insultingly reasonable tone.
”I don't know,” I said irritably. ”It was the first thing that came to mind. But it would probably hurt. And a person would be in trouble without a face, right?”
”All right, all right, calm down. I was just asking.”
”I am calm!”
Ca.s.sie bit her lip to keep from laughing and tried to look sympathetic.
”I know what you're thinking,” I growled. ”I don't even have to ask Jim Bob the psychic chicken. For your information, I don't need Prozac.”
”Devvy, honey, precious, I really wasn't thinking that.”
I wasn't convinced. ”You weren't?”
”Of course not.”
Her expression said I was thinking Lithium instead, but she didn't actually say it, so what could I do? Nothing. I just went on into the house, determined to get it over with fast, no longer determined not to take faces.
I could hear them in the dining room. They were still talking about it -- had been, in all probability, since we'd left. It sounded as though they didn't approve, but it would be unfair to judge on so little eavesdropping. So I just walked into their midst without a word.
It took a few seconds for anyone to notice. Amy was first; she let out a little scream and threw her napkin in the air. As the others realized what was going on, a whole constellation of reactions went around the table. My favorite was Aunt Kitty's. She'd frozen with the winegla.s.s not all the way to her lips, so wine was trickling out of the gla.s.s and down her cleavage. That would do it for that dress.
”I came to say goodbye,” I told them. ”I'm not sure yet whether I came to say I'm sorry, too.”
”You have your nerve, showing up here like nothing happened,” Mom snapped.
Ca.s.sie moved a couple of steps back, out of the direct line of fire, but she put a comforting hand on the small of my back.
”I do have nerve,” I admitted. ”It comes on one of the chromosomes in this family. My guess is that it would be from your side, Mom, but if Dad wants to make a case for his...”
Connor snickered, and Ryan looked a little less hostile. But Dad frowned. ”This isn't a good time, Devlin. Your mother's a little upset. Maybe you should come back tomorrow.”
”There won't be a tomorrow. We're going back to Greenville tonight.”
”Why?” Ryan chirped. ”Are there innocent Christmas trees there you have to murder?”
Amy and Jen, flanking him at the table, elbowed him hard on each side. Very nice. That would take him out of play for a while.
”We're going back tonight,” I repeated, ”so I wanted to come by and thank you for the hospitality. Such as it was.”
Mom looked daggers at me in absolute silence. But Aunt Kitty was muttering. To be annoying, I cupped a hand to my ear. ”Excuse me, auntie dearest? Didn't catch that.”
”I said, 'Good riddance,' that's what I said,” she barked. ”Tearing up your mother's house like an animal. And sleeping with that...that...”
Only Ca.s.sie's sudden grip on my sweater kept me from de-facing her then and there. ”Woman. That woman. I'm aware of her gender. What's your problem with her, anyway? It was her idea to come over here and apologize. Not mine. And you were about to call her something I'd have to hurt you for, weren't you?”
She just stared at us, at a loss for words for once.
”My Aunt Kitty is a nut case,” I told Ca.s.sie. ”You already knew that, but sometimes it's nice to have these things confirmed. Do you know what she and Uncle Edgar do every Christmas Eve?”
Mom said my name in a menacing way. I ignored her.
”They open their presents on Christmas Eve. That's barbaric all by itself. But do you know what they do right after they open presents?”
”This is awesome,” Connor told Jen cheerfully.
I ignored him too. ”Right after they open presents, they take their tree down. On Christmas Eve. And you know what the worst part is?” For dramatic effect, I paused. No one interrupted. ”The worst part is, it's not even a real tree. It's one of those aluminum things. You can't put tinsel on an aluminum tree, now, can you? No. That would be stupid. But guess what? They do it anyway. And you know what else?”
Amy was starting to recover her wits a bit. She looked around the room nervously before she spoke. ”Um, Dev, I really don't think...”
”Then don't think. In this family, you'll live longer.” Perplexed by the interruption, I turned to Ca.s.sie. ”Where was I?”
”You were about to tell me what else,” she said, enjoying the spectacle. ”Aluminum tree, tinsel...”
”Oh. Right. I forgot the revolving spotlight. It turns the tree different colors. If you half-close your eyes, you think you're in a disco in h.e.l.l.” Evilly, I smiled at Aunt Kitty. ”Go on, Ca.s.s. Ask me what's on top of the tree.”
Ca.s.sie released her grip and slipped her hand inside the back of my sweater. ”What's on top of the tree?”
”An angel kitten.”