A Not So Sweet Fairytale

Later that night, after the concert that had caused the persistent ringing in my ears, I gripped my messenger bag once more and made my way onto the plane, this time with Jeffrey by my side. Since the flight was so early, Jeffrey and I picked the most comfortable seats in the middle of the plane and sat with a seat in between us for the sake of leg room. We stayed silent for the first half hour, but the Jeffrey broke the silence.

“So tell me about your mom,” he prompted.

“She gave birth to me, then took an exit stage left, you know, the one marked suicide,” I told him.

“Oh, come on. There’s gotta be more to her than that. You were with that woman for over sixteen years,” he reminded me and I sighed then glanced at him. I’d avoided the subject of my mother in both conversation and within my thoughts.

“Well, she gave birth to me when she was sixteen, and Mike was twenty or so, and she never told him, as you know. She never told anyone who my father was, except my grandparents figured it out and have resented me for being the product of the man that left her because they were convinced Mike left only after finding out she was pregnant. Because of that, I’ve never really had a decent conversation with them without my mother’s screaming in the background,” I summarized.

“How’d they react when they found out your mom had offed herself?” He pressed.

“They waited until right before the funeral to talk to me, and instead of telling me they would take me in, they informed me that I was the cause for her suicide and that I deserved the most torturous pit in hell,” I smiled.

“Oh. That sucks. Do they even know you’re out here?” He managed.

“Nope. They have no idea where I am, neither do they really care I figure. Though I am stuck seeing them once the tour’s over since Mike wants me to have dinner with them,” I said, still managing a fake smile.

“Sounds like bundles of fun,” Jeffrey said sarcastically.

“Oh, yes. I can hardly wait to suffer through another barrage of the latest strands of insults,” he shook his head, but remained quiet for the rest of the flight, for which, I was immensely grateful.

“C’mon. Let’s get off the plane and figure out where the hell we’re going,” I muttered, shaking Jeffrey awake once we were on the ground.

Lazily we made our way out of the plane after everyone else had gone, enjoying the first class privilege just a bit more. We wandered around the airport looking for the baggage claim, oblivious to the signs pointing us directly to it. It was just something to do since we really didn’t have to hurry. We were just gonna take a taxi for crying out loud, or so I thought.

By the time we’d located our bags on our own terms it had been three hours since the plane had landed. Then I realized I’d forgotten to get Mike’s address.

“Shit,” I muttered.

“What? Are you okay?” He asked, immediately looking at my stomach.

“Yeah. I’m fine, but we may be screwed. I forgot to get Mike’s address,” I told him, realizing I was gripping my stomach.

“Well call him. Here’s a couple dollars worth of change, go to that payphone and get it. I’ve grown too used to sleeping in a bed to give that up tonight,” he informed me, handing me a handful of excess change I seemed to remember him picking up along the way.

Slowly, but surly, I got to the pay phone, rummaged through my bag until I found Mike’s cell number, and emptied the change into the correct slot. With a clink I heard I dial tone starting. I dialed the number I’d written a few days later and waited.

“Hello?” Came a voice without the slightest hint of tiredness.

“Hey Mike. It’s Torrie. Listen, I’m sorry but I kinda forgot to ask for your address earlier and I was wondering…” I started.

“I was wondering when you were going to call. Look in your front top pocket of your suitcase. The address and a little surprise are in there,” he told me, still not sounding tired at all.

“Hang on then. Gimme a sec,” I said to the speaker, then turned to Jeffrey, “Jeffrey! Could you unzip the front top pocket on my suitcase and show me what’s in there?” He bent over and after a few moments he held up a piece of paper and a set of keys.

“Looks like an address and a set of keys,” he yelled back.

“Alright. What are the keys to?” I asked with Mike still on the line.

“Well there are a few keys on that key chain. Two are to the house, one for you and one for Jeffrey, another’s to the pool out back which is locked up separately, and the last one’s to your new car,” he said, clearly happy, but all I could muster was silence.

“My car?” I asked once I'd caught my breath.

“Yup. There’s a slip on the key chain too. Go up to the front desk of the private valet service next to the baggage claim and hand it to them. They’ll bring you your vehicle. The sheet with my address had the directions on the back. Call me when you get there. Night,” he said before hanging up and I wandered back to Jeffrey, still surprised.

“Well let’s get a taxi and get to this address,” Jeffrey said, shoving the directions to Mike's place in my face, the handwritten address facing him.

“We don’t need a taxi. Those keys are to my car apparently,” I told him, showing him a key that was clearly marked "Chevy".

“Seriously? But how are we supposed to get there. We don’t have a damn way of knowing where this address is,” he reasoned.

“Look at the back,” In response, he turned the paper over and examined it closely.

“Ah. Well then let’s get to your car,” he said a bit tired.

“Follow me,” I said, grabbing my suitcase and starting to lug it towards the sign labeled 'Private Valet Service'.

I handed the sleepy person at the desk the slip Mike had mentioned as well as my ID. He nodded, then spoke in Spanish on a walkie-talkie and told us to wait outside.

Jeffrey who was pretty out of it followed me out through the sliding glass doors into the crisp warm air. It was so different from the heavy air in Chicago I’d grown used to and it felt so good to be able to breathe again.

We sat on a partially broken wooden bench that had been painted over several times to conceal the untactful artwork someone had found the need to create portraying their deepest sexual fantasies with multiple pairs of stick figures. I leaned my head back and started drifting to sleep in the dark cover of night drifting in and out of consciousness with a soundly snoring Jeffrey beside me. Then a bright light in my direction forced me to move a hand to shield my eyes. The light wouldn’t go away so I moved around until I managed to open my eyes in the opposite direction, then slowly found myself staring at a beautifully new black Chevy truck. The driver came out quickly without bothering to turn off the engine and looked at me standing beside Jeffrey who was still on the bench.

“Torrie?” He asked, scrutinizing a manila colored tag that was attached to the key he was using and I nodded.

“Well then here’s your car,” he said, handing over the key.

I stared at the beast in front of me, then clasped the key from the valet driver clothed in the mauve vest with gold buttons and a white collared shirt beneath it.

“Thanks,” I muttered, giving him a five, a decent enough tip as far as I was concerned. He left muttering and I threw my suitcase, as well as Jeffrey’s little messenger bag into the back, then yelled at Jeffrey until he woke up.

“What? Oh, wow...” he managed, his brain still a bit on the slow side.

“Well are you just gonna sit there or do you wanna go in?” I asked as I unlocked the truck and climbed into the high bucket seat with leather upholstery to match the leather encased interior. Jeffrey slowly opened the door, then turned his nose.

“God. I cant’ stand new car smell. It’s just sooooo… I dunno. I just can’t stand it, that’s all,” he decided.

“Well get used to it cause for now this is our only means of transportation,” I muttered, gunning the engine which shook the massive piece of machinery. “Sweet…” I giggled insanely, then looked at the directions.

“Can we stop at a gas station or something? I really want something to drink…” Jeffrey informed me, his eyes starting to roll to the back of his head.

“Alright. I need something with caffeine anyways. Mike’s house is a ways away and I can barely stay awake,” I yawned.

With that I took off in the general direction of the highway until I found a 7-Eleven so I parked and we drifted in. I used a bit of the cash Mike had given me to last a while, until he could get me a credit card, to buy myself a Dr. Pepper while Jeffrey couldn’t resist getting a hot chocolate from the automatic machine that also dispensed coffee and tea. He piled on as much whipped cream as humanly possible, just to lick it off plain by itself and repeat the process until the cashier told us to pay and leave.

“Careful,” I reminded Jeffrey as I went over the curb to avoid traffic and his hot chocolate sloshed a bit, but somehow stayed within the paper cup.

“Paranoid much?” He asked, sounding a bit annoyed.

“Not usually. It’s just the new truck I guess,” I shrugged, the caffeine working right into my system.

“Yeah I guess. I’ve never actually had the luxury of being in a new car so I don’t know,” he muttered.

“Don’t feel bad. By the time I can remember anything my mother’s once new car had aged quite a bit. That’s the car she took to her grave, literally,” I muttered, not thinking about what I was saying because caffeine usually makes me talk nonstop.

“Anyways, what are we supposed to do exactly tomorrow?” He asked, abruptly changing topics.

“Anything I s’pose. The only thing we really have to do is go to the grocery store and get something edible that we wouldn’t mind living off of,” I shrugged.

“Okey dokey. Can you cook at all?” He asked, a new light of excitement glowing in his eyes.

“Not well,” I responded, waiting for the light to go out instantly, but instead it just got brighter.

“Well then I might as well say that I’m taking over making the meals. I love to cook. It’s the only way I could help my mother without my father saying I was out of line by letting my mother get out of doing what she was supposed to as far as he was concerned,” he sighed.

“Ah. Anyways, let’s go shopping the day after tomorrow since I have a feeling we’re gonna sleep in for a while and by the time we get up we’ll have enough time and energy to go through the grocery store and dinner and that’s about it,” I changed the topic of conversation to what I hoped to be a much lighter one.

“Deal,” he agreed happily picking up his hot chocolate with both hands with his sweatshirt keeping the contact between his bare skin and the hot cup at a minimum. I drove in silence, trying to navigate my way through the unfamiliar streets until at long last I found myself pulling into a huge circular driveway in front of a mansion.

“Holy shit…” Jeffrey muttered under his breath, playing with the remains of his self dismantled paper cup that still smelled strongly of powder based hot chocolate.

“Well let’s get inside. It’s like four in the morning. I’ll see you this afternoon,” I reasoned, grabbing my suitcase, locking the truck, and then unlocking the front door of the immense house.