The Lunacy Fringe

Felix was the first person to find me once we finished up. Quinn had wandered off, probably to find Billie, and when I turned around, Felix approached and nodded.

"Nice hat," he said.

"Yours too. You look radical."

"Shit yeah, I'm radical."

And then I was suddenly pummeled from the side land tossed over Quinn's shoulder. My cap fell to the ground, and I punched him in the back.

"Quinn!" I shrieked. "I don't want to show my ass to the whole school!"

"I'm sure Felix doesn't mind the view," he said. I squirmed to break free.

"Oh Felix, please feel free to look at my ass next to my brother's face. I'm sure the resemblance is uncanny." I heard him laugh, but I couldn't get free to see it.

"Nah," he said. "I've never wanted to pinch Quinn's cheeks before." And that seemed to do the trick. Quinn dropped me, and Felix had to reach out to grab my arm to stop me from tumbling.

"Thanks for that, jerkwad," I said, punching Quinn's arm.

"Hey, you were the one showing your ass to the entire senior class." Billie handed my cap back over just as our parents arrived with a whole caravan of relatives.

"Hey guys, we need more pictures," my dad said.

"Aw, seriously?" Quinn whined.

"Ruby, put your cap back on." Then I whined.

"C'mon." He laughed and snapped pictures anyway.

A minute later, we were joined by Felix's family from Canada. And then even Billie's family. Felix, apparently, spoke fluent French. Which I didn't even know about until he introduced me to his grandma, and the two of them lapsed into perfect French while I stood there staring at him like I didn't even know him.

He did translate for me and said that they all liked me. But I wasn't sure if he was lying or not.

After we finished up, we said goodbye to Billie and went back to my house. My dad threw a barbecue and invited Felix's family since they were literally right next door. I was anxious that my dad would use this as his opportunity to drop the bomb about Pacific Records. But no one said anything while we ate and socialized. I was having a good time otherwise.

After dinner, we sat around outside and opened the absolute mountain of cards we'd all gotten (mostly cash). I was sure the money was meant to go toward college, but Felix's birthday was coming up in the next month, and I wanted to do something special. I just had to figure out what he wanted. He was never really clear about wanting anything other than records or guitar stuff. And that just didn't seem special enough to me.

After all the cards were opened, we moved on to gifts. Thankfully it wasn't like a birthday party. We only got things from our parents. But it was still weird to open it in front of everyone. Quinn got some sort of microphone that he'd wanted for months, courtesy of my dad. Claire got Felix a car. It wasn't anything super fancy. Actually, it was kind of a piece of crap. But it ran, and it meant we could escape a lot easier now. My dad already gave me the guitar with the rubies in the frets, so I wasn't expecting much else. But then Crystal handed me a small velvet box. I opened it to find a pretty ring with a sparkling red gem.

"Oh, it's pretty!" I said. "Is it real?" She nodded.

"It is. It's a tradition in our family. Not only do we name our daughters after gems, but we also get them a ring when they graduate."

"Wow. That's so cool. Do you still have yours?" She reached out a hand to show me the ring with a clear gem in it. I'd seen her wear it before, but I never put two-and-two together.

"Crystal is easy. It's just quartz, but you get the idea."

"I still have mine too, Ruby," my grandmother told me, sticking out a bony hand to show off her opal ring.

"That's so cool. I want to help you pick out Jade's."

I was trying to be nice. I didn't get along with my grandmother, and neither of us made any effort to change that. She made a bit of a fuss about me coming back into their lives. And flat out refused to even meet me until Crystal finally snapped and told her off. She stopped complaining and came over for dinner to introduce herself. But the fact that she'd been so angry about it in the first place wasn't something I could easily get over. I'd never done anything to her other than be born. She was the one who separated Quinn and me and helped her husband scheme up a plan to get us to Detroit. And the only reason I'd gotten thrown into the mix was because she knew my dad wouldn't leave without his kids. So she'd handed me over like collateral damage. And then got mad when I had the nerve to try and get to know my own mother.

Over the years, she'd grown to accept and love Quinn even though he was the bastard child of a man she hated. And she apparently adored Jade. But she still couldn't let go of old grudges long enough to have a relationship with me.

Which was just fine with me. Because I had no intention of trying to befriend the woman who'd kept me from my family and broken both my parents' hearts.

Later, I decided to take my cards up to my room so they didn't get lost. I had barely stuffed my things away when Felix appeared in the doorway.

"You've been really quiet all night," he noted. I nodded and turned away.

"I know. Just a lot on my mind."

"Like what?" He came to my side and ran his hands up and down my arms. The air was warm and humid, and I had my window open and the fan going. It was comforting anyway. Just to feel his hands on me. I wondered how long it would take for me to miss it.

"Just the stuff with Pacific. All the meetings and conversations. My dad is so convinced you guys are going to get signed. It's just a lot."

"I know. And I know it's probably something we should talk about. But—there's no point in overthinking it until we know for sure, right?" I nodded.

"I suppose so."

He pinched my chin and leaned down to kiss me. We hadn't kissed for very long when I heard the floor creak in the hall. We pulled away and faced my grandmother, standing in the doorway with her arms crossed like she'd just caught us having sex.

"Mind if I have a word?" she asked. I nodded.

"Sure."

"I'll just go," Felix said. He moved for the door, but she put her hands up and forced him to stop.

"No, no. You stay here." Oh great. This couldn't be good.

"So, um—what do you want to talk about?" I asked, reaching out to take his hand and pull him back.

"You two have been seeing each other a while now, huh?"

"Yeah—I suppose so."

"You been doing the hanky panky?" I laughed.

"The what?"

"Don't laugh at me, missy. You think I don't see what's going on?"

"Sorry. I just—your lingo caught me off guard."

"Your mother tells me you're on birth control."

"I—I…." I was stuttering. "That's really none of your business."

"It is my business. Your mother thinks it's perfectly fine for you two to run off and have sex as long as you don't get pregnant. But I disagree. You're not old enough to be running around like some common tramp. Sex should be shared between married couples, and I don't see a ring on your finger." I let go of Felix's hand to bury my face in them.

"Jesus Christ, this is not happening." She shot forward and ripped my hands away from my face.

"Excuse me?!"

"What did I do now?"

"You want me to wash your mouth out with soap?"

I could feel my eye twitching. I was never one to turn down a challenge. I wasn't a fighter, and I knew that. But I also couldn't back down. My dad said I barely balanced the fine line between a complete wuss and someone who went rabid when insulted. The problem was my mouth. No, I didn't want to start a fight with her. And logically, I knew I should just take Felix's hand and get the hell out of there.

But instead, my mouth jumped in for a smart-ass comment before I could stop it.

"Wouldn't be the first time," I said. But that wasn't true. My dad had never washed my mouth out. He said I would swear whether he told me to or not. And I was free to do so as long as I knew the right places for it. The worst scolding I'd ever gotten was just, "Don't say things like that in front of teachers and preachers."

It was apparently too much. She turned and stormed out of my room and down the hall. I looked back at Felix. His eyebrows rose.

"Lunatic," I whispered.

And then I heard her marching back. I sighed and turned to face her, thinking she must have heard me. But when she got to the door, she lunged and shoved a bar of soap in my mouth. I didn't move at first. Mostly because I didn't think this could be real. Then I decided I didn't want to hurt a frail old woman. But the soap hit my tongue, and instinct kicked in. I struggled to fight her off. But she was stronger than she looked, and her rage and determination gave her an advantage.

Felix must have also been in shock because it took him even longer to react. But then he suddenly reached out and yanked me away from her. He pushed me behind him like he'd have to block me from an old lady. He took a protective stance as I attempted to spit chunks of soap from my teeth.

"Ugh, gross," I said.

"What the hell is your problem?" he asked, eerily calm.

"Do I need to wash your mouth out too?" He laughed. But not in an amused way. It was a dangerous laugh.

"You're not going to touch me."

"What are you going to do about it? Huh? You think you're some kind of tough, macho guy threatening old women?" He let out another dangerous laugh.

"I'm not going to do anything. We're leaving." He grabbed me by my wrist and yanked me out of the room.

"Don't you dare leave this house with that girl!" We headed down the stairs. Both my parents had been sitting on the couch entertaining guests. But they both shot to attention when we stomped down.

"We're leaving," Felix told him.

"What happened?" my dad asked.

"Your mother is insane," I told Crystal, still sputtering out soap, which was getting foamy since I couldn't get it all. Opal followed us down the stairs, still holding the broken pieces of the bar my dad kept on the bathroom sink.

"Mom, what did you do?" Crystal asked, voice going shrill.

"She attacked me with a bar of soap."

"Mom!"

"She needed to learn a lesson." Crystal came around the couch and took my face in her hands.

"You made her bleed."

"I did no such thing." She turned my face and pointed angrily at the stinging spot on my cheek. Opal looked like she still wanted to deny it. "Must have gotten her with my ring."

"I didn't even say anything bad," I pointed out.

"You took the Lord's name in vain!"

"Mom, we had this conversation! What did I tell you? Ruby is our daughter. Let us punish her as we see fit." She motioned toward my dad, who was now standing behind her, arms crossed and towering over all of us.

"Oh, please. He wasn't going to do anything about it. She's practically feral. I told you we shouldn't have let him take her. A man as a single parent. He can barely take care of himself."

And then I finally understood what my dad meant about me balancing that fine line. Something came over me. Rage, mostly. And I spun in her direction.

"Oh, no, you don't," I muttered.

"Ruby," my dad warned. He knew as well as I did that I'd crossed that line.

"You have no right to come into my house and insult my father. I don't know who the hell you think you are, Opal. But you have never been my grandmother. You didn't even fucking want me in the first place!"

"How dare you curse at me!"

"How dare I? If cursing at you is the worst thing I'll ever do, I'll gladly take it. I don't know how you can live with yourself after what you did. You took a child from her mother and sent her away. You stole a little boy's father. And when they finally got each other back, you acted like I was the monster. Like I did something wrong by bothering to exist in your family. I didn't ask for this. None of us did. This was your doing. And if you don't like the way I act, I want you to seriously reevaluate your decisions. You don't get to come around after fourteen years and demand respect as if you're someone who deserves it. You don't know a goddamn thing about respect, you wrinkly ass, lemon-faced bitch!"

Felix grabbed my arms and pulled me back again.

"Alright, we should go," he said.

"No! I don't want to go now! You can insult me all you want, but don't you dare say a single bad thing about my father! It was your fault! All of it!"

"I will not stand to be treated like this," she said. She was still standing on the stairs, haughty and proud.

"Oh, please. Save us the tears, Opal. No one here gives a shit."

Felix and my dad shared a look. I barely noticed it until my dad nodded his head toward the door. Then Felix was guiding me away.

"And another thing!" I shouted, trying to turn back around. But Felix got my shoulders and turned my direction toward the driveway.

"Nope. Not doing that," he said. The door quickly shut behind us.