Your History of Silence

Breakfast was unusually quiet that morning.

Vienna was sitting at her usual spot at the end of the table. Their father, Robert, was at the other end, Charlotte on his right and their mother, Isabel, on his left. Robert was occupied by the daily newspaper and Isabel was engrossed with this month’s copy of Better Homes and Gardens. Charlotte was staring down at her eggs benedict, looking subdued. Vienna was watching her, intrigued – Charlotte was always bubbly and cheerful in the morning. She’d been a bit quieter than usual this week, but this was a new level of lethargy. What could be on her mind? Was she still mad at Vienna for leaving her alone the other night? She thought about bringing it up, if only to make their mother’s head spin around, but decided against it.

Fortunately, a few minutes later, Robert lowered his paper and looked curiously at Charlotte.

“Why so quiet, Charlotte?” he asked. “You’re usually the life of the party in the morning.”

Their mother shot him one of those ‘please stop using such commoner language’ looks, but he didn’t seem to notice.

“I’m fine,” said Charlotte, sitting up a little straighter. “Just thinking about dinner the other night.”

“That good, was it? I told you that place had great food. The staff is a little—” He made a disgusted face. “But, hey, good food is good food.”

Isabel rolled her eyes and looked down at her plate. Vienna recognized her “tuning out” expression, as did Charlotte. Looking conflicted, Charlotte sent Vienna a questioning look that she had never seen on the younger girl’s features before. What on earth could be bothering her this much?

“Was there anything you wanted to tell Dad?” Vienna prompted, dying to know what was on Charlotte’s mind.

“Oh, well...nothing too important.”

“I’m sure he’d like to hear it.”

“Of course, I would,” said their father enthusiastically. He spent a lot of time working, so he was always overcompensating by trying to be super nice at their morning meals. “Tell me what’s on your mind, sweetie.”

Charlotte stared at him, her face oddly masked, and said, “Well, Dad, I...met someone at dinner the other night. A man.”

Vienna nearly choked on her eggs. Charlotte had met a guy?! And on the same night that Vienna had met a guy?

Robert put the paper down completely, giving Charlotte his undivided attention. “Is that so? Tell me about this someone.”

“He, um. His name is Joel. He’s a singer at Suzanne’s.”

“He’s not the bald one, is he?” asked Robert, grimacing.

“No, no! Of course not. He’s young. I think he’s new.”

“Oh. How old is this boy?”

“I’m not sure. Twenties, probably.”

“Are you...is this a...romantic thing?”

Vienna could have laughed. Their father had never really had to deal with this sort of thing before. Any boys Vienna had dated had been kept fairly hush-hush and they never knew she was out with them until she’d stroll through the front door at all hours of the night and announce how great or terrible the date had been. Punishment usually followed, but she generally wasn’t bothered by it. “Go to your room” really didn’t hold as much power once you got past elementary school.

Charlotte’s face was the same shade as Isabel’s grapefruit juice as she said, “Not yet. He invited me to listen to him sing tomorrow night.”

“Ah, a musician.”

“Yes, he is.”

“What kind of music does this Joel play?”

“I don’t know. Probably some form of rock and roll, I would imagine.”

“Okay.” Robert glanced nervously at his wife. Although he produced a lot of rock and roll music, his wife didn’t approve and often had something snippy to say whenever it was discussed. “Where is this going to take place?”

“Somewhere called The Pour House.”

Vienna did choke this time. She coughed and sputtered, causing everyone to look up in alarm. She held up her hand, indicating that she was okay, and quickly gulped down some orange juice. “Sorry,” she choked out, once the episode had passed, “You were saying?”

“The Pour House is no place for a young girl alone,” said Robert then.

“The Pour House?” asked Isabel sharply.

“Yes. Charlotte was asked to see a boy play music there.”

Vienna and Charlotte exchanged looks, knowing the odds of Charlotte going out were dwindling dramatically.

“A date? Charlotte isn’t old enough to date.”

“She’s sixteen.”

“That’s the same age as you when you guys got married,” Vienna pointed out.

“This doesn’t concern you, Vienna,” Isabel snapped. “Robert, I don’t think Charlotte should be allowed to go off by herself to meet some boy at a bar.” She said the word ‘boy’ like it was the filthiest of curse words.

“I could go with her,” Vienna offered hopefully.

“Don’t be ridiculous. She’d be safer with an angry rhinoceros.”

“That’s fair.”

“Now, Isabel, I think Charlotte is old enough to entertain a gentleman caller.”

Charlotte, who had been slowly sinking down in her seat, looking like she wished the floor would open up and swallow her whole, suddenly perked up. “Really?”

“Robert,” said Isabel dangerously.

“I’ll go with her,” Robert said firmly.

“On her date?” Vienna asked incredulously. “A bit of a buzz-kill, Dad.”

“I’ll just be there to supervise,” he insisted. “I’ll have a drink at the bar, where I can keep an eye on her but still give her a little space.”

“Won’t you be bored?”

“No. I’ll have you for company.”

“Really?!”

“Robert!” exclaimed Isabel.

“Shouldn’t we go shopping, then?” Vienna asked, ignoring her mother. “I mean, I don’t think Charlotte has anything that would look right at a bar.”

“You’re right,” Robert agreed, pulling his wallet from his pocket. He fished out one of his platinum cards and handed it to Charlotte. “Take the limo up to Saks and buy yourself a nice outfit for Thursday.”

Vienna watched the card exchange hands and took a moment to appreciate her mother’s flabbergasted face. Never had such full-blown anarchy taken place at the breakfast table. “Robert, we should really discuss—”

“I’m late for work, dear,” he cut her off, standing up and smoothing his suit. “Girls, perhaps we could carpool?”

Vienna and Charlotte jumped up, both knowing that their mother would definitely find a way to call the whole thing off if they didn’t go now. So they trotted eagerly after their father, looking at each other in amazement. They were both quiet in the car, as their father had taken up his newspaper again and seemed engrossed. Once he was dropped off, however, Vienna let the dam burst.

“Okay, when did you meet a guy? And why didn’t you tell me?”

“I wasn’t going to go,” she admitted, staring fixedly out the window at the passing buildings. “I really don’t know what came over me.”

“I’m so proud of you!” Vienna exclaimed. “You found something you wanted and you stood up to Mom! Well, kind of.”

“I shouldn’t have. She’s going to be so mad at me.”

“Charlotte,” said Vienna, moving to sit next to her. “This is a big deal. You met a guy. No matter what Mom says, this is something that you need to decide yourself. I don’t like to say stuff like this, but dating is about finding someone to spend your life with. Mom shouldn’t be a part of that decision.”

“But I value her opinion.”

“That’s fine, but don’t let her stop you from dating this guy just because she might not approve.”

“She definitely won’t approve. He’s in a rock and roll band. She hates rock and roll.”

“You never know,” Vienna lied. There was no way in hell their mom would approve of anyone Charlotte brought home. Unless, of course, it was preceded by Vienna bringing Benji home to meet her. Which would probably cause her to go into heart failure, so she probably wouldn’t even notice who Charlotte brought home. The thought made Vienna grin.

But she had decided, come hell or high water, that Charlotte was going on this date. It would be good for her. And maybe Vienna would run into Benji while they were there.