“I know what you
mean,” Nikki nodded, slumping her shoulders. It made me sad that
she was so dispirited. She was always the one that kept us going.
“Look y’all. It
will be fine, just give it time. Look how much this city has
accomplished in just a couple months. We can do this. We will be
back, okay? Let’s be glad we have each other at least, right? Isn’t
there
any
good news?”
Nikki shrugged but
Marie’s eyes lit up. “At least there will still be Mardi Gras.”
“Of course there will
still be Mardi Gras. And at least we still have the same schedules.
Speaking of, I have to go meet someone before class.” I shut my
locker.
Nikki and Marie both
looked at me with the same devious smile, they thought I was talking
about Hayden.
I felt my cheeks start
to warm. “What?”
“Oh, nothing you
lucky dog. See you at lunch?”
“Yep. See you later.”
I told them over my shoulder as I walked toward class.
My morning classes went
by quickly and painlessly since Hayden was in my classes. At lunch,
Nikki and Marie met me in the commons and we all ate together with
Hayden and Luke. It was the first time we all publicly hung out at
school together and I couldn’t help but feel giddy about it. Just a
few months before, Nikki, Marie and I were just admiring the
mysterious Boudreaux brothers from afar. Now, a lot of students were
watching us, probably wondering just what had happened since
Hurricane Katrina.
“Ugh,” Luke threw
down a garlic dipper in disgust. “Remind me why we aren’t hitting
up Brennan’s for lunch?”
Nikki and Marie giggled
thinking he was joking. There were still enamored by Luke, and I knew
it would take some getting used to before they were all comfortable
around each other. I smiled in good nature but Hayden gave him a hard
look.
Luke shrugged
harmlessly. “Not even take-out?”
Nikki and Marie—
okay, and I—laughed harder.
Hayden must have
replied because then Luke said, “Well, if I’m going to have to
eat, it may as well be something decent.”
“Luke…” Hayden
warned.
He pushed himself to a
stand. “All right, all right. I am going to head off to my favorite
class.” A smile threatened his lips. His next class was AP World
history, which was one of my classes with him. Hayden had wanted to
switch into
all
my classes, but he didn’t for the same
reason he and Luke split them up: to not look suspicious. I thought
back to the first day of school when Hayden was originally in none of
my classes. I had even pretended I wasn’t disappointed. Then,
Hayden had switched into my first three classes. I remembered how odd
it was, but I was confident he wouldn’t be sharing the rest of my
schedule as I'd had AP and two senior-level classes. I had been
right:
Hayden
wasn’t in the rest of my classes but it came
as quite the shock to find that
Luke
was. Who knew my
suspicions were right even then? They had switched into
all my
classes
; they even came to Ecole because of me. Now, they were
staying because of me.
Nikki and Marie left in
turns until it was just Hayden and I at the table. I told him I
better go early to class to talk to my teacher and, first and
foremost, friend, Rachel. I looked forward to seeing her again. She
had seemed so distant since everything that had happened. Maybe it
was because of the hurricane or maybe it was something else entirely.
I remembered how she had first helped me discover the truth about the
Lalaurie house. Being a history buff, I had asked her the background
to the haunted mansion.
“Stay away!”
she had warned. She
was right. That house was evil.
“Ana!” She hugged
me and then awkwardly released me as another student entered. She
directed me out into the noisy hallway but lowered her voice. “I’m
glad you came early today. I apologize we haven’t been able to talk
much. The internet is still out in our area so if you sent any emails
you now know why I haven’t responded.” She inhaled sharply in
brief frustration.
“It’s okay, I
understand. I have been busy, too, volunteering at Habitat.” She
gave me a knowing look and I nodded at her in agreement.
“Everyone’s been
stressed around here, even the pharmacies are out of stock on anxiety
meds. I just don’t want to lose sight of what’s important,” she
added.
I thought back to my
dreams and had a moment of zoning out.
“Everything okay,
Adriana?” Rachel’s voice brought me back to reality.
“Yeah, it is, sorry.”
I blew out a breath.
“How’s your dad?”
I wished this time that
my biggest problems were my father. “He’s fine. Same old, same
old.” I hadn’t told her that I had moved out, or that I lived
with Hayden and Luke, for that matter. There was so much she didn’t
know, which was ironic considering she used to be the only person I
told everything to.
“You know, there was
a fire at the Lalaurie mansion…”
Where did that come
from?
“Oh, really?” I spoke coolly. Now I wasn’t just
keeping things from her, I was lying.
Seconds passed. As she
searched my face for something, more students entered her classroom.
“I just thought you’d like to know since I recall you asking
about the house before,” she finally said.
“Oh, okay. Thanks. A
lot of buildings were damaged from the storm,” I said, changing the
subject.
“I know a lot about
New Orleans history. If you ever need any information, just let me
know.” She turned and I nodded at her, taking a step to follow her
into the classroom.
She stopped and turned
her head back toward me, “and the damage wasn’t caused by the
storm, Adriana.”
My heart stopped. She
definitely knew something was up. I shouldn’t have kept things from
her in the first place. I should have told her everything, and maybe
she could have helped me, helped us. I walked in a trance to my desk,
resolving on discussing this possibility with Hayden later.
When school let out,
I had an exact replica of my dad’s truck waiting for me. Hayden or
Luke must have brought it for me at some point during the day and I
found myself dreading meeting my dad for an early dinner. I checked
out the truck; it was in better shape than the original. I hoped my
dad wouldn’t notice. But it was not like he could object. He got
the better deal out of this.
A feeling of sadness
came over me, being in the truck all alone. It brought back so many
memories and now I was giving it up. Even though it was not a place I
would want to go back to, I felt like I couldn’t let go. What was
worse was knowing that Hayden drove all the way to Texas to buy this
truck. For me. And what was I doing while he was gone? I felt like I
had gone behind his back, doing a Hunt of my own. With his brother.
Who was in love with me. Could my life get any more complicated? My
phone on the seat buzzed against my thigh.
“Hi, dad.”
Hey, we’ll have to
find somewhere else to eat, New Orleans restaurant is closed.
“Really? They’re
still not open?”
Nope, I drove by
there after work. Where should we go instead?
He is leaving it up to
me? Well, as long as it wasn’t Wayne’s, where his girlfriend
worked...
“I don’t really
care, dad. What
is
open?”
Let’s go downtown.
I’m sure we’ll find something there. That’s closer for you
anyway.
“Okay, sure. I’ll
just call you when I get there. Give me about fifteen minutes?”
K. See you soon.
Brief moment of awkward
silence. “Okay. Loveyoubye.”
I hung up before he
could say anything else. I couldn’t believe how awkward it had
become with my father. It was like we were strangers. Even when I
went over to the house to get random things I'd left behind, it was
like I had never even lived there.
I texted Hayden on my drive toward
downtown.
Me:
I must say, nice job on the
truck! Its way nicer than the
old 1.
If he could, my dad would thank
you. We changde
restaurants,
New Orleans is closed :( Eatin
dwtwn. Ill call
when Im done. Xoxo
I smiled as I got his response
almost instantly.
Hayden:
Adriana Alexander, are
you texting while driving? Call
me.
I couldn’t help but
smile as I hit ‘call.’ Hayden picked up after the first ring.
So you
are
driving. Your multitasking skills never cease to amaze me.
“How did you know?”
Your spelling errors
and abbreviations gave you away.
“Darn. Well there’s
no need to worry, I’m an excellent driver.”
You know I will
always worry. And that’s what every driver says before they get
into an accident. Plus, I would much rather hear your voice than read
a text.
“There are dangers in
talking while driving as well,” I pointed out with a smile in my
voice.
Yes, but at least
your eyes will be on the road and you won’t be distracted.
“Simply hearing your
voice is a distraction.”
Do I need to come
pick you up before you even make it to dinner with your father?
I laughed, enjoying
this playfulness between us. “Then he’d really be suspicious
about the truck.” I paused. “Do you think he only wants to get
together with me because he wants his truck back?”
No, how could you
say that? He is your father, of course he loves you. Who
couldn’t
love you?
My mother, I wanted to
say. But that wasn’t fair. I didn’t know if she'd died or simply
up and left.
“Oh- I’m almost
there so I have to call my dad. I’ll text you when we’re almost
done, okay?”
I hung up the phone
with Hayden as I entered the downtown area.
Ten minutes and two
closed restaurants later, I sat at a Mexican restaurant waiting for
my dad. He'd said to go ahead and get a table—for four. I guess I
shouldn’t have been surprised that he would bring his girlfriend
and their baby. He was with them 24/7, so it would be unthinkable to
ask for him to spend any time with me alone.
Finally, my dad arrived
fifteen minutes late. “Carla’s driving the car back so I can take
the truck,” he said as he sat down, as if offering me an
explanation.
I gave him a closed-lip
smile. My smile widened as the cute bundle of baby was strapped into
the highchair.
I cooed at Brittney
before asking Carla, “How old is she now?”
Carla pulled her
reddish-blonde hair over her shoulders and smiled at me in surprise,
“Nine months old, can you believe it?”
“She’s cute,” I
agreed to no one in particular.
“She would love it if
her big sister would come over and play with her every now and then.”
Carla’s bone-thin hand brushed through soft baby hair.
Carla had children from
a previous marriage and at first I thought she was talking about one
of them.
I stood gaping at her
but the waiter arrived ready to take our order before I could think
up a reply.
We talked about babies,
storm damage and school while waiting for our food to come. Then my
dad got down to business. “I wanted to ask you something.”
I shook slightly to
unglue my expression and grabbed a chip from the red basket in front
of me. “Okay, what is it?”
My heart sped up and I
could feel the extra blood rush through me. What was he so nervous
about asking me? Something about the truck? About Hayden or Luke?
Maybe he just wanted a babysitter? I relaxed a little.
He grabbed a chip and
dunked into the dish of salsa before eating it. “Well, it’s been
pretty tough at work.” He spoke around a mouthful of chips.
Oh
no.
I hope he isn’t asking for any money. I know what he thinks
about Hayden and Luke, I mean, he has seen their house.
Kill. Me.
Now.
I haven’t worked since Katrina except for volunteering.
He wouldn’t be interested in what I had left in my savings which
meant he figured I would borrow from Hayden. I couldn’t imagine
asking him, after everything he’d done. If my dad only knew how
much he had spent on his truck!
“You want money?”
My eyes were wide in disbelief and hope he would say no, because I
knew I couldn’t if he asked.
Carla looked slightly
embarrassed and my father adjusted his position in his seat. “What?
No.” He swallowed a bite of chips. “No, work is good. There’s
just a lot of it.”
“Oh.” My dad worked
at a salvage diving company, and I suppose they would be packed-busy
since the storm. I still did not understand what he wanted to ask me.
“A lot of folks
haven’t returned since Katrina. And, well, I was thinking you could
come work for us ‘til things settle down a bit.”
“At Taylor Diving?”
“Yeah, c’mon when’s
the last time you dove anyway?”
I picked at another
chip. “I don’t know, dad. I just started back at school, between
that and volunteering with Habitat…”
and discovering my
psychic abilities.
“It would only be
part-time. We really need people.”
He said it in a way
that left me little room for argument. He didn’t care what else I
had going on. He wanted this and he would get it.
“Fine.” I let out a
breath. Here’s to more father-daughter time. I sipped my ice water.
“Great!” He set his
hands down on the plastic table cloth in relief.
I frowned, not
completely understanding why he wanted me to work so badly.
“You remember Mr.
Christian? I’ll tell him you’ll be by after school tomorrow and
you can go from there.”
“Tomorrow?”
“Yeah, tomorrow why?
You don’t have plans do you?”
I searched my memory
hoping I would find something that I was supposed to do with Hayden
or Nikki even. “Well, no but—”