Trailer Park Princess (7 page)

A few weeks have passed since my crazy attack, and the big nasty winter war is in full effect. Snow is on the ground, and it’s freezing. I hate January. Cold, and oh
yeah, it’s my birthday. It’s OK, no one knows!

“I know, Toby. Yes, the whole day. I told you I have like eight loads to do. YES, TOBY! If I do not, who will? Thax needs clean clothes, and my uniforms are all filthy.
  It will be fine. He saved my damn life, Toby; he is not going to hurt me. JUST STOP IT!” I look up to see Rome walk in the laundromat with two baskets in hand and two rugrats at his feet. I smile. “Whatever, Toby, I do not have a maid, and the boys are going to play. I need to get done. K, love you, too. I’ll text soon as I’m home. O….K…. BYE!” Smacking the phone down on the counter where I’m folding a load, I can’t help but growl.

“Problems in paradise, Princess?” Rome giggles while chunking clothes in the wash.

“Psht…yeah, apparently I have traveled to Rome.” I laugh and look over at him. Golly Miss Molly, this man is freaking amazeballs. He cooks, cleans, works and does the laundry. Everything. “I don’t know, Rome. For real, Toby is the nicest guy ever. He is grateful you were there, but now he hates we are friends. He says I hang out with you more than him and Mando. I call bullshit on that because I work more than anything. Moreover, it is not my fault he will not stop here. For Christ’s sake, I have to jump from a moving truck. At least you hang out at my house.”

I look over at the noise coming from the three boys playing with cars in the floor.  Although Thax is older than they are, he enjoys them like crazy! He says they are like little brothers. “I mean, he can’t get over us being friends. I told him you are like a big brother, but his jock strap is all twisted about it.” We both laugh like we always do about everything and leave it at that.
  He pulls out his MP3 player and flips it on. We listen to music; he sings along; I dance around; and we both do laundry. He helps me with mine once his is done. It takes like four hours to finish it all. We each lug a basket back towards the trailers. Once we make it home, we fix the boys sandwiches and listen to more music. Carol has not been home in four days, and I doubt she makes an appearance today with it being a weekend.

I’m dancing around to a song. Rome’s brought over his guitar, strumming along to it, and then out of nowhere he starts singing. My heart melts. He has the voice of an angel. I wish Toby could see him the way I do. I feel like God sent him to me. He has very quickly turned into my best friend.
So why do I eye his fingers moving across those strings and catch myself licking my lips?
I have to mentally bitch slap myself
for my wayward thoughts
.
Rome makes life easier. Toby is my best friend, but he will never accept my life; I have slowly figured that out. I do not have a choice to live here. We can’t all live in Spring Lake with a huge gate and entrance guard. I have never judged him for his money, but I feel he has always judged me for my lack of it.

The song ends, and Rome is watching me. “Rory, you move to the music like you feel the beat. Have you ever tried to play anything?”

I grin because even though I never talk about it, but this is Rome, so it’s easy.

“Actually, I play the piano; I just don’t have one.”

Then, out of nowhere, the rug is jerked out from under me. All the air leaves my lungs, and I freeze when I hear Thax say, “Rory, are we eating birthday cake later?”
Oh no, please, please let Rome have missed that.

“No, Thaxton, we are not!” I bitch at him. I feel bad instantly, but dang him for that.

“It your birthday, Princess?” I’m not sure why, but it never bothers me when he calls me that. Anyone else would get their head cut off for that crap, but not Rome.

“Yeah, but don’t go there, Rome; it ain’t like that for me.” I walk away. Birthdays have always been crap in my world. Dads do not show up; gifts are nonexistent; and usually so is Carol.

“How old are you?” he asks curiously.

“Eighteen, you?” I reply, and a gasp fills the air.

“Fuck me! You just now turned eighteen? I thought you were older. Where are you all day if you are not at work?”

I put my hand on my hip and fire back at him. “I go to school all day; then I work at night. Why?”

“Wow, Rory, I just thought you had two jobs like me. Does your mom work or help out? Oh, and I am twenty four.”

I roll my eyes at that. “Nope, I take care of us. Amandolette’s parents pay me fairly and give me extra shifts. I make good tips; however, Thax does require a lot.” Then, I plaster on a smile and ask, “Can we please just dance some more?”

Rome is thinking hardcore and doesn’t really hear me. He is typing fast into his phone. “Hey, Princess, can you watch the boys for about thirty minutes? I need to run down to the bar and help Red unload for tonight.”

I smile, glad the awkward moment passed, and nod my agreement.  Rome is the one person I never want to fight with, and things were getting a little tense. With a quick kiss on the top of my head—his signature leaving move—he is gone.

When he comes to pick up the boys, he has a keyboard in tow. I wrinkle my forehead and tilt my head sideways trying to figure out what he is doing.

“Stop that; you look like a puppy in the window.” he clips as he sets the board up.

“Why is that here?” I point at it as if I’ve never seen one.

“Well
, first, I want you to play it for me. Then, I want you to play it with me. But mostly because it’s your birthday present, goofball.” he says matter-of-factly. And, as if on cue, there’s that panty-dropping grin again. Good thing he is like a brother to me, or Toby might have to worry.

“You should not…” I try to say, but he cuts me off.

“Shut up, Rory! It was free, so please take it. Red bought a new one for the club and was going to toss this one. I asked if I could have it. He said OK. The end.”

So I do what I know is right, and it just happens to be how I feel.
  Clapping my hands together and squealing while doing something like the running man and moonwalk rolled into one with a twist of fist pump in it, I run straight at Rome, almost knocking him over. I leap into his arms, wrapping mine around his neck for the biggest hug I ever gave anyone. “Thank you so much, Rome! It’s just perfect!”

Without another word, I drop down to the arm of the couch and touch a key. It is not a baby grand, but it is mine. I let my fingers do the talking.
  Somehow, I end up playing a beat I know he will never recognize because it is one I wrote. I decide to add in a few words and check his reaction. I meant for Toby to hear it first, but maybe Rome could help me get it just right for him.

 
  “If I were you, I’d fall in love with a girl…like me… Because in just one look…I’d see… I’m the kind of girl that could love you in whole… I would love you with every…thing…that I…… am…..  I always shoot for the moon… even if I get distracted by the stars…. And if loving you was a mistake… I’d accept that and let my heart break!”

 
I finish out the note and look up.
OMG
! Rome has a tear in his eye.

“Did you write that?”

I nod my head with confidence because it was written straight from my heart. I wrote it one night when I was upset with Toby because he is planning to leave me. I know school is important, and he has to do it. I want him to. But when he leaves and I’m stuck here, I also know it’s going to hurt.

“You not only play, but you write, and can also sing? Damn it!” He jumps up and scares me for all of two point two seconds. “You should do a duet with me at the bar! It would be epic! You can pick a song, and I will pay you half. It’s a win/win.” He is so excited. How can I tell him I only play for me? As an alternative, I opt to grin and let him think what he wants. He will never get Red to agree to it, never having heard me play. Without warning, trying to change the subject, I just bust out a classic nerd girl move…
Star Wars
  intro music!
YEAH BUDDY!

It’s Sunday morning, and my phone rings. I know it’s Toby. He calls on his way to church every Sunday. That is, unless his mom makes him ride with her; then, it’s just texting. I pick the keyboard up and, without thinking, start tapping away one key at a time. Don’t hate. I had to sleep with it in the bed with me. I love it.

“Hey, babe, what’s up?” He says nothing. The line is quiet. I pull the phone away from my ear to check to make sure the call’s connected. “Toby, can you hear me?” I hear him breathing while I mindlessly tap out a tune that sounds kind of like Mario. “TOBYYYY?”

Finally, I get a response. “Hey, Rory. I am…uh…almost at church. Just wanted to say love you and see if you wanted to catch lunch today. Mom’s got a meeting after church, so I’ll be free.”

“I can’t, Toby. I mean, I want to. I miss you. But I took an extra shift today. It’s the lunch rush, and the tips are always great, so when she called, I couldn’t turn her down. Now, I kind of wish I had.”

It takes him a bit to respond, and I know he’s upset. “Oh, OK, well, I guess I will pick you up at two, and maybe we can do a picnic or something? Mom’s gonna be all day, I’m sure. Hey, where are you?”

It seems like an odd question until I realize I am banging away on my keyboard. The keyboard I just got. Great…

“I am sitting in my bed, why?” I go for the dumb act.

“Just curious. I hear a piano, and well, I am pretty sure you
 don’t have one.”

I cringe. This is going to turn into a whine fest; I already know. “Yeah, well, the bar Rome plays at was going to chunk this old keyboard, so he brought it over to me.” There. Maybe that will be enough…

“WHY? Why would Rome just randomly bring you a keyboard? And how did he know you played?”
Seriously, he is this upset?
 “I mean, come on, Rory; it’s not like it’s your birthday!”

The line goes silent. I almost think he has hung up, but then I hear his breath suck in. I never lied to him, and I never will; however, I’m known to withhold information when I see fit.

“AURORA WILDE! Please tell me it’s not your birthday…” I say nothing. If I don’t speak, I cannot tell a lie. “Oh-Em-Gee, Rory, seriously? How did I not know that? Now, I feel like a loser. All this time together, and I have never once asked you. Well, crown me king douche canoe!”
You said it, not me, dude!
I can tell he’s crushed, the keyboard gift forgotten for the moment.

I’m not sure why Toby is so worried about Rome; he knows we are friends, and he knows it’s him that I love.
  I tell him this and dismiss his not knowing, blaming myself and making him promise no surprises. I get myself ready for work and actually pout when I have to leave my keyboard.  You would think it was made of gold, but in reality, it’s more precious to me than gold ever could be. It’s who I am, and I have missed it more than I let myself believe.

Things are slow over the next few days. Nothing eventful. I got a few snide comments from the garbage pail kids when they came in the diner, I picked up a few extra shifts so Thax could afford his field trip with the school, and I had a few dirty dances with those plastic ivory-want-to-be keys on my life support machine, aka keyboard. Rome’s worked a lot, and Toby’s been busy with spring training. I guess I should have thought about Toby first, but I didn’t. Oh well, no biggie, right?
 Amandolette has worked herself into a full-blown tizzy. She is getting her designs and presentation together for her college interview. I cannot believe she is really going to be an interior designer for the rich and bitchy one day. Reality is I will likely never leave The Diner. Which is fine. I am comfortable there, and I can afford to survive and keep Thax up without Carol.
Where is she anyways?
It’s been days, maybe even a week, since I saw her last. The bird chirping text alert pulls my attention back to the now.

 
Mando- Mom’s going to schedule you off tomorrow. We have a date, ghetto superstar.   Me + you= prom dress shopping and mall hopping. NO is not an option.  See ya morrow 4ish Peace out Double oh pickle

Double oh
Pickle? I cannot help but laugh at her weird quirk. She knows I cannot buy anything grand, but she makes the experience fun, and that is what counts. I have, however, saved to have my nails done. Not that fake tiger-looking mess but the plain Jane cut-and-shine to my real McCoy’s. I wonder why she wants to go so soon; it’s like a month till prom, her senior and my junior. I’d bank my last check she is planning to do her dress up big and make one last
“DID YOU SEE MANDO?”
moment. I will go simple, my normal thrift couture as always, but hers will be altered and made to match with her shoes, I’m sure.

Prom is another bittersweet moment for me. I am excited, but it’s the last big night for us as a group. I wish Rome was still in school so he could go with us. I will miss Toby and Mando so much when they leave for college in August.  I’ll have to hang around another year to finish up my senior year, graduating alone as a 19-year-old. No college plans are in my future. Nope, the only thing I will be planning is my supper that night. Oh yeah, and figuring out my second job options if I don’t get a full-time position at The Diner.
  I cannot hate them for moving on. I love them both for giving me memories worth having. Toby and Mando…those two are the loves of my life. My guy and my BFE! (Best Friend Eva as Mando would say) Luckily, I won’t be alone, like
alone
alone. I have Thax and Mando’s parents, as well as Rome and his mini nerd herd. Those two love
Star Wars
almost as much as I do. Besides, Toby and Mando both promise to come home every holiday. Toby swears he will call every day, oh, and Skype me on the brand new tablet he bought me with a one year prepaid internet service plan he already paid for. I don’t even want to get into that! Talk about extreme birthday gifts! Gesh, the boy went wild, causing one nasty fight, but in the end I accepted since it will allow me to see his beautiful face daily when he is gone.

The mall is crowded, as always, but they have the best stores within a hundred miles. After ninety minutes of “ohhs” and “ahhs” and trying on close to like 65432 dresses, Mando decides on a white and silver, almost-see-through, long, sequin covered dress, with a slit from the ground up to her throat, high neck, and sleeves which were both a clear-ish material giving her a naked illusion. She had a fit when she saw it, claiming it was “THE” dress Ana wore to the party in her favorite book. She just had to have it. “I’ll be the Hispanic version of ANA, and all the boys will want to spank me!”  She giggled as she ran out of the dressing room holding it up.
  I was ready to go after that, but she insisted that I try on a few.  I let her have her way as always and caved. It was fun; I admit it.  I tried on a few, but I decided finally on a black, high-low sweetheart gown with some white layers added in, and a diamond-belted waist. My favorite part is how the black is hemmed with white, and the white is hemmed with black. It’s stunning.  Too bad I cannot afford the price tag at a puny $134.95. And to think, it fits me to a T. I mean, this dress was made for me, and I feel like Cinderella in it.

“Rory, I am taking my dress up the coun…” Mando stops dead in her tracks when she walks out of the dressing room with her gown in tow. “HOLY MOTHER OF ALL THINGS KINKY!” she screeches, “You have to get that!” I smile, knowing it’s just a dream. I go back in and return it to the hanger. It’s meant to be admired from afar. Exiting the room Mando throws her hand out “NO, Rory, you should do this for yourself; you deserve it. You work so hard, and you take care of your brother. You never get yourself anything. And who knows if you make it to prom next year? With us leaving, I figure you will grab an extra shift.” She knows me well. I don’t plan to make it to my senior prom. This will be my prom memory always.

“I cannot waste that kind of cash; you know that. Hey! What are you doing?” I sneer at her with my eyes wide. Why is she taking the dress with her to the counter?

“Hush, Rory, consider this my birthday gift to you. Oh yeah, you didn’t think Toby wouldn’t tell me, did you? Psht, I ought to jack your face up for not telling me.” Mando smirks and winks, then pulls out her credit card. She is so spoiled, yet always so thoughtful.

“Thank you,” is the only response I can give as I carry the zip-up bag out of the store with me. And thank goodness a simple pair of black heels from Walmart will work. I sure don’t own any! By the end of our shopping trip, I end up buying some clearance costume jewelry, as well. I went with a black satin choker that had a diamond charm on it to match the belt and a matching black tiny-bowed headband. I plan on a French roll updo with the headband mashed into it! If Amandolette will listen when it comes time to do me up. I doubt she does…but… it could happen! It’s been a perfect girl day. We make plans to come back the day before prom and do our nails. It’s just two weeks away now, and I find myself getting excited.

“What’s up, Princess?” Rome calls out as he strolls through my castle door. The oxidation is so thick it flakes off as the door slams.

“Nothing, about to watch a movie. Wanna watch with?” I have never been wigged out by Rome or his habit of just dropping in when he comes home; it’s kind of normal now. Toby hates it, but honestly, he is my friend and um…hello…Toby hasn’t been around much at all in the last few weeks. I always get a text. It's his mother or football coach. I get it; he has a lot going on with school ending in five weeks. Prom’s a week away, and I know I will get the whole night with Toby, so I can survive a little longer. I just wish he would chill out about Rome already.

Tonight is odd. Rome comes in and plops down like normal, leaning over to take up almost my whole sofa. Gosh, he is tall. I am all too aware that my butt cheek is slightly playing peek-a-boo from my pajama shorts and my top is so worn it’s almost see-through. Maybe I should go change…
  But that thought is gone in under sixty seconds because I hear the intro to my movie, and I refuse to miss it. Yoda and Han wait for no one. I grab my bowl of popcorn and head to the sofa.