“But you didn’t really see him hurt the bird. You said so.”
“I really don’t understand why you keep defending someone you say you didn’t even meet.” Binny responded to her younger sister’s interrogation.
Penny watched the interaction between the two siblings closely. Something remained unsaid, but she wasn’t sure what.
“Well, it doesn’t matter now. Rembrandt is fine and Mom doesn’t need to worry about this.” Binny concluded.
Cassie shrugged as if to say fine with me, and then reached for the handle to Henry Huitre’s front door.
“Cassie! Remember what Mom said about knocking?” Binny admonished, but it was too late. The door was open.
Binny felt the air rush from out of her stomach. Standing in the living room was her mom and Henry Huitre… well… it looked like they were… dancing. They were definitely touching, and there was music. The music sounded old-timey.
A female voice sang over strings in French. The only words Binny could make out were ‘la mer’. Binny wasn’t sure what that meant. All the other words were getting jumbled. Her mother and Dr. Huitre weren’t just dancing, they were slow dancing. Her mother’s eyes were closed. It was so unbelievably inappropriate. And gross.
Years later, Binny would regret this invasion of privacy. Adult Binny would tell herself that looking inside her mother’s thoughts wasn’t a rational decision. It was an emotional one triggered by the sight of her mother’s closed eyes. Binny would never forget that image. Binny would also tell herself that she had hardly needed to look into her mother’s mind to know what she was thinking.
Binny looked into her own mind and upward to a sort of screen or projection. Her mother’s thoughts were on display. It looked like something that hadn’t happened yet. Or maybe something her mother was hoping would happen?
Binny saw stars glowing softly above her mother and Dr. Huitre. They leaned their elbows on the wall surrounding a rooftop patio. They alternated between taking sips of dark red wine and letting their shoulders touch as they looked out over the city below. Binny followed their gaze and recognized the Eiffel tower. But more than anything about the scene in her mother’s head Binny remembered the color.
“Are you… dancing with each other?” Cassie wrinkled her nose when she said ‘dancing’ and punctuated her question with a giggle.
Julie and Henry had been too focused on the music to notice the door open.
“Oh, hello children.” Dr. Huitre said.
Binny watched Huitre and her mother hastily disentangle. Huitre strode over to the stereo removing the needle from the record player with a dissonant scratch.
“It’s a record player! My mom has one of those.” Penny said.
“How was the walk kids?” Julie patted Rembrandt on the head.
Binny’s shot lasers at her mother from her eyes.
“Yes. I like the sound of the vinyl.” Huitre answered Penny.
“Fine Mom. Can we go now?” Cassie made an impatient face.
§
“Just trust me. This is something you need to see.” Zach assured Zoe.
“OK. But I need to go home soon. If I’m too late bringing Gabe home, I’ll get in trouble.”
Gabe was just happy to be along for the adventure. They wound their way through the Madrona hillside heading east from the park through tree-lined streets and mostly on overgrown switchbacking pedestrian paths. After a long flight of stairs they found themselves at an entrance to the Madrona Woods.
YOU ARE READING
The Madrona Heroes Register: Underneath It All
Teen Fiction(Note: This book is the sequel to the first book in the series - The Madrona Heroes Register: Echoes of the Past which you can read here: http://www.wattpad.com/story/19419860-the-madrona-heroes-register-echoes-of-the-past) A year has passed since t...
