Small Town Gossip

Chapter 11

It was 9AM and even though it was technically early, it felt like mid-afternoon to Skylar. He wanted nothing more than to take a nap. He looked into his car’s rear view mirror and saw the bags underneath his eyes and the scruff building up on his jaw. His mother would lecture him on appearances if she caught him looking this bad. It was always about appearances with the Clarkes.

    Skylar remember when his grandfather had passed away. When they first got the news, his father had disappeared. No one was allowed to mention it. Danny tried getting information for Skylar and Amber who were concerned about their father, but their mother dragged Danny into the office. Whatever she said, Danny wouldn’t say a word. He pushed past his siblings and sat in their treehouse for two days. Amber would bring him food in an old fashioned picnic basket and leave it at the base of the tree. Skylar found old Playboys hidden in the back of their father’s closet. He folded them up and lobbed them through the open window for his brother. In their own way, the Clarke siblings looked out for each other.

    Their father came back at the end of the week. He crawled through the front door reeking of alcohol. Skylar had to help the maid lift him onto the couch. He remembered his mother watching them at the end of the hallway as she lit her cigarette. She gave orders to the household staff to help Ethan get into his suit and to wash the vomit off of him.

    Their mother appeared in control. She ordered the flowers, prepared the eulogy speech, and talked with their pastor about funeral procession. Nothing escaped her attention. So when Skylar had walked in the morning of the funeral with mismatching socks, she yanked him upstairs and made him reorder his sock drawer. The bruise on his upper arm grew purple, but it didn’t really hurt Skylar. It was the way his mother spoke to everyone around her that caused him to cry.

    Later, when she couldn’t find the right shade of Chanel lipstick, she broke all the mirrors in her bathroom. Again, it was Skylar who got involved. He helped her sweep up all the glass and wipe the blood off the counters. His mother hadn’t shed one tear. She grabbed Skylar’s face and told him that it was essential to appear in control because it was the only way not to get hurt.

    Skylar knew it was harmful advice given to him by a cold, dysfunctional woman. But on some level he had taken it to heart. He liked to appear as if he were always in control of his appearance and his emotions. He hated to wear t-shirts out in public. He never got drunk. He rarely cried.

    And that was why it suddenly felt awkward being around Addison Dewitt. She had seen him cry. He had been tired and worried about his brother. His father had dressed him down and his mother rushed in to clean up his mistakes. It was all crashing down, completely different from what he had planned, and somehow he broke. It was a mistake. He should have never shown any kind of weakness in front of Addy. She didn’t even like him.

    But when he did, she hadn’t reacted like he expected. Usually girls floated over to give warmth and hugs when they saw a man cry. They held his hand and crooned over his ability to show emotions. Addy made a vagina joke. And it was funny.

     It reminded Skylar to take a breath and pull everything back. He had wanted to hug her after that moment, but he felt her flinch under his arm. So he pretended to wrestle with her. He threw her down on the ground and held her arms down. He was planning to torment her the way his older brother used to torment him. He was going to let his spit dangle over her face, and he imagined her getting pissed at him for the juvenile prank. But before he could do anything mean, she started to move. The way she felt squirming underneath him reminded him of something else completely.

    He pulled her hair away and he had wanted to kiss her.

    He had never been more thankful for the silver Jetta pulling up into that driveway and interrupting what would have been a bad decision. Addy was supposed to be his brother’s pretend-girlfriend and after this weekend, she’d head back to her trailer park with all the money his family would be willing to give her. It was a sordid business deal. There was no place for any attraction. Besides, she didn’t even like him.