TWENTY: MIND OVER MATTER
november 9th, 1984
Nancy is confused. Rosalie can hear that much from her end of the line. Her old friend's silence seems to say much more than words did at the moment.
"Nance can you just say something? You're starting to freak me out."
"Well, I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that you can hear thoughts." Her voice sounds emotionless until she goes to a whisper. Suddenly her voice is muffled and much closer to the receiver when she hisses, "that and the fact that Ivy and Billy are hooking up, it's a lot to swallow."
"Yeah, tell that to Ivy."
Nancy's burst of laughter comforts Rosalie's previously anxious thoughts. The smile growing on her face feels nostalgic. She sits on her bed reliving the early days of freshman year when the laugh was normally followed by hers or Barb's. The shallow hole in her chest feels deeper thinking of Barb. It had grown three sizes since she learned the truth about her friend but the grief had shrunken since then. To Rosalie, it was becoming more and more apparent that Barb was the lucky one. "Funny Rose, but hey maybe this is a good thing."
"It's a good thing I can read Steve's mind?"
Nancy groans, "I can only imagine what he's thinking half the time..," a beat passes between the two and Rosalie isn't sure if she's asking or joking about what goes on in Steve's head. Luckily she follows up not too long after, "no, I mean this could be a good thing that you can read minds because now we have proof for Hopper. You can read his mind then he'll have to believe you."
Her nose turns up in disapproval when she thinks back to the Chief of disbelief. He made her blood boil. "There is no way I'm going back to that man. If he didn't believe me the first time, he's not going to believe me a second time."
"Rosalie you're not listening, this is proof!"
"So was the fact that I got clawed out by a demagorgan but he didn't listen then and he won't listen now!" Her ears perk when she hears the familiar pace of her mother walking through the door and the jingle of her house keys as she climbed the stairs. Rosalie scratches the back of her neck, "Nance I'm not going to argue about this anymore, I don't want to go back. End of story."
"Okay, I hear you. But I still think we should talk to someone. This is serious."
A knock on her door pulls Rosalie's attention from Nancy's worry. Her mother slips in just as she stands, "I've got to go. See you at school tomorrow."
"Okay, see you tomorrow Rosalie."
"Bye Nance."
"I thought I'd find you up here with Steve not on the phone with Nancy Wheeler of all people," Genevieve gasps sarcastically as she leans against her daughter's door frame. Now her head tilts with curiosity, a few of her locs brushing against her face. "What's the story there?"
Rosalie sets the phone on the receiver and shakes her head, "the story is a group assigned project for English class." She hated how easy it had become to lie to her mother. The last honest conversation they had had seemed like ages ago rather than weeks. Back when the world was right-side-up.
Genevieve hums with approval, "good to see fate putting two friends back together." Then her eyes take over her child's lazy attire. Now she stands from leaning on the door frame to gesture to her daughter's sweats and shirt, "you're wearing that to Aunt Fiona's dinner?"
At the mention of the one thing her mother reminded her of for the past few nights, she face palmed her forehead. How could Rosalie have forgotten? "Shoot, right that's tonight. I'll put on some real clothes." She stood from her bed to cross the room with various items littered on the floor. When she passed her desk and disappeared into her closet she could hear her mother sit on her bed.
"You sure you don't have an outfit out here on the ground?"
Rosalie rolled her eyes, "ha ha ha."
Genevieve laughed at her joke, sighing softly and running a hand across her daughter's comforter. While her fingers traced patterns on the blanket, her eyes raked the walls. What use to hold finger painted drawings, rainbows and glitter now had post-it note reminders, pop culture posters and printed photographs. All evidence of time. The one thing Genevieve felt she had been running out of lately. Which is why when her daughter emerged from the closet not too long after she asked, "can I ask you some questions about you and Steve?"
That was unexpected. Rosalie stopped in her tracks, her eyes went to the floor as she picked through the items of clothing, and because she couldn't see her mother's face she agreed, "sure. What do you want to know?"
"Does he respect you?"
The question made her daughter grin for some reason. Now she retrieved the top she was looking for a returned to her closet to find pants. While she tugged on her jeans she thought about Steve's actions. After a moment she rightfully decided, "yes, he does."
"And you two have talked about the possibility of what close minded people will think when they see the two of you together?"
Now Rosalie emerges from the closet, confident with her answer and tugging a green turtle neck over her thick mane of hair. "Yes. I just brought that up to him and.. it went better than I expected." Before she could get too lost in the ever growing warm feeling that radiated when she thought of the kind side Steve began to show more often than not, she raised her eyes to her mother's, "but just to be clear Steve and I aren't together."
Genevieve nodded and she began to understand what her daughter meant. The two of them weren't together but that didn't mean what they had wasn't just as special. She sat up in her daughter's bed, "want me to brush your hair back?" It was something she used to do for her when she was younger. Back when time felt slower.
Rosalie retrieves her brush from her dresser and sat at the foot of her bed. Genevieve brushed the front of her hair and sighed softly, "just promise me that when you do start to have sex you'll use protection. Trust me, the last thing you need is a mixed baby causing you trouble." The two of them began to laugh seeing as her mother was only poking fun with her. When she playfully pinched her shoulder, Rosalie set her hand on top of hers and agreed. There would be no mixed babies in her near future. And then, the soft ringing filled her head like before.
Please let him be gentle with my baby, her mother's thoughts filled her head and Rosalie was filled with a full set of new questions. Part of her was happy it wasn't just Steve's thoughts she could hear.
The drive to Aunt Fiona's was swift and tension-free. It felt as though Rosalie could breath easier around her mom since their heart-felt moment in her room earlier. They listened to the radio in comfortable silence until Teddy Pendergrass began to play and the two joined in harmonizing to the soulful ballad.
Aunt Fiona's house was more crowded than usual. The twins were visiting for the weekend which meant Keith's head was in a book and Kevin was controlling the kitchen. When the two made their way inside the house Rosalie had forgotten how hungry she was. "I can see you drooling, Rosie," Aunt Fiona teased before pulling her favorite niece in for a hug, "how's my favorite niece?"
"I'm your only niece," she reminded her once the air had returned to her lungs, "and I'm only drooling because I can smell whatever Kevin is making for dinner. Please tell me it'll be ready soon." Aunt Fiona was still grinning at her when she pulled away. Wisdom had deepened her features over the years, her skinny sister locs were tied up tonight so she could see the gray curls that began to grow from her scalp. As she nodded, the golden chain she never took off caught in the lace trim of her blouse.
While she untangled her jewelry she reassured Rosalie, "you know how Kev is, it'll be at least another hour"-
"Half hour!" He corrected from the kitchen.
Aunt Fiona rolled her eyes, "go in and say hey to your cousins, I need to talk to my sister about starving her child."
Genevieve laughed at her sister's harmless joke before pulling her into a hug. Before Rosalie could hear more of their banter, she slipped into the kitchen to see Kevin zooming from the sink back to the stove. When he went to peek in the oven a waft of good smelling spices made her mouth water. "Smells great Chef Kev."
Her cousin paused from his art to give her a big squeeze. "Rosie, you're getting so big. I bet you're a heart breaker now, huh?"
"Something like that," she muttered to herself with a smug expression. To change the subject she nodded her head to the tin foil covered dishes on top of the stove, "what's on the menu?"
"I'm making this new honey smoked salmon recipe where I smoke the herbs with a secret spice mix. Then I made some creamy mashed potatoes, bacon wrapped asparagus, a tin of Aunt V's favorite corn bread, and for dessert I making a creme brûlée but didn't have time to get the good brown sugar because they were out at the store."
She sucks her teeth with sarcasm, shaking her head, "damn it, Kev. You had one job."
Just then, Keith climbs the stairs from the den into the kitchen. He pushes his glasses higher on his face when he adjusts to look at Rosalie, "no way this is Rosie. Last time I saw her she had braces and bad acne."
"Hey at least I didn't have to wear head gear for a year." She retorts gaining a high five from her culinary cousin as he proceeds with finishing the meal.
Keith laughs at her blow before giving her a tight hug, "how you been?"
She always thought maybe it was the reflection in his glasses that made her want to tell him the truth whenever he asked. So she nods and promises, "good, but I'll tell you more later."
He nods with understanding before returning to his seat at the table where he opens the book he had been reading before going to the bathroom. She notices the seat beside him has a notebook too and before she can ask, footsteps come from the direction Keith had just emerged. A young woman with clear dark skin and long braids stops in her tracks. She had never met this stranger before. Before suspicion could set in, Keith looked up and formed an introduction. "Rosalie, this is Wanda, my girlfriend. Wanda, Rosie," he introduced the two and Rosalie was trying to figure out how Keith managed to put a book down long enough to get a girlfriend.
"Hi Rosalie, nice to finally meet you," the two shook hands. "I doubt you still like them calling you Rosie all the time, huh?"
"Uh.. yeah, it's pretty annoying." She shook her head, still shocked and dumbfounded, "you're so pretty. Why in the world would you choose my cousin over basically anyone else?"
Wanda laughed when she took her seat back beside a glaring Keith. She grinned at him, "well, believe it or not I asked him out."
Rosalie's mouth dropped.
"My reaction exactly," a familiar voice calls from behind. Sloan, the third and favorite of Rosalie's cousin came from around the hallway to enter the kitchen and wrap her arm around her cousin's shoulder. "I was convinced she was a paid actor for the first day and a half they were here.. honestly, I'm still not completely convinced."
Rosalie laughed and turned to give her cousin a full hug. While they embraced she whispered in her ear, "do you wanna go on a walk before dinner?"
"Already rolled the joint before you got here."
"Ugh, I love you."
As they circle the block the two catch up. Sloan is graduating high school this spring and isn't convinced she'll be going to college like her mother wants her to.
"I just don't see the point," her cousin tells her as the two take a seat at the edge of the pond they always smoke at. Sloan blows out a cloud of smoke over her shoulder, away from Rosalie who has tied her hair up to avoid smelling. "It'll just be a waste if I don't know what I want to do. Plus, I'm moving to New York regardless."
When the joint is passed to Rosalie she plays devil's advocate, "it sounds like Aunt Fiona just wants to secure your future." She inhales the smoke, cooling the cloud down before it hits her throat.
Sloan scoffs, "you say that like college is the only way to secure my future." Rosalie makes a face as if she wants her cousin to convince her otherwise but she simply tsk's with annoyance. "Let's change the subject; what's new with you lately?"
Her lips pull back into a smug grin, "I'm pretty sure my friend and I are friends with benefits."
Sloan gasps with disbelief, her head shaking the shock off, "what do you mean you're pretty sure?" She takes the joint and slyly asks, "how many times have you guys fucked?"
Rosalie rests her chin on her knees, "we haven't yet. Or not exactly."
Sloan inhales quickly, while holding the smoke in her lungs she furrows her eyebrow, "he make you cum yet?"
Rosalie nods with delicious delight, reminiscing. Her cousin laughs excitedly, "oh hold on to him; sounds like he's a keeper! Damn, Rosie, I'm proud of you. When I was your age I was so self conscious about sex, own that shit."
She hands her cousin the joint, along with helpful information. "Thanks, Sloan. I'll try."
The two return to the house just as Keith is setting the table. He smirks, "glad to see you two decided to join us." Kevin and Wanda help set the table as well, moving the plates and napkins in their rightful place.
"Where's Mom and Aunt V?" Sloan asks as she pours herself a glass of water.
"In the backyard, looking at the roses," Keith answers before sniffing his sister loudly, "you smell like air freshener, very nice smooth sis; not suspicious at all."
"As if they don't already know what we were doing when we said we'd go on a walk," Rosalie reminds her cousin, moving the corn bread from off the stove on to a plate. She breaks off a piece and pops it in her mouth, "plus we put in eye drops, so what's the big deal?"
"The big deal," Wanda piped up as she puts hers and Keith's books on the counter and off of the dinner table, "is that you two didn't give me the heads up about the pre-dinner walk. Let me know next time, okay?"
And she smokes?! "Okay, seriously drop the act Wanda; are you dating Keith as some sort of a bet?"
"Or a make a wish foundation?" Sloan chimes in, tilting her head. The cousins laugh, all except Keith who crosses his arms with annoyance. All it takes is a reassuring squeeze from Wanda and his anger dissolves shortly after.
Dinner goes swiftly. A multitude of the attention is put on Keith and Wanda. The family is trying to figure out what Keith blackmailed the gorgeous girl with in order for her to go out with him. She promises he isn't blackmailing her in anyway time and time again but everyone is still unconvinced. Like always, Kevin's dinner is cooked to perfection and a majority of the time is spent eating rather than talking.