Guardian of Eden (17 page)

“Eden, don’t be rude.” I said the words as politely as possible, but fury shot from my eyes. She knew I meant business. She huffed and stared off to the side. “Maybe this year we can include
Maddie
in our plans.”

“I don’t want to cause any problems, I mean, if you two already have something you do every year that’s fine. It’s just that my dad has this cabin at a ski resort in Pennsylvania and I thought since December ninth is on a Saturday that we could get some friends together and go up there for the weekend or something.”

“Skiing? Gary, don’t ski.” Eden crossed her arms and glared at
Maddie
.

Before I could verbally chastise Eden for the rudeness and incorrect grammar,
Maddie
said, “Well, maybe
Gary
wants to learn.” Apparently she was growing tired of Eden’s hostility.

“And maybe you just don’t know him like I do.” Eden stood up from the table and planted her fists in her sides. “You don’t know anything about him. You don’t know that he hates the smell of pickles or that his favorite movie is Little Man Tate. You don’t know that he refuses to cut his hair because his grandmother told him that’s what makes him strong. You don’t know that sometimes when he can’t sleep at night he does pushups until his arms burn.” Tears started flowing down Eden’s face. I reached out to embrace her but she swatted my arm away.
Maddie
just stared in shock as Eden’s hysterical tirade began drawing the attention of all the food court customers.

“Eden, I –”
Maddie
began.

“No, you listen. I’ve known him all my life. And I’ll be around long after you break his heart and toss him aside. He’s the only person in the world that loves me and you’re not taking him away from me.” Eden turned and ran into the bathroom.

I paused for a moment trying to comprehend what just happened. Then I looked at
Maddie’s
completely red face.

“Are you okay?” I asked as I stroked her back. She nodded yes then quickly shook her head no as she burst into tears.

“She hates me,” she said between sobs with her head buried in my chest.

“Please don’t cry,
Maddie
. She’s just a kid. She doesn’t know any better. She's normally not like this, I swear. Something’s wrong. Something’s really wrong.”

 After such an emotionally draining afternoon, none of us wanted to ride a noisy train back home.
Maddie
called her driver and the three of us rode in complete silence to Corbin’s townhouse in Virginia.

Eden stared out the window with her fist under her chin studying the roadway as if she’d never seen I-95 before.
Maddie
sat on the other side of me staring up at the ceiling of the car. I reached out and tried to hold
Maddie’s
hand, but she slipped it away not wanting to upset Eden any further with overt signs of affection. I don’t think she realized how alienated she made me feel. My sister ignored me and now my girlfriend didn’t want me to touch her.

When we reached the house, Eden jumped out of the car and ran inside without saying a word. I sighed, turned to
Maddie
, and said, “I’m so sorry this didn’t turn out exactly as I’d hoped.”

“It’s okay,”
Maddie
said breezily. She tried to act as though the day hadn’t been equally stressful for all of us, but the remnants of tears betrayed that sentiment.

“No, it’s not. I’m going to talk to Eden and we’re going to make it up to you. Actually, I can start making it up to you tonight.” I smiled and reached out to caress her cheek, but she grabbed my hand, stiffened her neck and shook her head.

“Um, I’m
kinda
tired. I don’t think I’ll be able to hang out with you guys tonight. Um, I’ll see you in school tomorrow.” What was she talking about? What did she mean ‘you guys’? I was pretty sure the hot tub invitation was just for me. I stared at her in confusion. Her pleasant, vague expression didn’t change. In fact, she actually shook my hand as if we’d just met.

“Okay…I’ll see you in school I guess.” I paused momentarily and looked into her eyes for some sort of explanation for her strange behavior. When I saw none, I slid out of the car trying to preserve any remnants of dignity I had.

“Okay, bye.”
Maddie
gave a quick wave then closed the door.

As the car drove away, she didn’t even look back. I couldn’t breathe. It was about 20 degrees outside, but a stifling heat engulfed me. Not the familiar heat from anger. I think it was…fear. Fear that I’d lost her or that she didn’t love me.

When I finally entered the house, Holly and Corbin were in the kitchen feeding each other orange slices. They both giggled as some of the juices slid down Corbin’s cheek onto his bare chest. A queasy feeling washed over me as my mother leaned forward and licked it off. Suddenly, I felt empathy for Eden. Is this what
Maddie
and I looked like?
Disgusting.
No wonder she was so upset. All morning
Maddie
and I kissed and embraced every chance we got.
Maddie
feeding me
french
fries and planning my birthday had merely pushed her over the edge. How insensitive of me.

Corbin lifted my mother onto the counter top and started to untie her bathrobe. I covered my eyes and said, “Whoa, hey, I’m standing right here!”

“Oh, sorry, Garrett baby. We didn’t see you.” My mother hopped off the counter and tightened her bathrobe.

“You two are back early. What happened?” Corbin asked as he wet a towel and wiped his chest.

“Don’t ask. I don’t think Eden likes
Maddie
very much.”

“Eden likes everybody,” my mother said. I thought I noticed a tinge of worry in her tone.

“You mean you took
Maddie
on what was supposed to be your special day with Eden?” Corbin
chuckled
a little as he slipped on a T-shirt. “That was dumb.”

“Yeah, I realize now that it wasn’t the wisest decision, but I really didn’t expect such a meltdown from Eden. I mean she really got hysterical and caused a scene at lunch. Is that normal?”

“Welcome to the land of teenage girls,” Corbin said as he took out two bottles of water from the fridge and tossed me one. “Trust me. I deal with temperamental young models all the time.”

“I have to agree with Corbin,” my mother said. “Eden is growing up and going through changes. Being a teenage girl is tough.”

“But she’s only 11.”

“She’ll be 12 in two months. Close enough,” Corbin said. “I suggest you ignore her tantrums. She’ll get over it. I bet she apologizes to you by the end of the day.”

Maybe they were right. I guess I just really didn’t understand girls. I certainly didn’t understand why
Maddie
acted the way she did a few moments ago. Since I was having such a nice open dialogue with my mother and Corbin, I decided to see what they thought about the situation.

“She did what?” my mother asked after I explained
Maddie’s
behavior in the car. She placed her hands on her hips in a defensive posture reminding me so much of Eden. They looked a lot alike, except Eden’s hair was a few shades darker and our mother was a couple of inches shorter. They both had a delicate angelic quality that commanded the attention of everyone in the room.

“Maybe she doesn’t like public displays of affection.” Corbin volunteered.

“She didn’t seem to have a problem with it this morning at the mall.”

“Well, she sounds like a rich stuck-up snob to me. Maybe you shouldn’t see her anymore.” My mother stroked my hair as an attempt to soften the harsh sentiment of her words, but she couldn’t hide her immediate dislike of
Maddie
.

“She
is
rich, but she’s not stuck-up,” I said pulling my mother’s hand away from my hair. “She already planned a birthday weekend for me at a ski resort. Would she do that if she didn’t really care about me?”

“What about her parents? Have you met her father?” my mother asked seriously as she crossed her arms.

“Her mother is dead and her father is out of town.”

“Have you met any of her friends?”

I thought for a second. I wasn’t even sure if
Maddie
had any friends. But I didn’t see what that had to do with anything. What did it matter if I knew her friends or not? I’m sure I’d get to know them soon. If not, I didn’t really care. All I needed was her.

“Don’t scare him, Holly. I’m sure Eden’s temper tantrum just threw her for a loop. Give her a call and talk to her,” Corbin advised before leading my mother off to their bedroom.

A star without light

My soul starved of affection

A glimmer gone

A life without direction

So much to give

With no one to take

A weakened heart

Frail to the point of break

I sat in my room writing poetry waiting for Corbin’s advice to take effect. Any second I expected Eden to knock on my door and apologize, but she didn’t. I thought about making the first move, but then I thought she might need more time with her emotions.

My pride wouldn’t let me call
Maddie
. She knew how I felt. She knew I loved her. Even though I wanted to call her and ask her if I did anything wrong, ask her how I could fix things between us, I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. I’d rather be alone for the rest of my life than succumb to such a pathetic display of weakness. I still couldn’t believe I’d actually cried in front of her.

After hours of sitting, waiting, ruminating and writing, the phone finally rang.

“I’m so sorry Garrett. You
gotta
let me explain.”
Maddie
said. I didn’t respond. “I couldn’t let Leonard know about us.”

“Leonard? Who’s Leonard?”

“My driver.
He would’ve told my dad.”

“So, you don’t want your father to know about me?” This explanation wasn’t making me feel any better. “Are you ashamed of me?”

“No.
God no, Garrett.
My father is just…he’s really over-protective I guess is the word.
Especially when it comes to me.
I want to
tell
him about you before…before he meets you or…hears about you. Can’t you understand that?”

Wanting hearts believe all

In search of an innermost desire

Ignoring reason exploring possibility

In search of what they most require

I said I believed her although her words created a small fissure of doubt in my mind with regard to her true feelings.