Pearl (8 page)

“I didn’t bring any money,” Pearl whispered to Sammie.

“No biggie, I got this. You helped me today.” She paid the boy and handed Pearl her cup. “Did I tell you I’m a waitress? I basically live off cash tips.”

“Wow,” Pearl said. “I’ve never had a job before.”

Sammie laughed. “I’ve been working since I was fourteen. If you ever need a job, I can hook you up.”
 

“Thanks,” Pearl said

Sammie grabbed Pearl’s hand and pushed through the crowd, ignoring the girls who snickered as they walked by. Pearl kept her head low, feeling a wave of apprehension from being around so many people. The party was in a deserted field at the bottom of a hill. The air smelled sweet, like candied hay, and then the breeze would come through and bring in the scent of clove tobacco and musty marijuana. At least a hundred people filled the space. They shouted and danced and hung close to each other, they drank stale beer and kissed and sneaked off to dark corners. It was unlike anything Pearl had ever seen.
 

“Give me your cup,” Sammie said, pouring the foul-smelling liquid in. Pearl took a drink, trying not to gag.
 

“It’s no Coors, but you get used to it,” Sammie said guzzling the beer down.
 

“Hey, Sammie Lynn,” Pearl heard a male voice say.

“Hey, Todd,” Sammie sang in her sexiest voice.

“I was looking for you down at the diner the other night, thought you might be working.”

Sammie flung her curls over her shoulder. “Well, I wasn’t, now, was I?”

He caught her in an embrace. “Don’t go too far from me tonight,” he said as he planted a kiss on her neck. Sammie laughed, pushing him away.

“Is that your boyfriend?” Pearl asked
 

“Good God, no,” Sammie said, taking a gulp from her cup. “We just do it once in a while.”

Pearl blushed. Sammie refilled her cup while Pearl finished hers.
 

“You gotta have another. I can’t imagine you are getting too hammered out there on Jumping Creek.”

Pearl shook her head in agreement, accepting another beer. Drinking wasn’t new to her, but beer was not her liquor of choice. This was her first time moving on to her second cup.

As the party went on, Sammie ran off to talk with a few more boys before disappearing behind the trees with Todd. Pearl refilled her cup, wanting to drown out the stares and whispers behind her back. No one dared speak to her. Instead of being welcomed, she was the pariah of the group. The isolation humiliated Pearl more than she could have imagined. She drank to feel at ease and to embrace the youth and freedom she had never experienced. Maybe the others would come around if she could just loosen up. One more cup didn’t do the trick, but by the fourth she was dancing to the music without a care in the world. Her vision clouded over as her head began to spin. She made it to the brush in time to throw it all up before realizing it was occupied by a barely dressed couple.

“Shit!” the boy yelled grabbing for his clothes. The girl jumped, covering her naked body, swearing something at Pearl she couldn’t comprehend. She mumbled she was sorry as she heaved again.
 

“There you are!” Sammie cried. Pearl felt arms go around her numb body. She was so heavy, the girl dropped her.

“Don’t go anywhere. I’m finding someone to carry you to the car.”

Pearl groaned. She lay motionless on the ground as the spinning in her head took over her mind. She let all cares fly away as she succumbed to the blessed bliss of recklessness. Giant arms reached under her, lifting her off the ground. She opened her eyes to see the subtle outline of black hair.

“Roy?” she whispered.

“Roy Blackwood?” the unfamiliar male asked.

“That’s her boyfriend,” Sammie said, walking right beside them. “We need to get her some water.”

Gently he placed her in the car. Pearl curled into a ball, rolling the window down for fresh air. She could hear the footsteps outside on the gravel road as Sammie walked to the driver’s side.
 

“What’s Roy Blackwood doing with an innocent girl like this?” the boy asked Sammie over the hood of the car.

“Beats me,” Pearl heard Sammie say. “Sweet thing like her could get eaten alive with a guy like that.” It was the second time Pearl had heard that phrase since she moved to Oregon.

“Sure beats all those whores he used to date.”

Pearl moaned. She didn’t want to hear any more tonight about Roy Blackwood.

“Okay, doll, we’re going,” Sammie said, sliding into the car. They had to pull over three times to let her puke. Each time Sammie would hold her hair back and say, “That’s it, doll, get it all out.”

By the time they pulled up to Granny’s house, Pearl couldn’t get out of the car. Sammie pulled her over her tiny body, carrying her silently up the stairs. She slid into bed with a glass of water, and a vomit bucket by her side. Pearl cradled her body tightly, wishing and praying for the sickness to go away, for her head to stop spinning, and for her mother to make it all better.

CHAPTER 7

When the morning sun peeked through the attic window, Pearl slithered herself under the covers to drown out the blaring light. She slept, passing the hours away until she was sure she had missed breakfast, possibly even dinner. She heard Granny yell for her at the bottom of the stairway and was grateful the old woman’s tattered bones were too weak to make it up the stairs.
 

The heat enhanced her nausea, triggering another vomiting spell. She wiped her mouth with the sundress she had worn the night before, which was now crumpled on the ground. She didn’t know if Sammie had undressed her, or if she had pulled her clothes off in the middle of sleep. Either way, she was naked under the sheets.

“Pearl?” She heard Roy’s voice at the door. She pushed the vomit bucket away and stashed the stained dress under the bed.
 

“Baby?” He was sitting on the bed, his dirt-stained jeans on her sheets. He wore a bulls-eye T-shirt cut short at the shoulders, exposing his tanned arms. He pulled his baseball cap backward, revealing a smudge of dirt on his forehead. “You look awful,” he said.

“I feel awful,” she moaned.

“Must have caught some stomach bug overnight,” he said. “Granny’s been worried. I’ll tell her to leave you alone today.”

“Thank you,” she murmured, taking his hand in hers. “Clean up and come lie down with me.”

He pulled his hand back. “Baby, I’m not going to catch that. One of us has to work. Besides, you reek of vomit.”

The bitter aftertaste stung in her mouth.

He placed his hand on her covered leg, rubbing her thigh while keeping his distance. “Looks like we won’t get that mini vacation for a couple more months. Darren’s got this big deal going where a few horse breeders want to use the land and stable their horses. It’s huge, big money. But we gotta get working on building a decent stable immediately. You understand, don’t you, baby?”

Pearl bit her lip and hid her disappointment. “Of course I understand.”

Roy kissed the top of her hand. “You’re so good to me, baby. Now, treat yourself and rest all day. I’ll check on you later.”

Pearl woke with a gasp. She jolted up, her eyes searching the room in the dark. Her mouth opened in a silent scream, and her hands were locked in tight fists around the sheets. She had been dreaming again, the dream that became a nightmare. A white flowing gown drifting through the field, with iridescent hair sparkling in the moonlight as it raced toward freedom. And then darkness, darkness so pitch black, as though the moon followed the woman behind the hill and disappeared. Pearl counted the seconds as she held her breath. She knew the sound was coming; she knew it would be here any minute. She waited and waited ’til her chest burned and her lungs felt as though they would burst. She waited, and the sound never came.

She flew out of bed and switched on the light. She feared the dark when these dreams overtook her mind. She crawled back in bed, her knees to her chest, and waited for the calm to take over her body. She missed Billy. He was her only comfort in times like these. He didn’t share the same nightmares, but he felt the same gaping hole in his heart. Had she taken his comfort away by leaving?

Hesitantly she moved to her small stereo, pushing “Play” on the only CD she ever listened to. Her mother’s voice came through, and it instantly brought Pearl to the floor. How she loved to feel her mother close, her voice clear as though her mother was in the room with her now. She wished desperately she could recall the way her mother sounded when she spoke. She was so used to hearing her only in her songs. It stripped away any memory of her mother’s voice when she wasn’t singing. Except for her laugh—she could always remember her mother’s high-pitched giggle.

Pearl hit “Repeat” and played the tunes until dawn came through the window. She had never shared her mother’s music before, could barely speak of it. Not even with Roy. He had asked once to hear it, but Pearl wasn’t ready. How could she share the only possession she had that proved her mother’s existence? It was all Pearl had to hang on to. This CD and one small photograph of her mother a week before she left were all Pearl had in the world to prove she had a mother. It was the only way Pearl could know her voice and see her face.
 

If only she knew where she was.
 

Pearl was showered and changed by the time Granny was up. She drank from the glass of water on her nightstand, thankful the waves of nausea had surpassed. Her belly grumbled with hunger. She couldn’t wait for breakfast. She was surprised to see Cindy waiting in the kitchen, her hair in a high ponytail and looking uncharacteristically demure in a long floral dress. She smiled over the hot cup of coffee at her lips.
 

“Figured you needed this,” she said, handing Pearl the mug.

Pearl took the cup cautiously, eyeing Cindy, looking for the trick. “Thanks.”

“Feeling better?”

Pearl nodded as she sipped the steaming brew.
 

“Ah, much better, dear,” Granny said, walking in from the chicken coop. She slipped off the plastic sacks that she used to keep her slippers clean. The hot pink socks needed a good wash. She kissed Pearl on the cheek.
 

Vernie stepped in beside her, a floral apron over her navy striped dress and a basket of eggs on her arm. “You had us in a tizzy, sweet Pearl. Thought you may have caught some of that salmonella or whatnot you hear about.”

“Must have been some strange twenty-four-hour bug,” Cindy said with a sly smile. Pearl brought her drink to her lips and shifted her gaze away. “Heard anything going around, Granny?” Cindy asked.

Granny cracked an egg in the bowl. “Always something stirring around. Now, make yourself useful and hand me a whisk.”

The men settled in for breakfast. Roy gave her a once-over, asking how she was feeling before gulping down eggs, sausage, and hash browns. Pearl buttered a piece of toast, after the men finished, still wanting to go easy on her tummy.

“It’s the strangest thing,” Cindy said nonchalantly as she scooped eggs with cheese on Lilly’s plate. “I heard a car pull up the other night. Sure I heard tires on the gravel.”

Vernie shrugged. “Maybe someone wanted to turn around, Happens all the time, being on the end of the street.”

“Maybe,” Cindy said. She turned her gaze on Pearl. “Especially when kids are out partying, it’s easy to get lost.”

Vernie noticed Cindy’s hot stare on Pearl. “Cindy, dear, you are just looking as lovely as ever,” she said with a wide smile. “Why, I was eyeing that new dress you got on down at the Good willy willy the other day, but I’d say it goes with your complexion much better than mine.”

Cindy’s cold eyes turned to Vernie. No one other than Pearl seemed to notice the tension. Cindy tightened her lips and then forced them into a fake smile. “Why, thank you, Vernie. I always admire your taste.”
 

“Anywho,” Vernie sang, “thought I’d borrow Pearl this afternoon, got some tomato canning I need to get done, all right with you, Granny?”

“As long as she’s home to prep with supper it’s all right with me,” Granny said.

“Vernie,” Cindy protested. “I was hoping you could watch the kids today. I have some business to take care of in town.”

Vernie set her coffee mug down, giving Cindy a blank stare. “I always wonder how a homemaker could have so much business in town.”

Cindy scowled at her.

“Darren!” she shrieked at her husband, who was sitting right beside her.

“Can’t you take the kids with you?” he asked.
 

“Those screaming beasts?” Cindy cried. Pearl cringed as the children slid lower in their seats. “Can’t even make it to town before driving me crazy!”

“I’m sorry, Cindy. I’ve got the butcher coming at one today. I can’t help you.”
 

Cindy grunted, pushing herself away from the table. The door slammed behind her as she rushed out of the house and sped away in her car. Her children were still seated at the table.
 

“It’s all right, guys, I’ll take you home,” Darren said, walking the whimpering kids to the door. Pearl dashed up to meet him just as he was getting to the car.
 

“Hey, Darren, I can do that for you,” she said, reaching for his keys.

 
Darren looked confused. “Thanks, Pearl, but it’s all right—I got a little time. I’ll see if I can calm Cindy down.”

“Okay, if you’re sure. I know you have a lot going on, with the butcher and starting on the stable and everything.”

He settled the kids into the car, shutting the door behind them. “The stable? Oh, we won’t get started on that for another couple weeks.”

Pearl stepped out of his way as he opened his door. “Roy said you guys were getting right on it and that’s why he can’t get away for a couple of days to go on a little weekend vacation.”

Darren started the engine, popping his head out the window. “Vacation would be good for you two.” He shrugged. “And now’s the perfect time before things get crazy. Tell him I think it’s a great idea.” He backed out, and with a short wave was out of sight down the driveway.