Page 5 of Chase
“Don’t bring your brother into this; Ethan works very hard at school, so he’s allowed some downtime. And you shouldn’t be spying on him,” her mother argues as she takes hold of Isobel’s wrist to drag her away.
“Goodnight, Isobel,” Tilly says with a smugness that turns my stomach, wriggling her fingers in a goodbye gesture and a smile on her face.
“Goodnight, Tilly, hope you don’t grow as ugly as your personality!” Isobel says as she breaks free of her mother’s grip. Craig tries to grab her arm again, but she nimbly dives out of the way. “I’m going, Jeez!” she huffs but looks over toward me andGrandma before she leaves. “Bye, Nonna, come see me.”
Pity, she seemed like the only interesting one in here, besides Grandma of course.
_____
Theo
After what feels like days of listening to never-ending updates on the state of the family business, which is run by Craig, as well as Tilly’s dancing competitions and Ethan’s stellar grades at school, I’m then forced to go up and see Tilly’s extremely pink room. She begins to show me all her medals and cups, plus the sequined outfits she wore for each and every dance. It’s not my kind of thing, but Mom taught me to always show interest, even when I’m not, so I try to think of anything to try and cover up howuninterested I am. Thankfully, after about the eighth costume, something catches her eye, a broken ornament that has her running off while screaming at the top of her voice. She shouts at her mother, the whole time blaming her younger sister for the damaged China doll. Alex and Craig try to placate her by telling her they’ll buy her a new one, but it doesn’t stop the volume of her cries or her over-the-top tantrum.
“What the hell are you doing in my sister’s room? You a fucking pervert or something?”
The scornful voice comes from a boy of about thirteen or fourteen, his face set in an angry scowl while he leans against what I assume is his bedroom door. He looks a lot like Tilly, but with a voice that sounds somewhere between boy and man. When I look up at him, I remain expressionless, purposefully offering him nothing. This is my usual go-to when I don’t want to deal with confrontation or intimidation; it’s easier this way. He seems dissatisfied with this reaction, so closes the gap between us.
“Stay the fuck away from her, you little shit,” he practicallyspits, digging his fingers into my chest and towering over me. At my silence, he glares before stalking back into the pitch-black confines of his room. This household is crazy; surely it must be time to go soon.
Sighing with an urge to run back to the Volvo outside, I lean against the wall in the hallway, willing myself to leave before Tilly returns. As I close my eyes over the thought of having to endure seeing more of Tilly’s dance ensemble, quiet voices catch my attention. They’re coming from one of the other bedrooms and I can’t help but creep up to have a listen. I peek in through the gap between the door and the wall to see Isobel lying on her bed next to Grandma. Her room doesn’t have a hint of pink; in fact, it’s absent of any color or nick-knacks. It has very little personality other than the girl to whom it belongs. She’s currently holding an old, well-loved bear, and is tufting its hair up this way and that.
“Tell me something else,” she says to Grandma, “something I wouldn’t know.”
“Well, did you know that I once hitch-hiked to London with our family dog, Florence? I was about your age at the time, and I wanted to escape my father; he was quite a brute, you know, always shouting, always angry. Whereas I was the black sheep of the family.”
“Fair play, Nonna,” Isobel says, sounding clearly impressed. “What happened?”
“Daddy caught up with me and I was smacked across the backside before being confined to my room for three days! After that, I was on maid duty for about three weeks,” she replies, looking at Isobel with a sorrowful expression. But then she smiles in such a way, she looks positively devious; this is why I love her so much. “Course, I always spit up in his meals and drinks. It usedto give me great satisfaction to know what he was ingesting whenever he ate.” She and Isobel begin to giggle wickedly. “Why do you think they treat you differently, Izzy, dear?”
“Guess they already had one of each,” Isobel replies nonchalantly, still playing with the old fluff on her poor teddy. “I was a mistake don’t you know?”
“Who told you that?” Grandma asks, sounding shocked and angrier than I’ve ever heard her. To be fair, I don’t think I’ve ever heard her sound at all cross before.
“I overheard Mum telling Brenda, Libby’s mum. Besides,” she says with a shrug, “it’s obvious. I’m fine with it though.”
“Oh?” Grandma asks, looking in such a way, I can tell Izzy is her favorite.
“Well, if you were the black sheep, like me, then hopefully, I’ll turn out as cool as you, Nonna.” She smiles as she stops fidgeting with the bear and looks Grandma in the eye. “You’re my favorite person.”
“I love you, Izzy, my girl,” Grandma says as she cuddles into her. “You’re one of my favorite people too.” They grin at one another and sit in silence for a few moments, appearing to be very much content to be in one another’s company. “Don’t look now, but I think your American cousin has been listening in. Do you think he wants to come in and join us?”
I turn statue still as I feel a hot blush creeping over my cheeks at being caught out. Usually, people don’t notice me, but I should have known Grandma would have caught onto my eavesdropping.
“My cousin? Oh, he can come if he wants to,” she says, sounding friendly enough, but then drops her voice to a whisper, “As long as he’s not like Tilly or Ethan?”
“No, dear, Theo is not a bit like your brother or sister,” Grandma reassures her, allowing some feeling to return to my extremities in relief.
“Oh, good. Come in, Theo,” she calls, but my limbs still won’t move, so I remain frozen on the spot.
“I think you may have embarrassed him,” Grandma chuckles.
“Probably,” she shrugs, “I embarrass everyone.”
“You don’t embarrass me, lass,” Grandma says determinedly. “I think you’re great, kid.”
I’m about to take a brave step and walk in when Mom calls for me. My heart sinks but when I move, it’s to rush down the stairs to my mom. I feel disappointed in myself all the way to our new house, but there’s always tomorrow. I’d like to think I can be the friend Isobel so obviously needs in this family.
_____