Chapter 4:

We were sitting on the curb outside of the ice cream shop eating our double-scoop ice cream cones at twelve in the afternoon.  I watched a mother trying to coerce her three young children into their minivan to go home from the park; it wasn’t going well.  On the other side of the park I watched two older men playing chess.  As one thought about the move he was about to take, the other fell asleep.  Hawesville had a laid-back vibe to it, as did its people. 

“You look nice,” Travis said, changing the subject from whatever he was talking about before.

“Oh, thanks,” I looked down at my expensive outfit including Versace, Chanel, and who knows what other designers.  My hair fell out from behind my ear.

“What do ya wanna do now?” he said, standing up and throwing out his napkin into a small street garbage can outside of the ice cream shop.

“I don’t care,” I said looking down at my half eaten ice cream cone.  I got up and threw the remnants away.  We began walking down the sidewalk, stopping to look into store windows at cute children’s toys or animals at the pet shop.  We came to a vintage clothes shop and I looked into the window.  “So where does everybody by clothes here?”

"Well, at that clothes shop, but also some people drive to the next town over because they got a better mall,” Travis said with a sly smile on his face.

“Another mall?  Thanks for telling me,” I said, laughing.

“No problem.  Oh, hey, there’s this party tomorra’ at this person’s house, I was wondering if you wanted to go?” he said rather quickly so I had to think about what he said.

“Oh, yeah.  That should be fun.  I can go meet a whole bunch of people!  What time do you have to pick me up?” I asked.

“’Bout seven, if that’s okay,” he said.

“Okay.  Now I have to figure out what to wear,” I said, more to myself than him.

“I’m sure whatever you wear will look great,” he said sincerely.  It was true.  No matter what I wore, I always looked good.  I knew I could wear a brown paper bag and still could be on the cover of Vogue.  I had the perfect body, the one that all guys dreamt about, and great style all rolled up in one.

“I know,” I said, looking at my Miu Miu sandals and my expertly done pedicure.

“Well, we better get going, I still have things to do ‘round the barn,” he said.

“What barn are you talking about?” I asked.

“My family lives on a farm, and I have to clean out the barn and feed the animals and stuff,” he said as we walked back to his car.

“Oh, I haven’t been in the barn yet.  It looks like it would be way too gross,” I said, shuddering at the thought of all the cobwebs and dust.

“I don’t think it would be that bad.  The people who used to live there took good care of it,” he said.

“Did you know them?” I asked as we reached his truck.

“Yeah, they were an older couple.  But they took good care of everything until Tom, the husband, got sick.  So Mary, the wife, hired me to take care of her barn, her animals, and her land.  She was a sweet lady.  Then Tom died.  Mary couldn’t handle it and died a month later.  Everyone believed she died of a broken heart, and I wouldn’t doubt it for a second.  So, their daughter put the house up for sale.  And it had been on the market for only a little bit before you guys bought it,” he told me as we climbed into his truck.  “They were the heart of this town.  Both of ‘em grew up here, and stayed here.  In fact, Mary grew up in that home.  And your room, now, was Mary’s room and her daughter’s room.  But her daughter decided not to keep it in the family.  Mary would’ve had a cow if she found out.”

I looked out the window at the trees whizzing by.  When we got to my house, I climbed out and said goodbye to him before I walked through the door.

«««

I hopped down the front stairs in my Christian Louboutin sand colored peep-toe slingbacks and to Travis’s truck, which was waiting for me at the end of the driveway.

“You look nice tonight,” he said as I climbed into the passenger seat.  I looked down at my fabulously expensive outfit and replied by smiling.

We drove for about fifteen minutes to a house that was noticeably smaller than mine.  There was a barn, smaller than mine too, behind it and hardly any land.

“So, whose house is this?” I asked.

“Well, it’s Malcolm’s.”

“Seriously?  I thought-”

“Yeah, well, it’s a party, you know?  We don’t have many parties around here.”

“Oh, well, we’ll have to change that won’t we?” I said with a sly smile.

“Are you offering?”

“Maybe.  You dance?”

“Maybe.”

“Let’s go, party animal,” I said laughing and getting out of his truck.

“Right.  If anyone is the party animal, it’s you.”

I laughed and we walked side by side up to the door.  I rang the doorbell and could already hear the music, which sounded like a mix between country music and Techno.  All of the sudden, the door swung open and the music became louder.

“Hey the—oh, Travis.  I didn’t think you would be here.  But, Jessica, you look beautiful!  Not that you ever don’t,” said Malcolm with his sly ways.

“Thanks, Malcolm, mind if we join you all?” I asked, squeezing my way between him and the doorframe.

I walked in the direction of what I hoped was the kitchen so I could get something to drink.  I saw a group of people surrounding a counter that I was hoping would have some champagne or something.

“Excuse me,” I said as I squeezed my way through.  I saw that Megan and Kara were part of the group.  Then I saw that the drinks consisted of Coke, Sprite, and what looked like Kool-Aid.  This was definitely not anything like the charity events, or even house parites, we planned back in New York.

“Why if it ain’t Jennifer,” said Megan, or maybe Kara.  I couldn’t keep their names straight.

“Um, I don’t know about a Jennifer, but Jessica is,” I said annoyed already.

“Oh, sorry,” she said, “Can I get you somethin’ to drink?”

“What do you have?”

“Coke, Sprite, and Kool-Aid,” she said, pointing to each one.

“That’s all?” I asked, hoping there was a hidden stock of alcohol or ginger ale even.

“Yup.”

I rolled my eyes then heard a voice behind me, “We don’t got anythin’ glamorous round here, angel.”

I turned to see Malcolm standing a little too close for comfort.

“Oh, that’s too bad,” I said, walking away from the group of people and hoping that I had shed Malcolm for good but that would be too good to be true.

“Hey wait up New York!”

“Joy,” I said under my breath and turned around to see Malcolm coming through the crowd.  “New York?” I asked when he caught up.

“Yeah, it’s a sexy kinda name, right?”

“Yeah, not really.”

“Well, then what shall I call you, Lucky?”

“That sounds like a porn star.  How about just Jessica,” I said, hoping to have Travis come save me.

“Fine, Jessica.  Sorry we don’t have anything that measures up to your standards.”

“Aw, it’s okay, I understand.”

“Well, the music is great, and you’re beautiful, and I’m, well, beautiful so how ‘bout we dance?”

I rolled my eyes at his lame pick up line, if that’s what it was.  “Sorry, but that’s not really my kind of music.”

“What, you don’t like country?”

“Hah, no.  I’m from New York, remember?  I’m more of a pop, Techno, dance, alternative music kind of girl.”

“Well, I’ll just have to change your mind,” he said, smiling, taking my hand, and pulling me to the “dance floor” which was really his living room with the furniture pushed against the wall.  We got to the middle of the dance floor and he began dancing behind me.  But there was something about that smile that made me submit to him.  I draped my arms around his neck and we danced through several songs.  My hands ended up woven through his.  I was having the most fun I have had since I moved there.  It made me feel like I was back in New York dancing at some benefit with Evan.

After what seemed like an hour of dancing, we went to the kitchen and he made me a “drink” using Sprite and cherry Kool-Aid.  It was the closest thing I had to a mixed cocktail, so I took it.

“So, what do you think of country now?”

“Still don’t like it.  But, I’ll dance to it as long as it has a good beat.”

“That’s good, because you are an amazing dancer.”

I blushed and giggled.  It was like I was back in middle school when flirting with a guy like this was a rare occasion.  It felt good to flirt with a guy other than Evan.

“Too bad there aren’t more parties around here,” he said.

“Yeah, that’ll have to change now won’t it?  I’ll introduce you to my kind of music,” I said giving him a sideways glance.

“Oh yeah?  Are you offering your place?”

“No, not yet.  I have to have a chat with my ‘rents.  But they cave easily,” I said.

He laughed and began talking to a person who was leaning on the counter by the sink.  That’s when I realized that I hadn’t seen Travis since we got here.  I left my drink on the counter and walked out of the kitchen to look for him.  He wasn’t in the living room or the other rooms on the first level so I walked upstairs.  I opened the closest door, then closed it quickly because there were two people who were getting to know each other a little better.  Then, the next one was an empty bedroom.  The last I opened was a larger bedroom, probably the master that was empty too.  I walked back downstairs and still didn’t see him. 

“There you are!” I heard Malcolm’s all too familiar voice say.  “Where did you go?”

“Around,” I said.

“Oh, well, shall we dance,” he said, holding his hand out to help me down the rest of the stairs.  I ignored his hand and walked down the stairs.

“Um no, I think not, Malcolm.  It’s getting late and I need to find Travis—”

“Travis?  He left.”

“What?”

“Yeah, Megan told me that he left when we went to dance,” he said.  I couldn’t believe it.  Travis left me to fend for myself.How I was going to get home I had no idea.

“Oh, that’s great.”

“I’ll take you home,” Malcolm said, putting down his drink on a side table and grabbing his keys out of a coat pocket.

“You don’t have to, I’ll call someone—”

“No, I insist.  It’s my party, and I have to take care of my guests,” he said opening the door.

“Well, you’re a wonderful host.  You should host a benefit sometime,” I said, impressed.

“Whoa.  I don’t roll like that darlin’.  Plus we don’t have that much money to host a benefit or whatever it was called.”

I laughed, “Okay.”

We walked out to an ’87 mustang and he opened the passenger door for me.  If he intentionally tried to woo me, it worked.  I told him where to go, but he basically knew how to get there, which kind of freaked me out.  “If you would have lived here your entire life like I have, you’d know how to get around too,” he said. 

“Yeah, same way about New York, put me in the middle blindfolded, and I could find my way to the nearest Barney’s or Saks.”

We talked most of the way home.  When we got there he turned off the car and opened my door before I could reach for the handle.

“Thanks,” I said climbing out of the car.

“No problem.  I’ll even walk you up to your door,” he said.

I laughed, “Well, Malcolm, you’re quite a gentleman.  Thanks for driving me home.”

“It was my pleasure.  Oh, here’s my cell phone number.  You better call me when you got a date set for your fancy party.  I expect to be blown away.”

“Don’t worry about that.  I threw the best parties in New York so—,” I stopped because I didn’t want to offend him.

“So it should be easy here?” he guessed.

“Yeah.  Sorry.”

“Hey, don’t bother me, I can’t wait,” he said.

“Good, it’ll be cool.  You all will be blown away.  Except I have a problem, I don’t know anybody here, and I need an invite list of addresses, names, and phone numbers,” I said looking at him as we stood in front of my door.

“At your service, madam.  Just tell me what you want me to do and I will get it done.”

“Well that’s great!  I’ll be in touch with you,” I said.

“Sounds good to me,” he said, smiling that wonderful smile of his.

I laughed then said good night.  I walked through the door and closed it silently.  I could see him through the window, but he couldn’t see me.  He laughed, shook his head, then walked back to his car.  I ran upstairs and changed into a Juicy Couture sweat suit.  I grabbed a notebook journal that sat on my desk and sat down on my 800-thread count Italian comforter and began writing down ideas for my party.  I only really ever hosted benefits but a party was the same thing.  I would show everyone here the person that everyone wants to know, the real me.  Soon, it’d be just like New York.