A Rock and Family Vacation
[12]
Blair held her phone, with the underwhelming but complete record of her change, in front of Clare and dad. She’d briefly given them the major points of what they missed as lunch was orchestrated with passing plates and divvying up of the dipping sauces.
Eliot embraced his wife as she moved like she’d aged more than a decade in less than two hours. Swiftly, he rubbed her back and she managed to pop it. Brooke considered it stupid how she managed to wind up like this. She didn’t even do anything. Just bent over in front of the closet to get her suitcase, brought it around to the bed, and then stretched to take a look at the closet. Followed by pain.
She immediately tried to play it off, but Blair recognized her discomfort. Blair went through the luggage while Brooke rested against her pillows. Unfortunately, the bands on her regular bras were wrong for Blair but they were able to make a sports bra work. Blair paused when her top came off and lingered around the important parts without doing anything that might raise her mother’s ire.
The outfit that Blair ultimately selected was chosen, she explained, because mom had a practically identical one with black stripes instead of dots and multiple black pants. The dots top also already had a half-faded pizza stain, so Brooke concurred that I would be a good choice. With a clever smirk, Blair noted that was exactly the reason she went for it.
After that point, there wasn’t much that Eliot and Clare missed to fill them in on. Lacy scoffed at what Blair was wearing and admonished her for more girly hive nonsense. Blair ignored her and headed to the front door to see if the others were back yet. They didn’t have to wait long before pizza was spread out across the counters. Everything was still hot enough that Brooke could spread, soften, and accent little bits of the special cheese for yet another meal.
When they sat down to eat, Blair opted to switch the extreme sports flick to something casual and animated. Clare appreciated that. Lacy looked briefly annoyed but shrugged. With her body no longer fighting against her, Brooke turned her attention to Blair and vigorously scrutinized her eldest to make sure that she was all right.
“Are you comfortable? You’re not hurting? Not gonna freak out? Need anything for your hair? I can put it up in a bun. Want me to grab anything from the fridge? Drinks? Anyone need drinks? Everyone have drinks?“
Blair looked around at the cold soda cans everyone had in their favorite flavors. Lacy had a sideways Mountain Dew on her cushion but gave a grumbly promise not to open it up until she was done with the rest of her food and could hold it so it wouldn’t spill on the probably very expensive couch. Blair just had a plain Coke while Clare set a 7-Up on its own plate off to the side. Brooke clung to a bottle of cherry-flavored slightly fizzy water and Eliot pushed through a hissing, popping root beer.
The pizza made a good impression on all of them, especially with the breadsticks. Brooke’s stomach felt like it had gone a few rounds in a tumble dryer, but she not only finished what was on her plate but tried an additional slice of the heavier pizza. The breadsticks went over best as Clare cited her encounter with the nice lady who gave them free samples. At this point, Eliot touched upon the weirdness that happened right before.
He highlighted that at no point was Clare in any danger from the lanky, stringy man in the dark suit with the empty table. Tightened fury did flash across Brooke’s face, as though she were transporting herself to that moment and looming over this creepy asshole with all the destructive energy she could muster. The mention of the Cerberus Initiative left her with a shrug and a frown. Blair raised a finger and elaborated, “Cerberus is the guard dog to the underworld. He makes sure no one gets out. Everyone says he has three heads, but he could have way more according to whoever tells the story. His back is covered in vicious snakeheads, and he has a serpent tail. You don’t wanna mess with him. He can see the past, the present, and the future all at once, so he knows if you’re going to try to break out of…He…ck.”
“I don’t think the guy was a snake dog”, Lacy scoffed. Blair turned up her hands. “Just sharing my knowledge.”
“It’s just some naaaame, dingus.”
Eliot nudged things back to the point by focusing on the two strangers who came over and made the other one leave. When he mentioned the greenish uniforms, Brooke stopped him and asked, “Green? What shade?” To this, he had a little bit of trouble working through a precise description but googling different color swatches allowed him to get reasonably close. Brooke tightly frowned and puffed a long breath through her nose. When asked what was bothering her, she waved her hand and said, “Nothing. Just… what did they look like?"
He was able to give a fair, distinct description but primarily focused on the unsettling fact they were asking specific questions about where they were staying and how many people. It set off several alarms for Eliot. Brooke squeezed her chin and Eliot responded, “Your reaction doesn’t seem like it’s nothing.”
“You’re not gonna like it. At work, I noticed we were hiring extra security. Dad didn’t say why but he assured me it was normal. The new uniforms are exactly that shade of green. Now, they’re rather nondescript otherwise and it’s not like they are the only uniform in the world to use green. But we know my dad, so the idea of him sending his people to keep a stalking eye on us during our vacation, unfortunately, doesn’t feel like a stretch.”
All three of the kids made excited and alarmed noises with tangles of words pushing to be spoken. Brooke raised her hands up high. “I am not saying this is the case. It’s an out-there thought but would definitely be something my dad would do, even if it were just to make sure we were taking care of the windows over there he likes so much.”
Brooke was also aware they could easily prove it if her dad contacted them again. Maybe he sends a seemingly innocuous message asking if they brought along a guest or if someone from the neighborhood is also staying at the house. Then they would have him. In the same thought though, Brooke found herself wondering if she had to feel grateful then if her dad was watching over her because his security people scared off a possible scam artist, pervert, or worse.
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She also realized it was probably the best time to open up the file her dad sent and lay out the requirements for brunch at the country club. Brooke seated herself in the center of the room and paused the show. There were still some breadsticks and crusts being picked over, but everyone looked at her. Lacy scowled and clung to the sides of the robe, as though protecting it from anyone who might try to take it from her.
Clare had her legs tucked up under her dress and her arms around them. Blair delighted in the possibilities of her grandfather spying on them and catching him in such a crazy act. She wanted to dig around in all the fixtures for hidden spy cameras, but Brooke didn’t want her electrocuting herself again. Eliot gripped his knees with his hands, almost to the point of pain, as though they were a stand-in for his father-in-law. Brooke did her best not to punish her laptop as she opened up the file.
His preamble contained reminders about professionalism and representing the Muller Corporation and the prestige of his personage before arriving at his direct and explicit instructions.
First, they would follow the dress code of the country club to the letter. He also included further limitations. No long pants or long sleeves. Single layers. No jewelry. Plenty of deodorant and skin cream.
“I’m not going!” Brooke focused on the sections involving permanent consequences for the entire family, if this wasn’t followed. Everyone had to attend. All medical coverage would be revoked. All tuition current and future would be withheld. All gifts in the past would be taken back. And legal action, as well as assault on credit and finances, would be endless. Lacy held tight to her youthful flippancy but quieted when she saw Blair’s distant, concerned expression. Clare appeared as though she were waking from one of her nightmares without ever having fallen asleep.
Brooke squeezed her fingers into her palms as she scanned the room with stony anger. “It sucks and I agree with every single seething complaint. We’ve had to make sacrifices to his…. his whims. We are going to do this. We are all going to do this. It will suck but we will survive.”
Lacy squeezed her thin, trembling hands together in front of her mouth. If her eyes were a laser beam, they would tear through walls, earth, and sky without stopping. The rest of the documents outlined when they would arrive and a few particular individuals they would greet and socialize with. Allegedly clients and partners but Brooke knew better. Her children would have to spend at least two hours in the common area, with a variety of elderly men. She knew nothing would happen that anyone could tell later. But she didn’t fucking care about that.
In her fury, a resolute notion asserted itself. “Blair? I’d like you to retrieve the rock and take it with us tomorrow. If you happen to see any older men getting too close to any of you, I recommend sharing the rock with them. Let them see what it can do.”
Clare and Lacy puzzled over this, but Blair calmly nodded. It definitely took the assistance of the closet ladder, but Blair was able to retrieve the rock from the high place she stuck it. “No shock, not shockingly.” She took it over to Clare, with plenty of distance from their dad, and had her touch it. Still no reaction.
Lacy backed away and wrestled with all sorts of denials. “No way I’m risking what that cursed thing can take away from me next!” So, Blair lobbed it towards her. Lacy wasn’t coordinated enough to dash out of the way, but she was able to bat it down onto the couch. Fortunately, it just rolled into the crease rather than spinning somewhere dangerous. Everyone wanted to say something about that, but Lacy screamed more than enough for all of them. Before Lacy could chuck it over the couch, Blair nimbly retrieved the rock.
“So, it appears all three of us are now immune to this thing. Whatever it is and whatever it does. If only we could find someone else willing to touch it, to provide more information. Now, we need to know if we can transport it. Is it conductive? Can I put it in something plastic or a bag or box and nothing happens until I take it out?“
“It doesn’t let you cut your hair!” Lacy complained, while fussing with her bun once again.
Blair delighted in this new nugget of knowledge but unfortunately couldn’t draw any new conclusions from it. She glared at the rock as though it were the worst sort of puzzle with not enough hints and way too many contradictions. Ultimately, she packed a bag with all sorts of plastic and plenty of insulating materials around the rock. Still, she treated the bag the same as the exposed rock. It went in the closet for tomorrow.
That resolved, Blair turned her focus back to Lacy.
”Well, Ace. It’s time for you to step up and be a hero. All stand together or all fall. It’s on you. You gotta wear shorts and short sleeves. Now grandpa didn’t say that we had to be ourselves at this event. If three girls instead of three boys show up, then that’s an unavoidable consequence. Didn’t say anything about that, if he wants to start some legal…shit. What do you say, bro? No skirts or no girly junk. Let’s do this together.”
Brooke allowed that profanity because she wanted to say worse. There would definitely be unavoidable consequences from the girls showing up as they were now, but it was all they could do. Grandpa would know, maybe he already did. But they were going to do it exactly as he asked, to stick it to him. And maybe leave a few surprises along the way.
Lacy fussed in place, as though she desperately needed to use the bathroom and was fighting off bugs. Sweat added to her gloss as she started several words and drew them back. Ultimately, once all the fight had settled and all the bitterness dried over, her voice gave a crackly, frail, “….Fine. Only for this. Only for us. I’ll do it…”