CHAPTER 07


   Lately, Sara was often wondering why she even had an alarm clock because it seemed as if there was little need. More days than not, she would find herself awake, in bed, and it was usually due to the noise that was coming from another part of her mother’s house. The fact was, that it was not all that big of a place, even when it was just three of them living here. When Angie had ran off and joined the army, Sara was actually happy about it because it meant that she had the hall bathroom all to herself. Sara had kind of felt guilty about that, after what happened to her sister but , as time went on, the pangs were diminishing rapidly. A lot of that had to do with her mother’s new hobby.
As Sara slid out from under the cover, pulled a pair of sweats up over her underwear, grabbed a night robe, and then felt around the floor for her flip flops, she was angered by the fact that she had to do any of this. Even if she did not consciously think about it, Sara was slowly coming to the realization that even with Angie gone, she was still living in that shadow and it was still effecting her life in the most minute of ways. A look down at the clock said it was a quarter till four and, again, Sara could not help but come to the realization that this was because of Angie. Why else would she get up so early on a summer morning? That was particularly true when you considered the fact that she had only gotten off work just four hours ago!
Her disposition did not improve when Sara peeked out of her room, something that she always had to do these days. It looked as if the coast was clear so she slipped out the door and went right to her bathroom. She snarled when she found that the door was locked and that she could see a light coming from the crack at the bottom. Sara did not have to guess as to who it was. She did not know the exact person but, she did not really have to. She knocked on it and a male voice replied with a hint of agitation, “occupied!”
What the hell did he have to be agitated about? It only frustrated Sara that much more and was why she did not even bother to knock when she walked in her mother’s room. Sara felt like telling her mother exactly what she was thinking but, with little surprise, Sara found the bed made and empty. It was not really why Sara came in here anyway. She went right to her mother’s bathroom, the only other one they had and, also, the one that remained private. At least she was able to take the pressure off her bladder but, when that small moment of relief hit she realized that she would still have to walk in that living room looking like a victim of a tornado. Her brushes, make up, and everything else she needed to be civilized was currently locked away in a fortress that was beyond her grasp. Something that, by all rights, was hers!
It did not help matters, any, when Sara left her mother’s bedroom and found her own bathroom door open. After a quick murmur of, “fucking figures,” she considered going in and fixing herself up but, then Sara considered what time it was. She was never going to get back to sleep now and, for that matter, she figured whoever was in the living room probably deserved the shock of her morning looks. When Sara got there she was actually disappointed but, again, not surprised that no one even noticed her. Typical.
It was not her mother’s entire crew but, she had enough of them here. That included Carl Farley who was just sitting back down at one of the computers that her mother had replaced the furniture with. He had probably been the one in the bathroom and Sara had seen him when she got home from work. He had been alone at that time because her mother was asleep in her room. It creeped Sara out, because, about all she knew of the guy was that when he wasn’t here he was living in his mother’s basement. He usually did work for Dana Thompson but, Sara had some doubts. He had said the Thompson’s wifi was excellent, better than his, and Sara was pretty sure he played more games here than he worked on the websites.
Carl had also been the only person here when she got home. Now there were six others with him and, with the exception of Carl, they were all watching the television. This included the one surprise because Sara could never imagine Clancy Oldham being up this early, yet, there he was and he even had on his suit, like it was bankers hours. He also had a biscuit and egg in hand and he actually paid attention to Sara. He raised his breakfast, pointed at it, and then nodded towards the dining room, “I brought an entire bag, go get stuffed.”
That was kind of what Sara felt like telling this invading army. Instead, she managed a smile and a nod before finding her mother in their small kitchen. It was clear that Dana was excited. She was practically bursting with energy and Sara had a hard time understanding how her mother even appeared to be happy. She was practically glowing when she acknowledged her daughter, “glad you’re up baby. We’ve got a busy a day ahead.”
Sara was not as pleasant as she had been with Clancy, “mom, I’ve got to work today.”
Dana seemed to dismiss the notion out of hand as she slid another plate in the dishwasher. Like most of the chores around the house, very little got done if it did not directly involve Dana’s knew goal in life. It was clear to Sara that she was only doing the dishes now because she had not expected so many people to be here at the moment. That, along with the other clues, told Sara that something had happened but, she knew something else as well. For the first time in a long time Sara was starting to admit to herself that she just didn’t give a shit.
Sara was also not happy with her mother’s suggestion, “I can’t just call in Mom. I just started this job. It doesn’t work that way. I’m not like you, I can’t just live off of Dad’s insurance money.”
That hit a cord and, at first, Sara felt a serious urge to take it all back. She was not even sure she had really meant to say it. It certainly straightened Dana’s spine and Sara was feeling like she was seven years old, again, and had just broken that lamp her mother loved. Then, suddenly, Sara’s spine stiffened too. She realized she had meant it. She realized she had wanted to say it for a very long time.
Surprisingly, Dana did not lash out. She did not look at Sara either. She stared out the kitchen window and got control of her breathing before she carefully said to her daughter, “Sara, I already told you that I can give you spending money when you go to college in the fall. I’ve got it all set up. You don’t need that job and I need you right now.”
“You can give me spending money?” Sara crossed her arms and was unconvinced, “or do you mean…” Her voice trailed off into an almost whisper, “Clancy can give me spending money?”
Now Dana looked back at her daughter and she was quite stern, “why do you care where it comes from? Right now, all you need to worry about is going to school and…”
“And what?” Sara scornfully replied at a normal volume, “recruiting on campus for you? Adding more names to the cause? You know, you talk about that more than what major I’m thinking about.”
Suddenly Dana seemed almost apologetic but, even if she had a hint of it in her tone her words were anything but, “of course that’s important too. Think about your sister and…”
“Mom!” Sara put her foot down, “Angie’s alive!”
Now Dana shook her head in a motherly way. She sounded sympathetic when she told her child, “I know you want to believe that honey. I do too. No matter what Nate said he got, honey, it’s not true. How could your sister possibly…”
Sara looked her mother dead in the eyes. She could not believe she was doing it either. It was not only the fact that she had never been able to summon the courage but, was this really her mother? Sara had always thought the woman all seeing and knowing but, now, it was clear that was not true. It was apparent that Dana Thompson had missed quite a bit and, about Angie in particular. Sara snapped, “oh come on Mom, this is exactly the kind of bullshit she would pull! She really had you snowed, didn’t she?”
It was clear that Dana had no reply. She crossed her arms, looked away, and sneered. The only words she could get out were, “I can’t believe you said that.”
This was usually the point that Sara cowered and ran away. Not this time, “yeah? Well maybe I should have said it earlier, like, before she ran off and joined the army? Do you remember that Mom? You cried for a week. Did it ever occur to you that is exactly why she did it?”
That was more than one button and Sara knew it. Dana might have had some rose colored glasses when it came to her eldest daughter but, the woman was far from stupid. Just the way she manipulated Clancy, who thought he was manipulating her, spoke volumes about that. Sara knew that her mother probably realized a lot of things about Angie. The problem, here, was that she was also equally good at denying those things. The situation, that Sara had always guessed, was that her mother and Angie were just too much alike. The closer Angie had gotten to graduation, the more she had butted heads with her mother. Sara had not been surprised in the least when Angie showed her the enlistment papers. It was not exactly a move that Sara would have ever imagined but, it made sense. Dana hated the military and what better way for Angie to get under her skin?
Surely, Dana had to realize that? Sara was betting her mom did and, despite that, Dana Thompson played the dutiful soldier’s mom anyway. She went to Angie’s graduation from training, her family day events, and Dana even went so far as to join soldier’s relief organizations. She even put up Angie’s army pictures and proudly told people how her daughter was serving her community. Of course, there had not been a war going on when all that happened. Even when Angie called and said she was going to Feyland, Dana did not seem to be overly concerned. Why should she? Sara was not even concerned. Back then, they simply did not understand what was happening.
At the same time, Sara was starting to see another side to this picture. No matter what way she framed it, everything always came back to the same thing that had been going on since Sara could remember. It was always about her sister, even now, and that was despite the fact that Dana thought that Angie was still dead. Sara even wondered if her mother wanted Angie to be dead, just so she could carry on with her nonsense and, no matter how much Sara had pretended to be on board with it, suddenly she realized she had thought it was non sense all along.
Sara did not say that. Her mother looked stunned and, right now, Sara was not interested. Unlike her sister, Sara had never had any desire to stick an emotional knife in their mother. Sara had always worshiped the ground the woman walked on. It hurt anytime she realized that her mother was tossing all of her efforts on the daughter that hated her and, as a result, Sara was not sure which one it made her hate the most, Angie or her Mom. That was why Sara buried that in her mind and developed an almost amnesia about it. This was also the reason she let the conversation drop, and walked away.
Sara had a biscuit in hand when she walked back in the living room. Clancy subtly reminded her that he was the guy who brought it, even if all he had to say about it was, “got to take care of my girls.” The guy then pointed to the television, “something big is happening in England. That ass hole Devon is keeping a lid on it but, I think if we make the right moves he’ll have to come clean. I wouldn’t expect anything else from that weasel. You know his daughter is the one who is really running the whole show. Between her and that Isaacs woman, uh, or is it Moore now?” Clancy had to think on that for a second and then he shrugged it off, “doesn’t matter. They’re the only ones with any balls in that administration.”
That caused Carl Farley to look up from his computer screen for a second. He seemed genuinely enthused when he asked, “you really know the President?”
Clancy almost laughed, “don’t act like it’s some big deal kid. He’s been on the board in DC for a long time. Anybody who’s worked there has dealt with him.”
“That’s some far out shit though,” Carl replied as he got back to his computer screen.
Sara noticed the conversation even if she tuned it out. She had very little interest in this big thing that had the rest of them so excited. Sara had little doubt they would be organizing some kind of demonstration before the sun came up. Clancy was probably only waiting for his phone to ring and his new master to issue orders. What Sara was more interested in was what Farley was doing. She slid by the people occupying her living room, and took a position so she could see the computer screen. Carl was too busy salivating over Clancy’s brush with the powerful to notice much of anything else. What little attention he had left was devoted to his on line activity and, to Sara’s surprise, he was not playing a game. Carl was working on a website and, currently, he was uploading some pictures. Sara was not surprised to see who they were of.
Naturally there were pictures of Angie. That meant the others were of no surprise either. Sara thought that Nate Caldwell looked pretty handsome in his uniform and that was what he wore in most of the pictures they had of him. Clancy also wanted it that way. Nate had never worn one when they had him camped out at the hotel here in Orlando but, Sara would not have minded it if he had. She missed him. He was actually someone that paid attention to her and, not because of her mother, not because of her sister, just because Sara was a person. She felt like she could talk to him and, she wished he was still around. It was the only reason she had hoped he would accept Clancy’s offer but, at the same time, she was glad he did not. At least he was not in another universe, just up in Atlanta, and they still talked on the phone. It was that thought that began to turn the wheels in Sara’s mind.