AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I waited, but Juliet sat still at the dining room table for a long time, her head in her hands. I wanted to sit down beside her, talk to her, but I couldn't do that with Chad lurking nearby. Instead, as our shifts came to an end and I handed off duty with Jack and Christian, I went into my room and sat on the end of my bed for a while, staring into the paneled door and trying to unravel my own feelings.
I was certain I was falling in love with Juliet, if I wasn't there already. But I was equally certain it would never work between us. How could it, when there was such an enormous disparity there? Maybe she was right, maybe it shouldn't matter. And I guess maybe if I could solve everyone's problems with a wave of my hand, by writing a check or just calling my bank, maybe I'd actually believe it didn't matter. But the reality was that it did matter.
To me, at least.
I heard the house quieting around me, heard the settling creaks of the old foundation, the sounds of faucets in distant corners upstairs being turned on and off. I heard the cicadas out my open window, their chorus joined by frogs and other night creatures all creating a thrum of constant sound that seemed to be getting louder and louder until I thought it might drive me insane. I pushed to my feet and was out of my room before I'd decided on a destination or thought much about anything besides the misery welling inside me, keeping the beat with the Maryland night.
Sounds were coming from the far corner of the house, punctuated by Gran's occasional cackle or curse, and though I was pretty sure she wouldn't appreciate the interruption, I followed them anyway, but lingered right outside the door. Gran sat at her computer, very active in the big gaming chair, which rocked with her movements as she navigated across the screen with her mouse. She wore a giant headset, and had a joint smoldering in a nearby ashtray. I wasn't scared of much, but Gran made me a little uneasy.
"Fucking children," Gran spat at the screen as I hesitated. "Next time you ask me to group with you, check your birth certificate first. If you haven't turned eighteen yet, move along. And quit asking me for my Judgement armor. You have no idea how much actual money I spent to get gold for this set, you little nincompoop!" The old woman dropped her headset into her chair and spun, spotting me immediately. "Come on, gorilla," she said, as if she knew she'd find me loitering behind her. "Let's get a drink."
I glanced around, but I was the only gorilla she could have been referring to. For a second I thought she was demanding I take her to a bar or something, but she floated past me in her fluffy brown wombat slippers and headed for the kitchen. "You coming?" She called back.
I followed her, confused and off balance.
"Which one are you?" She asked, pausing at the kitchen counter and turning around to assess me.
"Jace, Ma'am."
She took a long moment, scanning me from head to toe, her eyes finally coming back up to rest on my face. "You're the one Juliet has the hots for, right?"
A distant squawk from the house chicken was timed perfectly, as if to confirm this. Which was fine for Chessy, but I owed it to Juliet not to discuss this, didn't I? I rubbed a hand across my jaw, my mind twisting more slowly than normal after all the muddle of the day. "I mean, no," I started. "She's dating Mr. McDonnell."
"Bullshit," Gran said. She turned back to the counter and opened up a cabinet, revealing an impressive liquor collection. "You like bourbon, Gorilla?"
"It's Jace, Ma'am."
"Answer the question. You're off the clock, right? Though honestly, I can't figure out what you henchmen think you're guarding us from all the way out here. Rabid groundhogs, maybe. That's about as spicy as it gets down this way."
I had seen several groundhogs on the property, especially at dusk, now that I thought about it. None of them had been foaming at the mouth that I'd noticed, however. "Um, sure," I said.
"Sure, you think we're all in danger from infected whistle pigs, or sure, you like bourbon?"
"Bourbon, Ma'am."
She sighed dramatically and turned to face me, the sequins on the arms of her purple sweat suit catching the light and twinkling like glitter. "Quit calling me ma'am. Makes me feel old. I can't drink with someone who's calling me ma'am all the time, dammit." She turned back around and began pulling bottles from the cabinet and placing them on the counter. "Just call me Gran, like everyone else," she said.
"Sure," I agreed, feeling like we'd reached some kind of settlement. I leaned against the doorway, watching her. I liked her tell-it-like-it-is attitude, and wished my own mom had a little bit more of whatever it was that made Gran tick. But there was a lot to like about my own mother’s quiet sweetness, too.
"Now where did Tessy hide it?" she was asking, rising up onto her tiptoes to try to see into the back of the cabinet. "Harambe, is there a jar back up in there? You're like a skyscraper, you should be able to see back there."
I frowned at her latest choice of moniker—wasn't Harambe the poor gorilla they shot at the zoo? Gran was far from PC, I wasn’t sure why I was surprised. I decided not to say anything, but stepped forward and pulled a jar from the back of the cabinet, where I had no doubt Tess had tried to hide it. "Is this ..."
"Moonshine. You got it." Gran cackled with delight and then pulled two small glasses from another cabinet. "You and me, Ivan. One shot and then I'm going to teach you to make a Manhattan. The right way."
Gran was not asking me. She was telling me. And since I was tired, and my head was a mess, I just nodded when the old woman handed me a shot of clear liquid that smelled like jet fuel mixed with peaches.
"Maryland's finest."
I sipped at the liquid as Gran pounded hers. It actually wasn't bad, despite the burning sensation it caused in my throat. I swallowed the rest and put my glass on the counter next to hers.
"All right," Gran said, pulling a shaker from the sink and rinsing it out. "Now, most people make a Manhattan with Rye. What about you, Gulliver?"
"It's Jace," I said, though I was beginning to admire her creativity. "Unless you want me to call you a Lilliputian."
"Ha!" Gran laughed. "So you do have a personality. And you’ve readGulliver’s Travels! I guess I can use your actual name. I was running out of giant and gorilla names anyway. I was going for King Kong next, though. Kinda sad I'm not gonna get to use that one."
"You can call me Kong if it makes you happy," I told her, earning a smile.
