Page 75 of House of Bass

Confusion is written on her face, “What do you mean by we ?” Then I break down the conversation in the car and her face changes from confusion to thinly veiled anger.

“I’m not sure who he thinks he is but I’m not a servant that comes to him at his beck and call when it suits him.”

“That’s what I said!” Well, I thought it , but it's all the same. “So…will you go?”

“No.” Though I’m not sure if her eyes and mouth agree with what she is saying. Harley has been adamant about not wanting anything to do with our father but I can tell a part of her is curious. “Are you?”

“I don’t have much of a choice.” I finally look at her and smile, a wonky broken half smile but one nonetheless. Her eyes zoom in on me, taking me in.

“There is always a choice, Bel. ”

A short depreciating laugh escapes me, staring at the fur boots that match my coat. My eyes flicker about before answering, “If only it were that easy.”

Harley doesn’t say anything back, the sound of the wind wheezing by filled the silence. Both of us lost in our respective thoughts, then she says, “I’ll go. Next Friday, I’ll come with you.”

My first real smile breaks out, “Really?”

“As long as you promise not to leave me alone in a room with any of those people, sure.”

“Anything you want, I promise.”

I stretch out my hands so she’ll give me a hug, mostly to mess with her, she shakes her head vehemently and glares. Once I start to pout she starts to walk away, in the direction of the library. “Absolutely not.”

“Come on, just one hug.” I chase after her, in the hopes I don’t slip off the ice. I catch up with her and whisper a thank you. Harley doesn’t need to acknowledge it but I need her to hear it.

28

HARLEY

“One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. You’re missing the count, Ella!” Gillian Abrams yelled at the girl with the pigtails and pink ribbons who was red in the face. They started again from the top.

Harley didn’t know what was going on because she knew zero to nothing about ballet or even Swan Lake for that matter, except that it meant the world to Annabel. Therefore, when she was asked to come meet her so they could head home together she thought why not. Except when she said yes she didn’t think it would have her sitting here for three hours or that she would have to spend that time with Ed, Edd and Eddy—Daniel, Arden and MJ.

They all sat at the very back of the auditorium, feet rested on the chairs in front. Harley asked, gesturing to the dancers, “Do we have to buy tickets to this when it’s all done or do we just show up?”

“Buy tickets. The money goes to charity,” Daniel answered as he chewed on the green grapes he had separated from the red.

“Every year?”

“Yes and no. They pick between them and the theatre department. Through rock, paper, scissors or drawing short straws. I wish I was kidding,” Arden said, not lifting his head from the laptop he was typing on. His tennis racquet hung out of the bag next to him, he came from practice.

“The theatre department is putting on a play? Are youse going?”

“Absolutely not. Chloe York is the lead and it’s Hairspray! ,” MJ shuddered as she chewed on the red grapes that Daniel had separated. Harley didn’t know who that was but she nodded along.

“Do you guys do this often? Sit here and watch them dance?” she asked.

“Yes,” all three said in unison. They had been told off for cheering whenever Annabel or Devon were in view and were threatened to be kicked out multiple times now.

Harley missed Scarlett, she wished she had invited her to this impromptu gathering to at least make it fair. But even she knew Scarlett would rather spend her Monday evening doing anything else. Regardless, she was with her cousins and wouldn’t have been able to make it anyhow. Harley could not think of anything she would want to do less than be around Lucas Carney. The gang situation still bothered her and despite Scarlett’s reassurances that what they did wasn’t so bad it still left a horrid taste in her mouth. Her experiences couldn’t be washed away by a couple of words.

There was a kid, Jack, who lived on her street. Him and Harley weren’t close due to him being three years older but he always said hi, and bought her food from the shop when they had none at home– they attended the same secondary school. He started dealing during the summer between year 10 and 11, when he became friends with these strange guys who used to loiter the streets. They looked too old to be wanting to hang out with a fifteen year old. Harley didn’t find out until later on but they were members of a low level gang who were indoctrinating him into their lifestyle. When year 11 began for him, he did their dirty work by selling in school and people knew to go to him if they wanted anything. One day, his luck ran out when he was eighteen and he got caught by the police. They denied knowing who he was and put the fear of God in people in the neighbourhood who could account for seeing them together. In the end Jack didn’t really know who they were since they only ever let him know what they wanted him to. In the end, he got 7 years in prison. She thought about him a lot and that was always what came to mind when she saw Lucas.

Daniel, who sat closest to her, brought her out of her stupor, whispering, “Usually we do go because I help make the costumes for the plays but I’ve been too busy this year to do it.”

“Your clothing brand, right?”

He nodded, a light in his eyes at the mention of his hard work. “Yeah, it's official. We are launching next summer.”