Good morning everyone! It's a new week and as promised here's another chapter of my WIP, the coming of age tale set in the 90s. Enjoy!
Whatever!
Chapter Two
The next group meeting happened at Cassie D’Amico’s place. The store was hopping with customers, as was usual for a Saturday, so Sabrina went up the back stairs as instructed.
Cassie opened the door with a frown.
“How is it you’re the last to arrive when you live the closest?”
“Sorry, I didn’t get in until 11 last night so I overslept.” Sabrina sighed.
“Again? You missed the alarm last Saturday too.”
“What can I say, it was a rough week.”
Sabrina worked at Frank’s Franks at the mall over the summer. She was supposed to quit when school started up again because her parents wanted her to focus on her studies but when rumors about layoffs began to circulate at her father’s job, she and Victor decided to keep working.
Cassie led Sabrina to the dining room where Larry and Ivy sat at an ornate wooden table that was polished to a mirror-like shine. On the opposite end of the room was a matching china cabinet that held the family’s good china and several heirlooms and tchockies of silver and crystal.
“Hi guys, sorry I’m late.” Sabrina offered as she took a seat.
Larry just waved her off while Ivy responded,
“Not a problem, now we can get started. Do we know which part we want to play?”
Larry shrugged.
“I’ll be witch number one.” Sabrina offered.
“Okay, I’ll be witch number two, then.” Cassie said. “I just finished translating act four, scene one of Macbeth into regular speak so people can understand us.”
“Good because I cannot say any of it.” Larya said. “I will be witch number three. She talks very little.”
“The tongue has the power of life and death and those who love it will eat its fruit.” Cassie said.
Larya gave her a flat stare. “What?”
“Proverbs 18:21.” Cassie said, solemnly.
“So?”
Cassie’s nostrils flared as indignation crossed her face. As she opened her mouth, Ivy interjected,
“So we have Hecate and MacBeth left. I will do both if no one objects since one leaves the scene as the other enters.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Sabrina nodded, looking over the paperwork Cassie passed to everyone. “I can probably get my brother and his gross friends to help me make the props.”
“Excellent, then we can focus on rehearsing our lines this week and next.” Ivy clapped her hands together, the sound reverberating off the walls.
The other girls exchanged glances but any comments were cutoff by Cassie’s grandmother entering the room. Ana Maria D’Amico was short and stocky with a kerchief keeping her salt and pepper hair out of her face and a smock over her flowered dress. She wore the same orthopedic shoes as the nuns at Mt. Virgin only in brown instead of black. Early pictures around the house were evidence that Nonna D’Amico was a real knockout in her youth but now pushing 60, she reminded Sabrina of the immigrants in those old Ellis Island photos she’d seen when she visited during a class trip years ago.
While Cassie’s mother was a native born American, her father emigrated from Sicily on his 18th birthday. His mother came over shortly after his father passed and so was relatively new to this country and maintained her native accent. Nonna stopped in the doorway and frowned at the girls before rattling something off to Cassie in Italian.
Having grown up in a neighborhood full of new immigrants, Bree knew how to swear in Italian, Polish, and Russian as well as Spanish. However, she didn’t understand what the grandmother said.
“They’re my group from school, Nonna. We have a project to do.” Cassie said.
The old woman spoke again and then glared at Larya who was sitting in the chair at the head of the table with one leg draped over the arm as the chair teetered on a back leg. Cassie paled and glanced at Larya and Ivy before responding in Italian.
Sabrina’s eyes widened but she kept her head down and her mouth shut. Cassie’s grandma was always pretty saucy as her mother liked to say but she thought she understood the woman to call Larya a criminal and said Ivy had the face of a boiled fish! Nonna kept muttering in Italian as she stomped out of the room again.
“What is wrong with your grandmother?” Larya sneered.“She has face like boiled fish.”
Bree snorted and started coughing to cover it up. Cassie shot her a nasty look anyway.
“She just forgot you guys were coming by and thought she had to babysit while mom is at the store, that’s all. Can we get on with it now?”
##
The group met up at Sabrina’s house the following week. She was on the couch surrounded by Victor and his friends watching Mystery Science Theater 3000 when the girls arrived. It became a weekly tradition since the show first aired five years ago. Since Bree was the first to discover it one Saturday morning before introducing it to her brother, she was allowed to stay. Their younger sister, Zoe, didn’t understand what was funny about making fun of bad movies instead of just watching something else, but she was a mere eight year old who didn’t yet understand the nuances of humor. At least, that’s what Bree told her when she rejected the show.
She was surprised to see the girls all arrived at the same time.
“My oco drove me.” Larya said to Bree though her eyes were glued to Victor.
“My father also brought me.” Ivy said.
The boys’ laughter in the sala prompted Larya to smile and say,
“Are you going to introduce us?”
Bree frowned. “They’re watching TV right now, I’d hate to interrupt-"
“It won’t take long.” She said brushing past her.
Bree exchanged exasperated glances with Cassie before following.
“At least wait until commercial!” Bree said but it was too late.
Larya made a beeline for Victor and perched on the arm of the couch next to him. She nudged his shoulder with her hip and said,
“Ahoj miláčik, I’m Larya Novak.”
“Yeah, I know you. What do you want?”
“I’m a friend of your sister.”
Victor glared at her before turning back to the TV.
“Rina’s friends know better than to talk when the show is on.”
The other boys started laughing and yelling for her to go away. With a sarcastic sigh, Larya flipped them the bird and clomped over to where the other girls stood. Imelda came out of the kitchen.
“Quiete ya! What’s going on in here?”
“Nothing Ma, the guys are just being jerks.” Sabrina glared at the boys. “We’ll be in my room working on the project.”
Her mother grinned and turned her attention to the girls.
“Hi, I’m Mrs. Fraser. You’re Bree’s friends from school?”
Bree rolled her eyes. “No, Ma, this is my group from English class. We’re working on that MacBeth project remember? This is Larya and Ivy and you remember Cass.”
Imelda nodded and regarded the group.
“Yes, Sabrina and Cassie both went to school across the street.”
“How lovely, then you know each other already?” Ivy asked.
Why were they just standing there talking and getting glared at by the boys for making noise while the show was on?
“We’re going to head to my room to get started.” Sabrina said, absolutely mortified.
“Okay mija.”
Once they were settled in her room, they were interrupted again. This time her little sister opened the door, leaning her weight on the knob so she could slide in. She was still in her pink Garfield feety pajamas and her thick black braids jutted from the colorful bubble ties on her head like an old TV antenna.
“You better stop doing that or dad’ll give you un pow pow when he gets home.” Sabrina frowned. “Remember how mad he got when all the knobs started coming off?”
Zoe stuck out her tongue and said, “Mommy wants to know if you want anything from the kitchen.”
“Tell her no and if we need anything we’ll get it ourselves.”
Zoe nodded, stood up and slammed the door behind her as she left.
Sabrina rolled her eyes. “Brat!”
“Was that your sister?” Ivy asked.
“Zoe, yeah.”
She was quiet for a moment and Bree knew what was coming. It’s what always came whenever people saw her family together.
“But she’s so dark and you’re…”
“Not? Yeah, I know. My parents got divorced when me and Victor were little. Then mom got remarried and had Zoe.”
“So your mother is Mrs. Fraser and your stepfather, he is…?”
“Mr. Fraser.”
“Of course, but I mean is he also…?”
“Black? Yes, Ivy, the man is black. It’s not a bad word, you know, you can say it out loud.” Sabrina scoffed.
“I thought we were supposed to say African-American.” Cassie said.
“His family are from the West Indies and some are Blackfoot Indian. They’d crucify you if you called them that.”
“Do you still see your father?”Larya asked.
“Nah, he’s got a new family in Puerto Rico so V and I don’t count anymore.” Sabrina shrugged, swallowing the sting she always felt on the subject. “Anyway, let’s get started.”
Cassie ignored that last comment. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen your real father, Bree.”
“Birth father, you mean, and you wouldn’t have. He and mom split when I was four and we didn’t move away from the Bronx until I was six and she and my stepfather got married.”
“He never came to visit?” Asked Ivy.
“Nah, he steered clear of us once he got out of prison.”
“Prison?” Gasped Ivy and Cassie.
Larya shot them a dirty look and asked, “Did he hit your mother?”
“Only once when he got really drunk. I don’t really remember much about that time but Victor said he used to get drunk a lot and fight with mom.”
After he made the mistake of hitting Imelda, he spent the night in a jail cell sporting a black eye of his own. Her mother was a small but proud woman who demanded respect from everyone. She’d barely tolerated her husband’s drinking but domestic violence was an automatic dealbreaker. By the time Cristobal Moya posted bail, his belongings were in the street and divorce proceedings underway.
The girls worked for hours tweaking and rehearsing and Sabrina realized she was having a good time with these weird girls. Ivy had a silly streak that came out when she switched to playing Hecate. Larya’s Queen of Darkness act melted away over time to reveal a snarky sense of humor that Sabrina appreciated and knew that Cassie did as well.
When at last the girls went home, a quiet descended over the house. Dad was doing overtime again in the city and Mom took Zoe with her to do a comprar and would be a while. Sabrina knew V’s friends went home long ago. She grabbed herself a drink from the kitchen and headed back to her room when she overheard voices in the hall. Mark was still there! More voices told Sabrina the boys hadn’t left after all, they’d simply moved into her brother’s room.
Sabrina stayed hiding in the kitchen, waiting to rush back to her room once the boys passed into the sala. She’d slipped into her sweats and socks after the girls left and pulled her curls into a bush on top of her head. This was not a sexy look and the last thing she wanted was to send her heart’s desire screaming into the night.
“Bree’s new friends are kinda weird.” Rudy said.
“I don’t think they’re her friends, they’re just doing something for school.” Mark said, making Bree’s heart skip a beat.
He remembered their conversation from two whole weeks ago!
“Good, you wouldn’t want them hanging around here too much. Especially that big one, I think she’s got the hots for you.” Dwayne said.
Victor squawked. “What? Man, get the fuck out of here! That big bitch could snap me in half.”
“Better stay on her good side then.” Rudy laughed. “She got a great set of tits though.”
“Not as nice as Bree’s though, huh Mark?” Dwayne laughed. There was a loud smack. “Ow, man!”
“That’s my sister you’re talking about, man.” Victor said.
“Don’t talk about Bree that way, D, it isn’t cool.” Mark sounded angry.
“I was just playing. You know Bree’s like a sister to me.” Dwayne wailed.
“Yeah well, do it again and I’ll hit you myself!”
The room went silent for a moment.
“Cassie’s got a nice pair.” Rudy said.
“Nah, more than a handful is just a waste.” Victor said.
Sabrina’s cheeks burned as she rushed down the hall and away from the boys’ gross conversation. If the girls had overheard she didn’t know what they’d do but she suspected between Larya and Ivy alone it would’ve been a bloodbath. As she closed the door to her room she could hear their laughter ringing from the sala. Ugh, why did boys have to be so gross!
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