The front door clicked shut behind me and I paused in the hall. Italian music flowed from the kitchen. The kind they play on those wine programs on public television while the camera pans over countryside covered with absurdly green grass.
I entered the kitchen and stopped cold. Desiree, Nate's girlfriend, faced me with a wooden spoon in her hand. Our eyes met, and the rest of the room blurred around her.
She stood in front of the stove looking like the cover of one of Mom's romance novels. A red ribbon held her dark hair to one side where it cascaded down the front of her T-shirt. The sleeve on the other side draped down, leaving her tanned shoulder bare.
Raising the spoon to her lips she took a dainty sip of the sauce. “Yummm,” she murmured.
A pungent odor, as if something were decaying in the frying pan, snapped the room back into sharp focus.
My nose crinkled in distaste and I blurted out, “What is that smell?”
The smile faded from her face. For a moment she frowned. Then she brightened. “Taste and you will see what real flavor is.” She guided the spoon toward me.
“Yuck!” I said, ducking my head. I spun around and found myself face to face with a glowering Nate.
He lowered the camera. “Nice going brat. You just ruined an hour’s worth of work on Desiree’s project for her video class.” His voice softened. “Sorry Des, we’ll have to reconstruct it.”
She wilted onto a chair. I reached around her and turned off the stove.
“Sorry Des. I didn't know you were filming. Where's Mom and Dad?”
“They went out to celebrate Dad's new job,” Nate said. “Desiree had generously offered to make you and me a special dinner. We thought we could use the footage for her clip.”
“It's okay Nate,” she said. “Let's start on the fantasy piece. We can use what we filmed on the Spice Island cake for this assignment.”
“There's cake?” I perked up. “You can film me eating the cake,” I offered.
“In your dreams, kid. You can make it up by cleaning the kitchen. Des and I have to reconstruct her film. I’ll be home late.” He scooped the car keys off the table and left the room.
When Desiree passed me the sweet scent of her perfume drowned out the cooking smell. She leaned over and whispered, “Cake's in the frig. It's coconut.”
Des was such a great person. Not just gorgeous, but really cool. I couldn't figure out what she saw in Nate.
It took a while to clean up. Once the trash was out though, my appetite returned. Balancing a bowl of Cheerios and a large chunk of cake, I headed for the living room.
It took another minute to close the blinds and find the remote. Then I settled into the theater sofa facing the mega TV, which covered one wall. Our last big purchase before Dad lost his job.
While wolfing down the cereal, I flipped through the channels. Commercials. A red convertible whipped through the curves on a mountain road. A blonde tossed her silky hair across the screen while proclaiming the wonders of her shampoo. Someone in a vampire outfit danced in front of a costume store. Man, Halloween was just a few weeks away.
I finally landed on a nature show. With the sound of monkeys and jungle birds as a backdrop, I finished the cereal and polished off the cake.
Leaning back I closed my eyes and dozed. Jungle scenes mingled in my head with pictures of the woods. In my muddled thoughts I still searched for my backpack. In the distance a woodpecker tapped at a tree. A light swept across me.
I sat up with a jerk and stared into the huge face of a baboon. Its eyes held me with disdain. It huffed and I scrambled to get away. My foot collided with the coffee table. The couch cushions gave way beneath me and I crashed to the floor.
From the TV screen, the baboon huffed again and ambled away from the camera.
The light shining through the blinds went dark. Car doors slammed. Dad's voice and Mom's laughter snapped me back to reality.
The clock in the screen's corner read 11:50. Frantically I searched for the remote. A key rattled in the front door lock. My fingers pawed under the cushions and closed victoriously around the control. Jabbing the button, the sound cut off and the screen went black.
I tossed the remote to the other end of the sofa and turned to make a dash for it, but the doorway was blocked.
Mom's laughter stopped and her smile faded into the mother look. One eyebrow shot up in an I dare you to explain question mark.
I faked a yawn and stretched. “Wow, I didn't realize it was that late. Must have dozed off.”
Dad pointed to the stairs. “Bed. Now.”
I squeezed between them and darted to my room. It wasn't until I was in bed pulling the covers up to my chin that I remembered Gen. It was too late to call now. I rolled over and fell asleep with the image of her disappointed eyes haunting my dreams.