The Alchemy of Noise by Lorraine Devon Wilke

Author:Lorraine Devon Wilke
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: She Writes Press
Published: 2019-05-05T16:00:00+00:00

FORTY-TWO

THE EVENING LOST ITS ABILITY TO BE ANY MORE THAN A mixed bag after Vanessa’s diatribe. Delores struggled to assure Sidonie that her daughter “really could be a lovely person,” even if, as Chris interjected, one lacking manners, decorum, and the ability to hold her liquor, but all efforts to bring what had been a fine event to a more positive conclusion faltered. Still, Sidonie couldn’t deny the larger impact of Delores’s warm welcome and the thoughtful, engaging conversation that had woven throughout the night. Plus, as she made mention to her chagrined hostess, the cobbler was transformative.

Chris, however, was incensed. “Fuck Vanessa!” he railed on the drive back to Andersonville. “I swear to God, she’s like that asshole kid who’ll say anything just to get a rise out of her parents.”

Sidonie’s impulse was to defuse the situation. “But it’s not like I didn’t expect it. Actually, after everything you’ve told me about her, I was afraid she’d roll in with a flamethrower. I think I got off pretty easy.”

“She needs to keep her shit to her damn self. I might even have more respect for your mother—if nothing else she understands the conflict and doesn’t try to shove everyone’s face in it.”

“Let’s not get carried away. My mother is less about understanding and more about cowardice. At least Vanessa has no fear of speaking her mind. There’s something courageous about that. And, come on, she’d been drinking because she did get served today, so you’ve got to give her at least a little break.”

“Yeah, sure.” He was not swayed.

“Plus, and I say this honestly, she made some really valid points. I’m hoping after we get to know each other a little, she’ll see me as more than just a nice white girl who stole her brother.” She playfully leaned in to kiss his cheek, but Chris couldn’t let it go.

“It’s disrespectful to you, it’s disrespectful to my mother, and it’s really disrespectful to me. I’m gonna have to change some things up before we go down there again.”

“Like what, demand Vanessa not be there?”

“Maybe! Or at least demand that she keep her mouth shut, or maybe remember the good manners our mother taught us.”

“Chris, I understand and that’s fine, but I think we need to rise above rather than play into her divisiveness.”

“Fuck rising above.” He said it so vehemently Sidonie had to suppress a smile. When he glanced over and caught her expression, they burst into laughter.

Sidonie, determined to end on a good note, added: “And, really, the rest of the night was so wonderful. Your mom couldn’t have been nicer. I really enjoyed the whole thing—the dinner, the conversation, the cobbler . . . oh, my God, the cobbler.”

“You really had a moment with that cobbler, didn’t you?”

“My mother’s big dessert is Entenmann’s and boxed ice cream—” Woot, woot! The blue lights of a patrol car flashed behind them as they took Fifty-Third Street toward Lake Shore Drive, the siren bursts loud and jarring.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

The rush of adrenaline—sudden, familiar, dreaded—hit Chris like a rock.

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