Acts of Violet(63)
“If only she knew we sometimes do it when she is around.” His lusty murmur makes me want to pull him into the diner bathroom instead of waiting to get home.
It’s funny how you can carry around a burden indefinitely without realizing it. Sometime between the vigil and now, the vague dread weighing on me for god-knows-how-long has lessened. I still don’t know what to make of the number synchronicities or the sleepwalking or that photo of Sally with my sister in the background. But I can only let these things torment me for so long. The Violet saga isn’t over—in fact, it may be perpetually open-ended—and I have no control over any of it. All I can do is not let it rule my life. Regardless of what that curly-haired crackpot said, I will not be following the twos, and I know I won’t see my sister again. And in this very moment, I’m okay with that.
As we head out, I glance up at the TV one more time, just as the lottery drawing is wrapping up. The five white balls have been chosen and only the red Powerball number remains.
On screen, a man in a gray suit says, “All right, now, for your winning Powerball number, it is twenty-two tonight, and that Power Play multiplier is two.”
Damn it.
* * *
Date: February 23, 2018, at 12:30 PM
To: [email protected]
From: [email protected]
Subject: don’t hate me
* * *
Cameron,
Thanks for coffee last night. And for filling me in on your plans for Strange Exits. It’s already getting so much buzz—did you see it mentioned in Pop Ark’s latest podcast roundup??
Ugh, I hate this part. Letting people down sucks a big D.
You’re obviously working super hard to figure out my aunt and what happened to her, and since my mom would rather [insert painful/gross thing here] than go on your show, I’m your only chance of getting a close family member’s perspective. I really, really wish I could give it to you. But Mom is already so weird about anything remotely to do with Violet, if I do your podcast … I hate to think how much it would hurt her. As much as I bag on her for being so closed up, she did go through a lot of shit with losing her uncle, parents, and sister. I don’t want to make things harder on her. Also, after my craptacular performance at the vigil, you shouldn’t trust me with being on your podcast, anyway.
So yeah, I’m gonna have to pass. For my mom’s sake. She might be a neurotic mess sometimes (<—that is OFF THE RECORD!), but she’s still the best.
Quinn
Strange Exits
Episode 7: “Antoinette”
CAMERON FRANK: Today, we’re going to hear from the aptly named Antoinette Stranger. Regular listeners might remember Antoinette from her memorable appearance at the recent candlelight vigil for Violet Volk. While the security team there may not have been receptive to her interruption, I was eager to hear more of what she had to say. This woman has ideas and theories that some of you may find a bit … far-fetched. It’s easy to write them off as delusional or crazy, and I understand the temptation to do so. Do me a favor: keep an open mind as you listen. I’m not asking you to agree with her theories, only to give them fair consideration. Leave the door open to what may be possible, even if it strikes you as unlikely.
When I asked Antoinette how she’d like to be introduced—what occupation or other identifiers to mention—she said she’d prefer to have listeners form their opinion of her based on what she has to say, rather than on any preassigned labels. She also encouraged me to be forthright with my own impressions of her, so here they are.
There’s something about Antoinette that is at once reckless and deliberate. Her clothes, her gestures, her way of speaking—every part of her feels like it’s oscillating wildly yet part of a finely tuned machine. She’s not an easy person to read or feel comfortable around. It can be tricky to gauge whether she’s being flirtatious or condescending, hostile or solemn. Some of the things she says are downright outrageous, but there’s no denying the conviction behind her words. Of course, how much you choose to believe is entirely up to you.
CAMERON FRANK: Thank you for sitting down with me. You made quite an impression at the Violet Volk vigil.
ANTOINETTE STRANGER: I wouldn’t normally take such dramatic measures, but Sasha never acknowledged my correspondence, and I needed to be sure my message reached her.
CAMERON FRANK: It sounded more like you were passing on her sister’s message. You told Sasha that you’d been in contact with Violet. How so? And what did you mean when you said to pay attention to the twos?
ANTOINETTE STRANGER: How about wining and dining a girl a little? We’ll get to all that. But let’s ease into it. You could at least pretend to be interested in who I am as a person before probing my inner depths.
CAMERON FRANK: Sorry, I didn’t mean to—of course I’m interested—I have a tendency to jump right in.
ANTOINETTE STRANGER: I wonder how your ex-wife felt about that.
CAMERON [STUDIO]: When she said that, I felt this eerie sense of unease. Less because she was joking about a sensitive subject, more because I hadn’t told her I was divorced.
ANTOINETTE STRANGER: Oh, darling, don’t look at me like I can read your mind. You have a tan line and indent on your ring finger.
CAMERON FRANK: [nervous laugh] Right. For a second, I thought you were going to use this as proof of being psychic.