Into the Aether_Part One(27)

The car slowed and they stopped at a stop sign. Finding no other cars in his rearview mirror, Greg put the car into park and turned fully to face Lara.

“I know we... you went through a really freaky thing back there,” Greg said, cocking his head in the direction of their school. “Are you sure you’re alright?” She looked at him; concern lined his face.

“I’m fine.”

“Maybe we should call your mom and tell—”

“I said I’m fine!”

Greg stared at her, his eyes betraying his hurt feelings. He nodded and turned to face front again, put his car in drive, and slowly accelerated down the road. In the hospital drop-off area, they sat in silence for several minutes.

“You know my mom and I aren’t really getting along. I just want to keep this between us,” Lara said.

“She has a right to know,” Greg replied, his eyes not meeting hers. She sighed.

“If you’re a real friend, you won’t tell her.”

Greg let out a derisive snort. “A real friend would be worried about you, Lara.”

“I don’t have time for this,” she said, opening the car door. Spinning around, she slammed it as hard as she could, causing specks of rust to fall to the ground.

Lara stormed past the front of the car and into the emergency room, passing a blonde nurse who was also on her way in.

Greg watched her walk away. He thought about going after her, but she probably wouldn’t be too keen on that. Instead, he pulled out his cell phone and briefly went through his address book to find the number for Linda’s Lingerie. He held the phone to his ear while pulling back up to Darcy Street.

“Linda’s Lingerie, Linda speaking!” said a chipper voice on the other end.

“Hi, Ms. Warner, it’s Greg.”

“Greg? Lara’s friend?” she asked.

“That’s me. Hey, uh, I wanted to tell you I just dropped off Lara at the emergency room at DGH.”

“What’s happened?” Linda asked, panic entering her voice.

“She’s alright, just got a few bruises. I sort of made her go.”

“What happened to her?” Her tone was accusatory, and Greg wondered briefly if he should tell her everything or not. According to Lara, her mother already knew… It just wasn’t something they discussed.

“If you hurt my daughter—”

“It wasn’t me,” he said quickly. “She was fine earlier, but fell asleep in class. When she woke up, we found these bruises on her.” Greg thought a half truth was better than a lie. There was silence on the other end of the line.

He continued driving, stopping at the same intersection where he’d briefly parked the car earlier. The phone was pressed between his ear and shoulder, and the position was becoming more uncomfortable by the second.

“The bruises didn’t show up until after she woke up?” Linda asked, her voice low.

“Well, they were on her midsection. She didn’t start complaining about it until later on.”

“It’s just me in the store. I’ll close up and be down soon. Thank you for telling me and dropping her off.”

Knowing how things were for Lara and Linda at their store, Greg felt a small pang of guilt for making Lara go to the hospital.

“I can watch your store for you, if you’d like,” he offered.

“Th-that would be great!” she responded.

“I’ll be there in ten minutes.”





* * * * *





Linda finished removing the money from the day’s sales from the cash register, and put the cash into a deposit bag directly under the counter. She appreciated Greg coming in and watching the store, but she had only met him half a dozen times. In fact, the longest conversation she’d had with him was ten minutes ago, on the phone. Linda was sure he was a good kid. She always sensed he was a bit different—awkward at times and confident at others. He had the oddest gaps in his knowledge, sometimes misunderstood common expressions, and he often took sarcasm literally. Sometimes, she would notice Lara having to explain what she really meant to a dumbfounded Greg. He also seemed to have an unnatural obsession with comic books, and was constantly scrutinizing the pages as if reading a manual for a complex piece of machinery.

One thing Linda did know was that he had feelings toward her daughter. She’d caught him looking at her, more than once, his eyes wistful and lingering. Perhaps, in his na?veté, he thought Lara might stop spending time with him if he confessed his feelings. In a way she found Greg’s innocence endearing; it was as though he were a child, experiencing the world around him for the first time.

Perhaps he was homeschooled growing up and never got the social interaction most kids did. He had just started going to Leaside this September. Linda had never met his parents.

She started reorganizing the more expensive items in the glass cabinet by the cash register, remembering her late husband David. Lara was just like him.

Before she married David, Linda would dread going to sleep. She had the same nightmare night after night. But after her wedding she looked forward to it; she dreamed of having tea with her mother, or blissfully running through endless fields of flowers. Occasionally, she would have the most vivid erotic dreams of her husband.

The two of them hadn’t made much money, but she had been happy with what they had. David, however, would go through episodes of depression that could span anywhere from several days to almost a month. He had difficulties managing it, but was too stubborn to go to the doctor.