Into the Groves

Nightfall came sooner than I anticipated. I still needed to spread her ashes and say my goodbyes to her, so I must stay another day in this town. I walked the quiet streets, heading back to my aunt’s old home. I looked to the sky, admiring the innumerable stars that decorated it. This view makes me hate this place a little less. With the amount of light pollution in the city I can only ever see the moon and maybe a few sparse specks of stars. But here, it’s like I can dive into a sea of stars and bathe myself in the glow of the moon. It’s almost intoxicating how beautiful it is. I brought my gaze back to the empty streets. Though it is only 9pm, every storefront is closed. That’s small town living for you. One store in particular catches my eye. Mama Blossom’s Bakery. I’d only ever been there once, long ago. A summer I can’t seem to get out of my head today.

Aunt Lily was an amazing person. She had many talents; she could grow practically anything, she was an incredible painter, and was a wonderful pianist. A gorgeous grand piano sat on display in the living room. When the mood struck her, she would sit down and play for Laura, James, and I. It was usually something upbeat. Laura would pull me off the couch and we would dance to those wonderful tunes. James normally sat back and just chuckled at us. His signature heart melting grin placed prominently across his face. Once Aunt Lily finished playing, Laura and I would dramatically fall to the ground as if we were marionettes whose strings were just cut. Our out of breath laughter would fill the house. Aunt Lilly would look at us, a soft gentle smile graced her face. But her eyes always seemed to be elsewhere. Maybe recounting her own youth, though she was only in her mid twenties at the time.

As fun as those days were, I was still processing the loss of my parents. A fresh wound that was slowly healing, but sometimes the pain was too much. I couldn’t accept the fact that one minute they’re here alive and well, the next they’re gone. Each moment, each laugh, each smile, each hug, all that love. All of it, just ghosts of the past. Painful and bittersweet. So much rage and sadness swirled around inside me, slowly boiling up. I’ve tried to talk to Laura and James about it, but neither of them could relate. It’s a weird feeling to be with friends, yet feel isolated. It wasn’t their fault. No one should have to go through a tragedy like that. I’m one of the unfortunate few stuck in a perfectly idyllic town where nothing like that even happens to anyone. Oh well, I’ll have to keep these emotions bottled up and hope it doesn’t explode from all the pressure.

One particular day that summer, Laura stopped by the house. Aunt Lily had to leave for the day, go to her flower shop to take care of a few things.

“April, I have a great idea!” Laura smiled, it was an odd mix of innocent and wicked. I raised a brow with intrigue.

“You know how Todd and Randy are still giving you trouble?” She paused for a moment. Of course I know the jackass twins are continuing to bully me and Laura is well aware of it too. I stared at her waiting to see if she actually wanted me to respond or if she was going to tell me her great idea. Laura continued on, her smile was turning more evil by the second.

“Well, I thought to get back at them we could bake them a cake with a special ingredient.” She pulled out a small glass bottle from her pocket. It said syrup of ipecac. My brows bunched together as I asked, “What is that?”

“It’s a medicine that makes people vomit!” she practically shrieked. She’s impressed by her own idea.

“Sounds vile,” I started to respond. Laura’s eyes dropped and her smile disappeared from her face. I could tell she thought I wasn’t going to be down for such a prank. A crooked smile formed on my face as I continued, “I like it.” Laura skipped through the door and to the kitchen. She was wickedly giddy, like a villain getting ready to enact their master plan. I proceeded to pull out one of aunt Lily’s cookbooks. Laura and I quickly got to work. We decided to go with a classic vanilla cake with chocolate frosting. Our special ingredient would be added to the frosting mix. With the batter almost done, Laura grabbed the wooden spoon and held it in front of me.

“Taste it,” she demands. I leaned in to lick the spoon, then wham. Laura had smeared the batter over my face. Her giggles took over the house. She sarcastically said, “Whoops.” I narrowed my eyes. Oh. It’s on. I dipped my hand into the batter. I tell her, “You should try some too.” Then I wipe my batter covered hand over her face. Laura’s look afterward said it all. We both began splattering batter onto each. Squeals and laughter accompanied the sound of the food fight that was taking place.

The emptied metal bowl clanged to the ground, signalling the end of our fight. We stood there silently for a moment as we took in the sight before us. Laura was dripping with batter. It was in her hair, on her face, all over her clothes. I could only imagine that I had a similar appearance. Laura reached out with one hand. She traced two fingers along my cheek and to my chin. Those fingers now had batter on them. She stared at her hand for a moment before she stuck them in her mouth. Afterward a smile creeped across her face and she melodically stated, “Sweet.” I was oddly entranced by the action. I shook my head.

“We made a huge mess,” I sighed as I looked around the room.

“And we have no more batter for our plan,” Laura's voice was laced with disappointment as she grabbed the mixing bowl from the ground.

“We would have had plenty if someone wasn’t so sneakily evil,” I called out as I went to get the mop and bucket.

“I can’t help that I’m a little impulsive,” she chuckled. While I filled up the bucket, Laura began wiping down the counters. Soon there was no trace of our little batter fight, except for all the batter that remained on us.

“We both need showers,” I stated. “You can go first and I’ll put our clothes in the wash. You can borrow some of my things to wear.” Laura nodded. I followed her to the bathroom. From behind the door she handed me her clothes.

“Once you're done, just pick whatever you want from my closet.” I headed down to the laundry room and started the washer. I threw in Laura’s things first. Then I stripped to my undergarments and threw in my dirty clothes too. I walked upstairs toward my room and put on my robe. I waited for Laura to be done. We traded places and I cleaned myself up.

Once we were both clean and dressed we decided to go into town. There weren’t too many activities this place had to offer. But there were a few boutiques that Laura and I loved to go window shopping at. We both wandered into the different stores. Trying on a few items that we knew we couldn’t afford. Well I couldn’t afford them. Laura’s family helped found this town and owned quite a bit of the town. But even with all that money, Laura was still one of the most relatable people I’ve ever met. A few different times she insisted on buying something for me. I refused. I don’t want her thinking that I’m only friends with her for her money.

As time went on, Laura and I grew hungry. We walked around and searched for a food place that sounded good. Laura tapped me excitedly on the shoulder.

“We should eat there!” She pointed to a place called Mama Blossom’s Bakery.

“Still have cake on your mind?”

“Yes. Also this place has the best chocolate cake!”

“Fine, let’s go.” Laura looped her arm around mine and dragged me to the store. We each got a slice of chocolate cake and a cup of coffee to go with it. We sat out on the porch at one of the tiny tables. This day was going great, so of course those two had to show up. It’s like they have a device to tell when I’m too happy and they must track me down to destroy it.

“If it isn’t orphan Annie,” Todd’s vile voice came from behind me.

“Leave us alone Todd!” Laura scolded. Her eyes narrowed and her nostrils flared with anger.

“Looks like your bodyguard isn’t here today,” Randy chimed in. James was at the high school for early football training. Of course they would wait to take advantage of that.

“We don’t need a bodyguard!” Laura spat as I continued to stay silent. I didn’t matter, I bruised their egos when I first came to town. Ever since it’s been open season on me in their eyes. Todd grabbed a chair, spun it around, and straddled it. He reached out to brush some hair out of my face.

“Orphan Annie, are you not talking to us anymore?” he feigned concern. I slapped his grimy hand from my face.

“Don’t touch me,” I said annoyed.

“Aww don’t be like that orphan Annie,” Todd continued to taunt. But as he failed to get a rise out of me he pressed on.

“I bet your parents are happy to be dead,” he sneered. “Now they don’t have to deal with a boring bitch like you.” I balled my hands into fists. The rage and sadness finally exploded. A buzzing noise cancelled out everyone else. Tears silently escaped my eyes. Then everything went black for a minute.

“April let’s go!” I could feel Laura pulling on my arm as she urged me to stand up. I looked down and Todd was on the ground. He held his nose as blood seeped from between his fingers.

“April, come on!” I broke out of my daze. I stood up and ran off with Laura. Randy shouted curses at us, but he stayed by Todd’s side. Once we ran a good distance, we stopped.

“What happened?” I asked. I felt the sting of tears that I cried earlier. Plus my hand was on fire.

“You seriously don’t remember?” Laura questioned. I tried to search her eyes for a clue to what might have happened. They were filled with concern. I shook my head.

“You punched Todd in the nose,” she began. “And I'm pretty sure you broke it.” That explained why my hand was starting to swell.

“But he totally deserved it after what he said.” His words replayed in my head. Yes they had been bullying me, but I’d never guess he was capable of being so cruel.

“Maybe he’ll think twice before messing with you again.”

“Or maybe I have a bigger target.”

“Either way that was badass.” We both laughed at her statement. We walked to Laura's house. Once there she patched me up. We hung out for sometime after that. When the sun started to set behind the hillside, I decided it was time to go home. It was that night that I truly noticed how incredible the night sky was.

I arrived back at my aunt’s home. I couldn’t help but notice how empty this house felt. I made my way to the piano and sat down. The sound of her playing took over the whole of my mind. Tears streamed down as I remembered I have to say goodbye tomorrow.