"Come back when you're done," I requested, hopeful.
"Um, okay." She looked at me strangely, then headed out.
I quickly dug in, munching happily on my cheeseburger, holding the sandwich with one hand, and fries in the other, alternating to sip from my Coke. I had nearly finished my lunch when Cody returned. She stood at the entrance to my little corner of the world, and watched as I happily liberated my fingers of the residue of ketchup and mustard. I stopped, mid-lick and looked up, a sheepish grin on my face.
"Hi."
"Hey," she said, shaking her head. I stood, grabbing my drink.
"Come on. I need a break."
I led her through the halls of our floor, and to the conference room. The room, decorated in bold, sharp black and silver, was intimidating with its size.
"Have a seat," I said, indicating one of the black, leather chairs. She did, and so did I. She looked around, obviously not feeling exactly comfortable. "So, I talked with Keith the other day." She looked at me, a smirk on her face.
"What did I do this time?"
"A lot, from what I gather." She ran a hand through her hair, making it even more messy than usual. Her hair matched her - carefree. "He said you're quite the artist." She glanced at me, then at her fingers which played together on the table. She shrugged.
"I doodle."
"Doodle?" She nodded, still not looking at me. "What kind of art are you into?"
"I don't know. I guess I dig buildings, structure stuff," she said, finally looking at me. She readjusted her sunglasses on top of her head, and leaned back in the chair.
"Would you show me?" She screwed up her face.
"No,"
"Why not? Come on, Cody. You scared?" I asked, a brow raised in challenge. I had a feeling that with a girl like this, that was the best route. She snorted.
"Yeah, right."
"Stay here." I hurried back to my cubicle and grabbed a pad of paper and a pen, and raced back, half expecting to find an empty room. But, to my surprise and delight, she stayed where I'd left her. I set the paper in front of her. "Doodle." I grinned. She rolled her eyes and took the pencil, flipping between all her fingers.
"What do you want me to draw?"
"Whatever. I just want to see this talent that I keep hearing so much about." She sighed, and leaned in against the table, staring off into space. I watched as finally she moved the paper to where it would be comfortable for her, then took the pencil in her left hand, and began to draw. I watched in amazement, the lines almost seeming to just appear on the page, as if Cody's hand had nothing to do with it. They were incredibly straight considering it was free-hand, and very well placed.
After literally about three minutes, she shoved the pad toward me, and began to bang the pencil against the table. I grabbed the pad, and looked at it, blown away by what I saw. It was a house, large, yet modest. Even the shrubs and trees had been added in front of the two-story structure.
I looked at the girl, my eyes wide with surprise.
"Cody, this is wonderful." For just a moment I thought I had seen a bit of pride shine through those eyes of hers, but it was gone too quickly for me to know if it had been there at all. "Where is this?" I pointed at the house. She tapped her head.
"I've had this idea in my head for as long as I can remember."
"What, is it like your dream house, or something?" She shrugged.
"Sure, why not." She grabbed the pad back, and tore the page off, crumpling it up in her hands, and tossing it over the table to the trash can that sat by the door on the other side of the room. "It's a crappy drawing, so it doesn't matter." I looked at her for a moment, feeling sad for a moment.
"I think it's wonderful."
"Yeah, well you fuddy duddy's don't have any taste, anyway." I put my hand on my hip, mouth open.
"Fuddy duddy? Alright, junior, me and some of my friends from the geriatrics ward are getting together tonight for some bingo and bridge and whatever else old people do, so why don't you join us? I'll show you old." She just stared at me like I was nuts. "We'll meet at seven at Tristan's. Know where that is?" She nodded.
"Yeah. Maybe I'll be there."
"Well," I pushed away from the table. "I have to get back to work, and I'm sure you have to get back to, well, whatever it is you do." She grinned, and also stood, pushing the chair back under the table.
"See you," she said, bringing her sunglasses down over her eyes, and heading out. I watched her go, confused about this girl. What went on inside that head of hers? It was obvious she was intelligent. My eyes went to the trashcan, and I walked over to it, grabbing the crumpled pictured, and carefully straightening it out.
As I made my way back to my cubicle, I was nearly run over. I stopped short, and so did,
"Jodi?" She smiled at me, her hand to her chest.
"You scared me, Brooklyn."
"Well, I certainly didn't wake up today thinking that today was the day that I'd scare the crap out of Rhonda's daughters." I grinned, making my way back to my desk. She followed.
"Daughters?"
"Yeah. Didn't you see Cody on your way out?" She stopped, her eyes quickly looking down for a moment before she looked away, then finally at me.
"No. Uh, I hadn't realized she had been here." I wondered for a minute what that was all about, but didn't give it much thought.
"Yup, sure was. She came by to bring your mom lunch." For some reason I didn't feel I should tell her about her bringing me lunch, too.
"Oh," Jodi looked at the Starbucks cup in her hand. "Well, I hope she won't be too full for this."
"Oh, I seriously doubt it. Your mom lives on that stuff. I'm sure she'll be thrilled."
"I hope so. Well, I had just wanted to say hi." She gave me a warm smile, and headed off toward her mom's office.
* * *
Kristine and Rand were already standing outside of the restaurant when I got there.
"Oh, baby love, I love this." I ran my hand across the back of Rand's black leather trench, which covered the black turtleneck she wore, which of course was tucked into black jeans.
"Thanks, sweet pea; it's new."
"I thought you didn't like long coats?" I narrowed my eyes as I sized the coat up to see how well it would fit me once she got tired of it.
"Usually I don't, but this is an exception."
"Damn. I was hoping I'd see it hanging in my closet in a few months." She laughed, and slapped me lightly on the butt.
"Dream on, cupcake."
"So, are we ready to go in? I'm freezing my tits off," Kristine said, burying her hands into the deep pockets of her pea coat.
"Well," I looked around, wondering if she'd show or not. "I guess." Glancing at my watch, I saw that it was three after seven. Off in the distance I thought I heard something, and when I turned in the direction of the parking lot on the west side of the building, I smiled. Cody, dressed in dark clothing, was coming up on her skateboard. She hopped up onto the curb, feet still flat on the deck of the board, and then pushed herself with her foot, her hands in her pockets, eyes on me.
"Who's that?" Rand asked.
"Cody Thomlin."
"Why's she here?" I turned to my friend.
"I invited her."
"What? Why?" I narrowed my eyes.
"Rand, be nice." She sighed in irritation as the girl came up to us.
"Hey." She said to me, then looked at the other two. "Gosh, no walkers." She smirked.
"You think you're funny, don't you?" She shrugged, looking uncharacteristically shy. "Cody, this is my best friend, Rand." Cody nodded acknowledgement at her. Rand only stared. "And this is Kristine. She works with me and your mom." Again the nod.
"I've heard a lot about you." Kristine grinned, extending her hand out to her.
"I'm sure you have." Cody grinned as well before taking her hand.
"Now that pleasantries are over, can we go in?" Rand asked impatiently. I turned to her, shocked by her reaction to this kid.
We made our way into the trendy restaurant, which we visited at least twice a week, and were seated fairly quickly at booth. Cody and I sat across from Rand and Kristine, Rand across from me. She kicked me under the table.
"Ow," I glared at her, she grabbed her menu and begin to read the selections. I turned to Cody, wondering just how good of an idea this was as she also perused the menu, her hair tucked behind her ear. She was sitting as close to the wall as she could, and looked very uncomfortable. Kristine's gaze met mine, and she nodded her head toward Rand, then at Cody. I shrugged, having no idea what Rand's problem was. Our waitress came for drink orders. Kristine ordered her usual wine, and then the waitress turned to Cody.
"I'll have tomato juice, please." She said.
"Would that be your version of a virgin Bloody Mary?" Rand asked. The girl turned to her.
"Well, I don't know. Why don't you give me the virtues of being a virgin."
I looked from one to the other stunned, my eyes landing on Rand. "I'll have a margarita," I said, my eyes still burning into Rand's.
"Coors," she ordered, tearing her gaze from mine.
"So, Cody, I hear you're working for Keith?" Kristine said, starting to munch on the chips and salsa that the waitress had left. Cody nodded.
"Yup."
"Do you like it?"
"Very much. Keith's a great guy to work for." I felt terrible as I glanced over at her, seeing that she sat with her hands in her lap, arms flat to her sides. I bet she wanted to jump over the back of our booth, and ditch this place. Frankly, I didn't blame her. I turned to her.
"So, Cody. What do you think of our old lady place?" I indicated the restaurant, filled with twenty- and thirty-somethings. She shrugged, and grinned.
"I should take you to a real young place."
"Oh, really? And what would that be?" I challenged.
"A place on Fourth called Spunkies."
"I've been there!" Kristine said, her voice excited. Cody turned to her, surprise in her eyes. My co-worker ran a hand through her brown hair, pushing the stands out of her eyes.
"You're kidding me," Cody drawled.
"Nope. We have a blast there."
"Hello, earth to Kristine and Cody, what is Spunkies?"
"It's a place filled with people like her," Rand chimed in, nodding toward Cody.
"Hey!" Kristine said, smacking Rand. "Be nice. It's a lot of fun."
"Have you ever been there?" Cody asked, slowly dipping her chip into the thick salsa.
"No," Rand conceded, happy for the distraction as our waitress arrived with our drinks. I looked at Rand, absolutely appalled at the way she was acting.
"Rand, can I see you for a second?" I nodded my head toward the bathrooms. As we left the table, I could hear Kristine starting up a conversation with Cody about Spunkies again.
I walked toward the bathroom, my friend at my heels. I was so pissed and utterly disappointed. As soon as we entered, and I made sure no one else was in the stalls, and then turned on her like a raging bull.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" I demanded. Rand crossed her arms over her chest, and looked me in the eye. "Why are you being such a bitch to her?"
"She's a child, Brooklyn," she said, shifting her weight to her left leg, looking at me defiantly.
"Rand, how old are you? My god, yes she's younger than we are, but so what. I happen to think she's a nice kid. And no matter how old she is, she doesn't deserve to be treated like this from you."
"Well, from everything you've told me about her, and what Rhonda has said, and the shit she's done,"
"Stop it, Rand. You're so full of shit. After all the shit you did at her age? I don't even want to hear about it. What's the real problem here?" She shrugged.
"Just don't really like her. Just a feeling I get."
I stared at her, knowing that I wasn't about to get anything else from her. I sighed, and ran a hand through my hair, turning to the mirror to see, to my surprise, that my eyes were on fire. Whenever I got truly pissed or upset, my eyes almost glowed green. They were lit up now.
"Whatever, Rand." I turned toward the door. "Grow up."
We made our way back to the table, and I sat down, glad to see my margarita waiting for me.
"So Cody and I were saying that we should all take a trip to Spunkies sometimes." I looked at Kristine and smiled.
"Yeah, that would be funny." She looked at me, again nodding with her head trying to figure out what was going on. Yet again, all I had for her was a shrug. "But, neither of you has told me yet what the hell this place is, anyway." I looked from one to the other. Cody looked at me.
"It's a bar of sorts. Kind of dingy, my kind of crowd."
"What's your kind of crowd?" Rand asked. All eyes went to her. I think both Kristine and I were curious each time either of them spoke, especially to each other. Cody looked her in the eye.
"Anything goes," she said flippantly.
"Anything?"
"Anything."
"So, do you date?" Cody shrugged. "Okay, if you do, is it little boys or little girls?"
"Rand," I muttered, looking at her. She avoided my eyes. Cody met her head-on.
"I've been hit on by both, and as I said, anything goes. But you know what I find particularly interesting?" Rand just stared at her, as did I. "Most of the 'little girls' who hit on me are your age."
Kristine chuckled.
"Oh, and the cock fight is on," she mumbled.
Rand managed to keep her mouth shut for most of the rest of the dinner, only adding comments occasionally. I realized that I didn't have to do much; Cody was able to hold her own, and actually she and Kristine and I had a great time. She opened up a little more, and with the help of Kristine who could open up the tightest of cans, conversation flowed and I began to learn more about Cody.
"Me and my sister are pretty close," she said, taking a bite of her steak. "She's a little too much of a goodie two shoes for me, but other than that, she's cool."
"Do you guys share all kinds of secrets?" Kristine asked. She only had one brother, and he was an ass, so they weren't close and never had been. Cody shrugged, taking a drink of her second glass of tomato juice.
"Sort of. I mean, I've told her most of the shit I've done." She grinned. "But I think she doesn't tell anyone cause she likes to live vicariously through me." Kristine and I both laughed at that, and I even caught Rand smiling down at her enchilada. "My mom thinks she's a fucking saint."
"Isn't she?" I asked, drinking from my third margarita. Cody looked at me.
"Pretty much."
"God, how boring." Rand said, surprising us all. I smiled at her, rubbing her calf with my foot. She glanced briefly at me, then looked at Kristine. "My brother dated someone like that once. Real pain in the ass. I didn't even feel comfortable cursing around the twat."
Cody laughed. "Dude, I hear you."
I wasn't optimistic or foolish enough to think that Cody and Rand would ever be friends, but I felt slightly better by time we decided to leave. We all paid our bill, and Cody grabbed her skateboard from behind the hostess' podium.
"Cody, I was serious about the Spunkies thing." Kristine said as we all stood outside of Tristan's.
"Tell me when," Cody said with a nonchalant shrug. My co-worker smiled at her, and touched her shoulder.
"It was great meeting you, and I'll never believe a thing your mom says again." She busted out laughing, and smacked the girl good-naturedly on the arm. Cody grinned.
"Maybe you should."
"I'll see you around. I have to go before my boyfriend has a cow for me being so late." She hugged me. "See you later, lady."
"Bye, Kristine." She left us, and we both turned to Rand.
"Well, it's been interesting," she said, turning to Cody. "Bye." She turned to me and gave me a hug. "Bye, love bug. I'll call you." Without a second glance, she walked away.
"So, what exactly is the brand of mop that's up her ass?" Cody asked, watching her go as she threw her board to the cement and hopped on. I turned to look at her, my eyes narrowed.
"Now don't you start, too." I waggled a finger at her. She grinned, looking down. "Want a ride home?" Cody looked up into the sky, her breath visible in the cold air.
"Sure."
We headed over to my car, and I let us in, belting myself behind the wheel. Cody put her board in the backseat, then belted herself in next to me. I drove on, both of us quiet for a little while until finally we reached her house. I put the car in park, and turned to her.
"Well, I hope you had at least a halfway decent time." She shrugged, nodded.
"Yeah, It was okay. That other chick's kind of cool."
"Your sister came in today right after you left," I said, she grinned.
"Yeah, I saw her and ducked down the street. I wasn't surprised at all."
"What, to see her there?" She nodded, and looked at me, a smirk still on her lips.
"She's got it bad, you know." My brows drew.
"Got it bad?"
"For you, hello?" I looked at her in shock when realization dawned.
"What? For me? What do you mean?"
"Jodi's what your best friend latently is."
"Cody!" She chuckled.
"Just messin'. But she is. Jodi, anyway."
"A lesbian?"
"Is there any other kind of carpet muncher?"
"Cody!" She just laughed at me again.
"Dude, it's true." She looked at me, her smile gone. "Really. She's got the hots for you."
"I had no idea your sister was... gay." I looked at my hands on the steering wheel.
"What, does that bother you?"
"Oh, no. Are you kidding?" I turned back to her. "I mean, according to you, I'm dating the biggest queen this side of the Mississippi." I grinned, so did she. "How do you know she likes me?"
"Duh, she told me. Besides," she glanced out the window. "It's totally obvious. She's not real good at hiding it, yet." She turned back to me. "So watch out."
"Why?"
"Cause her feelings are pretty fragile. If you hurt her, I'll have to kick your ass. Got me?" I smiled, absolutely charmed by her protectiveness of her twin.
"Don't worry, Cody. I have no intention of hurting your sister." She was so serous, I just wanted to hug her as her eyes still bored into mine. "Really. Don't worry."
"Sorry." She relaxed. "You're just kind of her first real crush, you know? She's done chicks before, but you know,"
"Yeah. I got it."
"Cool." She reached for the handle on the door, and pushed it open. With one last glanced at me over her shoulder, she grinned, and was gone.
I stared out at the street for a moment. Hot damn. Slap me and call me red.
Part 5
I pulled the strap of my purse up a little higher on my shoulder as I locked my car up and hurried toward the courthouse. Glancing at my watch, I saw that I had about four minutes to spare. I saw the computer monitor in the wall, and I watched, waiting for the name I needed so I’d know what room.
"Bingo," I hurried toward the elevator, slamming the button in hopes it would make the door open faster. Finally, pushing the three on the number panel, I waited again. With a ding, I was on my way to room 313.
People sat in the chairs waiting for their names to be called up. Those other people didn’t matter to me; I was there for one person only. I looked around trying to find her, and finally I did, sitting near the back, her arm running along the back of the empty chair next to her. She actually had somewhat normal clothes on- black pants and Doc Martins, a button up white shirt. I wondered for just a moment if she had borrowed the shirt from her sister. It totally looked like a Jodi shirt.
Shoving the thought out of my mind, I sat in the chair next to her. Blue eyes turned to look at the person who would dare sit next to her. They opened wide in surprise.
"What are you doing here?"
"Well," I crossed one leg over the other, "I’m not about to let you go through this alone, Cody." I turned to her. "I started out with you, bailing your butt out of jail, so I figured I may as well finish it out, right?" She shrugged, trying to pull the ‘I don’t give a shit’ mode, but somehow I felt that wasn’t the case. "Come on, Code. Don’t be so nonchalant." She looked down at her hands that dangled between her spread knees, then looked over at me.
"Truth?" I nodded.
"Please."
"I’m glad you’re here." I stared at her, completely touched, a slow smile spreading across my face as I felt heat radiate from my heart.
"Awww. I think that must be the only nice thing you’ve ever said to me." She grinned.
"Yeah, well it’ll be the last."
"Cody Savannah Thomlin."
She looked up and sighed.
"That’s my cue." She headed up to the podium that was for the defendants. I watched as the judge reiterated her crime and handed down some words of advice as well as her punishment. She didn’t say much, just quietly turned around and walked back to the chair. I stood.
"Not bad. You can wipe out twenty-four hours of community service in no time." I slapped her on the back as she grabbed the backpack and skateboard that had been under her chair. "What’s this?" I fingered a zipper on the bag. She looked at me like I was crazy.
"Do you really think I’m going to board with this crap on?" She indicated her shirt.
"Whatever was I thinking. Go change and I’ll take you to lunch." She grinned.
"You got it."
I waited outside the bathroom as Cody changed into the skater girl that she is. I had to do some fancy footwork to get here today. I didn’t want to piss Rhonda off, or make her think I was stepping on her toes, but since she wasn’t willing to stand by her daughter’s mistakes, I would.
The door opened, and the Cody that I know stepped out wearing black corduroy shorts that reached her knees, black Vans, and a white tank with a black and gray flannel over it to cut down on the chilly rain of the day.
"Ready?" She nodded, and we headed out as she stuck a black ball cap on her head, tucking her hair behind her ears. "So how do you feel?" I asked as we headed toward my car.
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