“Christine!” Vivian said as she hefted a large bowl of garden salad from the kitchen counter and carried it to the dining room table. “Dinner’s ready!”
“Okay! I’ll be down in a minute,” Christine said from the hall on the second floor. “I’m looking for something. I can’t find it.”
“You can look for it after dinner, whatever it is.”
“Be right down in a second.”
“I can help you with that after dinner, okay?”
“No, that won’t be necessary. I’ll find it, though. Thanks, anyway. I’ll be down before you know it.”
“Come down now.”
Christine stood a few feet from the head of the stairs and looked down into the dining room. She watched Vivian dig a large serving spoon into a bowl of mashed potatoes and plop it on her dinner plate, then sit down to eat.
Stealthily and quietly, Christine tiptoed down the hall to the west end of the wing and stood before the door to the sealed room. She fumbled with the duplicate keys and hurriedly tried a few before one of them unlocked the bolt lock. She turned from the door and quickly scooted down the hall to the head of the stairs.
“Hey, Viv! I found it. Let me just put it away and I’ll be right down in a sec.”
“Come on, Christine, dinner’s getting cold,” Vivian said. She jabbed a fork into a piece of broccoli smothered with melted cheese and popped it into her mouth.
Christine unlocked the door and quickly slunk into the room. She went to the closet and felt around the shelf for the gun.
“I should’ve thought to look on the shelf when I was here last time,” she said to herself as she pulled the gun off the shelf, placed it in the waistband at the back of her jeans, and covered it with the loose blouse she wore. She closed the door, turned around, and saw Vivian standing at the threshold with her arms crossed, her face an angry scowl.
“I knew I didn’t misplace my keys after all,” Vivian said as she followed Christine down the stairs. “If you wanted it so badly, I would’ve gladly given the gun back to you, if only you had asked. As long as you have it, however, you cannot stay here.”
“Fine,” Christine said. “I’ll rent a room then.”
They sulked without speaking until they entered the dining room. Vivian broke the silence after a few moments.
“Why are you always causing so much trouble?” Vivian said as she seated herself at the dining table and sipped iced water from her glass.
Christine shrugged. She picked up a fork and toyed with her salad.
“You know,” Vivian said, “you should consider yourself lucky, since I’ve been more than generous to you. It’s time you grow up. After all, you’re twenty-two. Where’s your sense of respect and appreciation?”
“Oh, shut up.”
“Where would you go?”
“What do you care?”
“I care, Christine. I care about you. You’re my sister. You and Blaine are all I have. Does that mean anything to you?”
“She never cared about me.”
“I know. But that’s all water under the bridge.”
“Is it?”
“Put it behind you.”
Christine glared at Vivian.
“You’re welcome to stay as long as you want,” Vivian said, “however, I won’t tolerate anyone having a gun in this house. Not now, not ever. If you insist on keeping it, then you’re going to have to leave and that’s final.”
“Okay, okay. I get the picture. Here, take the damn thing.”
Christine withdrew the gun from her waistband and plopped it on the table with a loud clatter. Then she crossed her arms in a huff.
“I can always get another one,” Christine said. “Better yet, soon as I can get a room, I’m outta here. It’s so stifling here. But, I want that gun back. If not, hey, man, no prob. I’ve got friends.”
“Really, Christine? Where? You haven’t been here in twenty-two years and you’ve been here about a week. So, what are you implying?”
“Well, I have friends in New York, Florida, and parts of Europe, and I’m not implying anything. All I’m saying is I have friends and they have friends. People I can stay with.”
“Regardless, what concerns me most is the fact that you obviously came here with intent to harm, to commit murder, to kill someone you didn’t even know had been dead in the first place.”
“Look, damn it, it’s not what you think. I’m sorry I gave you that impression. I’ve had that gun for a while now. Just leave it alone, all right?”
“No, I won’t leave it alone and it’s not all right. I can’t leave it alone. I don’t like guns and I don’t want one in this house, plus I don’t like the fact that . . . that it may be your only reason for coming here. It disturbs me.”
“Well, like I said before, it’s for protection.”
“There’s mace, pepper spray, karate. There are other things, legal things you could use to protect yourself.”
Vivian picked at her food in silence. Christine sat in her chair, arms still crossed.
“I have an idea,” Vivian said. “Why don’t you tell me a little bit about your friends?”
“There isn’t much to tell, really. There’s Jimmy, a very good, close friend of mine in New York.”
“Oh? A boyfriend?”
“No, he’s just a friend, strictly platonic, and then there’s Dougie and his wife, Tawny, my best friends in Florida. They’re the three closest friends I have.”
“That’s good. I’m glad you have some friends. Now, let’s finish our dinner.”