Alexander

12 Years Ago, June 15th

 

 

 

Alexa was pretty.

Her violet eyes were wide as they moved over my body. I scratched my arm, suddenly feeling like a wiry stick figure in front of her slight, soft curves.

“Alex,” my mom placed her hand firmly on my shoulder, “why don’t you show Alexa your paintings?”

My mother had her happy mask on. That’s the smile she gave when she wanted to endear herself to others. And, I had begun to learn, she used it to get something from them.

I sighed knowing my mother would ultimately use this pretty girl, and she had no idea.

“Of course.” I glanced at her before my sight glided over to her parents.

Her father was tall, thin, and had thick, light brown hair. The corner of his mouth ticked up and I got the feeling he was impatient for me to leave.

Alexa’s mother looked just like her. Average height, her curves more pronounced with long, dark brown hair. She didn’t smile or look at me. Her focus was on the furniture, the walls, and everything that might have a dollar sign attached to it.

I waved for Alexa to follow me. She nodded, moving just behind me as I made my way down the hallway to my room.

Ever since my dad died in a plane crash the day after Christmas eight years ago, my mother has grown more distant, colder. A plane I was supposed to be on but my mother refused to let me go.

Now I wish I had been on it so I didn’t have to live with her. She never lets me out and I’m not allowed to play with the boys in the building anymore. Occasionally, I got to hang out with Bradley, my cousin, but Alexa was the first kid my age I’d seen in a while.

“Wow, I love your room. Did you paint all these yourself?” Alexa finally spoke as she moved around my room.

“Yeah. I don’t have much else to do, so art keeps me occupied. How about you? What do you love to do?”

She turned and her pale skin bloomed with a pretty pink, but it was her smile I liked the best. I wondered who else she smiled for.

“Don’t tell my parents but I would love to be an actress. My parents are always making me take social lessons but when I have time to myself, I watch TV. I especially love the old comedy shows.”

“I watch some TV, too. Do you watch Get Smart?” I asked since she said she liked old comedies.

“I love that show.”

I grabbed my remote from my desk and pushed a button. A large monitor came down from the ceiling.

“That’s cool,” she said as she watched it descend.

I smirked, feeling proud of my latest tech feature. If I was stuck here in this building, I might as well have fun.

“Wow, it’s Get Smart. What are the odds it would be on?” Alexa took a seat in my desk chair.

“I have a program that can get me any television show I want. Give me the name of some obscure television show and I can find it.” I walked over to show her my remote which looked more like a keyboard to a computer.

“Hmm. Oh, I know, how about Get A Life. It was on in the early 90s.”

Never heard of it but she was the couch potato so I typed it in. Episodes popped up on the screen of some balding guy on a bicycle.

“I can’t believe you found it. This is fun. I have a more modern one. How about Coupling? It’s a British TV show.”

I typed it in and up it came. She kept naming shows, especially British shows.

“I bet you don’t have Spaced.”

After I typed it in a young Simon Pegg looking confused showed up on the screen.

“How about we go make some snacks in the kitchen and sit and watch some of these shows?” I said.

She jumped up and clapped her hands. I liked her. Alexa was cute and funny. I wondered if, after today, I would ever see her again. I hoped so.

We started back down the hall and as I turned the corner I heard my mother’s voice. “But she should be a Hawthorne. She needs to be with me and Alexander.”

I came to a stop and gazed over at Alexa who cocked her head. “Be with you?” she whispered to me.

Did my mother want to keep Alexa for some reason? I feared that my mother was hatching a plan that now involved Alexa. “Come here,” I said in a low voice so my mother wouldn’t hear as I waved Alexa to stand next to me behind the wall.

“I understand that, Emma. We want that, too. She is meant to be a part of your family. But now is just not the time,” Alexa’s father said.

“I know, Douglas, but I had hoped . . .” my mother said.

My mother wanted Alexa to live with us. But why would she think her parents would allow such a thing?

“We have spoken with her.” I could tell instantly that it was Alexa’s mother by her thick Russian accent.

“Did you tell her about me? About us? About what will happen?” my mother asked.

“She’s too young. When she’s older. Then you can have the perfect family. And Alexa will also play an important role. We are still agreed on that?” Her father’s voice held uncertainty.

That’s when I heard the slight inflection in my mother’s voice. The smooth snake-like tone that told me these were selfish plans she made with the Dortons. Whether they were in on the plan or not, didn’t matter. In the end, my mother would do anything to get what she wanted.

She’s already killed, it wouldn’t surprise me if she did it again.

“You can rest assured that Alexa is one of the most important pieces in the puzzle. Where will Alex be without his perfect bride? With the perfect political family at his side,” my mother said.

I felt Alexa stiffen at my side and I glanced over at her. Her mouth dropped open and I moved my hand quickly to cover it. I knew she was about to gasp or scream or, more likely, cry.

Wrapping my arm around her side I ushered her back to my room. I let go of Alexa to hear her whimper as she fell back into my desk chair. I came to her side and bent down to gaze up at her tear-stained face.

“You can’t say anything, Alexa. Please. You don’t understand my mother. It will only make it worse if she thinks you know,” I said understanding all too well what happens when someone found out one of my mom’s secrets.

“Who am I going to tell? As you heard, my father wanted to make sure I would be married off to you. It feels like I’m living in the sixteenth century. Is this what wealthy families do? If so, I don’t want any of my parents’ money. They can keep it.” She waved her hands in the air.

I moved over to my bed and flopped down on my back. “I don’t know. It feels like it in my home. I’ve seen movies about that time period and royalty. There’s always intrigue and manipulation and murder. Just like being a Hawthorne.” I couldn’t stop the bitter chuckle that escaped my lips.

 “What? Oh my God, Alex, that’s terrible. Do you think my parents are involved in all that?”

I rolled my head to the side and watched her. She’s so pretty, so innocent, and a part of me wanted to protect her.

“If they weren’t, then they are now. I used to feel lonely here, by myself. My mother never letting me out but now I think it was for the best. No one should ever get to know my mother. She used to be kind and loving, but that changed when my father died. Something snapped in her and she’s been on a mission ever since. I don’t know what that mission is but I have a feeling it’s not good.”

As terrified as I was for Alexa, I had grown used to what my mother did. A part of me was even happy. It felt good to confide in someone about my mother. I didn’t feel so alone anymore.

“We should run away.” Alexa stood and came to sit on the edge of the bed.

I sat up and scooted next to her. “Where? We won’t even be eighteen for several years. How would we get anywhere?”

Alexa frowned. “I don’t know.”

We sat in silence for a moment before I thought of something.

“How about when we are adults, we run off to a tropical island. Somewhere that no one will find us,” I said and smiled.

She turned her body toward me, excitement lighting her features. “Yeah, but we have to have money so we can leave without a trace. I’ve seen enough TV shows to know, you can only use cash to really disappear. You said your father died. Do you get an inheritance?”

“When I turn twenty-five I inherit my money. It should be more than enough to leave and live happily for a while.”

She nodded. “If I know my family, I will get a check when I graduate school. I’ll put it away and use it for when we leave. Maybe when they get us together for our wedding, we can sneak away and disappear.” She stuck out her hand. “Let’s shake on it.”

I shook her hand and then got an idea. Walking over to my bookshelf, I pulled out two books and handed it to Alexa. Taking the paper cover off one and placing it on the other, I handed her the one with the fake cover.

“This is a book about the Native American code talkers from World War Two. I’ll write to you. When I do, it will be a secret message. You can decode it. When you write me, you do the same. This way, no one, not even my mother, will be able to figure out what we are actually saying to each other.”

She jumped up. “Yes! That’s a great idea. But why did you put,” she looked down at the cover, “The Self-Taught Computer Programmer cover on this?”

“If anyone sees the book, they won’t know what it really is.”

“Ahh!” She smiled and tapped the side of her head. “Smart thinking.”

I gathered up the other book and cover and put it away on the shelf just as my bedroom door swung open. My mother stood there, her eyes on the hunt for anything out of place, like always.

“Alexa, I’m afraid it’s time to go. Your parents made dinner reservations. Alex and I can’t come, but we did invite you over for brunch tomorrow before you two head back to California.”

Alexa nodded and the brightness of the girl I was talking to dimmed in my mother’s presence.

“Bye, Alex. Thanks for the book. I have a lot to learn.”

My mother watched her go before she turned back to me. I kept my eyes level with my mother’s trying to find any sign that she knew what Alexa and I were up to. But there was nothing. Only the usual coldness I had come to expect from her.