Paper Doll: Cut Along The Dotted Line
Chapter 4
More Moss-Tops
Everyone slept like rocks in the bottom of the sea that night, except Tracey who spent the vast majority of his night power puking blue and green into a bucket Edie had procured from the cleaning staff. It wasn't until the early hours of the morning that his stomach finally quit rolling and he was able to hit the pillow. He didn't get long to sleep however, because a few hours later the phone beckoned them all.
Edie, who had her arm curled protectively around Tracey's head, rolled over and picked up the receiver. She answered with a 'who is this?' and a few yeses before hanging up. With a groan she prodded her brothers face and smiled down at him as he cracked an eye open.
"Sorry to wake you up, but we're being picked up soon."
"…what?" Tracey mumbled, his vision was bleary and he was really wishing he'd washed his mouth out better before going to sleep. The stale taste of vomit clung to his taste buds, if he'd had anything left to throw up he probably would have.
"Ramona and Cal are picking us up for breakfast. Well, it'll be more like brunch but you get the idea."
Tracey propped himself up on his elbows, realizing that his foot was hitting something soft and squishy and that it was Fran's belly. "But…I don't have any clothes here. And I need to shower or something. I smell terrible…and I'm still tired."
"Don't you worry about clothes, I can take care of that. And I'll convince Fran and Alexis to let you nap later if you attend. Please?"
Not wanting to disappoint his sister Tracey grinned weakly and nodded. "Okay…but please don't make me wear anything stupid."
Relieved that Edie respected his request, Tracey found himself standing outside the hotel a few hours later in plain dark jeans and a t-shirt. His hair was having a hard time staying off his face but it wasn't spiked or gooped up in gel, he could live with it obscuring his vision for a while. Fran and Alexis looked much like themselves in pink polka dots and purple plaid getups, Edie was in a simple golden frock and held a matching handbag. They didn't have to wait very long for their ride to pull up, a white limo rounded the corner and stopped before them.
Edie went to open the door when someone from the inside kicked it and swung out their long legs. It was a VERY tall, thin man with tattoos up and down his arms, a floppy dark green Mohawk that was tinged blonde at the tips, skin like caramel and a scar down the left side of his face. He had more peircings in his face than the girls could count upon initial inspection and wore a dark, sleeveless shirt, tight ripped jeans and calf high boots.
This was not the kind of person Fran or Alexis were expecting to see step out of a limo, but neither Tracey or Edie seemed phased by him. A wide grin spread across the face of the tall man, he opened his mouth to speak and an odd, garbled greeting came out that startled the girls.
Both Edie and Tracey hugged the man and greeted him as Cal, Tracey backed away for a moment and seemed to curve two hands before his chest then point to Cal who opened his own hand and thumped his thumb off his chest in response.
"Oh! I get it!" Fran blurted out loudly. Edie, Tracey and Alexis spun around to look at her, Cal's eyes fell on her a moment later in confusion. Fran grinned and pointed at Cal, "I get it now! You're deaf, that's why your voice sounded so funny!"
Alexis hissed and jabbed Fran in the ribs. "Fran! You can't just tell people they sound funny!"
"I-I wasn't trying to be rude at all!"
"Yeah, well you kinda just were!" Alexis snorted and continued to scold Fran, but a second later a little furry blue face was shoved between them and sniffing the air. The girls both laid eyes on a Mareep with a skull collar that Cal had lifted up to greet them, he looked at them both hopefully with his one good eye and smiled genuinely.
Trying to compose his voice better for their benefit, Cal spoke again. "This, this is The Baron. He's my service Pokemon, he's my ears. Don't worry, you don't have to sign to me. I can read your pretty lips."
Both Fran and Alexis pretty much melted on the spot, partially from the embarrassment that he could lip read and partially from how stupidly adorable he was acting. Fran's head was spinning with the thought that he thought her lips were pretty and Alexis was fixated by the Gyarados tattoo curling up his left arm, in an instant both girls had developed hopeless crushes.
Those crushes were soon to become even more hopeless though, as the girls quickly learned from Edie that they were going to meet up with Cal's wife. Who she was, the girls had no idea. But still, they admired him from afar in the limo as he talked wildly back and fourth with Tracey. Hands flew everywhere and Cal would let out the occasional laugh, for a deaf guy that looked like a tough biker he had a very bubbly giggle. They caught on quickly that Edie and Tracey were cousins with Cal, how was short and nerdy blood related to so much quirky and sexy?
After about 20 minutes if weaving through traffic the limo pulled up to what looked like a condo complex. Everyone piled out of the limo and followed Cal, Fran and Alexis looked to Tracey for an explanation of where they were going and who they were meeting but he didn't even bat an eye at them. Either he was still upset at them for abandoning him during the party or just didn't give a damn anymore.
When they reached the top floor Cal turned and explained to them that the entire floor was his "schweet Ramona's" penthouse. Fran and Alexis had no idea who or what a Ramona was but figured she must be loaded to afford her own floor in a condo complex, the floors were marble and there was a fountain right before the front door!
Cal didn't hesitate to open the front door and let them in, the entire space was open concept, very modern and covered in plush white carpet. Large windows faced the glittering water and looked out over the ships that rolled into harbor, Fran and Alexis could hardly believe that someone lived in this work of art and were almost too afraid to walk in but The Baron bumped their legs and moved them along.
Suddenly there was thudding on the floor and a little girl, probably about 10 years old with green hair in stubby pigtails, ran out of a hallway and launched herself at Cal. With an open hand she tapped her forehead with her thumb repeatedly and beamed at him, an Eevee draped around her shoulders licked Cal's cheek.
The little girl laid eyes on everyone else suddenly, she opened her mouth and screamed. "Edie! Tracey! Daddy! Why didn't you tell me they were coming? And who are those weird ladies?"
Fran and Alexis both noted that the girl didn't have a 'deaf accent' like her father did meaning she was probably a hearing child, which made insulting her under their breath for referring to them as 'weird' impossible. Still hanging off her father she introduced herself to them as Debbie, then jumped back on the floor and ran off screaming for her mother.
"Wow…she has a lot of energy." Alexis stated wide eyed.
"That's pretty typical of kids in our family." Edie smiled, "you should have seen Tracey as a kid. Wild as they come, he wasn't always s-"
"Ahhh! Edie, please? Not now?" Tracey stopped his sister from speaking as if she was about to reveal some horrible, life-altering secret. There was a look of desperation in his eyes that was visible even hidden behind his hair.
Corralling them all onto the large balcony, Fran's eyes went wide at the table with the massive spread of food on it. There was every kind of fruit you could think of, little sandwiches on fancy plates, cookies and cake and tea. It was like she'd fallen smack dab in the middle of a fancy tea party without the old ladies in bad hats. She was almost too overwhelmed to take a seat, but what would happen a moment later would nearly push both herself and Alexis over the edge of the balcony.
A woman came out with Debbie. She had olive skin, dark brown eyes, bleach blonde hair in an angular haircut and a straight nose. It took a second glance for Fran and Alexis to believe what they were seeing, sure she wasn't wearing her usual outlandish style but standing right there before them in sweats and a t-shirt was a woman who graced the cover of music and fashion magazines across the nation.
Ramona, or The Divine Lala as the rest of the world knew her, looked to both girls with a smile and held her hand out for them to shake. "Hello, I'm Ramona. It's nice to meet you girls." Her speaking voice was just as sweet as the one she sang with.
For once neither Alexis or Fran could find words, being able to sign right at that moment would have been useful. They just shook her hand, wide eyed in silence and somehow managed to take their seats at the opposite end of the table. A day ago they were two girls in a car with a bunch of silly dresses and a reluctant assistant, now they were sitting at a table with a supermodel and her popstar cousin (not to mention her smoking hot husband and wired daughter). Tracey was still Tracey, no new, fantastic developments on him.
Again they tried to comprehend just HOW it was possible that Tracey was family with these people, Alexis wanted to launch herself over the table and shake him for not mentioning this sooner but decided against it because strangling your assistant would probably leave a bad impression on brand new acquaintances. Not the best way to make friends or business connections, and they were both already thinking it. Silently with their eyes as they nibbled on the food before them and the others talked, Fran and Alexis thought about asking both Edie and the pop star to help them out with their show.
However, Fran had quite a way of putting a wrench in the engine. As Tracey was in the middle of explaining his padlock to Ramona, Fran couldn't contain herself anymore and blurted out "so miss-er, Mrs. Lala-Ramona-lady, is it weird being married to a deaf guy when you're a singer? I mean, it's not like he can hear or appreciate your music, right?"
The faces of everyone at the table turned to her in shock (except Cal how hadn't seen her face to read her lips and Alexis who appeared on the verge of jamming a spoon up Fran's nose). Fran realized very quickly her faux pas though, covered her mouth and left the table running back inside the penthouse.
Alexis was too angry to go after her and started trying to cover up for Fran by apologizing to Ramona, poor Cal was trying to figure out what just happened when Tracey decided to take it upon himself to try and fix this mess and left the table, he found Fran pouting in a ball by the front door berating herself for having no language filter.
Tracey took a deep breath and with his hands on his hips sighed, "okay girlfriend. Don't sit there and feel sorry for yourself, you said something dumb but if Cal had heard you he would have laughed. He wouldn't have been offended."
Fran looked up from her knees with tears in her eyes, "…you called me girlfriend."
"Well, that's what you keep calling me isn't it?"
"Yeah…"
Tracey sat cross legged on the floor in front of her and handed her a tissue he had in his pocket, she hesitated a moment but took it and tried to avoid his prying eyes. "If I tell you a secret will you stop crying and come back outside and make nice-nice with everyone?"
Fran frowned. "Depends, what kind of secret?"
Grabbing his cousin Cal's wallet from the stand behind him he opened it and flipped through the photos that were crammed inside. Going through baby pictures, birthday parties and wedding photos Tracey found the one he was looking for and passed it over to her. The edges of the picture were crinkled but the picture was 4 to 5 years old tops, and in the picture was a pale looking boy with a massive head of dark, messy hair wearing roller skates and a cast on his arm. Scratches decorated his face and the grin he had was one of pure bliss. Tracey shook his head and bit his lip. "Fran, this is my secret identity."
"…what am I looking at?"
"Myself at 12. I was brutal, wild and didn't take crap from anyone. I was destructive, won't get into why right now but…my point is I did something stupid and someone said something to me one day that made me very ashamed of myself. So I cut my hair, gave up skating and poured myself into my books even more. Like, I was always a bright bulb but my wild streak didn't make anyone take me seriously. I've been censoring myself for years because of something someone said and my own guilt, and in that respect I really am different than the rest of those yahoos out there. They don't care Fran, if you had stayed out there a moment longer I guarantee you everyone would have started laughing. They like strange." Tracey tried his best to smile earnestly, but if felt stiff to him. He really wasn't great with pep talks.
Fran handed the photo back, she didn't seem to be crying anymore but her eyes were still red. "You should have kept the hair. It was cute."
"HA, no, actually that was the one thing I don't regret getting rid of. Seriously, it weighed a ton and I was always finding my house keys in it." Tracey clawed at his current head of hair remembering what a burden it used to be, he shaved half of it off on a regular basis and it was thick enough as is. He couldn't figure out how he used to manage with a full head of it so long it used to get stuck in his pants.
A hand grabbed his shoulder and he jumped to his feet and spun around, realizing it was only Cal. Tracey figured everyone had informed him of Fran's social slip up, Cal got on his knees and grinned at Fran who was trying to hide her blushing face in her hands. The Baron peered at her with his black eyes and nudged her knee with concern.
Cal made semi-circles with both hands and pointed at himself, they way he talked with a combination of audible speech and signing made Fran want to throw her arms around him and tell him to stop being so darn cute. "Come back outside? Please? My Ramona said your comment was very funny." Him beaming at her wasn't making the blush on her face back down, she could see that he had a gold tooth.
"So, Ramona doesn't hate me?" Despite her face being beet red at the painfully adorable presence of Cal, she spoke to him with her mouth visible so he could read her lips.
Cal shook his head and replied. "Nope!" He stood up and offered his hand to her, she took it with her own shaking anxiously and he helped her up.
Fran stuck and hand over her mouth on purpose and turned to face Tracey. "You cousin is making it very hard for me to resist kissing him right now!"
With a smirk Tracey covered his own mouth. "Well, I think if you did that Ramona MIGHT start to resent you."
NOTE: Cal is specifically speaking with ASL, in case anyone was curious. I referenced the Signing Savvy website for the signs he uses. Ramona is an obvious parody/homage to Lady Gaga and WHOOPS. Tracey was once a little badass according to my headcanon. Sorry folks.