Chapter 52
"I can't believe Alexis is going out with Ned…that's so cool."
Sam tilted her head and patted the plaster of Paris onto the mesh frame. "We need to keep going Em, this stuff dries fast."
"My side's done…I'll start working on the lava." Emily wiped her hands on a rag. "Or should we paint it first?"
"No…probably not till tomorrow. What's so cool about it anyway?"
"Huh? Oh Ned and Alexis? I just think their cute together."
"Cute?" Sam brushed her bangs out of her eyes. "Can this stuff go down the drain?"
"I don't think so…let it harden and throw it out… Don't you like Ned?"
Sam blushed. "He's okay I guess. But I don't think he likes me very much."
"Well…I mean. I think he, well…at first maybe, but he likes you now."
Sam was less than convinced by this vote of confidence. She knew there were a lot of people who thought Alexis was nuts for taking Sam in after what she did. Personally, Sam had to agree, but Alexis had pretty much avoided these people. What if she and Ned got close and Ned didn't want some stupid little thief hanging around?
"It's just a date Sam…oh by the way do you want to spend the night after the dance? Mom said I could ask. Everyone will be out pretty late so we can watch all the movies we want. I've got The Lost Boys and The Heathers."
"I'll have to check with Alexis…she's been kinda nuts since my dad showed up last week."
"It's not like we'd be alone…not really. Reginald and Cook both live in and we've got a good security system. Come on it will be great." Sam looked up in time to see Emily pouring the vinegar over the 'lava'.
"No…No Don't." Too late it was bubbling and spurting. A red blob hit Sam's face, another hit Emily, instinctively they both dropped to their knees and covered their heads. It went on and on. Cold, bubbly drops of goo landing everywhere. Eventually the red rain stopped and Sam stood. "I told you not to add the vinegar yet!"
"It was step 12…" Emily retorted.
"But we skipped 5 through 7. You never listen…" Sam lost her train of thought taking in the room at large. She was a dead woman. "Ah man Alice is going to kill me."
"Ah hem." Sam jumped a foot. She hadn't heard Alexis come in.
"Alexis! I'm going to clean it I swear."
Sam stuffed her pajamas and a robe into the duffle bag then added her shampoo and conditioner and tooth brush and paste. The bag was close to full and she hadn't put in a change of clothes or her cds or her nail polish… How had she accumulated so much stuff in just two months?
Alexis had agreed to the sleep over immediately…Monica had already called her before Sam asked. At first Sam was excited. She and Emily had a list of a dozen or so things they were planning to do, including, but not limited to: pigging out on ice cream, doing each others nails, watching scary movies, and playing music all night long. Alexis actually brought up the b word (bedtime) and Sam died a hundred deaths before Alexis cracked a smile.
But now, alone in her room, Sam wasn't excited. Her stomach hurt a little. She'd been to Emily's house plenty of times…but it was so big…what if she made a wrong turn and got lost…what if Mr. Q got angry because the music was too loud…what if Cook caught them raiding the kitchen? What if someone saw her sucking her thumb?
Sam's ears were still ringing by the time they arrived at Emily's house. The dance had been fun, if strange. The girls hung out on one side, the boys on the other. Even kids that came with a 'date' seemed to split up. Emily, Meg, Sam and Jocelyn mostly danced together, or huddled on the bleachers munching on chips and drinking flat punch. The Ninth grade girls had kept Sly and Lucky dancing most of the night. They were both decent dancers and apparently those are rare among 14 year old boys.
They were ushered into the kitchen and force fed sandwiches and vegetables. Cook then presented them with an ice cream bar to rival anything at Kelly's. Hot fudge, Carmel, Strawberries, 'real' whipped cream, and 3 different flavors of ice cream were there for the taking. Just as they were ready to scoot up to Emily's room Mr. Quartermaine entered.
"Ah, ah, ah…what's all this?"
"Hi Grandfather, how was the dance?"
"A bunch of money grubbing, pompous…" Mr. Q grumbled as he helped himself to a scoop of ice cream. "Bad food, boring company…"
"That's quite enough Edward." Lila Quartermaine entered behind her husband. "Samantha is not here to listen to your bellyaching."
Emily flashed a smile to her Grandmother. "Did you have a good time at least?"
"It was lovely, but I would rather hear about your evening. Did you both enjoy your first dance?"
"It was fun." Sam nodded in agreement.
"None of those boys tried anything on you did they?"
"No Grandfather."
"Edward!"
"What about you little Miss…"
"Don't answer that Samantha. Edward, there is no need to interrogate the girls. I'm quite tired, I would appreciate if you could escort me to my room."
"Well, of course my dear." Mr. Q dropped the spoon back into the fudge container.
"Edward, don't you have a physical Monday? Do you really think that confection is necessary?"
Sam watched as Mr. Quartermaine grudgingly lay his ice cream dish back on the counter, muttering something under his breath. As the kitchen door swung closed the girls collapsed, giggling silently.
"Your Grandparents are a trip."
"They're so great. Grandmother is the only one who can get the best of Grandfather. And don't buy into all his talk, he's really a big teddy bear."
"I guess we can't play music all night, huh?"
"Well…they sleep in the East Wing…the other side of the house, so it will be okay. At least till Mom and Dad come home, but that will be a few hours yet."
"Should we clean up?"
"No…Cook doesn't let anyone touch the kitchen…anyway, Grandfather will sneak back down for it later."
Sam woke up suddenly. Emily was still asleep, but the room was filled with sunlight. Sam craned her neck to see Em's clock. It was almost 10 am.
Sam snuck to the bathroom and took a quick shower. When she came out, Em was up and stumbling around cleaning up their mess from the night before.
"Hey, my mom was looking for you. I guess Alexis is here?"
"Already, I thought she was coming this afternoon?" Sam started gathering her junk.
"I don't think she's here to take you home…Mom was acting a little weird…"
Sam froze. Emily shrugged. "Let me throw some clothes on, and we can go see what the story is. Don't be so freaked out, maybe she realized she's in love with Ned and she wants you to be the maid of honor at the wedding or something."
Sam rolled her eyes. "Way to make me feel better."
"So how was the dance?" Alexis asked after leading Sam out onto the patio. Breakfast had been incredibly awkward. Everyone staring at Sam, but pretending they weren't. Then one by one the family began disappearing, until it was just Ned, Alexis, Emily and Sam. Finally Ned had suggested that Alexis and Sam go look at Mrs. Quartermaine's rose garden. Emily thought that sound a bit boring, and Ned told her he needed to speak to her for a few minutes.
"Fine…I guess you had a good time." Sam answered snottily.
Alexis tilted her head. "Excuse me?"
"Nothing."
"I did have a good time actually…" Alexis hesitated.
"Can we go home now?"
"I'm afraid not."
Panic rose in her throat. It was happening too fast.
"Come sit with me."
Sam stared.
"Please Sam." She walked over slowly.
"I…I'm sorry…"
"For what?"
"I..."
"Sam, we can't go home right now…something…something happened last night."
"Are you going to move in with Ned?"
"Oh…no Sam…" Alexis gave a sad laugh. "I don't move that quickly, Ned has nothing to do with this…not directly anyway. He has offered to let us stay here for the weekend, but I promise it's not permanent."
"So you didn't sleep with him?"
"Whether I did or not is really none of your business." Alexis stood abruptly. "Damnit…I'm doing this all wrong…I just…" She looked at Sam chewing her lip, confusion written across her face. "…I wanted Kevin to be here, but he…he thought it would be best for me to tell you alone…and he's, he's probably right…I'm scaring you aren't I?"
Sam could only nod.
"I'm sorry, I don't want to scare you…but something scary has happened." Alexis knelt in front of her. "Last night when Ned was dropping me off, the apartment door was open."
"You locked it…I saw you."
"I know…someone had been there…someone broke in, and I don't know why."
"Did they steal something?"
"No, at least it doesn't look like they did. There was a body on the floor Sam."
"A body? Like a dead body?"
"Yes…the police think…it looks like he was killed somewhere else, and brough there."
Sam's eyes widened…"Sonny?"
"What?"
"Sonny…he's in the mob right…they do stuff like that in The Godfather Movies."
"I don't…I don't think this has anything to do with Sonny…"
"Why not? I mean people don't just go around leaving dead bodies in stranger's apartments…"
"Sam, I don't know why this happened, and maybe you're right…I hadn't really thought about that…but Sam…this person wasn't a complete stranger…"
The words chilled Sam, somehow she knew.
"Baby, the police think it was…there's a good chance it was your Dad."
