Chapter 2: Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

Violet had just gotten settled into her new room, well, her sleeping space. This clearly was not a bed room. She sat down on the pull out sofa and let out a heavy sigh. This wasn't a bad place, but she felt like she shouldn't have to be here. Her mom just wanted to get rid of her for a while. That was always the reason. There was never a time where she really could not have stayed home and taken care of herself.

Already bored, Violet looked over to her bag. There was something in there that she had intended to do here without her mother watching her. She reached over and dug through her things until she pulled out a folded up piece of cloth that she carefully laid down on the bed. She unfolded the cloth, revealing a needle and a pair of diamond earrings that she stole from her mother. There was a lighter in her purse that she grabbed and set with the other things.

Violet had a pretty good idea of what she was doing. She took everything that she needed over to the table and then grabbed her mirror and set it down in front of her. She took a seat on the ground before the coffee table and took a deep breath.

The first thing that she did was take a pen and mark the dots on her ear lobes, making sure that they were even. Next, she pulled her hair back into a pony tail to ensure that it would not get in the way. Carefully, she then picked the needle up and lit the lighter under it, attempting to sterilize it.

"Here goes nothing," she said to herself before taking a deep breath.

Ooo

Bob sat down in his spot at the table as Emily grabbed herself something to drink with dinner. "Could you go get Violet and tell her dinner's ready?" she requested.

"But if I do that she'll, she'll uh be out here, with us," he argued. "I don't know how to tell you this Emily, but uh, I've been trying to avoid that."

"Honestly Bob," Emily replied as she set her glass down on the table. "You two have barely even spoken to each other." She herself wasn't a huge fan of Violet either, but she did believe that the girl deserved a chance.

"And that's, that's all it took to know," he responded. There was some truth to that that he didn't wan to fully admit to.

"Hey, did you two have dinner already?" Howard implored as he walked in the door.

"I'm setting the table," Emily answered. "You're welcome to stay if you like," she told him, even though by now, she figured that he should know that he was welcome.

"Oh good," Howard replied as he walked over and sat down, joining Bob. "I thought I might have missed it."

"And, and wouldn't that have been a real tragedy," Bob remarked.

Emily smiled at the two. "Well, I'm going to go check on Violet and tell her dinner's ready," she announced and then went off towards the den.

"Who's Violet and why's she joining us for dinner?" Howard asked. He seemed slightly guilty, as if he should have already known.

Bob looked to Howard and leaned in closer to him. "You ever see The Exorcist?" he dryly inquired, making sure to keep his voice down so that Emily and Violet could not hear him.

"Ooh," he replied cringing. "Yeah. I hated that movie."

"Well, that girl is staying with us for a while," Bob explained to him.

Howard looked to him with disbelief. "The possessed one?" he questioned.

"Yeah. She's back in the den," he told him.

"And you just let Emily walk back there with no protection?" Howard nearly yelled. He was about ready to jump up and go back there to make sure that she was alright. He knew that it was just a movie, but the fact that the actress could change her voice like that and throw heavy objects around made him wonder.

"Howard, she uh, she was just an actress. Linda Blair wasn't, wasn't really possessed," Bob explained to him, trying to calm him down a little.

"I know that, but if a little girl can go in there and do all of that stuff you know there has to be something wrong with her," Howard argued.

Ooo

"What do you think you're doing?" Emily sternly asked, rushing over to Violet. From the doorway, she was able to see that she was sticking something through her ear.

Violet turned back to face her, the safety pin still in her ear lobe. "Oh, I'm just piercing my ears. I can do yours later if you're interested," she offered.

There was something about her all too casual approach that bothered Emily. "Take that pin out of your ear right now," Emily firmly ordered, her arms crossed.

"Oh come on, I already have the other earring in," Violet protested. She then turned back to face her mirror. "Besides, I'll just redo it later." That was the way she had been living lately, if she couldn't do it now with this person around, she would just wait for them to leave and then do whatever she wanted. She also knew that this was the very attitude that angered so many people around her.

"Don't make me rip that pin out myself," Emily threatened, standing firm. She felt weird making a threat like that, but at the same time, she felt that it was necessary. She was just hoping that she could follow through with it if the time came.

"Why does it matter? It's my ears," Violet implored as she played with the pin in her ear.

"Do you realize all the infections you can get? There is no way that you know what you're doing," Emily argued. Besides that, she didn't want to send Violet back to Nora and receive a phone call from Nora, her asking her why she wasn't watching her closely enough.

Violet sighed. "I'll clean them with alcohol twice a day."

"No you won't," Emily argued.

Violet turned back to her and smirked. This was the first time that someone was truly testing her, and for some reason, she liked it. "Really?" she questioned. "Because, I think I will," she added, knowing that she was about to push Emily over the edge.

Emily reached over and ripped the pin out of her ear causing the young girl to yelp.

"You actually did it," Violet gasped, holding on to her now sore ear lobe. After the look of shock went away, it was quickly replaced with a smile. "Well played," she said and then took out the earring and handed it to her. "You win a diamond earring."

Emily took the earring and looked it over, wondering how she even got a hold of real diamonds. By the time she looked up to ask her though, Violet had left the room.

Ooo

Violet walked out to the table with Emily not too far behind her. "Who's this?" she asked, pointing to Howard.

Howard turned and looked to her with surprise. "Is this Linda Blair?" he questioned.

Violet just nodded and then smiled to Bob. "So the funny man's got a sidekick now," she stated and then looked to Howard. "Don't worry, I'm liking you so far," she assured him and then sat down at the table.

"I don't need a sidekick," Bob informed her. "He's just here to take our food," he explained, motioning over to Howard.

"They always have extra food," Howard told her.

Emily sat down at the table. "I've learned to always make sure there's enough extra," she informed them.

Violet laughed. "So you just stroll in here everyday and get free meals?" she implored.

"I was invited," Howard answered.

"Once," Bob added.

Violet nodded in approval. "I like you," she said to Howard. She then looked over to Bob. "I'm still trying to decide about you."

"The suspense is killing me," he dryly responded.

"Don't worry Bob, I still like you," Howard assured him.

Emily sighed, she was starting to get annoyed with this conversation. "You think we could move on to something else?" she pleaded.

"I don't know. You think you could give me my safety pin back?" Violet retorted.

"The only way you're getting it back is if I put it through your lips and pin your mouth shut," Emily quipped.

Violet pointed to Emily as she turned to Bob. "I like her," she announced.

"So, so do I," Bob mentioned.

"Thank you Bob," Emily replied, smiling to him.

"Cute," Violet flatly replied, looking down to her dinner. "My boyfriend and I used to act like that, all cutesy and what not. Now we're just like two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl," she said.

"Year after uh, after year I presume," Bob replied.

Violet looked up to him and smiled. "Well played."

Howard looked between the two. "Wow, you two should write something together," he suggested in awe.

"I'll call up Roger Waters and let him know I have something," Violet said.

"Let me know how it goes," Howard instructed her. He then looked down at his watch. "I better get back. I'm expecting a phone call from Lois about Howie," he said and then stood up from his seat. "Thanks for dinner," he said before leaving.

"I'm done too. Thanks for the food," Violet said as she got up from her seat and went back towards the den.

Bob turned to Emily and sighed. "So, you still think this was a good idea?" he asked.

Emily glared to him. "Not now Bob," she hissed. "At least she likes me though."

"My patients still like me," Bob argued.

Emily laughed. "I like you," she reassured him.

"Then why did you bring her here?" he implored.

"I'm testing how much you'll put up with before you leave me," she answered.

"Keep it up," he dared as she got up and started taking things to the kitchen sink.