Chapter 28: Birds and Bees

Salem

At first, I thought staying with Infinity and her family would only be temporary. There wasn't much room, but we were met with a surprise when I drove us to Number Nine that Friday. Infinity had been moved out of the bedroom she shared with Charlie and up to the third floor where her mother's room had previously been. I was given Infinity's old bed. "Is Grandma Bone even going to allow this?" Infinity asked as she stood in the doorway of her former bedroom watching Charlie and I unpack.

"She has no choice, or else she'll have to deal with Paton." Maisie reassured us. "When you are all done unpacking, I would like to speak with you and Salem in the kitchen." I could only imagine what kind of awkward talk Maisie would force us to sit through. I had already heard all about the birds and the bees and I knew ground rules would be set, but Infinity was innocent and ignorant to many things and didn't seem uncomfortable or fazed at all. She didn't know what was coming. She just shrugged and went upstairs to look at her new room.

It didn't take me too long to unpack. I didn't bring much with me. My father was generous enough to allow me to keep my car and whatever I wanted out of my room, but there wasn't much I cared to hold onto. I kept my uniforms, two of my specially tailored suits, about half of my street clothes, my guitars, my laptop, my mother's ring and all of my shoes. I had just enough room to store all of my things neatly in my side of the bedroom.

"Make sure Grandma doesn't forget to call me down when lunch is done." Charlie said from his seat at his computer. He immersed himself in some online game I didn't recognize and I went downstairs where Infinity and Maisie were already standing at the counter side by side cutting and peeling potatoes.

"I don't know what kind of talks you have had with Lillian or even with your mother, or what you learned in school. I just felt that it would be good to talk about it now that you have a boyfriend and you are serious. I didn't mean to embarrass you. I can wait outside during your appointment tomorrow. I don't want to make the mistake with you that I did with Amy, hiding everything and not talking with her about birth control or sex. I figured if we didn't talk about it, she wouldn't do anything. But now we have you here."

"I already know where babies come from. I'm beyond proficient in biology, remember?" Infinity said in a mocking tone.

"It's more than what you learned in your biology books, dear. It's not just 'I know how to get pregnant, so I'll just avoid it'. Sometimes it's hard to stop things when you start them, and I want you to be protected and safe."

Infinity peeked over her shoulder and we made eye contact. Her face was already red, but it turned even redder when she looked at me. "Maisie." She grumbled under her breath.

"Oh!" She noticed me as well. "Are you all settled in?" She asked me, changing the subject.

"Yes I am." I smiled. It was nice to have somewhere that actually felt like home. I had always preferred being around Infinity's family since the day I met them, not including Grizelda Bone or her infernal sisters. "Do you need help with anything?"

"I believe we have it all under control, my dear. But I wanted to inform you of the house rules before Grizelda does in a very rude way." Maisie continued to cut potatoes as Infinity peeled. I bet that they did this together often. They seemed to be perfectly in sync with their movements. "I do laundry on Fridays. All of your uniforms go in the hamper in Charlie's room. I'll get them after dinner. And Monday before you go to school, make sure everything you wore over the weekend goes in the hamper as well. Everyone takes turns doing the dishes. Charlie does them on Friday, Infinity does them on Saturday and now you'll do them on Sunday. If Grizelda isn't home, you can do whatever you want. Usually we go out if she does come home because she doesn't allow the children to do anything fun without hassling them. Infinity, you're welcome to go into the boys' room but under no circumstance is Salem allowed in your room. Just… be respectful." She gave a soft smile and I knew this talk was as awkward for her as it was for us.

"Maisie!" Infinity's eyes went wide with embarrassment. She looked like she wanted to sink through the floorboards. The redness from her face was traveling down to her neck.

"I know it's embarrassing to hear, but you have to hear it." Maisie chuckled. "Why don't you two go get your homework done? I'm sure you both have a lot to catch up on. Especially you, Salem."

"I'm all caught up already." Infinity said. "But I bet you're not." She looked at me. She was right. I wasn't caught up. Infinity was used to missing large chunks of school, so a few days of work didn't take her long to catch up on. We went upstairs to the bedroom that Charlie and I were now supposed to share. "Why didn't Billy come home with you this weekend?" Infinity asked as she sat down on Charlie's bed. Charlie was sitting at his desk working on his homework. He never got his done early like Infinity did. They were complete opposites when it came to school work.

"Lysander invited him to his house this week." Charlie answered. "He knew we would be a little crowded trying to fit Salem in."

When Charlie and Infinity were in close proximity to each other, it was easy to tell that they were siblings. Although their hair and eye colors were different, they had some similar facial features. It always blew my mind that neither of them knew that they were siblings sooner. "Charlie, you have to solve the problems in parenthesis fist, then multiply and divide, then add and subtract." She was watching his paper like a hawk. "All of those are wrong. You have to start over."

"What?" Charlie was confused.

"It's order of operations. Write down what I just told you. That's the only way you'll get the correct answer." She stood up and looked over his shoulder. I sat down on my own bed and started my homework as well. I had a lot to catch up on. I had at least caught up on my literature and grammar assignments. But I was behind on history, biology and trigonometry. History was no problem for me. Once I read something, I never forgot it. I had a hard time with science and math though. Zelda had always helped me with my math problems because she was a mathematical genius.

"Do you need help?" Infinity asked after an hour of me trying to power through biology homework. I hadn't even noticed that she had finished helping Charlie. All of his homework was done and in a neat pile on his desk. He was long gone. She was sitting in the swivel chair at the desk, spinning herself with one foot. Her other leg was tucked up underneath her.

She helped me for two hours, explaining things in an easier way for me to understand. Sometimes I had a harder time with things because of the impact my first brain tumor had on me. It never bothered Infinity that she occasionally had to explain things to me as if I were a child. She sat in that chair and explained things to me over and over again and never got frustrated with me.

Her whole family was like that, if you didn't count her awful great aunts and grandmother. When Grandma Bone was absent, there was no yelling, no one really argued other than sibling bickering between Infinity and Charlie occasionally, and everyone was patient and kind. They all had nothing but good thoughts about each other.

That night when everyone went to bed, I stared into the dark and listened to Charlie's light snoring. Everything was cheap and they couldn't afford very many luxuries, but I felt happier here. This wasn't a family that was ripped apart by money. This was a family that loved each other (for the most part) and would do anything for each other. I knew Infinity's family and had spent time with them before, but I felt like I was seeing everything differently now. I was living their lives with them, rather than seeing everything as a visitor. I wondered how much of a stink Grizelda would cause whenever she figured out I was here, or if she already had gotten a heads up that I had been disowned. My thoughts eventually put me to sleep.

I woke up to the sound of birds sitting on the chestnut tree branches that were outside my window. The sun was shining through the thin curtains and it hurt my eyes. I rolled over and stared at the wall beside me and tried to gather my surroundings. It took me a few minutes to remember where I was. I groaned and rolled back over again. My bladder was full. I had to piss so bad but I was afraid of running into Grizelda on the way to the bathroom. I wasn't sure if she ever came home.

I looked over at Charlie's bed. It was already empty and a mess. I hadn't even heard him wake up. I stood up, pulled on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and walked to the bathroom. I was able to pee in peace and wash my hands. When I got downstairs, I was assaulted with the smell of breakfast. Infinity and Charlie were sitting at the kitchen table, both still in their pajamas. Infinity's hair looked like a rat's nest and she was wearing a big frumpy sweater with bleach stains on it and a pair of gray leggings. She had her head down and seemed to not be completely awake yet. Charlie's hair was a disaster as well, but he was bright eyed and bushy tailed.

"She'll never be a morning person, will she?" I joked as I took the seat next to Charlie.

"She started her lady thing." Charlie shrugged. "She always looks more like a monster when that happens."

"Shut up, Charlie." Her voice was muffled from her arms cradling her face. "Maisie, do I still have to go?" I assumed that Maisie had made an appointment for Infinity to see a gynecologist to talk about birth control and all of the things she knew nothing about.

"There's a gynecologist that takes patients on a Saturday?" This was a surprise to me.

"The women's clinic is open from 8 to 8 every day." Maisie informed me. "And yes, you still have to go."

"Don't even say that word." She peeked up at me. I could see that her face was red from embarrassment. "And stop looking at me."

"Stop snapping at everyone and eat your breakfast. We have to go soon." Maisie swatted at her lovingly.

I had been around Infinity while she was on her period before, but she seemed more pitiful than usual. I assumed it was because she still wasn't recovered from the large amounts of energy that she had created from healing me, helping Asa, and fighting off Manfred all in such a close proximity. Infinity ate her breakfast, went upstairs to get dressed and left with Maisie to go to the clinic. Charlie and I decided to go into the living room and watch TV until they came back.

Grizelda ended up coming back before Infinity and Maisie did. She stormed into the house and peeked into the living room where we were sitting. "Lazy lumps sitting and watching television all day." She growled. "I expect you to follow the rules while you're living here, you freeloader. You're lucky your father cares enough about you to not let you end up on the street. Though I don't appreciate him pushing you on me."

My father had asked her for the favor of letting me live here. He knew I would end up here and was trying to make things a little bit easier on me, although he had just disowned me. I was grateful that I didn't have to witness Grizelda fighting with everyone over me living here. She stormed up the stairs into her bedroom. "Your grandma is really nice." I said sarcastically. Charlie snorted and we went back to watching a very interesting documentary on how Tabasco sauce is made.

Infinity and Maisie came back about an hour and a half after they left. Poor Infinity had a thousand yard stare when she came and sat down next to me on the couch. "How was it?" I asked, expecting her to turn red and yell at me again.

"They didn't really do an exam because I'm still…you know." She awkwardly crossed her legs. "They just gave me pills and told me to take them at the same time every day. They talked to me about stuff. It was weird and uncomfortable but I'm happy Maisie made me go. I'm seventeen now and it's embarrassing how much I didn't know, outside of the actual biology spectrum."

"Generally home-schooled kids don't get to sit through Sex Ed. Bloor's Academy doesn't have a class either. So someone is probably going to have this awkward talk with Charlie sooner or later." I looked over at Charlie who was trying to block out our conversation. He was grimacing, so I assumed that he was failing at that endeavor.

"Dad will probably take care of that whenever he comes back." Infinity stood up from the couch and stretched. "I'm not feeling well so I'm going to take a nap."

"You can't just… will your pain away like you always do?" I asked.

Infinity laughed and shook her head. "Not a natural thing like this. I just have to let it run its course. I'll feel better tomorrow. I just have to take some Tylenol and sleep a little more." She walked out of the living room and I heard her climbing the stairs. This left Charlie and I alone, absorbing ourselves in the history of Tabasco sauce.