Chapter six: The Mustardtiger
Alison walks down Franklin Avenue. She talks to herself.
"Take it easy Alison. You always wanted to have children. And now you're going to have one. You may be young. Way too young. But you'll be fine. Patrick will take care of the child. And my father will take care of me help. And Lily will be a good preparation." said Alison.
Alison knocks on the door. Lincoln opened the door.
"Alison? Yes Alison I remember." said Lincoln.
"Exactly. And you're Lincoln. The only boy among ten sisters. You can't be forgotten." said Alison.
"That's a good thing."
Alison started laughing.
"Yes. Unless you're a secret agent."
Lincoln started laughing too.
"Yes. Then you're just an agent."
Alison enters the house. Luan, Lucy, the twins and Lisa are in the living room.
"Nice to see you." said Lucy.
"I am also pleased." said Alison.
"Hey. What are you doing here?" Luan asked"
"I'm here about Lily, and your mother wanted to tell me something else." said Alison.
"Do you know where she is?" asked Lana.
"No." said Alison.
"There. In the bedroom." Lola said, pointing to the door.
Alison goes to Rita's room. Operations are closed, the room is dark. Alison recognizes Rita. She has dark circles under her eyes and her hair is a bit messy.
"Rita. What's the matter with you?" Alison asked.
"You know what's going on. The FBI and NRC are investigating. And they're looking." said Rita.
"Rita, if we had evidence that we both broke into that nuclear power plant there, we would have been arrested long ago."
"You're right. But I'm unwell."
"Rita, let's go to the park with Lily."
"Good idea. I hope to forget about the FBI and the NRC."
Rita and Alison went to Lily's room. Lily was on the floor, playing with her purple blanket.
"Hello Lily." Alison said happily.
Lily ran to Alison and hugged her legs. Alison picked Lily up.
Lily kissed Alison all over her face.
"Oh Lily. Are you doing that again?" said Alison and laughed.
"What can I say, she likes you." said Rita.
"Do you want to go to Park Lily?" Alison asked.
"Park!" said Lily happily.
The three left the house and went to the park. The three reach the park. Rita gives Lily a big blue ball. Alison sat on the grass.
"Come on Lily. Throw me the ball." said Alison.
Lily threw the ball to Alison and she threw it back. Rita sits down next to Lily and Alison. Lily throws the ball to Rita. Then Rita throws the ball to Alison, who throws the ball to Lily. Alison saw Doctor Montgomery in the park. Alison and Rita got up and went to her.
"Hello doctor." Said Alison.
"Hello Mrs. Judge, and Mrs. Loud. I hope you are well, Mrs. Judge." said Doctor Montgomery.
"Yes. We are very well." said Alison.
"That's good. And how are you dealing with the pregnancy?" asked Doctor Montgomery.
"It's not easy. I often doubt myself." said Alison.
"That's quite normal, Ms. Judge. That's the case with almost every woman. But I think that they have optimal conditions. I have to go on now. I've been invited to a barbecue at my parents' house. Speaking of food. No raw fish, no alcohol, and no smoking. Have a nice day." said Doctor Montgomery, and left.
"Raw fish?" Alison asked.
"Raw fish can contain bacteria that can be dangerous for children." said Rita.
Rita and Alison look at Lily, but she's gone. The two stand up and look around in panic.
"Where's Lily?" said Rita.
"I do not know." said Alison.
Rita spotted Lily by the swing.
"Lily, not on the swing!" said Rita.
Rita and Alison run to the swing. Lily begins to rock a bit. Rita and Alison tried to catch Lily, and then they got tangled in the swing chain. Rita tried to free herself, but it only made the situation worse. Lily jumps off the swing and goes to a tube. She crawls in. Rita freed herself and ran to the tube. She looked in and saw Lily looking at her with wide eyes.
"Want to climb through the pipe like in The Shawshank Redemption?" asked Rita.
Rita tries to crawl into the tube and gets stuck. Her butt was to big.
"Not again."
Alison comes to Rita.
"How did you do that?" Alison asked.
"Does it matter? I'm stuck here." said Rita.
"Did you really think you could fit through there?"
"I made a misjudgment."
Alison pushes Rita through the opening of the tube with her shoulder. Rita moves, and slipped through the opening of the tube. She crawls towards Lily and catches her.
"You ran away again. You know you shouldn't." said Rita.
Rita crawls out of the tube with Lily. Alison sees her butt squeezing out of the tube.
"Does Lily do that a lot?" Alison asked.
"Yes. She likes to escape." said Rita.
Rita and Alison sensed that they were hungry. They decided to go to the Aloha Comrade. Alison and Rita ordered poke and goulash, and Rita gave Lily carrots to eat.
"Rita, what exactly was on the news?" Alison asked.
"So the police turned the investigation over to the FBI and the NRC. And they're federal agencies." whispered Rita.
All we can do now is hope our leads aren't usable,"
"You think that our traces are not usable?"
"Yes, I hope so. And we only broke into the premises of the nuclear power plant. At most, we will get a pretty big fine."
"And vandalism for cutting a hole in two fences and the razor wire."
Alison sees a woman enter the restaurant. Alison recognized her as her mother.
"Rita. We have a problem."
"What kind of?" asked Rita.
"My mother is here."
Alison's mother looked over at Alison.
"She saw us." said Alison.
Constance gets up and approaches the two of them.
"Hi Al. Who is this?" asked Constance.
"This is Rita and Lily. We're friends." said Alison.
"Al, come here." said Constance.
"Excuse me." said Alison, and went to her mother.
"Alison, this is a woman in her early forties and a baby. You call them friends?" said Constance softly.
"Yes. Mind me having special friends?" said Alison.
"I was never really satisfied with your choice of friends. I never really liked Patrick and Samantha in particular. Your father has nothing against Patrick and Samantha, but I do." said Constance.
"You are hostile to everyone." said Alison.
"If you're not careful, you're lost. And you know that. You befriend a random woman who's forty and has a baby. She's way too old."
Rita was stunned. She got angry and stood up with Lily in her arms.
"What did you say. I think I misheard." said Rita.
"I beg you, you must have five children from your appearance and age. You are old." said Constance.
"I have eleven children and I'm not old." said Rita angrily.
"Ha, that explains everything. You probably didn't pay attention in school. Ever heard of birth control?" said Constance provocatively.
"I don't have to put up with this, you mustardtiger." said Rita.
"Mustardtiger?" asked Constance.
"You have a brooch with a tiger on it, and a little mustard stain on your cardigan. Therefore mustardtiger." said Rita.
"Well, that's enough." said Constance, and walked towards Alison.
She took Alison by the arm and pulled her up.
"We're leaving. And you're grounded." said Constance.
"Alison!" said Lily.
"Don't worry Lily. See you again." said Alison.
Constance drags Alison out of the restaurant. Lily snuggles into Rita's chest.
"Don't worry. You'll see Alison again soon." said Rita.
Rita packed up her things and left the restaurant with Lily. At home in the living room she played with Lily. She picked Lily up and pretended Lily was flying. Lori and Lucy enter the living room. They approach Rita.
"You look down mom." said Lori.
"Yes. What happened?" asked Lucy.
"Oh, Alison's mother is unpredictable. She saw us and was rude." said Rita.
"What exactly happened?" asked Lori.
"We were having dinner at Aloha Comrade, and then she showed up. She spotted Alison, and when she said she was friends with Lily and I, she gave a half diatribe. She said she condemned her friends' choice, and Patrick hates most." said Rita.
The doorbell rings.
"I go." said Lori, and went to the door.
After a minute, Lori came back looking confused.
"Mom, there's a woman who wants to see you." said Lori.
"Don't you know who it is?" asked Rita.
"No. She's definitely drunk. And she said she's the mustardtiger." said Lori.
Rita got up and went to the door. Constance was standing there, her hair slightly messy, and holding a glass bottle that contained a brownish liquid.
"Did you know I'm going to be a grandmother?" said Constance.
"Yes. Did Alison tell you?" asked Rita.
"You know, I worked in the police force and interrogated people. But then I got fired for being too unpredictable. Interrogating Alison was easy."
"You didn't hurt Alison, did you?"
"I never would. She told me she was pregnant by Patrick. Then I left the house and bought Swish."
Constance starts to grin.
"That's a funny word. Swish. Swishhh. Swish. Swish the swish."
She took a sip from the bottle.
"I wonder where I failed with Alison."
"I think she did what was right for her." said Rita.
"Good idea. A sip of Swish on the right things." said Constance, taking a sip from the bottle.
"I think you should stop drinking." said Rita.
"My mother was Italian and drank red wine in the morning. And I realized that you were a better mother to my daughter than I was. You encouraged her."
Rita gives Constance a weak slap in the face. Constance now looks at Rita.
"I have some pickled fish in the fridge. That should help with your hangover tomorrow." said Rita.
Constance nodded and went into the kitchen with Rita. Rita opened the fridge.
"What's the reason you don't like Patrick?" asked Rita.
"I don't know. I always hoped Alison would find decent friends and now he got her pregnant." said Constance.
"You should meet Patrick, he is very nice and decent."
"Maybe I judged too quickly. Alcohol never gives me such clear answers." said Constance.
"You shouldn't drink alcohol every time you have a problem." said Rita.
"Maybe. But it's fun. I have to go home now and congratulate my daughter."
Rita and Constance went into the living room. Constance spotted Lily on the sofa. She staggered to her.
"Hi Lily. You may remember me. I'm the Mustardtiger. Sorry I bullied you at the restaurant.
"Alison." Lily said.
"Oh don't worry. You will see her again. Not tomorrow, but soon. And she's fine." Constance said, and walked towards the door.
Rita opened the door.
"Better give me the bottle. You've had enough to drink." Rita said.
Constance took a long sip from the bottle and handed it to Rita.
"Now I've had enough. Bye Rita." said Constance.
"Sleep off your drunk." said Rita.
Constance ran into the driveway, and staggered down the street.
"I'm going to be a grandmother!" Constance yelled.
Rita closes the door. Lori went to her.
"I feel sorry for Alison. She's pregnant, her mother doesn't like her boyfriend, and she's getting drunk on... what's that anyway? It looks like sewage." said Lori.
"That's swish. And believe me, nobody drinks that because it tastes good. You can hardly drink that stuff. She probably couldn't process the message from Alison." said Rita.
Lucy appears out of nowhere next to Lori.
"I don't understand why she's grounded." said Lucy.
"I think because she had an argument with me at the restaurant." said Rita.
"You quarreled with her?" asked Lucy.
"Yes. And Alison had argued with her too." said Rita.
Lori and Lucy go up the stairs. Rita ponders and comes to a conclusion.
"I have to free Alison." said Rita.
End of Chapter six