RE, page 20
When she’d talked it over with her mom, she’d been blanketed with assurances that she was perfectly normal, that friendships weren’t picture-perfect in the way television made them out to be, and that in no time at all, she’d find close friends and confidants again to replace the middle school ones she’d grown away from. She knew her mother was right—her mom was always right—but at the same time… something about the answer didn’t completely satisfy.
“We can show you how we do it, if you’d like—the next time we visit,” Tabitha offered. “I was hoping we could spend most of this time with my cousins. I’m really worried about them.”
“How old are your cousins?” Elena asked. Her growing anticipation for the afternoon fell a good deal at being reminded about the cousins. Next time, I suppose. “Grade school, or middle school?”
“Grade school,” Tabitha answered. “Sam’s the oldest; he’s in fourth grade.”
So it’s babysitting little kids. Elena tried to swallow down her disappointment.
Their budding friendship was going swimmingly, however, and Elena at least felt relieved to finally be on an organized outing with someone again. She hadn’t done anything important with a friend since the Six Flags trip with Carrie in the middle of summer—now, it felt like she had to blot out those mistakes by making as many new, better memories as she could.
This is okay. It doesn’t have to be anything huge right at first, Elena thought, striving to focus on the positive. Babysitting’s a perfectly normal thing for girls our age to do—maybe we’ll talk, find something cool to bond over. That’s what matters—even if it’s not big and exciting.
Elena smiled faintly to herself as she watched the scenery pass by her window, mercifully oblivious to what she was about to experience.
“This is it up ahead,” Tabitha called softly. “Those are my cousins playing there.”
The silvery-white minivan performed her indicated turn onto the upcoming side street, and then pulled up several lots to where a group of young boys appeared to be taking turns running and crashing into a large pile of autumn leaves. They looked rowdy, the kind of boys Elena had avoided like the plague when she’d been at that age. Each of Tabitha’s cousins had the same closely cropped haircut, making it difficult to tell them apart. Leaves and twigs stuck to their clothes, and dirty brownish grass stains were apparent on the knees of their pants from slides into the leaf pile.
“Give me a ring whenever you two’re ready to be picked up.” Mrs. Seelbaugh smiled. “Love you, Elena. Have fun, girls!”
“Yeah. Love you, Mom.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Seelbaugh.”
“Hey, Tabby’s here!” a boy cried out, and all at once, they were scrambling out of the leaves with crunching footsteps and running toward them. Elena grimaced, mentally bracing herself for an entire afternoon corralling rambunctious little hooligans.
“Boys, come over here,” Tabitha instructed, gesturing them forward.
At a closer look—Elena confirmed they were all completely filthy. Each boy appeared to be emulating the character Pigpen from the Peanuts comic strip, liberally covered with dirt and dead plant debris from playing outside. It was an amusing contrast, seeing Tabitha in her lovely fashion-wear gently scolding this line-up of little rascals, dusting them off in frustration and picking bits of leaves off of their heads.
What Elena hadn’t prepared herself to see was Tabby drop down to her knees and pull all four boys at once into a giant hug, disregarding her own custom-designed attire and the mess they might make of it. Even more surprising—the cousins weren’t resisting. There was no aggravated struggle free from her arms, no exasperated laughter or groaning; the oldest-looking one spared Elena an embarrassed glance, but they all dutifully returned Tabitha’s embrace.
“Boys… I’m so sorry about your parents,” Tabitha said in a quiet voice. “I wish I’d done something. I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay,” one of the boys spoke up. “Mom said she’s coming back.”
“Yeah,” another one agreed. “She’s coming back soon. She said just a few days.”
“No.” Tabitha shook her head slowly, locking eyes with each of them and giving them a firm look. “I’m sorry. She’s not coming back. But Grandma Laurie and I are going to do our best to take care of all of you.”
…What? Elena awkwardly stood by, dumbfounded by the unexpected heavy atmosphere. She said they were going through a rough time or something, but I never really thought… oh my God, what happened—did their parents just pass away? Or worse, divorce?
“Mom said she was coming back.” The smallest one pulled back from Tabitha with a cross look. “In a few days.”
“I know she did, Joshua,” Tabitha replied gravely. “But she’s not. She’s not coming back.”
“I don’t care,” the oldest one scoffed. “We don’t even need her anyways.”
When the quartet of young cousins were awkwardly released from Tabitha’s hold, they exchanged looks with each other and stole glances back at Tabitha. Their initial childlike demeanor had clouded over, and they were all quiet, solemn. The littlest boy Tabitha had called Joshua looked sullen, while two of the other brothers had their brows furrowed in thought at receiving the horrible news, and then the oldest of them just looked disappointed and angry.
Should… I even be here? Elena forced herself not to fidget.
“This is my friend Elena—I want you to treat her with the same respect you treat me,” Tabitha told them, rising back to her feet and patting the leaves off her knees. “We’re taking you to the playground to play.”
* * *
“Has everyone been doing their stretches?” Tabitha asked, lining up the boys in a row along the dead grass beside the playground. “Who can get down the farthest?”
The four cousins slowly shimmied down, legs spreading apart in an attempt at a split. Joshua had the most success, nearly reaching the ground, while the other three struggled, their legs forming different degrees of obtuse angles. She’s going to run them through… gymnastics?
The playground itself was a small chain-link fence enclosed affair attached to the nearby neighborhood, with several wooden risers and staircases constructed into a covered central fort. An enclosed hard plastic spiral slide featured on one end of the fort and an open slide on the other, separated by the wobbling clatter bridge. Radiating away from the structure were the expected allotment of swing sets, animal-shaped rocker seats situated on thick springs, and benches for parents to sit. On an October Saturday, the area was nearly deserted, entirely empty save for a pair of very young girls attempting to climb up the plastic spiral slide from within, watched over in the distance by a sitting mother.
The boys were unexpectedly obedient, Elena had discovered on the short walk over. Not quite docile—as they were quick to pick fights with each other and bicker pointlessly over the tiniest things—but she was fascinated to see that at a stern word from Tabitha, they immediately bowed to her apparent authority. At school, Tabitha was something of a withdrawn, shy-seeming girl who sequestered herself in the library of all places, so this contrasting, commanding presence was incredibly interesting.
“Why’re you having them stretch?” Elena leaned in and asked. I thought they were just going to play tag or hide-and-seek or something.
“Stretches help keep them limber, and give them higher kicks,” Tabitha explained, turning to Elena with a smile. “I promised them last time that I’d teach them a few moves.”
The redhead demonstrated, tilting her upper body to one side and drawing one knee up into the air all the way to the level of her chest. There was something smooth and powerful in the unhurried ease with which she seemed to ready her kick that was startling, the young woman’s balance not wavering in the slightest.
She snapped out a kick impossibly high in the air, quick and crisp, before immediately returning her foot to its tucked position up in the air—poised to strike. Two more kicks flashed out, each faster than the last, and then Tabitha relaxed, returning her foot to where it belonged on the ground.
Whoa, whoa. Elena blinked, struggling to reevaluate everything she thought she knew about Tabitha. She’s like, a martial artist?
“Show her the thing with the pop can!” one of the boys suggested.
“Yeah, show her, show her!” another one quickly joined in.
“We don’t have one.” Tabitha looked around helplessly. “Sorry, boys.”
Not ones to be dissuaded, all four of Tabitha’s cousins quickly abandoned stretching practice to dash every which way across the playground, canvassing the area in search of an empty soda can. When they finally discovered one—a discarded Pepsi can sporting that dramatic new blue look Elena had yet to grow accustomed to—the boys immediately fought over it as they all ran back over.
No way. Elena grew a little alarmed. If she didn’t know any better, their struggle appeared to be a contest of which of the two taller boys would be balancing the empty can on his head. What, she’s been playing karate-kick William Tell with them? That can’t be safe. What if one of them nails the other one right in the head?
“Behave yourselves.” Tabitha laughed, striding amidst the cousins to pluck the can away from the boys. “Elena’s here with us today.” Before Elena caught on to her meaning, Tabitha had already stepped up right in front of her and was gingerly attempting to balance the empty Pepsi can on top of Elena’s blonde head.
“You can’t be serious.” Elena laughed nervously, not even bothering to keep still enough for Tabby to balance the can. “I’m a lot taller than you.”
“That’s what makes it good exercise,” Tabitha countered with a grin, steadying Elena’s shoulders so that she could perfectly place the pop can atop her head. “And, for you—you can think of it as a trust exercise.”
“No way.” Elena froze, uneasy at the way the boys were gathering around them in anticipation. “Tabitha, no way—what if you kick me in the face? I’m way taller than you anyways; you can’t even reach.”
“Do you trust me?” Tabitha challenged her. “I can reach.”
No—obviously no, please don’t even think about it! Elena bit back her response with a terrified look. The situation was deteriorating at incredible speed, and all of her previous efforts to befriend this girl weren’t going to count for anything at all if she got kicked in the face right now. Friends didn’t kick each other in the face, not even by accident. Elena drew the line there, and it was not something she was willing to compromise on.
But, wait, no. She said it’s a trust EXERCISE—this is just a test. She was never ACTUALLY going to—Before the girl could even finish her own relieved thought, Tabitha leapt up into the air, leg suddenly exploding forward in an unbelievable flash of force just inches above Elena. The tiny weight perched atop the crown of Elena’s head disappeared with a hollow clank as the can was sent flying, and then Tabitha calmly landed back on her feet.
Oh my fuck. Fucking fuck. Fuck. Elena was still completely tense and frozen in place as her mind caught up with what happened.
Somewhere behind her, she could hear the empty can clattering across the pavement in the distance—it had crossed the entire stretch of lawn and landed in the parking spaces in front of the playground. The sound of the four cousins cheering and jumping up and down in excitement was muted to nothing but distracting noise as she struggled to collect herself.
That would have taken my head clean off—I felt the wind of it move my fucking hair! Elena stared at Tabitha with wide eyes. Oh my God. Oh my God, I can’t breathe.
“Thank you for trusting me,” Tabitha said, offering her a shy smile. “It’s really not as scary as it seems—my control’s pretty good now.”
Still standing, she neatly brought her foot up into the air again and perfectly traced the outline of Elena’s shoulder, and then overtop her head—Tabitha straining on her tiptoes to reach—without the edge of the girl’s shoe ever actually touching her. There was a steely gracefulness to the motion, and Tabby finished drawing the silhouette of Elena’s opposite shoulder before casually bringing her leg back to the ground.
“Okay.” Elena swallowed slowly. “Okay, how do you do that?”
“I’ve been kinda-sorta teaching myself Taekwondo,” Tabitha revealed. “Over the summer.”
“Teaching… yourself?” Elena raised an eyebrow. “From what? How?”
“You really wouldn’t believe me if I told you.” Tabitha gave her a sheepish smile. “Seriously. I was actually just about to show Alicia my butterfly kicks last week, when all of that business with the police officer went down. Like, right in front of us.”
“Show her your flips!” one of the cousins called out.
“She can do backflips, and walk on walls,” another boasted.
What is she supposed to be, a Power Ranger? Elena wanted to laugh at how ridiculous all of this was getting. Spiderman? Human beings don’t walk on walls.
“Get back to your stretches, or none of you little heathens are ever doing any of this.” Tabitha chuckled, giving the boys a stern look. “We’re playing tag in a bit, and I want you all warmed up. No sissy excuses later on!”
The four children reluctantly returned to stretching their legs and grudgingly twisting their bodies through warm-up movements.
“Can you really do a backflip?” Elena asked, her mind sprinting through the possibilities of what they could do with all of these emerging new factors. But what is Tabitha really capable of?
“Don’t listen to them. I’m really not great at it,” Tabitha admitted. “I don’t like doing backflips unless I’m starting on top of something that’s up off the ground a bit. To give me that extra room, that clearance space. Oh—I can do back hand-springs easy, though.”
With that, Tabitha leaned back, arching her body, and reached backwards for the ground behind her. Before her hand was even planted, her legs rose up in the air, and with baffling ease, her body simply flipped through the air to land right-side-up again.
“But yeah, that’s kind of cheating,” Tabitha said. “Even the boys can already do cartwheels just fine.”
“…Do you want to try out for the cheerleading team together?” Elena blurted out.
“I don’t… think so?” Tabitha shook her head. “I’m sorry, I never had much enthusiasm for sports. Were you going to try out?”
“No, I’m just thinking out loud—you’re really amazing.” Elena laughed, shaking her head. Does Springton High have a gymnastics team, or something like that? “I was planning on going for girls’ varsity basketball… right until I saw this. Now I don’t know what I want to do. What are you going to do?”
“Do you like to run?” Tabitha asked. “I run a lot, but, just on my own. For a while now, I’ve been thinking I should try doing it with other people, be more… uh—get more involved?”
“I can run!” Elena’s eyes lit up. “My mom runs—I’ve run a 5k with her before. Were you looking into joining the track team?”
“I hadn’t thought about it, really.” Tabitha shrugged. “Should I? I was just wishing I had someone to jog with me in the early mornings… but I don’t think anyone who lives near me is the slightest bit interested, hah ha.”
She didn’t get liposuction over the summer, Elena realized, wanting to slap herself for ever believing that rumor. She’s obviously been at this for a while—there’d have been like, some sort of RECOVERY period, where you can’t be jumping and running around after a surgery. She actually lost all of the weight for real, just doing this—exercising, and running, and stuff.
Her new understanding of Tabitha felt like a long-missing puzzle piece was falling into place for Elena, personally. One of the hallmark traits Elena had always looked for in her peers—up until now—was a certain sense of ambition. Now, it felt like she’d been just slightly off the mark all along—what she really desired was a best friend that was driven, motivated toward her pursuits in the same dogged way that she was. The same way Mom always has been.
In way of contrast, Carrie’s ideology had always been to just leverage every possible advantage she could squeeze out of any given situation. While Elena still largely agreed with that line of thought… in hindsight, that wasn’t exactly who she wanted to be, and certainly not what she wanted in a best friend anymore.
“I don’t know how yet, but I am absolutely going to be your jogging partner,” Elena decided with a grin. “You run every morning? Should I be doing stretches? Can you teach me how to do karate?”
15
THE LEGACY OF SHANNON DELAIN
Five hours later
Gasping for breath, Elena scrambled up the exterior of the playground fort, frantically grabbing for every available handhold across the wooden edifice and scuffing her new sneakers into every foothold she could cram them in. She hauled herself up over the railing and dropped heavily into that uppermost section featuring the long plastic spiral slide, the fort’s tower.
This is… so much fun!? Elena thought, feeling a little bewildered as she struggled to draw in lungsful of chilly autumn air.
If someone had told her earlier that she would be covered in sweat and panting with exertion from playing a game of tag with children, Elena wouldn’t have believed a word of it. They’d been playing for hours and hours now, though, and it was already getting dark out. Her hands felt raw from clambering around the playground, she had splinters in the side of her arm she’d yet to pluck out, and her elbows were scratched up from a tumble she’d taken across the mulch. She didn’t even want to think about what she’d done to her nice white shoes.
Their game began in an incredibly lopsided five-against-one, with Elena roped into joining all of the little cousins to oppose Tabitha’s purported ‘dominance’ of the game. To win, Tabitha had to tag out their entire team—with the caveat of not allowing those she’d tagged to in turn tag her, which reset the round, forcing Tabitha to start tagging them out all over again.
