The Facts of Life: Fire And Rain

Chapter 8

VIII

Jesse, come home, there's a hole in the bed
Where we slept, now it's growing cold
Jesse, your face and the place

Where we lay by the hearth, all apart

It hangs on my heart

And I'm leaving the light on the stairs
No, I'm not scared, I wait for you
Hey Jesse, it's lonely, come home

"Jesse", Roberta Flack

One Year Later, Just Before Langley Graduation

Two days before her graduation from Langley, Blair Warner was writing in the notebook that she had kept with her for the last year. It started during a creative writing assignment, but she had continued to write what she had begun that day. In the notebook, she now had a few dozen "letters" written to Jo, none of them sent, of course, but desperately wishing she could. It was both cathartic and heartbreaking at the same time, to tell your best friend what you've been up to, but knowing she wasn't there to share it with you. The hurt of Jo's departure had never subsided for Blair. Indeed, it had only deepened. It was a testament to her growth as a person that she had not let her grades slide even a little since her best friend left.

Graduation was in two days. Her father had already made it clear he was attending, but Blair had heard not a word from her mother in the two years since Jo left. No doubt the story had filtered to Monica Warner, but Blair thought of Mrs. Garrett more like a mother than Monica these days.

Monica had given birth to a little girl a year earlier. Blair had yet to meet her half-sister, Bailey, as Monica had given birth in Europe, and was still over there, as far as Blair knew. Blair had written to her mother, even left messages on her phone in France where she was living, but had not heard back from Monica Warner.

Blair had just put away her notebook, and was heading into the kitchen to get a snack. Dorothy and Natalie were sitting at the kitchen table, chatting amiably as they always seemed to, Blair smiling as they passed them. Grabbing herself a glass, she opened the fridge and lifted a pitcher of iced tea, then returning the pitcher and sitting near the other two girls.

"Nothing like an iced tea on a warm spring day", Blair said, although, with almost everything else, her heart wasn't in it.

"I think I would like to try a Long Island Iced Tea this summer", Natalie said mischievously. Tootie and Blair both rolled their eyes.

"You're still not old enough for one of those, Nat", Tootie said with a crooked grin, "although I've heard they can be pretty good, if they're made right."

"Oh, they are, Tootie", Blair said with a genuine laugh. "Problem with them is if they're made just right, you can't tell there's much alcohol in them, and by the time you figure it out, you can't get your butt out of a chair." All three girls laughed at that mental image.

"Isn't that kinda like going to a...what's it called? A something Buffalo?"

Natalie burst out laughing. "It's a Hairy Buffalo, Tootie!"

"And just how do you know about Hairy Buffalo's, Nat?" Blair gave her a smirk, raising her eyebrows.

"I ended up at one late last summer. My cousin took me to a party and they had one going at a friend's apartment."

"What's in a Hairy Buffalo, Nat?"

"Well, Tootie, for college types, you buy a huge rubber trash can. You then buy a bunch of fruit, some Kool-Aid, and some 190-proof alcohol. You cut up the fruit, and soak it in the alcohol. Now you can soak it for as long or as little as you want-my cousin's friend soaked it for twelve hours. You can imagine the color of the fruit being soaked in booze for that long." Natalie was in her element, going a million miles an hour, her eyes lit up, telling a story. It was pure Natalie. "Then you fill the can with ice and water, pour in the Kool-Aid, the fruit, and the left-over alcohol, then mix it all up, and viola! One genuine Hairy Buffalo."