The Entirely Fabricated Story of Lizzie Nickerson

Chapter 48

Sonya opened the door to greet her sister but didn't invite Indigo inside. "If you're here to take Lizzie," she said bitterly, "You can just turn yourself around and go back to where you came from."

Indigo shot her a glare. "It's not about that."

The long-haired guy trudged up the stairs, lugging his guitar case.

"This is Montego," she said with a bright smile. "Can we come in?"

Sonya and Lizzie had good reason to be wary of Indigo's intentions but the fact of the matter was Indigo's suspicious behavior was not related to a covert plan to abduct Lizzie. Instead, Indigo and her guy needed a place to hide out from Montego's dad, Cincinnati Police Detective, Mitch Tarpick, who had yet to confront them about the garbage bag loaded with marijuana.

Lizzie watched her mother and the bandana guy enter the kitchen. He set the guitar case on the floor and rested a hand against the countertop as he tried to catch his breath. He looked like he'd need a nap following any activity requiring more effort than lacing up his boots.

"Montego," Indigo said. "This is my sister, Sonya. And that's Mari-I mean, Lizzie."

"Rock on," he said between heavy breaths.

"So, here's what it is," Indigo said. "We need a place to crash for a couple of nights."

Montego kept his eyes on the floor, pretending to be invisible.

Indigo added, "We could sleep on the couch. Whatever, if that's cool, if it's no hassle."

Lizzie envisioned the erotic couch acrobatics performed by her mother and her past boyfriends and it made her a little queasy. She found her voice and blurted out, "Why aren't you in Colorado?"

"We were," said Indigo, "but we came back east for the Cincy Fringe Festival. Back home here to Cincinnati. How awesome is that?" She threw her arms around Montego's neck, almost knocking him over. "When I first felt Montego's vibes, heard the wonders of his music at the NoCo Hemp Expo, I knew we had a cosmic connection. I could feel the energy." She hooked her leg around his. "Then he lays it on me that he's from Cincy, and my mind was blown. Is that a trip or what? Two Cincinnati spirits who found each other in the mountains of Colorado Springs. It was our destiny." She kissed him. "There is no fire like passion. Buddha said that."

"Heavy," said Montego.

The room stood quiet for a long twenty seconds before Indigo's pretty face settled into a scowl. "We stayed at his old man and old lady's place last night but his old man's totally uptight. He's like a cop, man, and he doesn't dig the counterculture. I mean what kind of a parent kicks his own flesh and blood out of his house, man?"

Lizzie said, "Are you gonna sell your hemp soap at the Fringe Festival?"

"I didn't bring a lot of inventory with me. Montego's band is doing a long set on Friday night." She nuzzled his cheek and eyed him with adoration.

Lizzie eyed the guitar case with suspicion. "Is there a guitar in there?"

He opened the case and showed a shiny green bass guitar.

"You play music in a real band?" Lizzie said.

He nodded. "Black Drongo."

"What's a drongo?"

Indigo cut in. "Nestor, one of the lead guitarists, was like hiking through Nepal or India when he heard this amazing bird song. It was a black drongo. Nestor said it expanded his consciousness and he felt like he was lifted up by the song and could look down and see time traveling in all directions. It was beautiful, man."

Sonya cleared her throat. "What kind of music do you play?"

"It's a jam band," he said. "It's more of a concept than an actual band. It's free form."

She gave it everything she had to force a polite smile.

"Three bass players, six or seven guitars, depends who shows up, two drummers, lots of jammin' percussion, and four or five singers."

"And bells," Indigo added.

"Bells?" Lizzie said.

"You gotta hear it, girl. It's transformative."

"Is it loud?" Lizzie winced, imagining the cacophony. "I mean, how could you look at arts and crafts with loud music playing?"

"People totally dig it. You just gotta set yourself free and flow with the vibrations."

"Oh, geez, I try to avoid loud vibrations."

........

Awkward and uncomfortable exchanges filled the remainder of the evening. Within the confines of the small apartment, Sonya and Indigo made polite small talk, while Montego sat on the couch, thumbing clumsily at his bass guitar. He tapped his foot with no true sense of rhythm, guessing at the cadence.

Lizzie retreated to the chair at her bedroom window, reading texts from Scooter and answering each one after thoughtful deliberation. She looked up when Sonya entered her room.

Her aunt drew closer and whispered, "I think you should sleep with me tonight."

"So you don't trust them, either."

"Grab your pillow, it's getting late."

"Can I bring my water?"

"Just don't spill."

As Lizzie and her aunt walked across the hall to Sonya's bedroom they heard Indigo's distinctive giggle coming from the living room.

"Oh, geez. They better not be eating all our ice cream," Lizzie grumbled.

Sonya closed her bedroom door and Lizzie tossed her pillow onto the bed. She took a long drink of water and then set her glass on the nightstand. Sonya got in beside her, leaving a comfortable gap between them.

Sonya turned out the light and heard Lizzie sigh. "Oh, geez. Scooter has girlfriends," she said. She held up her phone to show her aunt a picture.

"That's just a hamburger, french fries, and a soda."

"Tater tots, not french fries."

"Okay. I can see that now."

"That looks like lipstick on the straw."

"Yeah, maybe."

"He took this picture at a drive-thru. Look at the reflection in the car window."

"Huh?"

"Oh, geez. There's some girl with curly hair leaning on Scooter's shoulder and she's laughing. It's a girlfriend. She's pretty and she has nice teeth."

"Put the phone down, Lizzie, and let's get some sleep."

When she'd finally fallen asleep, Lizzie had a terrible nightmare. Using her magic crystals, Indigo put a spell on Lizzie, shrinking her to the size of a mouse. She trapped Lizzie in Montego's guitar case and they smuggled her out of the apartment building and then into the purple minivan. Lizzie screamed, "I don't want to be small! Make me big again" but no one paid attention to her.

Indigo drove them back to the Colorado mountains while Montego played loud hippie music on his guitar. A black drongo perched on the dashboard and sang, "Your momma is your very best friend and you're never gonna see your Scooter again."