My Three Cousins

Chapter Twenty-Four

Joan and Helen were already looking between Fitz and I with matching confused expressions before he had a chance to speak.  They both turned to me for answers, but Fitz spoke up first.  "I know the four of you are up to something so just cut the crap and tell me what it is."  I was surprised how forceful he was able to be when looking right at Joan, normally we cowered in front of her.

Helen's face stayed neutral, but Joan's immediately took on a look somewhere between annoyance and disgust.  "Oh God, so not being able to mind your own business is a family trait," Joan threw up her hands in exasperation. 

I made eye contact with Helen behind Fitz and slightly shook my head no to tell her that he didn't know anything.  I was hoping that they would deny everything, and he would be forced to drop it, but Joan's anger had already put us in dangerous territory.

"What are you talking about Fitz?" Helen giggled, taking on the high voice she used with everyone but me and her sisters.

"Exactly what I said," it had been a long time since I had seen Fitz this upset, "I know you're up to something so just tell me what's going on, before I tell my mom."

Joan let out an exasperated sigh and threw up her hands before walking a few paces away from us.  "But what do you mean something is going on?  I'm so confused?"  Helen did a fairly good job playing dumb but the gap between her reaction and Joan's was too telling.  We needed Ruth to smooth over the tension, but she was asleep in her room to prepare for her night shift.

"I'm not dumb and neither are you, Helen." Fitz was much more direct than I had been, "tell me or I'm telling my mom that we need to leave."

I saw Joan considering this option, weighing the pros of having us all out of her hair against the cons of having to change our plan, and potentially putting her sisters in more danger.  Helen, however, didn't falter, "Fitzy, I'll honestly tell you anything, but I just literally don't have a clue what you're asking me."  Helen said, fully committed to playing dumb.  I thought briefly that if the whole witch thing didn't pan out Helen could easily have a career as an actress.

Fitz could tell he wasn't getting anywhere so he started to look from me to Helen to Joan, trying to figure out who would break first.  I could see him conflicted, being this nosy about what other people were doing wasn't natural to him but he seemed genuinely worried about me.   It could have only been fear for my safety that made him walk up to Joan, "Joan, you don't want us here anymore than we want to be here, tell me enough so I can convince mom to leave."

He sounded sincere and I worried that Joan was going to fall for it but after a pause she adopted her usual annoyed expression, "I hate children.  Can you guys leave us alone?"

Once again Fitz was stuck, and I thought he might turn and leave and we might really get away with this, but he turned and looked right at me instead.  By his eyes alone I knew what he was going to say before he said it, which was why he asked the question in a way that directed it at my cousins but only looked me in the eyes.  "If nothing is going on, then explain why your hands glowed when you pulled Vivian out of the lake?"

It was good Fitz was looking at me because the look of betrayal on both of our cousins' faces made it obvious, he was on to something.  Still, it took everything in me to stop from apologizing or explaining myself.  By the time he had turned to face them they had returned to a more neutral expression and Helen jumped right back into her routine of playing dumb.

"Glowed?"  She asked with a giggle that seemed to communicate she thought Fitz was joking or really, really stupid.

"Yes, your hand glowed and you put it on Addison and pulled her away from Vivian, and Ruth put glowing plants into Vivian's mouth which is why she was ok," he continued retelling the story I wasn't supposed to have told him.

With every detail he I added I wanted to sink further into the Earth and out of my cousin's line of sight.  I had no clue how I was going to fix this even if we were able to get Fitz to give up.  At the same time Helen seemed to realize that he didn't plan to give up without a little help, so she walked toward him.  "Fitz look at my hands, they're just normal hands," she spoke in the same floaty, high-pitched voice but she added a layer of hurt to it as if to accuse her of witchcraft was the most offensive thing he could have done. 

Fitz took a step closer as if to truly look at them and almost seemed disappointed when he realized she was telling the truth.  I saw his mistake though, he was now with her reach, and she very gently sat her on hand on his back, where even if it glowed, he wouldn't be able to see.  She then used this to turn him to face Joan and I, "Fitz look at Joan, look at Addison do they look like people who would lie to you?"  She asked.

I could see his face change as she used her power, he became less angry and seem to calm down, then he slumped into a posture of embarassment.  He looked at Joan and I with a look of shame, "No I guess not, sorry guys." 

I felt bad that I was letting her manipulate him like this, but I knew it was the safest plan.  Joan jumped in, used to Helen's tricks, "no worries, Fitz, it's not a big deal." 

As we were talking a car came pulling down the driveway and as Helen rested her hand on Fitz's back in full view of this car, mom slammed on her brakes.  She shoved the car into park and jumped out of the door.  "Helen, you take your hand off my son," she yelled, already running toward her.