All Our Secrets

Good Life

"Is everyone in this town ridiculously wealthy or is it just you and your friends?"

I don't know what gave me the courage to ask such a question so boldly but it had slipped out of my mouth before I could control myself.

Russell glanced at me from where he sat in  She the driver's seat of his Acura ILX and he actually looked amused.

I know my mother would have scolded me for being so rude but I know that she would have been curious as well if she had been in my shoes.

Russell and Rachel had explained to me that Gladys was the mother in law of one of their college friends and a close friend to both their parents. She was turning seventy-five and there was to be a huge soirée. Which I guess I was crashing.

Rachel had warned me that it would be on the fancy side. I didn't know how to tell her that my closet and especially the clothes I had brought along didn't exactly fit this party's dress code description.

We didn't have many boujee seventy something year old 'soirées' in Stanton. And if they did exist, I was probably never invited.

Thankfully Rachel had a solution. She had ordered a dress that had been sent in a size too small. She thought it would be perfect for me. And well, it was. A fancy, cream coloured strapless dress with a tulip skirt that landed a few inches above my knees. It was really pretty. I put a cardigan on top of it and my only pair of heels. After tying my braids above in a high ponytail, I prayed that I looked presentable.

We drove down a street labelled'Saint St' and the houses were just getting bigger and more spaced out.

"Oh, I'm not rich. People like Rachel's family, the Rhodes, the Chambers, the Gonzalez family, they're the big fish of this place." Russell explained. "They basically own the town."

I looked at Rachel's Hyundai Sonata which wasn't far ahead of us on the road.

I had found it strange that they used two cars to go to the same location but Russell explained that Rachel often got called into work at random times. So it was better this way because they wouldn't inconvenience each other.

Rich people problems, I guess.

We hadn't really gone too far from Russell's neighbourhood. It seemed walkable. But then again, I was used to walking almost everywhere in Stanton.

Jadyn has an old Chevy truck that he had named 'Bertha'. But Bertha is kind of a diva and she enjoys breaking down in the middle of the road so that she can lavish in hearing Jadyn and I beg for her to start.

Jadyn used to make jokes about how Bertha probably didn't like having me in her because she only seemed to break down when I was riding with him.

"If you're not rich, can I be 'not rich' like you?" I asked.

Russell laughed and then made a turn, following Rachel. To be fair, the houses along Saint street were considerably larger than the ones on Russell's. Which was saying a lot.

"Wow." I spoke.

Before us stood a tall black gate that was swung open not even a few seconds after Rachel had parked outside.

She drove in and Russell followed close behind.

"Wanna talk about impressive houses?" He spoke nodding ahead. "Gladys' son's place, Hank. He's into... business."

I looked at Russell. He had a grin on his face as if he had just shared a clever joke.

I didn't pay too much attention to him thought. I turned to glance at the abstractly impossible to define structure of the mostly white building ahead of us. It had lots of slanting and tilting walls and large glass windows which extended up most of the walls. Probably a kids biggest nightmare. Imagine kicking a ball into that.