Blood Lineage(2015 Revision)

Chapter 11

Four days. Four long silent days went by and I still hadn't heard from Marcus, or Rachel, for that matter. You really did it, Elianne, nice going. I kept beating myself up over the way the night ended on Monday. I should have waited longer. No that might have been worse. I wish I had more experience with this kind of stuff. I didn't know what to say, what to do, or even what to think. Gwen was great, but my relationship with her wasn't at the “ bare my soul to you” level just yet. I tried calling Jasmine, but she had gone out with Jarred for the evening. I still felt a little weird calling Nicole. She was being civil, not buddy buddy, so calling with my issues was definitely out of the question. This left me with my only other option, Aunt Cindy.

Gwen was closing the store tonight, that meant Aunt Cindy would be home early. I was planning a girl's night for us. I hunted down the phone book in the kitchen and quickly flipped to the N section of the yellow pages. I called around to a few nail salons to see who had an opening for two appointments. Finally I found one a few minutes away called Bellissimo Nails, and they had a spot for us both at seven. I went to my room to get my flip flops out, then went into Aunt Cindy's closet to fish around for hers. I opened her closet door and pulled the cord hanging from the ceiling to turn on the light. Everything was neatly organized and stored away in labeled containers. All except one large cardboard box hidden away in the back corner. I knew it was rude to go through other

people's things, but just for the simple fact that it wasn't labeled, made me feel an incredible need to open it. I threw my flip flops on the floor and stretched on my tipoes to pull the box down. I sat down on the floor and unfolded the top of the box. It was filled with trinkets and other momentum from Aunt Cindy's childhood. I pulled out a thick photo album and began flipping through the pages, staring at the pictures trying to make out some of the faces. Most of them only looked familiar because mom has similar photos at home. I was able to quickly pick out my grandparents. I had met them when I was younger, so I still had a few memories of them. I found pictures of Aunt Cindy and mom, and mom with dad, then I felt the lump beginning to form in my throat. I closed the book so I could regain my composure. I peeked inside the box again and found two matching music boxes, one had Cindy Lynn engraved on the lid and the other had Holly Anne, my mother's name. Just as I was about to open the box, I heard Aunt Cindy pull into the driveway. I quickly packed everything back into the box and put it back on the shelf. I took the flip flops from their designated container and ran downstairs just as Aunt Cindy was walking in the door.

“Hey, Elianne, how was your day?” She seemed to be in a good mood today.

“OK, I guess. Hey, Aunt Cindy, you don't have plans tonight, do you?” In my planning attempt I had forgotten one small, yet very important detail: to call my aunt to see if she was free.

“Sadly, no. I am just going to stay home and loaf around, why what's up?” She set her purse down on the table in the foyer and put her shoes in the downstairs hall closet.

“Well, I booked us an appointment at a nail salon, I thought we could hang out and talk.” I bit my lower lip and hung my head. I was still a little weirded about telling her my problems.

“I know that look. It's the same look your mother would get on her face when she was having problems figuring things out. What's wrong baby girl?” She walked over and stood at my side, wrapping her arms around me.

“I think I might have messed things up with Marcus. Real bad. I haven't spoken to him since Monday night when he brought me home.” I let out a depressing sigh.

“I see. Come into the living room and have a seat. Why don't you cancel the appointment at the salon, and we can stay home tonight. I think I know what you need.”