Promise Me (Book One of the Kirkland Family)

Promise Me: Chapter 4

Chapter 4

“Absolutely not,” Justin told his daughter that evening.

“But Da-a-a-dy!”

“No.  You’re not responsible enough to have a guinea pig,” he said, and he was pretty sure they’d already had this conversation at least twice in the last month.

“But I’ll take really good care of it,” Josie whined.  “And I’ll do extra chores and use my own money, and--”

“Josie,” Justin sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.  “Being responsible is more than just doing extra chores.  You have to think responsibly...think about what your actions could mean to those who love you and care for you, and frankly speaking, you haven’t shown me that you can do that.”

Josie pouted and pushed her peach pie around on her plate.  The four of them, Justin, Josie and the grandparents, were sitting around the kitchen table after a fulfilling dinner of roasted chicken, mashed potatoes and cheesy broccoli.  Justin had helped his dad out in the fields all day, sweating and using muscles that haven’t had a good workout in years.  He ached all over, but man, did it feel good!  Back home in Savannah, there were lots of water sports to keep him and Josie out of doors during the weekends, but there was just something about getting his hands dirty.  And building sandcastles on the beach didn’t count.

“That’s what she said,” Josie mumbled as she made soup of her pie filling.

Justin looked up at her.  “She who?”

Josie shrugged.  “Heather or Hannah, or whatever her name was.”

A cold chill swam down his spine.  “Hannah Baker?”

Josie nodded.  “Yeah, that’s her.”

“You talked to Hannah Baker today?”

His mom, who never got involved in one of their arguments unless she felt strongly about it, smiled and said, “Oh, yes...I forgot to tell you.  We saw her at the vet’s office this morning--”

Jesus!  That woman was everywhere!

“Such a lovely girl,” his mom went on, “Keeps to herself too much.  It’s a shame what happened to her father all those years ago.  Ronald, you remember, he died of cancer, right?”

“Pancreatic,” Justin’s dad said around a mouthful of pie and ice cream.  “A heck of a way to go.”

Justin focused on the bothersome issue.  “What did Hannah Baker say?”

Josie hung her head with a scowl and said, “Something about responsibility being an attitude, not an action.”

Really?  How enlightening, he thought sarcastically.  What would Hannah Baker know about being responsible?

Then Josie got that look on her face.  The one that said she was about to tell a bold-faced lie.  “Hannah’s guinea pig is having babies.  She said I could have one.”

Justin stared at her.  “Did she now?”

Josie nodded...too eagerly.

“My answer is still no.  And I don’t want you hanging around Hannah Baker.”

His mom asked, “Why not, dear?  Hannah’s such a sweet girl.”

“She’s trouble,” Justin said, giving him mom a glance, but Mary Alice stared back at him.

“Hannah Baker is no such thing,” his mom said with that voice which always made Justin feel bad about himself for some reason.  “She was a sweet young lady when she was friends with Luke, and she’s gone through some hard times.”

Thankfully, Josie chose that moment to push away from the table and mumble something about watching television.  His dad grabbed his bowl and followed his granddaughter, a man smart enough to get out of the line of fire where his wife was concerned.  Justin turned to his mom and said, “She strung Luke around for months and then broke his heart when he left for college.  Did you know he almost asked her to marry him?”

Mary Alice Kirkland frowned.  “No...I did not know that.”

“Well, he was going to, but she laughed in his face,” Justin announced, hating Hannah Baker all over again.  “Luke was in love with her, and she didn’t give a crap about him.  Just took off for California as soon as she could and never spoke to him again.  I don’t know what you call sweet, but that ain’t it.”

“Can you blame her for following her dreams?” his mom argued.  “You did, when you joined the navy.”

“That’s different.”

Mary Alice shook her head.  “And she came right home as soon as she found out her dad was dying.”

“To get her hands on his house and store,” Justin said.  “She couldn’t make it work in Hollywood, so she came back for Mr. Baker’s money.”

“She nursed him herself,” his mom went on.  “I heard all about it at church.”

“More than likely, she was the one who sped up his dying,” Justin told her.  She gasped.  

“Justin Lewis Kirkland!  What a thing to say about someone!  I’m ashamed of you!”

Justin blanched.  Yeah, that was an awful thing to accuse someone of.  But he knew the kind of woman Hannah was...just like Beth.  Not caring about anyone but herself and how fast she could get what she wanted.  “Regardless, I don’t want Josie hanging around that woman.  I’ve got enough headaches dealing with Josie’s attitude problem as it is.  I brought her here to get her away from people like that.”

His mom didn’t say anything, which wasn’t necessarily a good thing.  If Mary Alice promised something, then she would keep that promise.  Right now...no promises.

“Mom,” he began urgently, but she stood up, dumped the dirty dishes in the sink and began cleaning them.  “Mother,” he tried again, “I’m leaving in the morning.  Please, tell me you will respect my wishes on this matter.”  She ignored him, so Justin sighed and gave up.  His mother was a good judge of character usually.  He knew she’d never let anything happen to Josie.

He kissed her on the cheek and said, “Just keep her out of trouble then.  She’s sneaky.”

His mother nodded and smiled at him.  “That, I can do.”

God, I hope so.

*****

Two nights later, Teddy was the proud mother of four furry roly-poly’s.  Two of them sharing the same brown and white coats, one in black and white, and one with black, brown and white.  And they were adorable.  Johnny, the breeder, said he was sorry for the mix-up, and if she decided to not keep them, he would happily take the weened babes off her hands and return her money for when she bought Teddy.  Now, after caring for the little buggers all day, Hannah had fallen in love with all of them.  She didn’t want to give any of them up, but she knew she couldn’t keep them either.  Maybe just one.  Another girl to keep Teddy company.

At ten o’clock that night, she was posting pictures of the litter on her Facebook page when the chat screen on her email page popped up.

*Daddy said I can have one.*

Hannah frowned.  *Who is this?* she typed in.

*Oh, it’s Josie, from the other day.  Daddy said I could have a guinea pig.*

Liar, she thought, but she clicked something else on her keyboard.  *How did you get my email?*

*It’s not hard.  Daddy’s a computer genius.  I’ve learned a few tricks through him.  And he said I could have one.*

Hannah smiled.  The girl was persistent, she’d give her that.  *So, you mentioned.*

*When can I get one from you?*

Sighing with humored annoyance, she typed, *You can’t.*

*Why not?*  Jeez, even that had a whiny ring to it!  *Are they all taken?*

*No.*

*Then why not?  I’ll take good care of it, I promise!*

Hannah placed her hands over the keys, but she didn’t have the heart to argue about this with an thirteen-year-old girl.  *I’ll have to talk to your daddy and make arrangements.*

*No!  You can’t.  He’s*

Hannah waited for the rest of the words to come across her chat screen.  And waited.  Yeah, think up a good one, Josie.  Lies are only worth it if they’re thought out really, really well.

*Out of town.*

Yeah, I already knew that.  But she typed,  *I’m sure he could spare five minutes.*

Josie didn’t type back right away.  Then, when she did, *He’s on a submarine,*
Hannah busted out laughing.  

*A submarine?  Come on, Josie, even you can think of a better lie than that one.*

*It’s true!*

*Sure.  Then I’ll just have to Morse Code him from my spaceship.*

*Why don’t you believe me?*

*Because you’re lying.*  Hannah chatted back.  The screen remained inactive for several minutes.  Hannah figured Josie got herself in one of those teenage snits and started throwing things around...or maybe this was a techie version of the silent treatment.  Hannah snorted.  Silent treatment, indeed!  Blessed silence, more like it.

Let’s see...
Begging: check
Tears: check
Frontal attack: check
Empty promises: check
Outright lying: check
Silent treatment: check
Manipulation:  (Hmm...maybe she hasn’t learned that one yet...crossing fingers.)

“Well, Teddy,” Hannah said, tilting her head down to the cage beside her computer desk.  “I think we’ve finally scared her off.”  She reached up to close out her browser--

*My daddy doesn’t like you.*

Hannah’s fingers froze over the mouse.  Not precisely headline news, that was...more like an update in the back of the society pages, but it still angered Hannah to see those words in print.  Her daddy wasn't such a great prize either.  Then Josie added, *He says you’re trouble.*

Arching an eyebrow, she took the bait.  *Oh, did he?*

She could almost see Josie’s smile come over the wi-fi.  I’m so getting played here.  (Manipulation: double check)  Josie typed in, *He told grandma that you don’t care about crap and you only took care of your dad to get his money.*

For a moment...nothing really registered, then Hannah’s vision blurred and tunneled as the words hit a sore spot and a black, bitter rage welled up inside her.  Breathe, Hannah.  She’s just trying to get a rise out of you.  Ignore her.  But she could see Justin Kirkland saying something like that.  To get his money?  What money?  All I got was an old house that needs a new roof, medical bills I can’t pay, and a store I don’t want.  And to top all that off, I had to watch my father DIE to get my hands on all of that.  What kind of revolting, hateful world was he living in?  I’d live in a cardboard box down by the river and eat raw cockroaches for the rest of my life if I could see my daddy one more time.

*Grandma didn’t believe him,* Josie added after a obviously, carefully planned pause.  *She said you were sweeter than peach pie.*

Hannah gripped the edges of her chair.   Justin Kirkland  was still talking about her like he'd been privy to every chapter of her life.  Don’t reply.  Don’t reply.  The girl has some serious scamming skills.  She didn’t just inherit that blond hair from her daddy.  

*Hannah, are you there?*

Against her better judgement, Hannah typed, *Yes.*

*Oh, good.  I thought you left.  Don’t be mad.  I didn’t believe daddy either.  I thought you were very nice to me the other day, trying to help me understand responsibility.*

A laugh escaped Hannah’s throat --  Oh, she’s good! -- cooling the evil thoughts of Justin Kirkland...involving him tied to a forklift and a few hundred gallons of weed killer.  *Thank you.*

*You’re welcome.  And I wasn’t lying about daddy on the submarine.  It’s what he does.  He makes radios for the military, and he’s gone for three weeks to train some navy dudes on a new system or something like that.*

*Sounds like fun,* Hannah replied, just because she felt like she should.  Slowly, the anger inside her melted away.  Josie knew exactly what she was doing, but according to her, she wasn’t the one who actually said those things about Hannah’s father.  

*It’s a drag,* Josie typed back.  *But I’m just thirteen.  I get no say in leaving my home for almost a whole month of my entire summer vacation.*

Ah, the old Guilt Trip.  I forgot about that one.  Hannah grinned and shook her head.  She was starting to like this kid.  *Well, Josie, it’s late and I have to work tomorrow.  Good night.*

*Good night, Hannah.  I enjoyed talking to you.  You really are sweeter than pie.*

And there was the Sweet Talking.  Not bad for thirty minutes.  

*****

By the next morning, Saturday, Hannah forgot all about Josie and Justin Kirkland...until the girl entered Baker's Farm and Garden Supply with her grandfather.

"Hannah!"

Oh, great.  Hannah put on a smile as blond hair streaked across the store.  "Hello, Josie.  Mr. Kirkland.  Are you here to pick up your feed order?"

"Yes, ma'am," he said in that country drawl.  Coming from him, it sounded charming.  

"You can drive over to the warehouse.  Mark will get you loaded up."

"Did you bring the guinea pigs to work with you?" Josie asked excitedly.

There was no stopping Hannah's resigned shake of the head.  "I did," she answered.  "I’m guessing you want to see them?"

The girl clapped.  "Can I?"

"I suppose so," Hannah sighed, biting back a grin.

"And I'll go pick up my feed while you two are visitin',"  Mr. Kirkland said, winking at Hannah.   The bugger!

"Does your granddad know how much you want a guinea pig?" Hannah asked, shooting accusations at Mr. Kirkland's retreating back.

"Yeah," Josie answered, scampering to the back of the store like she had some kind of rodent radar.

"And I suppose he knows that your dad is denying you one?"

"Yeah, he knows."  Josie rounded the counter and entered Hannah's office.  "Oooh!"

"Just how bad did you have to beg to come with him today?"

Josie stroked the fur of the tri-colored baby.  "Grandpa asked me if I wanted to come.  Said he'd like the company."

"Yeah, I thought so," Hannah muttered.  The sneaky bugger.  Hannah remembered Mr. Kirkland as being a quiet man, but he had a wicked sense of humor and an even worse sense of mischief.  

“You thought what?”

“Nothing,” Hannah waved the question away and settled down on the floor next to Josie.

“They are so cute!  Can I hold one?”

“Sure,” Hannah said.  Josie immediately cuddled the one she had petted in her little hands.  Her face softened as she brought the baby guinea pig up to her cheek.  Hannah watched as Josie’s eyes closed and a soft smile crossed her lips.  It was too bad her dad wouldn’t let her have one.  She obviously loved the creatures.  And they made great pets, if a person knew all the tricks to keeping the mess down to a minimum.  That was the one thing Hannah struggled with in the beginning.  She read all the websites and skimmed through books on caring for the cavies, and they all talked about lining the cages with tons of bedding for them to burrow under and keep warm, but Hannah soon discovered that wasn’t necessary.  Teddy liked to potty in one corner of her cage, and Hannah found that putting a litter box there full of the pine shavings and Teddy was just as happy to use that when she went potty.  And since Teddy’s cage was the largest that Hannah could find, there was room for a plastic igloo, a few large cardboard tubes and a fleece-lined bed, not to mention all the hanging mobiles and gnawing toys that Teddy loved to play with during the early morning hours.  

Of course, the cost of providing all of that staggered Hannah when she added it up in her head one afternoon while bored out of her mind and nothing to do except tally up oddball purchases.  But a girl like Josie could start off small, getting one of those modular cages, the bare essentials, and expanding over time.  As long as she played with her guinea pig regularly, the animals were a pleased as punch.

But that would mean overpowering her father’s determination for not to have one.  Hannah chewed on her bottom lip.  What was up with Justin Kirkland?  Okay, sure, the girl needed a small attitude adjustment, but she was young.  Hannah remembered that age.  It wasn’t an easy time for a girl.  And let’s face it, Josie’s parents were divorced, her dad was very vocal about how much he despises her mother, he dumped her off in the middle of the country for the summer when the girl was used to Atlantic beaches and a different life, and then he refused the one thing that she wanted and would make her happy.  And yes, Josie wasn’t making the situation any easier for herself by being so obstinate, but cut the girl some slack.  If she was rebelling, then her father was driving her to it.

My father would have made me work for it, Hannah thought fondly.  He wouldn’t have told me no.  He would’ve just said, “If that’s what you want, then you have to make it happen.”

Her dad would have helped Hannah if she needed it.  But the difference was that she had to come up with a plan and initiate it.  Josie obviously hadn’t been taught that.  Her dad’s way of doing things was to say, “No, you haven’t earned it,” but then did he teach her how to earn it?  Or just wash his hands of the whole ordeal and then have to listen to the hatred shouting and whining?

“Have you named them yet?”

Hannah blinked back to the present and found herself still in her office with Josie and a litter of guinea pigs at her knees.  “Um, no...I called the breeder, whom I bought Teddy from, and he’ll be taking them when they’re old enough to ween.  I’ll get too attached if I...started naming...them.  What?”

Josie’s look of horror slowed Hannah’s explanation.  “You’re giving them back?  Why?”

“I can’t keep all of them,” Hannah said.  “And two of those little guys are male.  In a few months, they’ll start reproducing, and I just can’t have sisters and brothers going at it like...well, like guinea pigs.  It’s gross.”

Josie lost her panicked expression and she actually giggled.  “Yeah, that is gross.  But aren’t going to keep at least one?”

“I thought about it.  I am partial to that young lady in your hands,” Hannah admitted.  Josie raised the baby to her nose and nuzzled it.

“Then I think you should call her Lady,” Josie said.

“Just Lady?”

“Hmm...how about Lady Trinity?  For her three colors,” Josie suggested.  Hannah smiled as she thought about that.

“I like it.  Lady Trinity.”

Josie set down Lady Trinity and picked up the black and white one.  “And you could call this one Rook because it reminds me of a chess board.”

Hannah opened her mouth to say she wasn’t naming them, but Josie pointed to the two brown and white ones, saying, “And they can be Pit and Pat.”

“Josie...”

The girl turned her face to Hannah, and for a second, she noticed that Josie’s eyes were the same color as her father’s.  That clear green.  But they were open and round with a slight tilt in the corners, whereas Justin’s eyes were hard and hooded.  Hannah wondered what her mother looked like.  Josie’s face was round, her cheeks soft and her nose a slant with this little ball on the end, and her mouth small and full with her upper lip fuller than her bottom.  Justin Kirkland’s face was chiseled, angular, his nose a blade, and his mouth wide, with the bottom lip as being fuller.  The only facial characteristics the two shared was the color of their eyes and that dimple in their chins, but Josie’s was delicate and feminine, whereas her dad’s was just another example of his sharp features.

Did he look at Josie and see her mother?  Was that why he was so hard on her all the time?  Hannah’s anger at Justin Kirkland blossomed again.  She was just a child!  She wasn’t to blame for the problems between her parents.  Being a woman raised by only her father, Hannah knew the hardships that came with that kind of life.  Never really knowing her mother, hearing the bitter words of her father when he spoke of his absent wife, but Hannah’s father loved her unconditionally, and he tried very hard not vent his heartbreak through his daughter.  Could Josie say the same about her dad?

Hannah didn’t want to believe that, but the question was still in the back of her head.

Instead of furthering her protest about the babies’ names, she asked, “How long did you say your dad will be gone?”

Josie sighed.  “Three weeks at least.”

“What are your plans for those three weeks?”

The girl eyed Hannah with suspicion.  “I don’t know.  Why?”

“Want a job?”

“A job?  Doing what?”

Yeah, doing what?  What could an thirteen-year-old do?  Hannah had no idea, but she just couldn’t let this girl waste her summer doing nothing at all, sitting around in the middle of soybean fields, thinking up way to get herself in trouble.  “Helping me...here at the store,” she said.  I’ll come up with something.

Josie’s eyes traveled around the cluttered office and out the door to the store area.  “Here?  What would I do here?”

A fit of laughter bubbled up in Hannah.  She felt good for some reason.  Maybe sticking it to Justin Kirkland for all those horrible things he’d said to her.  Or maybe because she truly liked this girl and wanted to help her.  “I have no idea!”

Josie grinned.  “I’ll have to ask Grandma and Grandpa.”

“What about your dad?”

Josie shrugged.  “He’s on a submarine.  We can leave messages with the navy base in Georgia, and he’ll get them once a week.  If it’s an emergency then I can talk to him directly.  But they’re sticklers about what’s an emergency.  Someone’s gotta be dying or something like that.”

Hannah bit down as she considered that.  “So...you can tell him you found something to do, and not have to explain the details.”

Josie blinked...and grinned wider.  “It really won’t be necessary to explain all the details.”

Hannah stood up and brushed the seat of her jeans.  “Then the less he knows, the happier he’ll be.”

Josie put down the guinea pig she was holding and stood next to Hannah.  “What about all that talk on responsibility and going behind his back?”

“Who told you all that nonsense?” Hannah asked with a mischievous smile.  “Having a job is responsible.”

The young girl nodded her blond head.  “Yes, very responsible.”

“Then I think we should have a talk with your grandparents and work out some details.”

Josie jumped up and down with a squeal.  “They won’t mind!  Grandma was asking me last night what I wanted to do while I’m staying here.”

“It won’t be all fun and games,” Hannah warned her sternly.  “I work hard around here.”  Yeah, like hiding in my office, budgeting and working on payroll.  And the occasional jaunt out to Kim.  Really hard work, that.  No fun at all.

Josie only nodded excitedly.  Hannah put an arm around her shoulders and guided her out to find her granddad.