it's a little shaky, but it's done.

chapter thirteen | mint chocolate chip

“I’m really sorry about your mom,” Owen sympathized.

    I shrugged. “It’s not your fault.”

    “She was a really good actress.”

    “Was? She still is a good actress. Just because she has no use of her arms does not mean she has any less acting talent.”

    “I was just saying that it’ll be difficult to get a role with a…”

    “Disability?”

    “Yeah.”

    I knew she wouldn’t be able to get a role. She knew it. We all knew it. Whether or not she had came to terms with it was an entirely different ballpark. It bothered me that it was Owen telling me this. It would be different if his dad brought it up, but it seemed too personal. As much as I’d like to think otherwise, we weren’t close at all. He was the equivalent to that go-to partner you have in class but never saw each other out of that course.

    “Are you still coming to the show?”

    “What? Of course.”

    “Good. There’s someone I want you to meet. She’s really curious about your mom’s condition.”

    “You told people about it?”

    “It was in the newspaper, Flossy. But, yeah, I told her. I didn’t know it was under lock and key.”

    I mean, I knew it wasn’t hush-hush or anything, I just didn’t expect anyone to actually say something about it. “Oh. Who is it?”

    “Her name’s Clarisse. She’s my girlfriend.”

    With that, my dreams shattered. His grasp on me loosened and he no longer had a mental control over me. It was as if I was free, and I was, but I was also single. Which sucked because having so many daydreams about us dating were starting to convince me that we were. It was a nice feeling.

    “You have a girlfriend?”

    He laughed. “I’m not terribly ugly, am I?”

    I shrugged. “You’re all right.”

    Owen rolled his eyes. “I’ll see you opening night.”

    “Who said I was going opening night?”

    “All of the cool people go opening night. Oh, and you and your mom are invited to the cast party.”

    “I should hope so.”

    “Right. Well, later, Flossy.”

    “Goodbye, Owen.”

+++

I should’ve been home with my mom. She was recovering and needed someone by her side if something terrible were to happen. She was not the paranoid one. Dad was. He was sure she was going to have a heart attack or her legs were going to fall off or she was going to burn the house down attempting to cook. She told him that she’d be fine alone. I wasn’t convinced. Eating seemed difficult. She’d have to use her flexibility to eat with her feet or eat like a dog. Mom wasn’t a flexible person, so she was stuck with the latter. Dad left meals in the refrigerator for her. She could open it with the stub that remained. He asked our neighbors to occasionally check in on her. Hopefully they wouldn’t forget. If not, Dad would be home at five o’clock.

    Instead, I was in Pinto once again. The drive down there was exhausting, but Eunice claimed she had a special surprise for us. I assumed “us” was Alfie and I because I doubted she included Fran in anything.

    We were almost to the Gables house when Eunice suddenly decided to pull over. She looked distant, a somber gaze settling upon her. I looked around in confusion. “Did we run out of gas?”

    “No.”

    I looked out the window. We were outside of Pickled Pickin’s. “Do you need to get something to eat?”

    “No.”

    “What is it, Eunice? Do you not want to go back to your aunt’s house?”

    She shrugged. “I have to tell you something, Flossy. Don’t look at me differently though. Do you promise?”

    “Sure.”

    “I’m serious, Flossy.”

    “Okay, okay! I promise. Now what is it? What’s wrong?”

    She took a deep breath, mentally preparing herself. My eyebrows were knitted with concern. She spoke barely in a whisper and her voice grew raspy. She didn’t want to speak. “Um...so there’s this candy shop downtown. Alfie always goes to it.”   

    “Marty’s Candy Emporium, right?”

    “Yeah.”

    “I went there.”

    “You did? When?”

    “When Alfie and I were bonding.”

    “Oh.”

    “He needed to make a stop. I went with him.”

    “Right. So that means you’ve met Marty.”

    I nodded. “He seems like a real creep, honestly.”

    Her ears perked and her head shot straight up. “He is. I have to tell you what he did to me, Flossy.”

    “What he did to you? What are you talking about?”

    “Flossy...he...he…”

    Eunice didn’t even have to say the words for me to catch on. I put my hand up to stop her. I knew it had to be difficult for her to tell me. “That room…”

    “You know about the room too?”

    “He wanted me to go in there. My irrational fears of trying new things finally have an upside to them,” I mused. “It’s a good thing I don’t like chocolate. When did this happen?”

    “Not too long ago…”

    “It’s a good thing I decided not to go in there…”

    “It wouldn’t have happened the first time, Flossy. I was there several times before he tried anything.”

    “Still. So what did it feel like?”

    She recoiled. “It was awful, Flossy. It wasn’t magical if that’s what you’re thinking.” She appeared to be disgusted with me.

    “No!” I said quickly. “I just...I don’t know.”

    “It was pleasant at all. I felt dirty, Flossy. I still do.”

+++

“Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Alfie and Flossy! Happy birthday to you!” Eunice belted giddily. For someone who was so dreary alone, she sure was festive when it came to being around others. I guess I admired that trait about her.

    I exchanged looks with Alfie. It wasn’t our birthday. We still had another week and a half or so. He shrugged in response. Eunice had strapped ridiculous party hats on our heads and bought colorful blowouts. Two cupcakes sat in front of us. The cupcakes were beautifully decorated courtesy of Fran.  Alfie’s had a ton of chocolate frosting layered on top of it. Candy pieces of all different types were sprinkled on the top. There was a numbered candle on it: one. It was blue with a raised striped design. Mine had minimal frosting--only enough to make it look pretty. It was dyed a seafoam green with opalescent candy pearls dotted around the edge of it. Little white roses filled in the center and surrounded the number six in candle form. Both of them were in a reflecting silver cupcake liner. It was very classy and so pretty that I didn’t want to eat it. I knew Fran could bake, but I didn’t know she had cake decorating skills.

    “I know it’s early,” Eunice said. She looked at the both of us. “I know when your actual birthdays are. It’s July 3rd. I’m not a horrible friend, guys.”

    “We never claimed you were,” Alfie said.

    “Yeah,” I piped. “You are throwing us this...surprise party, aren’t you?”

    She dramatically did a hairflip. “I guess I am.”

    We were situated on the front porch. It was just the four of us: Fran, Alfie, Eunice, and me. Alfie and I had the honor of sitting on the porch swing. “These are really pretty,” I complimented Fran.

    She grinned bashfully. “Thank you!”

    I nodded. “Have you ever considered of being a professional baker?”

    “Sort of. Reaching the stars is my dream though.”

    Eunice got tired of Fran “stealing the show” and cut our conversation off. She grabbed the lighter with her pudgy hands and lit both candles. She wasn’t careful about it, which made my heart rate accelerate just a tad.

    “You forgot to light them,” I pointed out.

    “I know that! That’s why I’m doing it now.”

    They sang and again, Eunice’s voice was the only one that could really be heard. Fran was quite timid when it came to singing. “Make a wish!” Eunice squealed, snapping pictures of us with her smartphone.

    Closing my eyes as tightly as I could, I tried to think of something to wish for. I was never good at these kind of things. Impromptu was never my forte, even when it came to asking for things. It wasn’t like these candles had any magical tendencies. The wishes were almost never granted, so I felt like it was pointless. I blew them out anyways, quickly wishing for honors when I graduated dental college.

    “I bought ice cream! I’ll go get it. Hold on.” Eunice ran back inside and swiftly returned holding a gallon-sized container. “It’s mint chocolate chip, sort of like a compromise between the both of you.”

    “You know I’m not a big fan of chocolate chips in my mint ice cream…” I trailed, not wanting to sound ungrateful.

    “Like I said before, Flossy, people do not make plain old mint ice cream. It comes with chocolate shavings because people like chocolate.”

    Alfie raised his hand. “I’m not a huge fan of mint ice cream either.”

    “Fine. Flossy, pick out your chocolate chips and give them to Alfie. Alfie, just eat the chocolate.”

    “That’s stupid, Eunice,” I said. “I can eat the chocolate.”

    “And mint isn’t so bad. I mean, I brush my teeth with it every morning…”

    After eyeing us suspiciously, she ignored our previous comments. “Eat up, children!”

    “Don’t call us that,” I said. “You’re dating him. It’s illegal to date

your child. It’s called incest, Eunice.”

    “I know what incest is and I know it’s illegal! It’s a phrase, Flossy.”

    After scooping our ice cream onto our plates, we took a bite out of the cupcakes. They were, of course, delicious. The ice cream was cool and refreshing, but the sugar would leave an unpleasant sugar coating in my mouth. I hoped it wouldn’t transform into some sort of funky aftertaste. Despite the mint flavoring, Alfie seemed to be wolfing the frozen treat down in record speeds. He finished half of the gallon by himself. Almost all of the other half was consumed by Eunice, who did it with no complaints. In my eyes, mint chocolate chip was a symbol of our relationship. It was the best of both worlds, and I think Eunice understood that.

---

Rosie’s birth announcement was in the newspaper. Rose Cecelia Oppet was the headline. “Robert and Lorraine Oppet of Pinto announce the birth of their daughter, Rose Cecelia Oppet. Rose arrived at 3:46 a.m. on Tuesday, June 22, 2013, at Pinto’s Medical Center, Pinto, PA. She weighed 7 pounds, 3 ounces and measured 17-½ inches in length. Paternal grandparents are Wilbert and Jane Oppet of Catalonia. Maternal grandparents are James and Liana Kane of Harrisburg.”

Alfie doubted anyone saw anything about it except for Aunt Lorraine, who immediately and neatly cut it out and placed it in Rosie’s baby book. What everybody saw was Marty’s picture on the front page. Eunice and Miss Walden had gone to the press about it. It was smart if they wanted the world to know, but he hoped they went to the authorities before doing something drastic as that. At this point, Alfie couldn’t predict any of Marty’s moves.

    He knew it wasn’t safe to go to Marty’s Candy Emporium today. Marty would be outraged, which would lead to him doing something to Alfie. He knew Alfie was close to Miss Walden and Eunice. He didn’t want to be involved.     The headliner was “Candy Man Spun Himself a Web of Lies.” It wasn’t quite accurate. Marty didn’t exactly lie about a ton of things. It should’ve said something like “We Should’ve Listened” or something like that. Alfie didn’t know. He wasn’t a journalist, so it didn’t matter to him.

    He considered calling Marty to let him know that he would not be accepting his proposal of owning the candy shop. He would explain to him that he would be with his parents, giving his aunt and uncle space to raise Rosie. As much as being a big brother figure appealed to him, he could no longer take feeling unwanted. It then occurred to him that he couldn’t stay in a relationship with Eunice not knowing when the next time he would even see her would be. He would have to make the difficult move to break up with her. It was what he had been wanting since the beginning of their relationship, right?

    “Can you believe this, Bobby?” Aunt Lorraine griped. “No one is going to know about little Rosie’s arrival. No one will even care with this silly scandal.” She looked at Alfie. “You couldn’t tell your friends to wait another day?”

“I’m sure they didn’t know,” he said. “The news comes when it comes. And people will read it!”

“Likely story.”

“If they’re looking for something other than what’s on the front page…”

“Alfie, I bet they’ve sold more newspapers today than any other day this year.”

    “I don’t doubt that. Think of this in a positive light, Aunt Lorraine. This means that more people will know about Rosie. Even if they don’t find it out from the paper, they’ll hear about it from other people.”

    “What makes you think people will be talking about Rosie and not that candyman?”

    “Does it matter if people are talking about Rosie?”

    She sighed. “She’s my pride and joy and I just want to show her off.”

    Alfie nodded understandingly. Before he could console her with something he pulled out of anus, the front door swung open. The sight was  surreal. He had to rub his eyes to make sure it was real. His parents were on the doorstep, waiting glamorously to be invited in.

    “Mom! Dad!” Alfie cried out with delight.

    Releasing the handle of her suitcase, Alfie’s mom opened her arms up. She embraced her son, kissing his cheek. “You’ve grown so much!” she observed. “My little Alfie.” She hugged him again. “I’ve missed you so much. It’s different without you.”

    This was a foreign experience for Alfie. They, at least his mom was, were showering him with love. It warmed his heart and sent a fuzzy sensation tingling through his body. “It’s good to see you too, Mom.”

    She beamed down at him before hugging Aunt Lorraine. Alfie’s dad patted him on the back and told him how excited they were to have them on the “road” with them. He told him it felt good to be reunited as a family again. It reminded him of one of those cheesy Hallmark movies that were always on during the holiday season.

    While his parents met Rosie, he went upstairs to make sure he wasn’t leaving anything behind. He knew they weren’t leaving yet, but he liked to be sure. After they all had dinner together (the table was a bit cramped), Alfie decided he needed to have one last talk with Eunice.

    Knocking on the Gables door, he felt queasy and nervous. His stomach was churning. It was unpleasant he never wanted to feel such a thing again. It was Fran. “Can I speak to Eunice, please?”

    Fran laughed. “You don’t have to be so polite, Alfie. Do you want to come in?”

    “No thank you. Could you just have her come out here?”

    “Will do.” She turned away from Alfie and hollered up the stairs. “Eunice! Alfie’s here.”

    Eunice came bounding down the stairs, skipping a step or two. “Thank you, Fran.” She let the screen door swing shut by itself.

    Alfie wasn’t sure how this entire break-up thing worked. All he could do was wing it. Hopefully Eunice would understand. “Hi, Eunice.”

She smiled toothily. “Hi, Alfie.”

“There’s something I need to talk to you about…”

“Before you do that, there’s something I need to do.”

Alfie looked at her with mild bewilderment. “What is it?”

    Her face was approaching his. At what speed, he didn’t know. It seemed slow, but it happened all too fast. This was a situation where time slowed time. He didn’t know if he wanted to savor the impending event. Eunice’s eyes were gently closed and her lips were slightly puckered. The impact was almost harmless. Eunice had taken the lead, resting her arms lightly on his shoulders. Her mouth moved expertly while Alfie stood there like an amateur. He didn’t like the unfamiliarity. He tried to move it to, attempting to mimic what he had seen on television. He didn’t think it turned out too well.

    Eunice pulled away and smiled shyly. A light blush had crept onto her face.

    Feeling the need to break the silence, Alfie remarked, “So that’s what a kiss feels like.”

    Eunice chuckled and nodded. “Yup.”

    Shaking off the kiss, he needed to accomplish what he had came to do. He felt like a jerk for breaking up with her after their first kiss, but it needed to happen. He couldn’t procrastinate any longer. “Eunice, we have to talk.”

    “I know what you’re going to say,” she sighed.

    “You do?”

    “You’re going to break up with me, aren’t you?”

    Alfie casted his gaze towards the ground. He saw his feet shuffling. “Well, yes…”

    “I sort of figured after you told me you were going with your parents. Don’t feel too bad, Alfie. I’m not into long-distant relationships. I think it’d be best for us if we go our separate ways.”

    Eunice was taking this news cooler than he thought previously. “You’re really great, Eunice.”

    “Thank you, Alfie. That means a lot to me.”

    Alfie went in for a hug. She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed. “You know,” she said, “this is probably one of the best relationships I’ve ever had. Even though you didn’t like me for half of it. And don’t deny it either because I know it’s true.”

    Alfie laughed. “Me too.”

    She playfully hit his shoulder. “I was your first girlfriend!”

    “It doesn’t mean it’s not true.”

    “I know that this won’t have any effect, but Fran really fancies you. So maybe if you get back and she’s still here, you can maybe start something.”

    “Fran likes me?”

    “You’re so dense, Alfie. Of course she does.”

    “Then how come you dated me?”

    “Because I liked you too. I was selfish. You two belong together, whether you think so or not.”

    Alfie reflected on it and imagined what it would be like to date Fran. Unlike Eunice, who he could see dating and not marrying, it was inverse of what he thought with Fran. He could see her carrying her through the threshold whilst she wore a poofy, white dress. He never thought about it before, but the image was crystal clear in his mind. He had been his greatest friend, so why couldn’t she be his greatest girlfriend?

    “Huh.”

    Eunice patted his back and kissed his cheek. “Stay safe, my pumpkin muffin.”

    “You too.”

    He would do what Eunice had suggested. He would explore the world and all it had to offer before coming back to Pinto. He would tell Fran he wanted to court her and assure her that she wasn’t a rebound. And maybe they would live happily ever after (with a few arguments, of course) under the stars while eating baked goods. Until then, maybe he could convince Marty to leave his shop to Fran, who would hopefully convert it into a bakery. To incorporate her space stuff, she could have an out-of-this-world theme. She would be happy and so would everybody else. That’s all Alfie wanted for her: happiness.

    Fran came out of the house, much to Alfie’s surprise. “Hello, Alfie.”

    “Hi, Fran. Again.” He laughed nervously.

    “Eunice said there was something you needed to tell me.”

    Looking at her in her pink duckie pajamas, he smiled. “It can wait.”

    “No, tell me, Alfie. I’m going to burst with anticipation if you don’t.”

    “Well, all right.” He took a deep breath. Here goes nothing.

===

Marty was sentenced to ten years in prison. She was pleased, although she wouldn’t have complained if his time in there was longer. Miss Walden, she decided, was a woman who kept her vengeance pent up for too long and needed a hobby of some sorts to let her blow some steam. Alfie was long gone. He had sent her a postcard from Paris that read that he was “eating loads of French food and that the people were tolerable because the food was so grand.” Flossy was still with her, as she would always be. Besides family, that was the only consistent thing in her life. She would treasure that always.

    Alfie had dentophobia. He was taking baby steps to recovery, becoming acquaintances with Flossy being the first. He still had a long ways to go and she doubted that Alfie would ever fully rid himself of such an irrational fear. Flossy was still OCD about her dental cleanliness and other things related to that field. These two people with the oddest of fears had been joined together by her. She who had anuptaphobia and believed the cure to this problem is finding a soulmate. If she found her soulmate, she would never have to be alone. She would always have someone beside her. She who had developed multiple fears while helping her friends curb theirs.  She who was born on Saturday, August 2, 1996. She who enjoyed short walks on the beach, taking selfies, and reading cheesy romance novels. She who was the candy floss who spun and intertwined lives, saving them, ruining them, and even creating them. She who tied these completely different together and made something beautiful out of it. She whose name was Eunice Ellen Gables.

if you've read this far, thank you and i hope you've enjoyed the story! and sorry for the crap ending. i'll fix that later.