Page 51 of Resurrecting the Enemy
“What do you feel like eating?” I asked Lake, stopping what was surely going to be a horrifying recount of how I was just like my dad.
“Anything’s fine,” she mumbled, still embarrassed.
I started making her plate as Dad started making Mom’s. He had seated her as soon as I had asked Lake what she wanted, and that was the scene Maddox stumbled upon when he walked into the kitchen; me and Dad serving Lake and Mom.
“Hungry?” Dad asked him.
I could hear Mad’s smile. “I wasn’t until I heard Mom threaten to kill R.J., and now I know why.” Maddox immediately started making himself a plate, and it wasn’t until we were all seated that he said, “Well, isn’t this cozy.”
“Did you know he had a girlfriend?” Mom asked, and it was clear she was going to hand me my ass as soon as it was safe.
Mad finished eating a chip before saying, “I knew he was stalking her, but I didn’t know she agreed to be his girlfriend yet.”
“Stalking?” Mom echoed and then cut a look Dad’s way.
“She’s the witness,” Dad offered as way of explanation.
Mom’s eyes flew towards Lake, but she didn’t say anything at first. After a long moment, Mom asked her, “How did you guys meet, Lake?” It was test. While Mom was very aware of the significance of introducing Lake to them, Mom wasn’t going to just stand back and do nothing if this was a bad idea. Mom didn’t need to like Lake; she needed to trust her. She needed to trust Lake with her family because we were a shady bunch.
Lake stared Mom in the face as she said, “I came across him and his friends near the Lapis Creek inlet last Sunday. Ramsey took exception to me being there while they were…using the area.”
“And now you’re dating?” she prompted.
Lake shook her head. “I don’t know what the hell we’re doing, but Ramsey won’t leave me alone long enough to try to figure it out,” she confessed.
“Sounds like love,” Mad chimed in before shoving an entire slider in his mouth.
“And…did you see what they were doing out there Sunday night?” Mom asked her.
Lake looked at me, stared me straight in the eye, and stuck to her lie. “No.”
Holding Lake’s stare, I said, “She’s lying.”
“Says you,” she fired back. “But you’ll never really know, will you?” I could hear Mom and Dad chuckle, and that was that.
Lake had passed their little test.
“So, do you go to Windsor, Lake?” Dad asked.
I saw her face fall instantly. “Uh, no,” she answered, looking over at him. “I go to SC High.”
“Plan on going to college?” Mom asked.
Lake winced a little. “I’m not sure.”
“Lake wants to be a photographer,” I supplied for them.
“I…I’ve already applied to the California Institute of Art and the Academy of Art University, but I still have to submit my secondary projects and apply to a couple of more backup options,” Lake added. “Traditional college is one of those backup options, though I’m not sure where I’d want to go.” She gave my mom a timid smile. “Photography is my only passion. I’m afraid I’m putting all my eggs in that one basket.”
Mom smiled at her. “Well, let us know if there’s anything we can do to help, Lake.”
I watched Lake’s shoulders drop, and I could actually feel the tension leave her body. “Thank you, Mrs. Reed.”
“You may call me Emerson, if you’re more comf-”
Lake quickly shook her head. “I prefer Mrs. Reed,” she told her, and Mom just nodded and accepted Lake’s preference.
“So, what are you kids going to do for Halloween?” Dad asked.
